I'm reviving an old thread of mine-to redirect-Favorite Anti-war movies?

[w8liftinglady]

the original thread was here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1336630#1336837

Let's move away from the fluff,and refocus on the real issues.

[AngryAmish]

1. Disorderlies

[w8liftinglady]

2. some that I hadn't heard of.. "Stalingrad"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108211/
"Stalingrad" follows the progress of a German Platoon through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After having half their number wiped out and after being placed under the command of a sadistic Captain, the Lieutenant of the platoon leads his men to desert. The men of the platoon attempt to escape from the city which is now surrounded by the Soviet Army.

[slor]

7. Stalingrad is one of my favorites...

it really captures the hopelessness the Germans must have felt. Other good ones are "Come and See" aka "Idi i Smotri" is a Russian film. I saw it after a review by Sean Penn, and it really lays out the barbarity of the war on the Eastern front. "Downfall" should not be missed either.

[Blue_Tires]

9. another vote for "Downfall"

and MASH is just about anti-everything (except life, drugs and sex)

[BrklynLiberal]

3. That was a great thread. "Johnny Got His Gun" came to my mind first.

[selador]

4. used in

the metallica video "one" iirc also

[Cyrano]

5. "The Deer Hunter." What I found most extraordinary about this great film

is that at the very end, after everything the characters have gone through, they still love their country as witnessed by all of them singing "God Bless America."

Most of them have had their lives torn apart in one way or another, yet they still buy into the ancient tribalism, that we now call patriotism. And none of them realizes that they are all victims who have been used and abused by a cynical government.

Nonetheless, you can't fail to admire them all. Then again, you could throw Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro into a Jack the Ripper movie, and you'd still love them.

[Blue_Tires]

6. apocalypse now

dr. strangelove
seven beauties
patton (very ambiguous in meaning; it can definitely be seen as antiwar if viewed correctly)
born on the fourth of july

[Blue_Tires]

8. tigerland was a VERY underrated antiwar film

as was 'tribes' (but i can't remember if the movie was antiwar as a whole, or just had antiwar themes)

[Blue_Tires]

10. from the list in that thread, a couple that bear repeating are

das boot and casualties of war...

[BOSSHOG]

11. I'd have to suggest

that Forrest Gump is quite anti-war. With the bad things that happened to Lieutenant Dan! and Forrest's partner in the shrimp business.

[Cyrano]

13. Oh, come on, BOSSHOG.

Everyone knows that "Forrest Gump" was a Chinese propaganda film. Ping pong is nothing but a "Manchurian Candidate" type game that was conceived to convert us all to Communism. And poor Forrest fell for it. (Didn't he end up mowing lawns for free?)

Then again, the film contains moments of true justice. After all, how many got to moon Lyndon Johnson back in the Vietnam era?

Nonetheless, wouldn't it be great to go wading into the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial?

[BOSSHOG]

20. Ya gotta come down

to New Orleans and eat at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company Restaurant on Decatur Street. Its a museum of the movie, complete with T-shirts and other paraphernalia and the seafood menu is very, very nice. The shrimp is fixed several different ways and they do a great job with Mahi Mahi.

I was a pretty awesome ping pong player way back in my youngin days in the 60's. You do have a point because I always squinted when I went in for the kill shot.

[Cyrano]

22. Hey, even if you're a commie, I'd love to goto Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. with you.

Let's face it. Theology is theology, but really good shrimp dishes are irresistible.

[BOSSHOG]

23. I have an incredible weakness for Shrimp

Its the third weekend of the month so me and the wife are going down Saturday to the monthly Arts and Crafts show right off the quarter. Hopefully we'll get caught up in a St Patty's Day Parade and we plan on eating at Pralines, "Best Soulfood in town." Fried Shrimp, Fried Okra and Mustard Greens with a couple of cornbread muffins washed down by Iced Tea. Oh My! Then a stroll to Beckham's Used Book Store to find me a treasure amidst the musty bookshelves. Lordy Life can be good at times.

[Cyrano]

25. That sounds so great. My envy runneth over. Enjoy.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. The Ultimate: All's Quiet on the Western Front (1931) with Lew Ayes.

[Loki]

14. A devastating HBO documentary

Last year marked the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. White Light/Black Rain was comprised of the stories of the survivors who were children at the time. If you can watch that without being affected, you have no human soul.

[Adsos Letter]

15. "Go Tell the Spartans"...starring Burt Lancaster...

another great Lancaster flick with themes related to your subject would be "Seven Days in May" (with Kirk Douglas, too)

And don't forget "Failsafe" for the nuclear theme...although Seven Days in May addresses that also.

[JackRiddler]

16. Paths to Glory (Kubrick, 1957)

And Full Metal Jacket was the master's screw-off to the liberal golly-gee Vietnam films of the 1980s, like Platoon.

While we're at it: Dr. Strangelove.

[lame54]

19. yes - the scene where...

they are charging through no man's land is insane
does not want to make me enlist

[JackRiddler]

21. That is just one of the greatest scenes in movies ever!

The way it was shot mostly at a distance in continuous takes - astonishing craft - makes it one of the true moments when you are literally riveted to the screen.

[bryant69]

17. Duck Soup by the Marx Brothers

"I'd be unworthy of the high trust that's been placed in me if I didn't do everything in my power to keep our beloved Freedonia in peace with the world. I'd be only too happy to meet with Ambassador Trentino, and offer him on behalf of my country the right hand of good fellowship. And I feel sure he will accept this gesture in the spirit of which it is offered. But suppose he doesn't. A fine thing that'll be. I hold out my hand and he refuses to accept. That'll add a lot to my prestige, won't it? Me, the head of a country, snubbed by a forgein ambassador. Who does he think he is, that he can come here, and make a sap of me in front of all my people? Think of it - I hold out my hand and that hyena refuses to accept. Why, the cheap ball-pushing swine, he'll never get away with it I tell you, he'll never get away with it.

(Trentino enters)

So, you refuse to shake hands with me, eh?

(slaps Trentino with his glove)"

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Arctic Dave]

18. If you want to read a book

I would suggest Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead". He gives an excellent description of WWII. From the guys in the trenches to the sometimes pettiness of the officers in charge. This book is brutal, gritty, enraging but most of all, about as accurate of war as I have read.

[MadinMo]

24. Alice's Restaurant

[LanternWaste]

26. Best Years of Our Lives.

I happen to also think it was Dana Andrews best screen performance. There's a chilling scene in which he gets into the cockpit of a bomber being methodically taken apart at a salvage yard-- every time I see that scene, it feels as though my BP is bottoming out.