tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post2113249604781519688..comments2024-03-28T10:44:41.756-05:00Comments on The War Movie Buff: CLASSIC or ANTIQUE: War Hunt (1962)War Movie Buffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-33717181237187871532015-12-25T19:26:26.983-06:002015-12-25T19:26:26.983-06:00That all may be true, but don't forget that mo...That all may be true, but don't forget that movies are predominately made to make a profit. I do not think there is a large audience for the type of movies you are encouraging. You could make the same points about most war novels as well so it's not just a cinema problem. Only some of the better memoirs do justice to the random nature of war. As far as dehumanization, I feel modern war movies have done a fair job on that. "Platoon" comes to mind right off hand.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-14994349831803060312015-12-22T18:09:57.512-06:002015-12-22T18:09:57.512-06:00What did James Jones dislike about war films in ge...What did James Jones dislike about war films in general, circa 1963? Comparing The Guns of Navarone to reality:<br /><br />"Now how does this compare with death in actual war? Well, it doesn't compare at all. Most deaths in infantry combat are due to arbitrary chance, a totally random selection by which an unknown enemy drops a mortar or artillery shell onto, or punches an MG bullet into, a man he never has seen before--and perhaps never sees at all! Such a death is totally reasonless and pointless from the viewpoint of the individual, because it might just as well have been the man next to him. It only has meaning when it is viewed numerically from a higher echelon by those who count the ciphers. And for that very reason it is a much more terrifying death to the individual soldier, AND to an audience seeking "meaning." About the only good thing that can be said for such a death, really, is that the individual is generally so dehumanized already, and so dulled emotionally and mentally, that being killed doesn't really hurt him half as much as he may have imagined it would."<br /><br />"Why is that information not put into modern war films? It was certainly included in the original All Quiet on the Western Front long, long, ago, wasn't it? Today in the United States (as well as in Russia! where their war films are even worse than ours, despite the Eisenstein techniques) there is no such thing as an antiwar film. They all pretend to be: "nobody likes war"; but the true test of a TRUE anti war film is whether or not it shows that modern war destroys human character. None of these films does. Instead, they show that (for our side, if not the enemy) war develops and enlarges human character, through the exercise of personal courage. If All Quiet were produced in America today (or in Russia) about the American Army (or the Russian) of World War II, it would be labeled cowardly, defeatist, unpatriotic, even 'pro-pacifist'! Why? The quickest and easiest answer to give is that the mood of the United States today (and of course Russia!) simply cannot afford to admit that modern warfare (and I mean prenuclear war!) is, i.e., essential dehumanization; if it did, it's 'citizen' soldiers (heh, heh) would not be nearly so willing to become part of it."<br /><br />"And there may be some truth in this answer too."David In TNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15749838323613927456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-38746634482670411702015-11-25T07:14:32.113-06:002015-11-25T07:14:32.113-06:00Thank you. I often think I shared too much in my ...Thank you. I often think I shared too much in my profile.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-26088347551541787412015-11-25T07:13:45.753-06:002015-11-25T07:13:45.753-06:00Wow, that is awesome. Thank you so much. Makes a...Wow, that is awesome. Thank you so much. Makes a lot of sense, although I would have to say the homosexual theory is a real stretch. It is inconceivable that a movie of that time and that genre would even hint at that. Other than that, every thing he says is spot on.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-69565899489180484842015-11-25T01:06:48.814-06:002015-11-25T01:06:48.814-06:00I like your profile and thanks for sharing this bl...I like your profile and thanks for sharing this blog. War movies are really awesome based on almost true stories. Really love it.Moviesjoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14268460768168742117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-47284840474292488352015-11-22T16:05:55.171-06:002015-11-22T16:05:55.171-06:00Like to know what James Jones thought of War Hunt?...Like to know what James Jones thought of War Hunt? In his 1963 magazine article I've referenced previously, he wrote (he was comparing it to Men in War):<br /><br />"Yet in comparison to the third Korean film I saw, it can at least be called a fairly serious effort. This third one, a recent (1962), highly advertised (again that big word: 'Realistic!') film called 'War Hunt,' is probably the most dishonest war film I've ever seen, The sorry thing is that it begins marvelously and contains some of the best-filmed episodes of what it's like to be in a modern war that I have seen. The first time I saw it, I thought excitedly for a while that here was the masterpiece which in our day and age would compare with 'All Quiet on the Western Front.' At one point a filmed barrage had me flinching and ducking in my seat. Unhappily, long before it was over it degenerates into the nothing story of a 'pathological killer' straight out of some first-year college psych textbook, complete with the full catalog of symptoms. It hardly deserved mention here, except that the second time I saw it I decided to try and study it to find out at what point in the story it went bad. Interestingly, I found that this point coincides exactly with the point where the moral issue is clearly stated and moral battle joined (the fight for the Soul of a little Korean boy) between the idealistic good guy and the bad-guy killer."<br /><br />"There is a scene in the trucks as they drive for the front line, and the little Korean boy goes with them, which rather archly but not without subtlety suggests there might be a homosexual relationship between the killer and the boy--though this is never even alluded to again. There is a pretty good battle. Then our hero tries to give a baseball glove to the boy and has it coldly returned by the killer, and everything goes to hell. The kid prefers his knife. Baseball equals healthy children; knives do not. Moral issue has been stated, moral battle has been joined."<br /><br />"The killer is mad; therefore what applies to other infantrymen does not apply to him. From here on out it's a kindergarten morality lesson, and there's no use staying to the inevitable, sickening end."<br /><br />"It's a shame things like this have to happen. Usually in a case like this, assuming the writer is a serious man and not just a hack, it is the director and/or the producer who for esthetic or business reasons of their own (and there is always the Code to watch out for!) attempt to impose upon material they do not really understand a preconceived morality symbol. But life will simply not be pigeon-holed like that--even by totalitarian governments. Coloring books with the drawings complete and the color areas numbered are for children, not for painters. And what might have been great films get ruined."David In TNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15749838323613927456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-46234213943582373202015-11-22T05:35:47.716-06:002015-11-22T05:35:47.716-06:00Also forgot about this one -http://m.imdb.com/titl...Also forgot about this one -http://m.imdb.com/title/tt3213684/<br />Those finnish movies definitely have english subtitles available to them, not so sure about Squadron though. Are you going to post those three here? Interested in your opinion on them. For me, they all great, 317 Platoon especially. McKenzie Break is obviously a B-category but still a good one.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13153360636682752639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-25459982651484259122015-11-21T21:36:38.923-06:002015-11-21T21:36:38.923-06:00Thanks. I have reviewed but not posted on 317 Pla...Thanks. I have reviewed but not posted on 317 Platoon, The McKenzie Break, and Talvisota. I will see about the others.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-82554866742726974222015-11-20T05:42:04.629-06:002015-11-20T05:42:04.629-06:00Hello, i'm following this blog for over a year...Hello, i'm following this blog for over a year now.<br />So, i compiled a list of the movies that you haven't reviewed here yet.<br />1) 317 Platoon(1965) (French)<br />2) A quite popular finnish 1989 film Talvisota(Winter War). I'm actually surprised you haven't looked it yet.<br />3)Framom främsta linjen (2004) and a sequel<br />4)Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007). First film follows up a unit and the second one is more about a battle.<br />5) Szwadron(1992).(Squadron). Interesting polish film telling about 1863 anti-russian rebellion from the russian dragoon officer perspective.<br />6)The McKenzie Break (1970)<br />And the french film about algerian war<br />7)l'ennemi intime (2007)<br />Hope you enjoy.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13153360636682752639noreply@blogger.com