Thursday, February 28, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #37


Thirteen Things about Valtool
Thirteen Favorite War Movies (in no specific order)


1. Glory - Matthew Broderick was a supporting character as the Colonel of the first all black regiment commissioned by the United States Army. Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Andre Braugher stole the film though. I'm told the historical innacuracy level was high, especially in the charge on the Confederate forrt at the end.

2. Gettysburg - In my mind, the best film focussing on the American Civil War. Ted Turner funded this project which had Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee, and a great supporting cast including Sam Elliott, Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels and C. Thomas Howell.

3. Braveheart - A group of people determined to fight or die for the freedom to live their lives without the rule of a tyrant influencing their every breath.

4. Patton - If you like tanks.... George C. Scott in his defining role.

5. Saving Private Ryan - An examination of an intriguing question. How many lives should you risk in order to save one and in doing so assuage the grief of a mother. Another ensemble cast lead by Tom Hanks, and one of Steven Spielberg's best directoral works.

6. The Patriot - When I forst saw this, I considered it a sequel to Braveheart. Here's Mel Gibson leading rebels against England hundreds of years after the last time, but it grew on me. I especially liked his friend who later went on to play the angel Earl in TNT's Saving Grace.

7. Last of the Mohicans - one of my two favorite Daniel Day Lewis films. Beautifully filmed in the North Carolina mountains, with a wonderful score and a brilliant adaptation of the novel.

8. M*A*S*H - the anti-war war movie. Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, and Gary Burgough (the only cast member from the movie to appear in the TV series.

9. Kelly's Heroes - Another untypical story for a war movie. This was more of a heist movie during a war, with a comic element and yet another ensemble cast lead by Clint Eastwood, and featuring Donald Sutherland as a hippie tank commander (a hippie in WW II).

10. Red Dawn - It's not based on a real war, but if you liked action films in the 80's, this was a great one. Wolverines!

11. Cold Mountain - Here's a look at how a war affects those who are left behind while the men go off to fight. I don't care much for Jude Law, but I have to say Nicole Kidman is beautiful, and Renee Zellwegger was awesome as Ruby.

12. Rambo : First Blood Part 2 - Stallone was in his prime at a time when feel good about America kicking evil nation's asses was a primary theme for action films. John J. Rambo, you are NOT expendable.

13. Stripes - Okay, it's an army movie, no actual war, but it is hilarious. Men understand why Stripes is funny (or at least I read that once online). Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Jude Rheinhold, and Joh Laroquette.



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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great list. I love war movies!

Anonymous said...

Stripes is Hilarious! Great list. I would add Enemy at the Gates.

Juliana RW said...

I watched Braveheart and Patriot. Good movies.

Will you visit mine :D Thanks

pussreboots said...

Most of your list I haven't seen but I do like #8. Happy TT.

Sparky Duck said...

Glory is a classic movie and Braveheart has great speeches that you could easily see yourself being fired up about

Kay Day said...

I like The Great Escape,
Victory,and Jouex Noel. And a lot of the ones you mentioned, too.

Rebecca said...

Wow, I've actually watched 5 of those! Happy TT!

I didn't do a TT today - but I did tag you for a MeMe, come by to see what it's about! :-)

Neen said...

Some great films you got listed there. I adore M*A*S*H

Anonymous said...

I got Gettysburg from Blockbuster but I gave up after a while because there were too many people in ridiculous huge fake beards, assuming the facial expressions of stuffed penguins and saying portentous things like “I will fight for the dignity of the State of Virginia” etc. After a while it was hard not to laugh!

The open sequence of Saving Private Ryan was a heart stopping representation of what it was like to make a frontal assault on a defended position. It was probably about as accurate as one can be in a film without actually killing people. The rest of the movie, in spite of the ridiculous premise of the story, was very well done.

Braveheart was fiction from start to finish. The danger is people will believe it actually happened.

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I could NOT read Cold Mountain, but I'm eager to see the flick.

All in all, I'd say I'm not a war movie fan, but I've seen an awful lot of these.

Lori's Light Extemporanea said...

I don't think I've seen any of these. I guess I'm just not a war movie chick. Hubby saw Braveheart and, while he liked it, he said that I wouldn't. He's known me for almost 20 years so I definitely trust his judgement.

Thanks for the condolences today. :-)

Jeff said...

Right up my alley! This is a list I can get behind, though I would add The Great Escape as well as Sands of Iwo Jima, A Walk in the Sun, Paths of Glory, Das Boot, Shenandoah, Heartbreak Ridge, Mr. Roberts ... I'll just stop here. Too many to list!