Best and worst historical movies.

[Jeff]

Ok the thread title says it all. I will start.

Here are two I started out liking but the more I saw them the more I hated them.
"Brave Heart". I liked this film the first couple of times I saw it but the more I saw it the less I liked it. I do still kind of like the brutality of the battle scenes. But I never liked the costumes they were all just horrible. Robert the Bruce was not a soft indecisive man. He burned his own castle to keep it out of English hands. If Wallace was the spark that was to light the torch of Scottish independence Bruce was the rock that Scotland was built on. The real history was so much more interesting. I could go on but why bother.

"Dances With Wolfs". Again liked it when I fist saw it but have slowly grown to hate it, for lots of reasons.

A good historical film "Tora! Tora! Tora! " It still stands up pretty well even if it is a little slow.

Now for another bad." Pearl Harbor". This film was just horrible in my book. It had a few good moments but you had to sit through hours of movie for the few genuine moments. This film was written by Randal Wallace who also happened to write "Brave Heart".


I will end with three I like.

"Saving Private Rayn"

One the last of the big War epics "A Bridge Too Far."

One of my all time favorite historical films "All Quite On The Western Front". I just watched the first film ,and it is still a great movie.

I could go on and on but how about some of you put up some of your likes and dislikes.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

hmm,
least favourite....
been a long time since Ive been disappointed with a film, I tend to be choosy now a days.

Most enjoyed historical movies
The Killing Fields - good story about friendship over space and time through the Horrors of the Cambodian Year Zero pogrom

Letters from Iwo Jima - I found it personally wrenching in places, again, young men in war, not glorified at all

Gladiator - Nice action romp with Roman motif, accuracy is variable (or Hollywood accurate...) great sound track!

Saving Private Ryan- continue to enjoy it, some parts are starting to lose their appeal

Gallipoli - Very enjoyable film, recommended to the Commonwealth Brethren, the story of two Aussies who make their way into the army and ultimately the Gallipoli campaign

Breaker Morant- a movie about what happens to some soldiers, as the war in South Africa (The Boer war) winds up, and politics raises its ugly maw.

Tora Tora Tora - Agree with Jeff

Last Samurai - Ken Watanabe is very impressive, some fellow called Cruise got the snot beat out of him, which I really liked. I felt the film had three endings, which detracted a lot for me. Still, thumbs up for Ken Watanabe

Hmm, not so liked

Pearl Harbour.....too much....well.....just overdone.....

On the future viewing list
Schindler's List and Gandhi.

Only a few of those have made the grade to figure status.......hmmm

Cheers

 

[Jeff]

Oh man I am right there with you on "Breaker Morant" and "Gallipoli" both great films. I have not seen the "Killing Fields" in a long time. All of those are heart breakers.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

oh, just remembered, 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence'

Great performances by Tom Conti and Takashi Kitano, particularly the closing scene.

Really captures (for me, at least) the idea that behind the cultural differences, we share more then we may realise.

Good question Jeff,

Cheers

 

[Anders Heintz]

Interesting thread!!

Though I am not sure about historical accuracies most of the time I generally take the movies for what they are and don't look for inaccuracies like some do. Really, when I watch historical movies I always look for ideas for future projects, eventhough the movie may not be accurate, it is still a tool for inspiration. With the visual effects at the high levels we enjoy these days, it is much easier to get a visual feel for what it was like during the time period the film is set in.


So for what it's worth, here are a few I enjoy and hae found some sort of inspiration from.

Gladiator - Love it! Maybe all hollywood, but it's still cool and the initial battle scene is interesting, atleast gives an idea of what things may have looked like.

The Patriot - The line infantry battle scenes is what inspired me to do a vignette of the same thing, good flick!

John Adams - a Great series, though perhaps not a movie, but was extrememly well done and very interesting.

Gettysburg and Gods and Generals - both good movies, prefer the latter though, its a nice change to be more of character driven war movie with Jackson and Chambelain as main characters.

The Winter War - Movie about the Finish-Ruso winter war. Entirley in Finish/Russian, a very gripping film.

Black Hawk Down

Generation Kill - Once again, HBO mini series, but great series nontheless.

There are many more, but those are a few I enjoy.

As for the not so good ones...

The New World - ZZzzzZzzzZzzznoooooooooooooooore!!!

Alexander The Great - The first edition. It actually got better with each new 'directors cut'. I liked the last one a fair bit more then the original theatre version.

Thin Red Line - Just could never get into it.

The First Knight - Richard Gere, need more be said?

Jarhead

Full Metal Jacket - Bootcamp part of movie is brilliant, the rest is not so brilliant.

etc etc

 

[Ray]

How about 'Band of Brothers', not a box office film to be sure but very well done as a mini series. 'Brave Heart', to me was a kind of candy like film, good while it lasts but not much substance when finished.

