Worst war movie ever

gruntled

We reciently had a thread for best movie& now I have just seen the worst. (I actually only saw part of it. Tried hard but finally had to turn it off.)A Thin Red Line.

ndbilly

ditto on "The Thin Red Line". Also thought the highly sanitized version of Audie Murphy's exploits, "To Hell and Back" did the man himself wrong. Often wondered why movie makers and story tellers just don't go with the unvarnished truth. Life is so interesting the it doesn't need the embellihments.

ndbilly

Excuse me, "embellishments".

Bullzeye

The Thin Red Line got incredible praise from the Liberal movie-making community because it portrayed soldiers and the officers the way they wanted to see them.The soldiers were all deep-thinking romantics who'd rather lay in a field of daisies and stare at the sky than go off and fight some silly war.The officers were all stereotypical sadists and narcissists with control-fantasies, inflicting misery on their poor romantic soldiers with their stodgy and misguided orders.I dont know much, but I dont tink it's really dat way, eh?

royc38

I would have to say the thin red line is up there. What was the swimming in the water with the little native kids supposed to represent anyhow?

Iconoclast

There have been others, but "Thin Red Line" was the worst I remember. The acting was *terrible* - I would nominate the cast en mass for the worst performance of their careers. I could not understand how this could have had an Oscar nomination until this thread - only a mushbrain liberal fully toked on PC could have seen any socially redeeming value in that POS. Can't believe I paid good money to see it on PPV - if it had been in the theater, I would have demanded my money back.

bhayes420

My wife bought me a box set of DVD's for Christmas. Included was "Patton", "Tora, Tora, Tora", "The Longest Day", and "The Thin Red Line." "Thin Red Line", in a word, SUCKED! Couldn't understand how it got packaged with a movie like "Patton". Now there was a movie! "The Longest Day" isn't bad, but in no way is it historically accurate. That kind of puts the kabosh on that one for me. Still enjoyable though.

He Dog

Red line was pretty dull, but Bridge over the River Qwi or however you spell it was also over the top, almost a characature of a war movie. Music was great though!

offeror

I liked Bridge on the River Kwai a lot. It has more to do with personal respect, leadership and mentally surviving a prison camp than battle, of course, but I think it's quite moving all the way through. Obviously, it has one of the great endings in film history, makes perfect logical sense, at least right up until the one sour note with the guy on the side of the hill making a strangely liberal comment about the outcome in the denouement. For those who haven't seen it, highly recommended by me. It was an Oscar contender that year for good reason, and Alec Guinness is fantastic in it.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."

mudge

I rented Thin Red Line when it hit the stores. Watched about 30 minutes of it.Seems to be the consensus here that it was a POS.There's a whole list that are right up there though. PT-109 (Even JFK said it was BS.)Only The Brave (Sinatra and Tommy Sands.ARGH)Midway (too much character development.)Any Chuck Norris movieIt'd take too long to list 'em...Mudge the criticps...Dano, the crack about the "Duke" is nothing short of BLASPHEMOUS!!! I'm afraid to ask who your favorite is.

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I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS![This message has been edited by mudge (edited 01-24-2002).]

@anubis@

John Wayne (RIP) was a major supporter of our fighting men all his career, especially during Viet Nam when it wasn't popular for the average hollywood puke to be. His movie "The Green Beret" was an attempt to let the public know some of the realities of the whole thing vice what all the tree hugging cowards and communist sympathizers like Fonda were shoving down the American public's throat. John Wayne was more valuable back home making his movies keeping morale up. The problem with this country is all the NWO types are trying to rewrite our history the way they themselves interpret it, stating Christ may have been homosexual, the American Indian weren't the first Americans and so on. Where do these fools come from is what I ask??? Nope, John Wayne went down in history as an American icon that stood by our troops no matter the conflict or popularity of said conflict. Any day now there is likely to be a coalition of hollywood hoser's like Baldwin, Fonda, Hanks, and so on talking how we need to be out of Afganistan because it's just not "humane"...As good as "Pvt Ryan" was it's a shame they had such a liberal as Hanks star in it, kinda like Baldwin playing the part he did in Pearl Harbor. At least John Wayne believed in the point behind the war movies he made & why we were there, these guys it's simply the paycheck!

