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Mike's
War Films of Note
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The Thin Red Line, 1998
This is not a Second World War movie, nor an anti-war tract, rather Terrence Malick uses James Jones's novel about the stupefying struggle for a key position in the battle for Guadalcanal as a meditation on the natural world and on humanity within it. He presents the young soldiers' struggle as extraordinarily ordinary. The guys die, go berserk, get bamboozled by officers and some end up drunk back at base. Using dazzling setpieces, a choppy narrative, and poetic voice-overs, Malick forces us to view life afresh.
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The Killing Fields, 1984
Perhaps the most harrowing and visceral film of the 1980s, The Killing Fields is unstinting in its cinematic and, more broadly, political intelligence. American journalist Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) remains in Cambodia after the Communist Khmer Rough takeover, but must leave when the situation becomes too murderous. Tragically his aide and guide, Dith Pran (Hang S Ngor), is unable to escape, and is consigned to a Khmer Rouge death camp. It's a potent, enthralling story, always intelligently told, with a palpable sense of moral outrage permeating every frame.
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The Guns Of Navarone, 1961
Gregory Peck leads a gang of mercenaries on the side of the allies in this much-loved Second World War action movie. Their mission, to destroy two German super-guns on a Greek island, maybe a little hard to swallow, but charismatic performances from Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn mean that it's hard not to get carried away with the story. The blockbuster adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel garnered Oscar recognition for its special effects, and is considered by many a classic - a landmark in the action genre.
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Braveheart, 1995 
Mel Gibson produced, directed and starred in this fictionalisation of the story of William Wallace (and copped a barrel-load of Oscars for his trouble). Braveheart is three hours' worth of gripping drama, which spares nothing on either the visceral or the emotional front. The ending, in which Wallace finally gets his come-uppance, is genuine lump-in-the-throat stuff.
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The Dambusters, 1954
Chocs away for a stirring tale of wartime heroics as the RAF hit the enemy where it hurts. Michael Anderson's account of one of the most celebrated raids of the war, in which the 617 squadron destroyed three German dams, is the quintessential British war film. Pipe-smoking boffins, clipped accents and handlebar moustaches balanced on stiff upper lips abound. And then there's that unforgettable soundtrack...
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