"Breaker Morant' is an all time favorite of mine, 'Gallipoli' is right up there with the best, and I also liked "The Light Horsemen'. Either version of 'All Quiet on the Western Front' are good though the older is perhaps the better of the two. It is sometimes difficult seeing 'John Boy' in the film, but Ernest Borgnine, wonderful.

I can't believe I'm going to be the first to mention 'Zulu', not exactly accurate, but hey it's a film for a larger audience not weirdoes that actually care about these things and that sometimes even know a little about them. I would have to say that the same applies (to a greater extent) to 'A Bridge Over the River Kwui', still a good film, and worth the hour and a half or so to watch.

How about a fairly obscure 'A Christmas Story', with of all people the original Sarah Conner as the central character?

‘The Lost Battalion” with Ricky Schroeder (who would have thunk it) was quite good and a rear WW1 film. Another that I liked (though it was almost twenty years ago when I last saw it so might not like anymore) was ‘Anzacs’, Crocodile Dundee played the lead, I think, another odd choice.

Not at all a war story, but good never the less as an historical entry is “The Changeling”, with eh……what’s her name, Laura Croft.

Although not really in the category of 'Historical' films, though the period and some few of the events are historical, I have to nominate 'The Last of the Mohicans'. This one, to my mind, has it all-excepting car chases, gratuitous nudity, adult language, and lack of a plot that is-wonderful cinematography, absolutely stunning setting, a fine and moving story, and a beautiful soundtrack.

I'm sure that a few more minutes spent thinking about it would result in numerous other nominations, and a more lengthy reply, so I stop here, noting only that the last nominated is perhaps my favorite on the list.




Ray

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for starting this thread.

Favourite historical movies;

The Lighthorsemen - The charge of 800 Australian Lighthorsemen at Beersheba makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time.

A Bridge Too Far - stellar cast and a great story of a profound military disaster. A great movie by Sir Richard Attenborough.

Patton- George C. Scott is a tour de force in this role. The rivalry between Patton and Montgomery was every bit as fierce as Patton's hatred of the Nazis.

Zulu - despite a few glaring mistakes, the battle scenes are epic. The Zulu war chants still send a shiver down my spine.

Worst historical movies

Pearl Harbor - What a load of schlocky, schmaltzy, flag waving, Hollywood bollocks!!

Alexander - Even the Director's cut couldn't save this turkey. The Irish accent was the least of my problems. Makes me wish for the Richard Burton version again- a that was rubbish too.

300 Spartans - Long before "300", Hollywood gave us this piece of crap. The acting is dreadful and the battle scenes are laughable. The costumes wouldn't look out of place in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Kingdon of Heaven - Oh please. A French peasant blacksmith becomes saviour of Jerusalem and then rides off into the sunset with the Queen. Fanciful twaddle.

 

[btavis]

Aside from most of those above which I enjoy there are a lot of older movies that have always been my favorites.

The Lost Patrol - 1934. With Victor McLaglen and Boris Karloff. Great movie by John Ford about a detail of British cavalry during WWI stuck in an oasis in Mesopotamia while one by one Arab snipers pick them off. Great scene where Boris Karloff goes nuts.

The Four Feathers - 1939 by Zoltan Korda. Great story about the British in Sudan that was remade a couple of times but never as good as this version.

Gunga Din - 1939. Another fantastic story even if some of the acting is over the top (particularly Cary Grant).

Drums - 1938. Another "sun never sets" British Empire movie also by Zoltan Korda.

Alexander Nevsky - 1938. A great movie from the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein.

Sahara - 1943. Once again Zoltan Korda directed this fabulous little gem with Humphrey Bogart in the leading role. A small group of Americans and Brits hold off a battalion of German Afrika Korps in a fight over water.

A Walk in the Sun - 1943. GIs in Italy during WWII. Some great character studies and and a real classic.

Pork Chop Hill - 1959. Great movie with Gregory Peck about the Korean War. Directed by Lewis Milestone who also did A Walk in the Sun.

Lawrence of Arabia - 1962. By far one of the best character study movies of a very complex man. Fantastic acting by Peter O'Toole and a terrific story.

The Duelists - 1977. Ridley Scott of Alien fame directed this great story of two Napoleonic cavalry officers locked in a feud that lasts sixteen years. Great period piece.

The Blue Max - 1966. Any movie with Ursula Andress is okay in my book.

Memphis Belle - 1990. Gripping story of a B-17 crew in WWII.

Obviously there are many others but these are ones I never tire of watching.

 

[khorgor]

ah shame on you fellows for not mentioning Downfall as one of the best ;-) (I won't mangle the german spelling..so please forgive me for not using the proper name)

In my opinion its hard to say you enjoy war movies so I generally don't push any as my favourites. Downfall constantly enters my conversation as the year or so after I watched it, I can still remember most of it quite vividly.
Oh - I also enjoy Das Boot - See a trend here?