Lowrider

The Indians WEREN'T the first inhabitants of North America. Why do you think the various Indian tribes, along with the PC members of the U.S. Gov't., are fighting so hard to stop any further study of the fossilized human remains found along the Columbia River? Because it's NOT the same ethnicity as the Indians it predates the oldest Indian remains by several thousand years. The Indians are trying to claim the remains as Indian ancestors and bury it to keep the truth from coming out. Not good for their claims as the first North Americans to find out there were people here ahead of them.

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Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

gunpaq

Thought the movie "Memphis Belle" was poor and did not do justice to the airmen, but as entertainment the aerial shots were good. My fatherinlaw who was with the 9th AAA said it was a piece of trash. He attempted to watch "The Thin Red Line" on TV the other night and thought it was a movie set during the Vietnam era. When I told him (87 yrs old) what the movie was actually about he changed the channel to Fox News. What kind of message were they trying to communicate with that movie?

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Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

@anubis@

Thanks for the lesson! Yeah I believe all the scientists...kinda falls within the phrase "who's gonna guard the guards themselves" doesn't it? Thanks for proving my point.

Gordian Blade

I think you guys have hit on some bad ones. Some war movies would be bad except for one or two partially redeeming qualities. I'm thinking of movies like Apocalypse Now and The Battle of the Bulge.[This message has been edited by Gordian Blade (edited 01-24-2002).]

gunluv280

As Maureen O'Hara said: "John Wayne IS America"

gunluv280

As Maureen O'Hara said: "John Wayne IS America"

gunluv280

As Maureen O'Hara said, "John Wayne IS America".....and it wasn't his war movies--most of them were rather lame. It was the cowboy movies. As for his acting ability, he COULD act when he wanted to. Watch "The Searchers" or "True Grit". He did a great job in both, especially "The Searchers".

gunluv280

As Maureen O'Hara said, "John Wayne IS America".....and it wasn't his war movies--most of them were rather lame. It was the cowboy movies. As for his acting ability, he COULD act when he wanted to. Watch "The Searchers" or "True Grit". He did a great job in both, especially "The Searchers".

offeror

I kind of liked THE BIG RED ONE. I am not as big a fan of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN as some others, partly because it uses plot elements from earlier films, notably FULL METAL JACKET (which I like fairly well). Another personal favorite is PLATOON. I've never seen THE NAKED AND THE DEAD except for excerpts. I do like the one with Steve McQueen in black & white whose name escapes at the moment. There's an old film called DARBY'S RANGERS that I remember little about other than a scary shot of a guy falling from a cliffside while climbing. APOCALYPSE NOW has always had tone problems for me -- it was a fairly visceral piece up until the last act when Brando starts reciting poetry and the movie turns cerebral. Never did like that aspect, Brando or no Brando. MIDWAY was made during the disaster movie craze, which is why it was written the way it was, with all those characters to be followed -- Universal was even going to release it in SenSurround, like EARTHQUAKE, but I don't think it played many theaters in that form. I don't have strong feelings for IN HARM'S WAY (but the cast was great). I do like THEY WERE EXPENDABLE. SOLDIER IN THE RAIN is a good movie, though not really a war movie. I guess if we're talking straight war action I've enjoyed a lot of the programmers, like 30 SECONDS OVER TOKYO. I also enjoyed THE SAND PEBBLES. I'm not a fan of the Hollywood "concept" movies, including PT-109 and GREEN BERETS. Just a little too much schmaltz. There's one other film about Vietnam whose name I can't recall. It has a scene of a firefight after which a wounded American wants to know what kind of round he was hit by. Another soldier steps over the rise, comes back and says "It was an AK," after which the guy panicks that he's about to die in the field. A moving moment in a low budget war flick. 84 CHARLIE MOPIC bounced around Hollywood as a script for years, and finally got made, but I don't remember being very impressed with the final product. It was all supposedly shot from the point of view of a 16mm cameraman running with a platoon, I think. Best line in a war movie: "I wonder what 'bitte, bitte' means?" And the entire opening speech in PATTON (a great film). Best irony scene in a war movie: The American making the Nazi who formerly tortured him try to say "which way went the wing-ed whipoorwill?" in THE BIG LIFT.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."

