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The Great Escape
RELEASEDATE 1963
Youknowthetheme.Thatupliftingdittythat’sdraftedintoso
manymoviesandTVshowsasa waytogiveauthoritythefinger,
without...well,havingtoliterallyshowit. ButTheGreatEscape
gaveusmuchmorethanthat.A fun,heart-warmingadventure
abouta bandofalliedPOWsduringWorldWar2, whoarecaptured
bytheGermansandsenttoa highsecurityStalagin Poland.The
film’stwoleads,SteveMcQueenandRichardAttenborough,rally
togethera hodgepodgeofprisonerstodigthreetunnels.Thegreat
thingis,nobodyis underanyillusionsaboutgettinghome.Sowhy
do it? Simply: to piss off the Nazis. You’ve got to admire their balls.Inglourious
Basterds
RELEASEDATE 2009
Tarantinosaysthedialoguehe’s
mostproudofis spokenduring
InglouriousBasterds’opening
sequence,whenthe‘JewHunter’
HansLanda(ChristophWaltz)
calmlyinterrogatesa French
dairyfarmer,believingthathe’s
harbouringJewishrefugeesin
hisbasement.It’stestamentto
Tarantino’sconfidencethatthis
sceneis 15minuteslong– a terrific
starttoa WorldWar2 flickthat’s
allactionwitha giantsplatofcamp
comedythrownin.TheBasterdsof
thetitlearepartoftheplot,that
weavesin a dastardlyschemeto
takeouttheThirdReich’shighest-
rankingofficialsin a movie theater.
Beautifully nutty.
Das Boot
RELEASEDATE 1981
WolfgangPetersen’sfilmis really
oneofa fewexampleswhere
theterm‘epic’canbeusedwith
authority.DasBootrunsjusta
shadeunderfivehours.It’shad
trimmedtheatricalreleases,TV
miniseriescuts,andextended
homevideodirector’sedits:all
ofthempackthesamethudding
truth.Waris hellwherever
youare,asa submarinefullof
Germansailorsfaceboredom,
claustrophobia,andterrorunder
thewaves.Thatterroris boldly
presented,asthecrew,boundby
ordersnottotakeprisoners,watch
asthecrewofa torpedoedBritish
tanker goes drown. Bleak.All Quiet on
the Western
Front
RELEASEDATE 1930
Boredom,hungerandtheever-
presentthreatofsuddendeath
transformanepisodicstoryinto
Hollywood’sdefinitiveaccountof
trenchwarfare.Theoriginalfilm
from 1930 is theroleforwhich
actorLewAyersis bestknown,as
GermansoldierPaulBumer.One
ofseveralschoolboysconvinced
bytheirpatrioticschoolteacher
toenlistin thearmy,heandhis
friendscometolearnthatdoing
yourbitforyourcountrymeans
sacrificing everything.
Dunkirk
RELEASEDATE 2017
WhatmakesDunkirksucha
greatwarmovie?It’sprobably
thesound.Whiletheplotand
pacingis Nolanathispeak,the
actingperformancesexcellent,
andthevisualeffectssuperb...it’s
thesoundthatreallytakesyour
breathaway.Whenallthesoldiers
aretakingcoveronthebeach,for
example,it’sanincrediblecontrast
betweenthechaosofthedropped
bombs,andtheeeriesilenceof
thetroopsallstandingupand
reformingtheirqueues.Thespitfire
engines?Visceral.Thesoundof
waterrushingintovariousboats
astheysink,accompaniedbythe
screamsofdrowningmen?Chilling.
Dunkirkisn’ta thrillingwarmovie,
orthemostdidactic,buttheway
it usessound(orthenotable
absenceofit)tocreatethemenace
andhorrorof each scene is second
to none.Saving
Private Ryan
RELEASEDATE 1998
What’soneman’slifeworth?
That’sthestaggeringlyhuge
questionStevenSpielbergsets
outtoanswerin hisblistering 1998
actioner.Itsopeningsequence
neverletsupasa USsquadhits
thebeachesofNormandy,aiming
totrackdownthelastsurviving
sonofa singleAmericanfamily
andreturnhimsafelyhome.The
castassembledhereis terrific,
withallofthemonthetopof
theirgameandworkingtogether
tobringoutthebestin each
other’sperformances.There’s
nothingflashyorglitzyabout
theharrowingtruthsofwarhere,
asTomHanks’leaderpusheshis
teamintothedarkestpartsofthe
conflict.Thisis a brutaland
totallyunflinchingdip into
wartime violence.The Deer
Hunter
RELEASEDATE 1978
TheRussianroulettesceneis
perhapswhatMichaelCimino’s
Vietnamdramais bestknown
for,a momentthatepitomises
theutterhopelessnessofa man
tornapartemotionallybyhis
tourofVietnam.He’soneof
threechildhoodfriends,who
signuptoservetheircountry.
Byfocusingasmuchonthe
buddies’homelivesaswellas
theircombatexperiences,Cimino
paintsa tragicportraitofa blue-
collarPennsylvaniacommunity
destroyedbywar.It’sa striking
pieceofcinemathatcuts
betweentheirinitialexcitement
andtheharshreality,broughtto
lifebyanepiccastthatincludes
ChristopherWalken,Robert
DeNiro,NickSavage, and
Meryl Streep.