Great WWII Movies.

Jan, 05 2002 | Justice

[Iris7]

I like what you said about Audie Murphy. His ability to see and do what was needed under the most extreme pressure was without equal, to my knowledge. A very modest man.

After the war, I've read, he always carried a .45, usually in the small of his back.

[bradactor]

No one has mentioned "Sink the Bismark."
Brad

[bradactor]

SINK THE BISMARK
Inspired by the 1960 film "Sink the Bismarck"
(Written by Tillman Franks and Johnny Horton)
Johnny Horton - Peaked at # 3 in 1960


In may of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun
The germans had the biggest ships
That had the biggest guns
The Bismark was the fastest ship
That ever sailed the seas
On her deck were guns as big as steers
And shells as big as trees
Out of the cold and foggy night
Came the british ship the Hood
And ev'ry british seaman he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismark the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as bid as steers
And those shells as big as trees

We'll find that german battleship
That's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismark
'Cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin' boys
And spin those guns around
When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down

The Hood found the Bismark and on that fatal day
The Bismark started firin' fifteen miles away
We gotta sink the Bismark was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away
The mighty Hood went down
For six long days and weary nights
They tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people put ev'ry ship a-sail
'Cause somewhere on that ocean
I know she's gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismark to the bottom of the sea

We'll find that german battleship
That's makin' such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismark
'Cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin' boys
And spin those guns around
When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down

The fog was gone the seventh day
And they saw the mornin' sun
Ten hours away from homeland
The Bismark made its run
The admiral of the british fleet said
Turn those bows around
We found that german battleship
And we're gonna cut her down

The british guns were aimed
And the shells were comin' fast
The first shell hit the Bismark
They knew she couldn't last
That mighty german battleship is just a memory
Sink the Bismark was the battle cry
That shook the seven seas

We found that german battleship
Was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismark
'Cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin' and
We spun those guns around
We found the mighty Bismark
And then we cut her down

We found that german battleship
Was makin' such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismark
'Cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin' and
We spun those guns around
We found the mighty Bismark
And then we cut her down

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Battleground, this is a great flick about guys in the battle of the Bulge

Agreed. "Battleground" puts that campy 60's version: "The Battle of the Bulge" to shame.

[fightinJAG]

Yes, I have to recommend SPR, too.

The first time I went to see it (I have seen it 9 times at the theater---long story---and I am a person who never goes to a movie twice), there was a man behind me who was talking quite loudly. I was getting a little irritated. Finally, I turned around to look at him and I saw that he was at least in his 80's. He was staring straight ahead at the screen, tears streaming down his face. His wife whispered into his ear, "Is that what it was like, honey?" He just nodded.

I noticed he was wearing hearing aids, which explained why his stagevoice was rather loud.

I turned around sobbing myself. I thought, hats off you to, my friend, talk as loud as you need to.

It reminded me of a trip the spousal unit and I made to the American cemetary in Luxembourg. In the visitor's hall there is a very large map showing the advance of the Allied forces.

The year we were there, it was the 50th anniversary of WWII. We often saw old soldiers, many back in Europe for the first time since the war, retracing the events of their lives.

On this day, there was a quite elderly couple in the visitor's hall with us. The husband was showing his wife the map.

"Here is where we landed," he pointed out. Then he traced his finger along the lines: "It took us about three days to march to this town."

Then his finger stopped at a point and his face began to tremble. He said, "And this is where we lost Joe." Then he began to cry softly and his wife laid her gray head on his shoulder.

Husband and I both choked up, too.

God bless them who won our freedom and those defending us today.

[fightinJAG]

I can also vote for Von Ryan's Express.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

"The Big Red One" & "The Dirty Dozen" - a Lee Marvin twofer!

[fightinJAG]

Speaking of renting DVDs, has anyone tried netflix.com or any of the other services where you rent DVDs through the mail for a monthly membership fee?

[fightinJAG]

More good WWII comedy: Three Jills in a Jeep.

[BlueLancer]

John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Ryan, Burgess Meredith ...

In Harm's Way

[fightinJAG]

Mrs. Minerva---yes! Memphis Belle, too.

[BlueLancer]

"More good WWII comedy..."

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

[MrTed]

For interesting studies in different styles of leadership, try the following three movies:

Away All Boats

The Caine Mutiny

Mr Roberts

[Cincinatus]

Over 130 posts and nobody has mentioned Hell is for Heroes??

[dighton]

The More the Merrier

[JohnGalt]

1977's Cross of Iron is a great anti-war film from the German perspective.

[helper]

I second your pick.

[Hatteras]

I have enjoyed a good majority of what has been mentioned. Older b&w classics and their modern day counterparts. But I also liked some that I wouldn't consider a "War Movie" because WWII, although very prominent, wasn't the overriding theme as much as it was a backdrop.

"Islands in the Stream" (George C. Scott)
"Murphy's War" (Peter O'Toole) my wife thought I was nuts for liking this one
"Farewell to the King" (Nick Nolte)

There are many, many more and I'll recall them as I read the rest of the thread. I'll have to create a new list for my next trip to Blockbuster. Thanks...

[Hatteras]

"I'll have to go down as the only person who didn't like "Saving Private Ryan"."

I can't say that I hated it, but I couldn't get past Tom Hanks. Of course, in the end, the point was that Hanks wasn't a "War Hero" but an ordinary guy who was unwittingly put on a pedestal by his subordinates and in "reality" was just a school teacher but come on, this guy was wearing dresses on a weekly basis with Peter Scolari in Bosom Buddies.

And besides, in general, when Tom Hanks "acts", it is very obvious that he is acting. I never thought he was that good of an actor. The rest of the movie was, IMHO, pretty good.

[BlueLancer]

"John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Ryan, Burgess Meredith ..."

Heck ... Patricia Neal ...
also Carroll O'Connor, Slim Pickens, Tom Tryon, and Paula Prentiss ...