Shootist3006

Dano, you better think again anf find a reason to doubt your source.When war broke Out, the Duke tried to enlist but was rejected because of an old football injury to his shoulder, his age (34), and his status as a married father of four. He flew to Washington to plead that he be allowed to join the Navy but was turned down. So he poured himself into the war effort by making inspirational war films-among them 'The Fighting Seabees', 'Back to Bataan' and 'They Were Expendable.' To those back home and others around the world he became a symbol of the determined American fighting man.He had a lot of learning to do when he made Stage Coach in 1938 but by the mid 50's he was, without a doubt, the greatest actor ever seen in Hollywood. Never was a movie better than "The Searchers" and "The Quiet Man" is a close second.When I met him I was impressed with his kindness and real interest in us. An all around good guy.

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Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis

ifishbaja

First off, thanks shootist for setting the record straight. Second the worst war movie ever made is a toss up between "Pearl Harbor" and "Platoon". Third, Dano you just cant help it can you. You cruise along for a good little while, making everyone believe you are a fairly normal dude, and then this happens. You show everyone that you are still a red legged liberal. Why Dano, why? Why do you not like the Duke? When he died, I made a vow that the next time I had relations with a woman, I would leave my boots on in his honor! Shame, shame, shame Dano. Shame on you for saying what you did.

Gordian Blade

If I can put in my two cents about "The Duke": I would add The Shootist to my list of all-time western favorites. The movie itself was good, but it also has to be viewed in the context of what he was going through when he made it. A few years after he died, my best friend's brother who was slightly mentally challenged (to use the PC term) had terminal intestinal cancer and the example of how John Wayne handled the same thing helped him get through his final days. So anything bad I hear about "The Duke" gets put on one side of the balance against all of the good things he did for so many people. Since he's gone, we might as well remember the good things, because God knows there's enough bad things out there that you don't need to try hard to find them.

Iconoclast

Saxon, Thin Red Line came out same year as Pvt. Ryan & was also nominated for Best Pic (??!!). Had a host of big names - Travolta / Nolte / Woody Harrelson among others in the worst, wooden performances of their careers. Single dimension stereotypes, symbolic scenes from indy flix, not merely the worst war movie of all time, but easily in the top five big budget POS, regardless of genre.

mudge

Dano...."Everyone Hollywood touches is corrupted"? Now there's a well thought out statement! My little brother was "touched" by Hollywood for about 20 years and is one of the most honest and straightforward people I know.I'll bet you'd get hot if I said I never met a cop I'd trust. Same type of statement. Totally BOGUS!!! In words of one syllable....TAKE A HIKE!!!Mudge the PI$$ED

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I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS![This message has been edited by mudge (edited 01-25-2002).]

elmos608

I agree with Dano. The Duke is a joke, especially in the Green Berets! The real Hollywood war heroes are The King, Lee Marvin and Audie Murphy

Gordian Blade

dano, there's no doubt that a lot of rotten apples call Hollywood home. When I lived in CA (a while back), we used to call it Hollyweird. And there's no doubt that Hollywood puts out a lot of crapola; I'll even concede it's 99% of their output. But then look back at the really great films that have come from there, films that have helped people cope with difficult times, given them hope when everything seemed dark, made them think about important and lasting values, entertained them in a good way, and made a lasting contribution to our culture. Maybe it's only one or two or three a year, but somehow they were made. With care, they will be part of the cultural heritage of the future when all the nonsense and dreck that came out of Hollywood is long forgotten.dano got me going and I almost forgot another pick for worst war movie: The Battle of Britain. The restored vintage aircraft are fun to watch, but the plot is incoherent and the acting nonexistent.[This message has been edited by Gordian Blade (edited 01-25-2002).]

