[shivshanker]

Originally Posted by Samurai

M*A*S*H was not WW-II, it was Korean war.

Oh. .thanks for correcting me.. guess was too small then to realize the difference and catch the accent

By the way did they show the enemy in any of the episodes?.

[windiesel]

Originally Posted by shivshanker

Not sure how many are from my age group here, but in the good old days, we used to have a Series running called M*A*S*H. Which I think was also converted into a movie later.

The TV series had the inimitable Alan Alda,and if I remember right, he wasn't there in the movie, it had Donald Sutherland or someone. Alan Alda has me in splits! wonderful timing with a straight face!

Originally Posted by Samurai

M*A*S*H was not WW-II, it was Korean war.

You're correct... but a great series none the less.

[TurboGuru]

Originally Posted by shivshanker

Add to that list

21. Force 10 from Navarone
22. Guns of Navarone
23. Sink the Bismarck
24. Memphis Belle
25. The Great Escape

Very nice initiative, hats off!
my one cent to the list

26. El Alamein (The Line of Fire)

[floyd]

No one mentioned "Inglorious Basterds" yet! Has to be the WWII movie with the most kick @$$ attitude. And gripping right from the moment Col. Hans Landa (Christopher Waltz) enters the scene with a Beethoven inspired background music! Another good movie was "Dirty Dozen".

As for books, there are many, but a few by Ken Follet stand out in my memory
1) Eye of the Needle - a classic WWII spy thriller
2) Winter of the World
3) Key to Rebecca - bit of a racy pot boiler but interesting read anyways

[Samurai]

I am a huge history buff, mainly military history.

Most WW-II movies are fictional, so I prefer books. I recommend Jeff Shaara's books to anybody who wants to learn more about WW-II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Shaara#Novels

Originally Posted by shivshanker

By the way did they show the enemy in any of the episodes?.

Even I saw it 20 years back in re-runs. Don't remember the much, but I remember it was Korean war. They used to show medical helicopters in the show, which didn't exist in WW-II.

[Auto Verruckt]

Interesting thread this. A few of the lesser known WW2 movies I enjoyed watching are :-

The Train
The Devil's Brigade
the Dirty Dozen
Kelly's Heroes
Patton
From Here To Eternity
Pearl Harbour
Play Dirty
Too Late The Hero
Enemy At The Gates
Windtalkers
Captain Corelli's Mandolin

What an amazing bunch of actors, actresses & directors. Although the recent war movies of our generation excel in all the technical aspects of movie making, the classic war movies simply outclass them in narration, performance & drama.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I am a huge history buff, mainly military history.

Most WW-II movies are fictional, so I prefer books. I recommend Jeff Shaara's books to anybody who wants to learn more about WW-II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Shaara#Novels

.

Is he something like what Eric helm is for Vietnam? If so, I'm getting onto estores right now.

[windiesel]

Originally Posted by floyd

No one mentioned "Inglorious Basterds" yet!

I did sir! please see post no27

Originally Posted by Auto Verruckt

Interesting thread this. A few of the lesser known WW2 movies I enjoyed watching are :-

The Train
The Devil's Brigade
the Dirty Dozen
Kelly's Heroes
Patton
From Here To Eternity
Pearl Harbour
Play Dirty
Too Late The Hero
Enemy At The Gates
Windtalkers
Captain Corelli's Mandolin

What an amazing bunch of actors, actresses & directors. Although the recent war movies of our generation excel in all the technical aspects of movie making, the classic war movies simply outclass them in narration, performance & drama.

Some of the movies you quoted were hugely famous, man!. Patton and The Dirty Dozen for example are famous box office hit films. Patton has even been preserved for eternity in U.S. National Film Registry. The Dirty Dozen too was equally famous with an enviable star cast of Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas (the original 'Shetty') etc

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by windiesel

The TV series had the inimitable Alan Alda,and if I remember right, he wasn't there in the movie, it had Donald Sutherland or someone. Alan Alda has me in splits! wonderful timing with a straight face! You're correct... but a great series none the less.

The movie came first, 1970, and was based on a book. The series did not start until a few years later. Never read the book, but the movie is an absolute classic! The Mash series is one of the longest, if not the longest running, TV series ever. I must have seen every episode several time over. In the USA you could probably watch a Mash episode every hour of the day if you have enough channels. Its endless repeats. It was very popular in many European countries as well.

