I never listen to critics. I'd rather make up my own review. ;)

Seriously, I didn't think it was "pro-Confederate". I thought the Confederate side got equal time with the Union side, something most pieces on this period are afraid to do. So that novelty got my attention.
On the other hand, it did sound like much of the dialogue came from correspondence, rather than real-life conversations.

But again, I liked it because it gave a range of perspectives and political POVs on the war and what led up to it. Most civil-war-era pieces break it down to: "South bad and will always be bad, North must be good and always good by default." Now THAT is two-dimensional and self-righteous!

(Great topic, Arya!)
--add

What about Saving Ryan's Privates?

How about "Glory"? I don't know how realistic it was, but it was very stirring.

Very good movie and based on a true story so it was realistic then at least.

I suppose a bad war movie kind of makes you want to go out and fight in combat . . . makes dying not look so bad.

A good war movie should give a sense of visceral terror.

Think the Old army movies with John Wayne and company.

Glory made me want to go kill people.

The first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan made me want to hide underneath my bed.

How about "apocalypse now" and "full metal jacket"?

"We were soldiers" was a good realisitic movie.

"Band of brothers" is good if you call it a movie.

"Pearl Harbor" was good but not realistic. The battles where but not the same person making each one.

"Platoon" is a classic.

"Tora Tora Tora" is a good one and was suprizingly fair to both sides for the times anyway.

"Kelly's hero's" and t"he great escape" were good movies but not sure they were realistic.

I really like "hamburger hill".

I can remember watching this with a male friend of mine, both of us teary-eyed, and my saying, "Damn you for making me root for the Yankees! Pass the Kleenex..."

I thought that Gettysburg was even-handed, too. The scene when Chamberlain is told that his troop had seen enough action, why don't they head to the back (which was about to be attacked) was priceless!!

I can't believe I forgot about "Saving Private Ryan" :eek: My father MADE me watch this movie. Not one word was spoken until the very end. At that point, I looked over to see my dad crying silently. All I could ask was "was it really that bad?"


-sidenote- If you ever get a chance to read "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw, do it! I read it in one sitting. Very moving!


-->we now return you back to your regularly scheduled thread :p

DA, do you mean "Blazing Saddles?"
Funniest movie EVAR!!

"That's Hedley!"

In my humble opinion, which doesn't count for much...

Battle of Britain - best WWII aviation movie.
Saving Private Ryan
A Bridge Too Far
Tora! Tora! Tora! - best Pearl Harbor movie.
The Longest Day - before SPR one of the best movies on D-Day.

Hmmm... on a WW2 kick?

The Longest Day... not as "realistic", but true to the facts - I like that they made the effort to show all of the forces involved.

Tora! Tora! Tora!... another good, balanced movie - showing the battle from both the Japanese and American perspectives.

A Bridge Too Far... interesting and engaging, with great playing of the fighting spirit of Airborne troops.

Battle of Britain... an oldie but a goodie, with some pretty massive air fight scenes (helps to have a lot of WW2 planes still around when filmed) - unfortunately the special effects look dated, but if you can look past that you'll find a brilliant film.

Commenting on AlphaSigOU got me to thinking a bit more about War films... and the more I thought about it, the more good (ie. realistic/factual) films I remembered:

Das Boot - riveting film about the crew of a German sub.

The Great Escape - while over the top at times, surprisingly it does stay very close the the actual events.

All Quiet on the Western Front - Perhaps the first "anti-war" movie made, a classic that should be seen.

Glory - The Civil War movie for me... the battle scenes (especially the end) are superbely done.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - odd one out, but it portrays a characture figure of the pig headed traditional British officer; rendered all the more interesting because it was filmed during the war in 1943.

"Is it twue what they say about the way you people are... gifted?"

Zzzzzzzip

"Oh it's twue.... it's twue.... it's twue!"

Troy is very accurate. Orlando Bloom did a great job depicting Legolas.