Anyways, for my worst film I have to say Pearl Harbour. Love triangles plus two pilots defeating an entire japanese air fleet... arrrrrg

I don't understand the hate at Braveheart. Sure some parts of it are quite silly (love interests and some others), but technically it followed history quite well after the first assault on the english (as none of Wallace's history was known before he went a killing)
Plus you got a awesome soundtrack to boot. ;-)

 

[Johan]

I agree that Braveheart, Pearl Harbor, etc. aren't good movies, for above mentioned reasons.

I do like "Lonesome Dove", "The Messenger", and "Gallipoli".

 

[Uruk-Hai]

These are the two worst I can come to think of.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE1YxzF0SzA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDuzZ2VL98k

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[magister militum]

Best: Downfall

Worst: The Patriot.

 

[Anders Heintz]

I agree with the previous poster about the film Changeling, what a great movie! Totaly blew me away when I saw it, I had never heard of it before so it was quite interesting.

Lonesome Dove is also an amazing film. Very accurate and Gus has to be one of the best characters ever written in a book/movie.

 

[jjgurk]

Just a few of my favorites:
The Hill and The Train, probably my top 2.....
The Bedford Incident
Fail Safe
King Rat
Das Boot
Downfall
Saving Private Ryan
I really enjoyed the A&E movie The Lost Battalion
Band of Brothers. Every year I seem to have marathon with the series over a long weekend so I'll consider it one long movie.......
Apocolypse Now redux
Battleground
Black Hawk Down
The Thin Red Line
Gettysburg
Master and Commander
Stalingrad
12 O'Clock High

 

[garyjd]

The BEST
Master and Commander
The Duellists
Barry Lyndon
The Last of the Mohicans
Breaker Morant
Zulu
Gallipoli
The Lighthorsemen
Glory
Waterloo
All Quiet on the Western Front
Blackhawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers (one very looonnng movie to me)
Gettysburg (barely makes the BEST list. All the inaccuracies and all the overweight and old reenactors make it distracting to watch)
A Very Long Engagement
Memphis Belle
The Sand Pebbles
Longest Day
Bridge too Far
Paths of Glory
John Adams (another HBO program, don't know how I forgot this)

The WORST
Pearl Harbor
God and Generals (More like God awful Generals)
The Patriot
The Big Red One


The BEST Historical Comedy
1941

I'm sure I'll think of more. ~Gary

 

[lock-n-load]

my favorites:
A Bridge Too Far
Blackhawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
Zulu
Gallipoli
A Midnight Clear
Lost Battalion
The Beast

My least Favs:
Patton
Thin Red Line
Pearl Harbor
Enemy at the Gates (except for the battle scene crossing the bridge/river...."we don't have enough rifles....don't worry, soon there will be plenty")

Question.............

Does anyone remember a scene with charging British Cavalry (WW1 maybe) and their opponents did not change the sight/range adjustment on their rifles so all the rounds went over thir heads!!??? Anyone know which flick that scene was from???

 

[Ray]

A few I didn't think to mention earlier;

The Blue Max (someone beat me to this one)

A Farewell to Arms

Cross of Iron ('Just let me eat one')

The Sandpebles

The Longest Day

The Beast (for something obscure but good, Afghanistan circa 1980's)

Run Silent Run Deep

Atonement (not just because of Keira Knightly being in it either)

Tess of the Durbervilles (a little off topic perhaps but a nicely done, and tragic period piece)



Ray

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Michael,
the scene you described reminds me of "The Light horsemen", where the ANZAC Light Cavalry advanced rapidly, and the Turkish soldiers, didn't adjust their sights....

Tony Dawe may correct me on that.
(of course, it may have been portrayed in other movies too)

Last of the Mohicans; Wes Studi really brought the character of Magua to life, in my opinion.

Enemy at the gates is a popcorn movie for me.

For some fun, 7 Samurai, Sanjuro and Yojimbo (Which are really samurai western movies, still fun)

...I suspect my last comment may be drifting from the thread....

 

[geaugan]

Lock-N-Load: The Lighthorsemen

They Won't Charge - Right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvjE3h0Ahz8

"Into Legend" Fortress an Australian band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmJdCLJWm3o

 

[quang]

For some fun, 7 Samurai, Sanjuro and Yojimbo (Which are really samurai western movies, still fun)

Jamie,

These Kurosawa films were the original templates for 3 classic western movies: The Magnificent Seven (John Sturges), A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone).

These westerns were disguised samurai movies. Not the other way round .

As for historical films, my current favourite is MERRY CHRISTMAS by Christian Caron, one of the most realistic WWI movies I've seen. Unjustly dismissed as 'Hollyweird' and 'unrealistic' by some, yet it's well-researched and accurate to the very last detail. The film cannot be fully appreciated until you listen to the highly instructive director's commentary on the DVD.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Quang