Need help finding a war film

Was this a color or black and white film? Did most of "our boys" have British accents? American? Were there subtitles?

The WWI scene is kind of helpful as there are scads of WWII films but not as many on The Great War.

A few films come to mind which covered that war:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
  
• Sgt. York
  
• Farewell to Arms
  
• Gallipoli
  
• Grand Illusion

Here's a list: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/Warfilm.html#wwI

Also, it could have been Blackadder (TV), who spends some time in a trench during the first World War. Another possibility is King of Heart, which is a film set in WWII but it's very much about the absurdity of war.

Could be Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" but haven't seen that film for several years. There's also flashbacks of WWI like in films like "Gods and Monsters" -- it's tough to find something like that because it's not really a plot line, nor does it have a quotable quote.

I'm kind of bending toward Jespah's "Grand Illusion."

Nope, it's not any of those films. Only La grande illusion is about the French, anyways, and I don't think it's that one. There aren't very many films about the French in World War I. Paths of Glory is one (as noted by Lightwizard), but that doesn't have a scene like the one Polarbear describes. Un long dimanche de fiançailles, with Audrey Tautou, is another, but that ain't it either. It might be Joyeux Noël, which is about the Christmas truce in 1914 -- I haven't seen that movie.

It sounds almost like a scene out of Henri Barbusse's La feu (English title: Under Fire), but I don't know if there has ever been a movie adaptation of that book.

There are 909 titles under the keyword "WWI" in the Internet Movie Database. Maybe one of those titles will spark a recollection, Polarbear.

Come to think of it, it has a bit of a comic twist to that scene. Hmmm

Thanks for the replies!
Many brains are better than one (or at least mine!). The film was definatley in colour and definately in English. I unfortunately cant remember what the accents were (I saw it many years ago!) I know that would be helpful. I have a vague recollection that they were british, but I could be steering you in the wrong direction... And yes, I do remember this scene being a little bit on the comical side. I wish I could help you more, both my brother and I are searching for this film, but I dont have much to work with but a faded memory.
Ooh, I think that the new officer looks through a perascope to see the enemy before ordering fire.
Thanks again for your help, please keep shaking those brains about!

I've thaught at first it was Merry Christmas / Joyeux Noël, but that film came out just two years ago.

He looks through either a perascope or a space in the wooden slats and sees the enemy very close. I think he gets a little flustered because he is new and the enemy trench is so close, but comes comes out with straight-out-of-a-text-book statements along the lines of 'you must attack at every opportunity' 'you musnt give the enemy a chance' etc. I remember him being very young and completely inexperienced.
I will post more if I think of anything, in the mean time, IMDB... The problem is that even if I see the title I prob wont recognise it

Could it be a monty python sketch? I always thought it was a film, but a friend mentioned that she remembers it as monty python....

No, Monty Python never did a sketch like that. Sounds more like something from "Blackadder Goes Forth," but I don't think so.

Did you get this far into IMDb, which to me is just as elusive to use than before their re-design -- you almost accidentally run into the right lists:

Movies with trench warfare:

. The Return of Paul Jarrett (1998) 9.4/10
2. Grande guerra, La (1959) 8.9/10
3. Paths of Glory (1957) 8.5/10
4. Tuntematon sotilas (1955) 8.2/10
5. Sergeant York (1941) 8.1/10
6. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) "
7. Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004) 7.9/10
8. Gallipoli (1981) 7.7/10
9. Tuntematon sotilas (1985) 7.6/10
10. Westfront 1918 (1930) "
11. Cross of Iron (1977) 7.5/10
12. Land and Freedom (1995) 7.4/10
13. Heroes for Sale (1933) 7.2/10
14. Archangel (1990) "
15. The Dawn Patrol (1930) "
16. Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV) 7.1/10
17. Two Arabian Knights (1927) "
18. Noah's Ark (1928) 7.0/10
19. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) (TV) "
20. The Blue Max (1966) 6.8/10
21. The Road to Glory (1936) 6.6/10
22. Chances (1931) 6.5/10
23. The Better 'Ole (1926) 6.4/10
24. The Fighting 69th (1940) "
25. The Trench (1999) 6.3/10
26. So Quiet on the Canine Front (1931) 6.0/10
27. Army Surgeon (1942) "
28. Back Pay (1930) 5.2/10
29. The Rights of Man: A Story of War's Red Blotch (1915) -
30. World War I (1987) (V) -
31. Great Guns (1927/I) -
32. Fighting the War (1916) -
33. With the Dardanelles Expedition (1916)

It was from the Australian TV mini-series "The Anzacs" made in the '80's. That scene, plus many others, is available on YouTube.

Just FYI, the post is from 14 years ago. They may be long gone.