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Mike's
War Films of Note
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Kelly's Heroes, 1970
An explosive, funny, silly Second World War film starring Clint Eastwood and a barking Donald Sutherland as GIs out to get a little more than experience out of the war. Kelly's Heroes concerns Private Kelly (Eastwood), who learns of $16 million worth of gold bars behind enemy lines, and reveals a plan to steal it to his fellow soldiers. Kelly sets the heist in motion, backed by a colourful cast of characters that includes Sutherland, anachronistically playing a hippy called Oddball. A massive hit on its release and still influential.
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All Quiet On The Western Front, 1930
Highly effective, award-winning adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's novel about a group of idealist young soldiers getting destroyed by the barbaric conflict of the First World War. Decades before Platoon and Saving Private Ryan, director Lewis Milestone and his team created a film that remains one of the most powerful screen comments on the horrors of war.
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Battle Of Britain, 1969
A monumentally reverential treatment of the famous period of conflict which turned the tide of the Second World War. A horde of British thespians, including Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, plus numerous vintage aircraft, recreate the key event from the war to dramatic effect. Stirring stuff.
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Enemy At The Gates, 2001
Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz star as three slightly improbable young Soviet soldiers in Jean-Jacques Annaud's spectacular drama-romance set during the Nazi siege of Stalingrad in 1942-3. The film's focus is a love triangle between Soviet political officer Danilov (Fiennes), sharp shooting farmboy Vassili (Law) and educated soldier Tania (Weisz). Through his propaganda activities, Danilov makes Vassilli a morale-boosting mythic hero. This draws Nazi attention, and expert marksman major Konig (Harris) is sent in. A duel amid the city's rubble ensues.
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The Dirty Dozen, 1967
With its 12 angry men, relentless pace and explosive violence The Dirty Dozen is a glorious, gung-ho, authority-baiting action epic. Robert Aldrich's direction repeatedly goes for the balls but he's also alert to the ironies and hypocrisy of military politics. Big, brutal and expertly executed, the result is a quintessential, made-for-men war flick.
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