offeror

SERGEANT YORK is probably one of the best war movies. A BRIDGE TOO FAR is a bit underrated, maybe. I like the old movie SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, a wartime movie that concentrates totally on the women at home that the soldiers left behind. The trouble with Hollywood and war movies is liberals don't like "gung ho," so they're always trying to sneak in an anti-war message and thereby misrepresenting (to a great extent) the personalities of the participants. I don't think we've had Hollywood on our side since the 40s, and certainly not 100% even then. I can't think of a single conservative in Hollywood since John Wayne died except for director John Milius, who unapologetically made RED DAWN. And that movie only scratched the surface. There is really a whole genre of war movie that has never been made -- the conservative, gung ho genre. With very few exceptions, Hollywood always puts a moral on the story, that guns and violence and fighting are "madness." Unless, of course, they're rescuing civilian hostages from some horrible villainy, or some other corny movie heroics.I once knew a guy who had supposedly been a Ranger in Central America back in the 60s, and he had once hidden in an air duct and popped a Panamanian officer's head off with a piano wire. A scene you wouldn't likely see in an American war movie written by liberal Hollywood .....

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."

gunluv280

As Maureen O'Hara said, "John Wayne IS America". It isn't his war movies (most of them are rather lame) it's the cowboy movies. As for his acting ability, he can act when he wants to. Watch "True Grit", "The Searchers", or the "The Cowboys"......Long live THE DUKE!!!!!!

ifishbaja

Feo, Fuerte y Formal. Written on the Dukes tombstone. Yes, he was the best, and is missed by this country with the exception of Dano and his low down, belly crawlin, underhanded ilk. I know the thread started off the "worst" war flick but I would add The Sands of Iwo Jima and Midway as two of the best.

robsguns

Man, if this doesnt just get your afternoon off to a great start. This thread has just reinforced my opinion of the human race, thanks I needed that. Survey says, the whole stinking human race sucks, why? He said, she said, I didnt know him but..,Hollywood this, its hard to believe but....,it inspired him to...Now I dont want to sound like the most negative person on the planet, but if I do, so what. If you know someone, great, talk about them, IF SOMEONE ASKS. If that person is dead, why bring it up unless its going to solve something? We SHOULD all know that what you see in a movie, no matter who made it, or where it was made at, is not real. You probably spent a lot of time telling your kids that when they were first learning about TV. A thread was started on a movie, and wound up bashing someones hero. Whether or not I liked his movies doesnt matter. NO ONE that saw his movies knew him, but they tend to forget that, and know only what they heard from others about the real man. Fact is, he could have been the biggest dirt bag to ever graace the earth. He could also have been the greatest man that SOMEONE ever looked up to. Point is, the movies arent real, and the actors that portray the person in the movie may have nothing in common with the people they portray, but for some reason GROWN ADULTS dont seem to be able to differentiate reality from movies, actors from roles... etc., etc. Movies are made by someone to influence the audiences emotions to what ever end the director pleases, and the actors are a tool for the director to do so. I'm not here to bash any of you, why do you insist on doing so to others, dead or alive, without even knowing them? Some of you are nice people I'm sure of it, but some of you are not so nice, like I feel sometimes. I'm not feeling so nice right now. I still wont judge any of you because of what I THINK I know of you from this site. I'm not thin skinned but others are, be considerate of people, I only act an idiot towards people I KNOW, personally, in real life, not here on the internet. This should be a site of fun pokeing and jokeing around, with an exchange of info., but the past 36 hrs. geez! I can leave if I dont like it, I know that, but I dont want to leave. I'd just like to point out that sometimes some of us regulars get really under someones skin, and dont seem to know when to stop, why? If you feel like just being a butt head, email me, I wont care, the address is on the profile. I didnt post this reply to have feedback in the form of another reply, or to get attention, dont even bother replying, just take it as food for thought, and have a nice day.

