Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Enemy At The Gates Synopsis A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud Writer Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Stars Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes Purchase Enemy At The Gates DVD Further Information IMDB: Enemy at the Gates Rotten Tomatoes: Enemy at the Gates Wikipedia: Enemy at the Gates

Trivia

• The film's title is taken from William Craig's 1973 nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad, which describes the events surrounding the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942/43.
• While fictional, the film is loosely based on war stories told by Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev.

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Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan Synopsis [Amazon.com]: When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was abackyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds. A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance. The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Director: Steven Spielberg Writer Robert Rodat Stars Tom Hanks, Tom sizemore, Edward Burns, et al. Purchase Saving Private Ryan (Single-Disc Special Limited Edition) Saving Private Ryan (Sapphire Series) [Blu-ray] Further Information IMDB: Saving Private Ryan Rotten Tomatoes: Saving Private Ryan Wikipedia: Saving Private Ryan

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The Thin Red Line (1998)

The Thin Red Line Synopsis The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American epic war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. Based on the novel by James Jones, it tells a fictionalized version of the Battle of Mount Austen, which was part of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. The title echoes a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy", from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls foot soldiers "the thin red line of heroes", referring to the stand of the 93rd Regiment in the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War. Director: Terrence Malick Writers James Jones (novel), Terrence Malick (screenplay) Stars Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte Purchase The Thin Red Line DVD The Thin Red Line (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] Further Information IMDB: The Thin Red Line Rotten Tomatoes: The Thin Red Line Wikipedia: The Thin Red Line

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Das Boot ["The Boat"] (1981)

Das Boot Synopsis It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. "Das Boot" is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served. Director: Wolfgang Petersen Writer Wolfgang Petersen (screenplay), Lothar G. Buchheim (novel) Stars Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann. Purchase Das Boot - The Director's Cut Das Boot: The Original Uncut Miniseries Further Information IMDB: Das Boot [1981] Rotten Tomatoes: Das Boot Wikipedia: Das Boot

Trivia

• Das Boot is an adaption of the 1973 German novel of the same name by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Set during World War II, the film tells the fictional story of U-96 and its crew.
• To make the appearance of the actors as realistic as possible, scenes were filmed in sequence over the course of the year. This ensured natural growth of beards and hair, increasing skin pallor, and signs of strain on the actors, who had, just like real U-boat men, spent many months in a cramped, unhealthy atmosphere.
• In real life, the U-96 submarine depicted in the film was based at Saint-Nazaire in late 1941. It survived this period, but much like its on-screen fate, it actually was sunk by Allied bombers at its berth in Wilhelmshaven in March 1945.

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Patton (1970)

Patton Synopsis Patton is a 1970 American biographical war film about U.S. General George S. Patton during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Bates and Karl Michael Vogler. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, who based their screenplay on the biography Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and Omar Bradley's memoir A Soldier's Story. Director: Franklin J. Schaffner Writer Francis Ford Coppola, Edmund H. North (screen story and screenplay) Stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young Purchase Patton (Cinema Classics Collection) Further Information IMDB: Patton Rotten Tomatoes: Patton Wikipedia: Patton

Trivia

• Patton opens with Scott's rendering of Patton's famous military "Pep Talk" to members of the Third Army, set against a huge American flag. Coppola and North had to tone down Patton's actual words and statements in this scene, as well as throughout the film, to avoid an R rating.

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