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To Hell and Back Again.
The Audie Murphy biopic where he played himself? I was obsessed with that as a kid, wonder how well it stands up now, though?
It's aged, but in a good way. I'm surprised that Hollywood has not had a go at reimagining it.
But who would play Audie Murphy ?
Casablanca for the La Marseillaise' scene alone.
Cross of Iron.
Two that I thought were well done.
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
and
The 12th Man
I never knew about the whole 'Shetland Bus' and the support of Norway's fighters
Anytime it's on though, it has to be " Broadsword calling Danny Boy" 😀
I did see Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk' at a proper cinema and must say it was one of the most tense, exciting and absorbing films I've ever sat through. Those Stukas! On the telly, not so much.
I assumed Saving Ryan's Privates was a deliberate mistake - that's a very different film.
Shurely it was "Shaving Ryan's Privates" ???
Enemy at the Gates is worth watching for the opening scenes.
I moored a Scottish fishing boat in Bergen on Independence Day, we'd come over from Inverness. Quite a few older Norwegians came to chat and tell us there stories of The Shetland Bus, they at first thought we were something to do with the celebrations. Quite a lot of horrible and incredible stories.
If you like Das Boot check out Iron Coffins written by a guy who worked through the ranks to become a U Boat captain from the glory days to when they sensibly ran away, ignored orders and waited for the end to avoid a suicide mission and save his crew
If you want more modern stuff, Generation Kill, which is a mini-series based on a Rolling Stone reporter's experience in the Iraq invasion is excellent.
I'm surprised that Hollywood has not had a go at reimagining it.
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
I guess it depends what you want from a WWII film.
Always enjoyed A Bridge Too Far, its hard to imagine them making that today given how absolutely stacked the cast is with big Hollywood actors.
Das Boot is just a great piece of story telling, really gets to the futility of it all.
But my favourite depiction of WWII is probably Band Of Brothers, even though its not a film
Came to suggest Bridge on the River Kwai, but as it’s already here how about Escape to Victory?
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
Had never heard of this before, but the Sabaton song "The Last Battle" makes a lot more sense now!
A Midnight Clear
A truly excellent slow burn of a film set in mainland Europe at the very end of WW2, highlighting the hope, paranoia, mental struggles and general **** ups that the kids sent to war had to deal with.
Escape to Victory is about as historically accurate as Overlord...
A Midnight Clear
A truly excellent slow burn of a film set in mainland Europe at the very end of WW2, highlighting the hope, paranoia, mental struggles and general **** ups that the kids sent to war had to deal with.
The book it is based on by William Wharton is excellent.
A Midnight Clear
Well that looks very interesting - added to my list. A good cast too. Ta 🙂
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
According to Wikipedia the US/Serbian WW2 action drama Battle for Castle Itter is based on this event. Production began on 15 February until 7 March 2024. It was released on 30 May 2025.
It only scores 5.6/10 on IMDB though, so maybe not a great retelling of the story.
There is a teaser here:
It was on Apple TV+ but is no longer available.
This happy breed
Escape to Victory is about as historically accurate as Overlord...
I know! The variation of the offside rule used during the match didn't come into force until 1967, and the formation and tactics of allied the team is clearly influenced by the German and Dutch national teams of the early '70s.
Anytime it's on though, it has to be " Broadsword calling Danny Boy" 😀
For a 3hr quagmire of inconsistencies, glaring errors, plot holes and clichés.
It's hilariously, catastrophically bad. Maybe it just tips into the "so bad it's good" category.
Not your typical WW2 film but Life is Beautiful (1997) is very good
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/
‘Come And See’ is one of the highest rated WW2 films. I’ve not seen it yet, but its available online. Reason I haven’t watched it yet is because it is Russian and my partner is Russian and won’t watch war films due being traumatised as a kid with images of WW2.
Iron Sky
There's a really good documentary made by the BBC about what life was like in occupied France.
It details the work of the Resistance in repatriating British Airmen and the uneasy relationships the German army had with the French along with the Gestapo.
It comes up on iPlayer every so often.
It's called 'Allo' 'Allo.
There's a really good documentary made by the BBC about what life was like in occupied France.
It details the work of the Resistance in repatriating British Airmen and the uneasy relationships the German army had with the French along with the Gestapo.
It comes up on iPlayer every so often.
It's called 'Allo' 'Allo.
It also captures the beautiful French language with masterful speaker named Crabtree
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
It also captures the beautiful French language with masterful speaker named Crabtree
Absolutely!
It still makes me happy that every day my alarm goes off at half pissed socks.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dad's Army
Probably not ‘best of all time’ but I enjoyed ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ albeit a long time ago!
I've just watched the narrow road to the deep north series which was excellent , followed it up with To end all wars . Both about Japanese POWs although the deep north not exclusively.
My personal favorites are Battle of Britain, Dambusters , Bridge to far and where eagles dare , spent many a bank holiday watching them with my dad when I was younger.
At one point Peter Jackson was going to do a Dambusters film which I'd loved to have seen but I don't think it's happening anymore.