Ditto. Good read. Don’t really remember the movie.
I watched “The Battle of the Bulge” once with my grandfather. He saw it “in technicolor, on the original screening” as he put it. Anyway, I asked him what he thought afterwards, and he said “No one looked cold enough”.
Good observation, sez me. Now I judge war movies on how hot/cold, wet, dirty, hungry, and generally miserable the characters look.
I think Band of Brothers was probably the best that Hollywood can do.
What really happens to nineteen year old young men in heavy combat can never really be “recreated “ in film or even books. Films and books may give others some idea of the emotions and horror but most veterans will never find the depictions totally spot on. It is a tragedy when necessity forces young men to engage in such horrors.
For realism and closest to the actual situation and attitudes, I gave my vote to "We Were Soldiers". They had the forethought to bring the actual commander of the Ia Drang firefight into the production that really made sure they didn't stray off into the land of fiction. For action depiction of the battle they were right on. Talked to some of my guys at a Ft Benning reunion I asked those that saw the movie what they thought and got a resounding approval. The writers/producers really scored big with vets when the movie showed the shots from the wives and girlfriends back home waiting. Hard tugs at the heartstrings for the guys. A very real depiction of Air Assault in its infancy. I came in behind the 1965 guys at Ft Benning by just over a year when Air Assault had matured a bit and found it really on the spot.
“Now I judge war movies on how hot/cold, wet, dirty, hungry, and generally miserable the characters look.”
I do that all the time, too. People may breath out clouds of steam, but nobody is shivering or freezing.
And it is not just war movies, either. My favorites are the 40s through 60s westerns where you see people riding the range for weeks or riding in bumpy, dust-filled stage coaches for days who emerge with freshly pressed, sparkling clean clothes, perfectly coiffed hair, and the ladies have perfect makeup on. The men get off their horses with spotless and freshly pressed shirts with nary a hint of dust or a smudge anywhere to be seen.
Ten minutes in my garden and I’m covered in dirt, grime and mud, but not those folks.
“The Battle of the Bulge” while very entertaining was a mile short in some areas. I mean Germans with .50 cal’s?