I think this is probably one of the best, most realistic war movies I've seen. Not that I would necessarily be the expert on WWII or anything...but it just seems more...legit, and less "romantized", even though there's a romance and a hero and everything.

I would say that as movies go that my vote would have to go for Saving Private Ryan, a movie I cannot watch often. But as I recall you said a few pages back that it didn't impress you that much . I can think of a few places I'd rather have been than Omaha Beach on 6/6/44 though...bad stuff all around. Enemy at the Gates is one I've been wanting to see for a long time, so if it's as good as you say I think I'll be on the lookout for it in the near future.

The first 20 mins or so of the movie sum up to me, war. It's not beautiful, there's no glorious speeches or heroics. It's just pure terror and death.

And that's what a good war movie should do. The viewer should be horrified by the carnage and view war as a horrible thing, which it is. But a good war movie will also sometimes point out that sometimes war is a necessary thing. WW2 movies do this the best, I think, but then again most folks will readily agree that that war was necessary and had to be fought. You see a whole lot more conflicted Vietnam War films, where the movie sort of falls on one side of the fence (anti-war) versus the other (war is bad but necessary). Take We Were Soldiers and compare it to Apocalypse Now, for instance. Still, the helicopter attack scene is awesome.

I think too often war is really glamourized in movies, with inspiring speeches and dramatic death scenes.

They do go over the top sometimes, but occasionally stirring speeches did occur on the cusp of battle. Take the Battle of Little Round Top from the movie Gettysburg with Jeff Daniels as Col. Chamberlain, or watch the film Zulu when the few dozen British defenders are about to be swarmed over by 5,000 angry Zulu warriors and are running on pure heroism and manage to pull off the win. I greatly admire a film if it can capture that level of courage and put it on display and bring it home to the viewer. It makes me wish I could have that same level of courage if I found myself in similar situations.

Another really Good realistic war movie is Blackhawk Down, that is the best war movie I have ever scene besides We Were Soldiers.

I cannot watch Blackhawk Down. I can get up to the part where Shugart and Gordon put up their last stand and I just start bawling...it's just too much. I remember watching what happened to them on the news and feeling furious and powerless. They earned their Medals of Honor that day. Even so I just can't watch it.

Good news for us in the States (and especially those of us who are Romola Garai fans ): Glorious 39 is being released this February!

Regarding war movies, I have to say I'm not a huge fan, in general. And I usually prefer the ones with the rousing speeches, too. I saw To End All Wars several years back, and remember being unimpressed for some reason. I do want to see Black Hawk Down, but that's mostly because I'm a huge Ridley Scott fan.

would say that as movies go that my vote would have to go for Saving Private Ryan, a movie I cannot watch often. But as I recall you said a few pages back that it didn't impress you that much

Yeah, maybe just cause it seemed veryvery much aimed exclusively at guys, and maybe cause I really can't stand Tom Hanks, and maybe cause I was getting really excited about seeing Matt Damon but it took FOREVER to find him and I got annoyed with them...

lys, I've had Glorious 39 on my amazon wishlist for about a year now, checking every so often to see if it's been updated. CAN'T WAIT!! I have actually seen it, and it's quite good, but in some ways there wasn't much character development...I haven't seen it for almost a year though so I can't remember too clearly. It did have a very strong Hitchcock-vibe to it though.

Lately I've been watching old classics... Anne of Green Gables (plus the other two movies in the series) has been at the top of my list and its been a good refresher. I literally bawled when Matthew died and everyone was laughing at me because I got emotional It's painful to watch the third one in the trilogy (it takes place during WW1) because it's so excrutiatingly sad!! Plus the music adds to the scenes... If you haven't seen the Anne of Green Gables movies, you need to watch them as well as read the books!

How can anyone not stand Tom Hanks? I mean, he's not my favorite actor in the world, but he's become an institution of sorts. It's a bit like disliking the idea of Santa Claus.

And Val, how did you manage to see Glorious 39 already? Canadian film festival or something? My excitement has died down a bit while I've been waiting all this time, which is probably a good thing -- otherwise my expectations would have been far too high. What you say seems very much in line with the reviews I've read, which have been mixed. Ah well ... at least it has an amazing cast! Can't wait to see it.

I really dislike Saving Private Ryan.

Booky, one of the primary themes for Saving Private Ryan was asking the question, "How many lives is one man's life worth?". Either way I thought the film was spectacular and love it, though I don't watch it often. I really can't recommend enough getting a hold of HBO's Band of Brothers, which is top notch.

In my opinion probably the greatest WW2 film ever made was A Bridge Too Far from the late 70's, an adaptation from the giant tome by Cornelius Ryan (an outstanding book in its own right) covering the Market-Garden offensive of 1944. I wish films still did it like this with ensemble casts featuring tons of big name actors, even if they only have a total of 15-20 mins of screen time. And the intro was perfect with the narrator nicely setting up the audience and then giving them one of the best musical scores in a movie I've ever heard.

narnialover4: Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite films. They do such a wonderful job bringing the spirit of the book to the screen.

My family and I took a brief getaway to the seaside town where Hitchcock's The Birds was set (so beautiful!) and we popped it into the player and watched a good portion of it because certain members of the family have seen it before and did not want to watch the really horrifying parts. I was surprised by how much intrigue and character development goes into a film that is essentially just about birds attacking people. Even the underlying plot is weird though. Melanie is really quite a creeper and would be locked up if she tried to sneak into someone's house to leave them lovebirds today. I can't say I really cared for any of it. Although the romantic lead guy reminded me of Robin Williams...

I love Hitchcock in general, but I have to admit, I'm not a great fan of The Birds either. It really seems so pointless to me, and dated in a way that some of his other films aren't. Lovely that you got to visit the town, though.

just saw "How To Train Your Dragon" again last night - I LOVE that movie!

I just saw Bowling for Columbine for the first time on TV.
No further comment.

just saw "How To Train Your Dragon" again last night - I LOVE that movie!

I've just seen that for the first time to-and I agree with you wholeheartedly

Lysander, why does The Birds seem pointless to you? It's a thriller where nature is mysterious, eerie and turns on people. I think it's a nice change of pace from the usual movies of the time. Not Hitchcock's finest that's for sure but far from terrible in my books.

The Birds is actually one of my favorite Hitchcocks (among Rear Window, The Lady Vanishes, and North by Northwest)...the first time I saw it though, I'd heard it hyped up so much I found it rather stupid. Since then I've seen it a few times and find it so frustratingly fascinating. I'm convinced there's some explanation behind everything...or double meaning. There's so many things that just have GOT to mean something...like the school teacher, and mother, and the lovebirds. I always watch it feeling like if I don't get to the bottom of it I'll just bust

And I think it partly has an appeal because the random, obscure-ness of it (birds attacking) is so...well, strange, that it's horrible.

See, the randomness and obscureness of it really gets to me. I like explanations. And yes, I know about the MacGuffin and all that, but really, I felt Hitch took it too far that time around.

And I really dislike the fact that it (along with Psycho) makes some people think that Hitch was primarily a horror director, which, of course, was not the case at all.