Film critics are full of sh!t

[Chopperman]

How could anyone who saw a preview of Battleship go to it thinking it
was supposed to be a real war movie. Come on---it was aliens.
I liked it

[jimpy]

Beneath Hill 60, I will have to give that a go!

Obviously A Bridge too Far is an excellent film, was watching it last week, my only disappointment was some of the props they used, the tanks they used were obviously modern day and some of the German helmets were not very convincing but I guess that’s to be expected in the late 70’s and I am being over critical. That’s the only drawback now I am into this hobby, I pick up on things like that now, years ago I would not have even noticed!!!

BTW Terry, did not realise those deacts were yours in the other thread, excellent lookers!!!

Re: "A Bridge Too Far":
I thought that it was a good film but my late grandfather tore it to pieces and refused point blank to ever watch it again because of the way that Guards Armoured Division and XXX Corps was painted in the film. (He was a Serjeant/Tank commander A/CSM in Grenadier Guards and "was there")

@Totenhead: I dont know what version of the film you watched, but it was/is actually fairly accurate with the vehicles/tanks. IMO, the worst film for "inaccuracy with vehicles" has got to be "Battle of the Bulge" using M48/M60s as Tiger IIs. At least they got the M24 Chaffee right, but even the ones used in the film were the later post war version!

Regards etc

Ian D

AKA: Jimpy

[Matt L]

Yeah, these days I go into every historical movie expecting it to be inaccurate at the very least and utter crap more often than not and I'm usually either right or surprised in a good way LOL Occasionally, the reaction is more like I had with "Red Tails": expecting crap, and being right- but also being really annoyed at the criminal waste of potential LOL It could have been decent but was just brutally bad. I read somewhere that Lucas intended it to harken back to the wartime bad war movies and those of the 50s and 60s but they have a campy, amusing quality and how bad they really are can be overlooked as just the way things were back then. To try to recreate that is just silly because there's no longer that excuse. Tarantino has made that mistake a few times now.

I liked A Bridge Too Far because it wasn't the usual 'good guys, bad guys' tripe, it was simply a historical story (even if it had a lot of historical flaws), shown from all sides, and it isn't tarnished by any 'flag waving', 'Hulk Hogan match' silliness like some otherwise decent movies/miniseries are. Sadly the latter are what the majority will watch and since movies are a product for sale, makers pander to the lowest common denomenator most of the time. Luckily, there are exceptions like Letters from Iwo Jima, A Bridge Too Far, The Eagle Has Landed, The Cross of Iron, Hell is for Heroes, Hell in the Pacific, Midway, Der Untergang, Porkchop Hill, The Winter War (Talvisota), and others.

[MD Helmets]

I don't go into any war movie expecting an accurate history lesson, I just want to be entertained on a subject matter I enjoy. I liked Downfall and War Horse. I could have shot the TV watching Red Tails it was just so bad and the acting was the worst I have seen in years. The other movies you mention I have yet to see.

[octavian]

Have you seen WHEN TRUMPETS FADE? It's about the Hertgen Forest and the U.S. Infantry that got mauled? Damn good one and seldom seen. I know you all may like that one

[davejb]

I recently watched a film called "Fortress" about, yes you guessed it, a Flying Fortress, in essence it was'nt a bad film, not badly acted and on the whole enjoyable. the CG effects were pretty good and the battle scenes were realistic and bloody on occasions and was'nt filled with gung ho antics, but as for a true war film you cant really beat the likes of Das Boot, Cruel Sea, Above us the Waves, and films of that era, the Gift Horse was a pretty good film ,based on the St Nazaire operation. Band of Brothers is one of my all time favourites in the TV serial form, its accurate no holds barred factual entertainment, years ago on the set of "Bands", there was talk of a remake of The Longest Day with Speilberg in charge, if that came off i reckon it would be a blockbuster

[Totenhead]

@Totenhead: I dont know what version of the film you watched, but it was/is actually fairly accurate with the vehicles/tanks. IMO, the worst film for "inaccuracy with vehicles" has got to be "Battle of the Bulge" using M48/M60s as Tiger IIs. At least they got the M24 Chaffee right, but even the ones used in the film were the later post war version!

Regards etc

Hi Ian

Re: A Bridge Too Far, I bought it on Blu Ray a few weeks ago. The tank i meant was the German tank that drove across the Bridge and attacked the Para's, they tried to make it look like a Panzer 4, but it was obviously not, not sure what it was. Also i noticed quite a few of the Germans helmets did not even have vent holes; they were most likely just plastic props. It doesn't really matter, it’s a great film!

The Pianist is a great film, there is a scene in that which i picked up on, its 1939/40, there are German Polizie guarding a crossing in Warsaw, they are wearing M42 lids!!

I am not one of these sad people who watch films just to look for inaccuracies, but since I’ve into this hobby, i notice these flaws more often

I agree, worst film ever, Battle of the Bulge !! ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. CTRL+F5 reloads the whole page.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Re A Bridge Too Far: the tanks used were West German Leopard tanks: they were supposed to look like Panthers. My mate Bob actually drove the Leopard in the film! He was a tank driver in the 17th/21st Lancers at the time. Many of the extras in the film were serving British soldiers. He drove over the 45 gallon drum on the bridge (you see it get struck in the tanks mudguard) and the part where the "Panther" crashes through the corner of the building, he did without asking! Luckly Dickie Attenborough like it. You can also see Bob get killed as one of the Panzer crew outside the house where Gen Urqudhart (Sean Connery) was hiding in the loft.

Cheers, Ade.

[visor]

Try The Lost Battalion with Ricky Schroder.

[ObKrieger]

I can't wait for the day when someone makes a high-quality movie about a company of German Heer infantry on the Eastern Front. It would be great to follow a unit in a series reminiscent of 'Band of Brothers', starting with the unit's formation in Germany, then taking part in the invasion of Poland, Barbarossa, the retreat back to Germany, final combat in Germany, and then the escape across the Elbe to surrender to Americans. Unfortunately Hollywood has to be politically correct nowadays, however I think a portrayal of a Heer unit in this style could very easily make an entire series run without a single mention of Jews or the SS. The enemy (for the vast majority of the series) would be the Soviets, which obviously turned out to be a common enemy for both the Western Allies and the Germans. It would be great to see how innocent and naive German boys in 1939 come back to Berlin in 1945 as weary, aged veterans. Plus, if they do it before it's too late, they can get interviews of German soldiers who actually served on the Eastern Front.

Who's with me? Let's start a petition. haha