Looking for war film buffs

[summers312]

I am a filmmaker in Chicago working on a documentary on war films. Not only am I interested in their history, but I’m looking to talk to fans of the genre, and I thought this would be a great place to ask! I’m interested in hearing about your favorite films, what drives you to watch them, what they mean to you and how they may have informed you, being most of you are probably reenactors.

If you have a large collection, I’d love to hear about it! Either drop a note here or you can reach me at [e-mail]. Thanks!

[patterson]

I’d be happy to help. Stand by as I dig into my collection.

[summers312]

Looking forward to what you got!

[patterson]

War Movies

War movies were the gateway to my love of history. Movies gave me the desire to read into the history that inspired their writers. The first one to do this was Memphis Belle. It brought WWII to life in color and sparked my interest in WWII history. It is also responsible for my interest in the US Army Air Forces and reenacting. The next movie was a war comedy, Operation Petticoat. It started my fascination with WWII warships.

Knowing the difference between a war movie and a documentary is important. Few movie goers, outside of those who love history, will sit through two hours of a historical documentary. It’s got to have a gimmick or a hook to bring them in and keep them in the seat. It has to be entertaining. Concessions are often made because of this. Time lines are compressed, characters amalgamated, details tailored, and accuracy even sacrificed at times.

The war movie genre is in itself a broad category. There are fictional stories set in factual settings and events as a background. Saving Private Ryan and Fury come to mind. There are works of fiction that have become classics like Kelly’s Heros and The Dirty Dozen. These movies take place in WWII but don’t follow any particular chain of events based in fact. They are still very entertaining. Then, you have the non-fictional works. They are movies about actual events. Examples are Gods and Generals, Glory, Gettysburg, Band of Brothers, Flags of Our Fathers, Midway, Tora Tora Tora, Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Great Escape, Battle of Britain, We Were Soldiers, Patton, etc.

All of the movies I’ve named are in my collection and are movies I will actually watch over and over again. They don’t get old. Here are some more-

Zulu
The Sand Pebbles
Stalag 17
Von Ryan’s Express
The Patriot
Enemy at the Gates
Where Eagles Dare
The Enemy Below
The Gallant Hours
Sink the Bismarck
Operation Pacific
Mister Roberts
Das Boot
Master and Commander
Valkyrie
The Bedford Incident
Thirteen Days
K-19
Flight of the Intruder
Bat 21
Gardens of Stone
Crimson Tide
The Hunt for Red October