Most Accurate Military Movie
 

Has to be Hot Shots or Hot Shots Part Deux.

If you disagree, I'll kick you in the gonads.

It was Stripes, and I'm wearing a cup.

If you wanna throw those out there, then Louis Gossett Jr. in An Officer And A Gentleman probably had the most "intense, rigorous" DI ever...he puts R. Lee Ermey to shame...

Nah, definitely Top Gun.

Believe me, ALL Navy pilots look like Maverick, Iceman and the boys. Especially those six packs you can see when they're playing shirtless volleyball.

And they all have really kewl callsigns, too, like "Hollywood", "Viper" and "Jester".

Yeah, you had to wonder where the gratuituous volleyball scene factored into the plot, especially given that the players were mostly posing not playing. :p

LMAO at "gratuituous volleyball"!!! :D

Black Hawk Down

I find it ironic that this topic is posted. I just got done watching "Antwone Fisher" with Denzel Washington. It is a true story that didn't get much time or credit, but it will definitely make you appreciate what you have in your life.

The other one that comes to mind is with Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Men of Honor. Another true story about a Navy diver.


But I did like the volleyball scene from Top Gun a WHOLE lot! Tom Cruise can sing to me any day. (SHHH! Don't tell my boyfriend I said that.:p )

If we answer the question seriously, the movie I have been told is the most realistic by combat veterans is Saving Private Ryan.

Most Realistic:
Stalingrad -or- Saving Private Ryan -or- Fields of Glory

Most Un-realisitc:
The Green Berret -or- Red Dawn

Not that anyone can verify it, but how about "Gods and Generals"? Not only the sequence of the military beginnings of the civil war but a broad view of all of the POVs in political thought at the time.

--add

Interesting Trivia: Green Berrets was the only Vietnam War movie made durring the Vietnam War.

/sidenote: I love Red Dawn.

While many critics praised Gettysburg, it's Prequel, Gods and Generals, recieved incredibly bad reviews, cited as long drawn, innaccurate and overdone...

I loved Gettysburg, but this one put me to sleep....something I NEVER do watching movies....

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_and_generals/

"Consensus: Filled with two-dimensional characters and pompous self-righteousness, Gods and Generals is a long, tedious sit. Some may also take offense at the pro-Confederate slant."

That would be the serious answer to the question.

But how about the old Mel Brooks movie -- I think it was called Boots and Saddles.

(Black Hawk Down was also pretty intense)

I think that Deer Hunter and Platoon seemed realistic.

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.

It is a great movie, but not the one I'm thinking of..although that is the name I orginally wrote down and then changed it.

Mine is about the Cavalry -- but I think they had green uniforms instead of blue ones.

Probably about the same era, but not nearly as classic as Blazing Saddles. Nobody punches out a horse.

Except for Mongo.

"Platoon" - from what my father (served a year in Army during Vietnam) has told me, it was incredibly realistic. My dad served in the same area during the same time period as the movie was supposed to represent, and he said that the film really takes him back there whenever he sees it.

If he says its realistic, I'll take his word for it.

Loved Full Metal Jacket!!!

I heard Kippur was realistic:
http://www.tvguide.com/Movies/databa...e.asp?MI=42599

-Rudey
--But I wouldn't know since I wasn't there.

I was going to post this one. It's about my grandfather's unit, so of course he actually knew the guy played by Mel Gibson. I think, however, that my grandfather was not there during the time that the movie covers. He had already been sent home after nearly dying in a helicopter crash.