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SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC

.280 freak

Geez, there ya go again, Robsguns, bein' the voice of reason! Probably get creamed fer yer efforts, but, oh well!

mudge

Robsguns....Yeah you've got it pretty right.Roles and the people who play them are two different people. Except for maybe "To Hell and Back".It seems that we are, in fact, unable (or unwilling) to seperate the two. Maybe it helps with our own problems to be able to relate that way. I dunno'However....the media moguls seem to be of the opinion that if someone played a certain role, that makes them an "expert" on that particular subject.Think I'm wrong? Just watch.The next time some actor is on a news show, you can bet he/she, at some time, made a movie about the subject being discussed.Mudge the cynic

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I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!

Gordian Blade

robsguns, there are two mistakes people can make about drama and fiction: (1) It's for real -- the actors who play the parts are in real life exactly as they appear on stage or screen. (2) It's only pretend -- what happens on stage or screen or in a story makes no difference at all in real life.I actually felt better for having read the posts and participated in this thread. Even dano's complaint about "The Duke" and his movies -- though I disagree with dano -- was based on his thinking things through and coming to his own honest opinion.Coincidentally, there was a really long thread with over 700 messages last night on Free Republic regarding the worst movie in general. (My pick: The Piano.) The reason people get so interested in the subject is that films (or fiction in general) touches some very deep values in us. A film either affirms what we believe, in which case we generally like it; or does an injustice to what we believe, in which case we generally don't. Sometimes, a film can take us to a location or time that we can't visit, or considers an idea from a point of view different from our own. Film fans also appreciate the skill or lack of it in the cinematography apart from the story, so it makes for interesting conversation on several levels.

Bullzeye

Top Three War Movies1)PlatoonGreat action, minimal mushiness, still a lot of meaning. I could practically feel the fear in the final huge battle.2)Saving Private RyanAmazing to me a Liberal like Spielberg could pull this one off. Incredibly visceral action, minimal mushiness, lots of meaning.3)Full Metal JacketKubrick to a T. Little short on action, little short in general. But was a great snapshot of the Marine Corps during that period, from Basic on Parris Island to Base Camp at Da Nang. Pretty esoteric, but that's just Kubrick's style.

Gordian Blade

Bullzeye, we want your picks for the worst ones. If you want the best ones, here are my top 10 in reverse order:10. Stalag 17 9. The Great Escape 8. Glory 7. Twelve O'Clock High 6. Das Boot 5. Saving Private Ryan 4. Dr. Strangelove 3. The Bridge on the River Kwai 2. Lawrence of Arabia 1. PattonI never met a Vietnam War movie I liked.

Lowrider

Like the movie or don't (I do) you gotta admit that no Hollywood film EVER nailed Viet Nam era basic training as close as Full Metal Jacket. I could feel the phlegm flying into my face everytime Sr. Drill Instructor Hartmann got nose-to-nose screaming mad at one of his maggots.I took basic at Ft. Lewis in 1968 and it was exactly like the movie.

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Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

TrinityScrimshaw

First I have to say that I like all John Wayne movies. My least favorite war movie has got to be the "Thin Red Line". I think what the thin red line director was trying to show here was how close movie makers are from being a commie.My favorite war movie to date is "Gettysburg", but then I have a soft spot for Civil War history. I also like "From Here to Eternity". Even though it is a love story, I thought it was Burt Lancaster's finest hour.I just saw "Black Hawk Down", and it was done very well, it didn't sugar coat very much. It is well documented recent history. And I take offense to it being called a failed mission. The Task Force accomplished their goal, our government just left them out there to hang.Trinity+++

rogue_rob

ok, here is one that most of you have seen late night:NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS with Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. They were very young in this black and white filmOf course, SERGEANT YORK was a classic also.and I cant get the dancin Duke out of my head in SANDS OF IWO JIMA LOL

RugerNiner

I can not believe no one mentioned " The Dirty Dozen".

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Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!

mudge

rogue-rob.....Sorry, my man, that wasn't Don Knotts in No Time For Sergeants, it was Nick Adams.Mudge the movie freak

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I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!