Catch22 springs to mind as one of my all time favorite books. Ive reread it many times and keep enjoying it. It was made into a movie (witha.o. art Garfunkel), but in all honesty I did not think the movie did the book any justice.

Kelly's heroes is another favorite second war movie of mine. Starring Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland and a few others.

I must admit that my favourite second world war books and movies are all a bit black comedy. But they probably did portray the madness of WW2. I have seen the more serious ww2 films as well, form where eagles dare, a bridge too far, inglorious *******s, schindlers listand many more. I do value them, but it really isn't so much my genre to be honest.

Both my parents were 19 years when the Germans invaded The Netherlands in 1940. My dad' father, ie my granddad died in the very first hours of the war, due to a bomb hitting his little store. My dad was a student and had to hide from the Germans for several years, like many students and Jews did. When I was young my father told us (my sisters and me) some amazing stories. He had very vivid memories of the occupation period and lost a number of college friends. In later years he rarely talked about it. In fact he liked to spend his holidays in Germany.

There are several Dutch books written about this period, obviously. Few have been translated in any the languages. But i have read several. It as uncanny to see how my dad's experiences and stories were near identical to theses stories.

Another very famous BBC world war 2 sitcom/ comedy series is Dad's army. No idea if that has ever been shown in India. It is very British, showing the 'adventures' of the home guards in a small English town. To date, still many reruns in many European countries.

The one, "serious", WW2 movie, if I could put it that way, that impressed me most was Das Boot. Again, based on a novel, and fictional. It is considered to depict live on a German U boat down to the last detail. Although I can claim to have been under fire I have never been in a war, being a merchant navy officer I was even exempt from the military draft. I don't think you can really distinguish between what is more frightening, being in the infantry, flying a fighter or driving a tank. When people are shooting at you, the only thing that counts is they're out to kill you" (check Catch-22 for this one!) having said that, being cooped up in a steel tube, hundreds of feet beneath the sea and having destroyers out there pinging you with sonar and discharging depth charges must give new meaning to the words scared shit less. You are just sitting there, for hours, sometimes days! Anyway, have a look at Das Boot if you haven't already.

Jeroen

[Auto Verruckt]

Ouch! thanks for the correction windiesel. Coming to think of it, is anybody on this forum aware of any Indian books written on WW2? I for one definitely cant remember any.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Auto Verruckt

Ouch! thanks for the correction windiesel. Coming to think of it, is anybody on this forum aware of any Indian books written on WW2? I for one definitely cant remember any.

Dont know about books, but there is certainly a BBC TV series set in the last months of WW2 in India: It aint half hot mum.
Not usre if it was ever shown in India. It might not be appreciated and that is probably an understatement. It had a sergeant major shouting SHUT UP all the time and an Indian bearer talking about "us British" all the time.

At the time it was a hige hit in the UK.

Jeroen

[SandyX]

How can anybody miss out "Gloomy Sunday", based on the infamous Hungarian suicide song. That composition is epic & a really well crafted piece it is. Malena too has its bits to share.

[PGA]

I could add some more to the list, Battle of Bulge, an HBO mini series "Pacific" takes a good look at US campaign in Pacific.

Did we miss listing out Battle of Britain too and Desert Fox.

Wonderful thread to relive my everlasting fascination right from childhood.

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
A movie that I would strongly recommend and request all of you to see is "All quiet on the Western Front". It had WW I as the back ground but it could be any war. This was based on Erich Maria Remarque's book ( very readable).The only war movie which my wife appreciated.
Another one is the " To Hell and Back" starring Audie Murphy. A classic of 1955 vintage so technical slickness may be lacking.
Don't forget to see "The Diary of Anne Frank"( based on a true life of a girl) and if possible do read the book. It created waves.
Regards

[PGA]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Both my parents were 19 years when the Germans invaded The Netherlands in 1940. My dad' father, ie my granddad died in the very first hours of the war, due to a bomb hitting his little store. My dad was a student and had to hide from the Germans for several years, like many students and Jews did. When I was young my father told us (my sisters and me) some amazing stories. He had very vivid memories of the occupation period and lost a number of college friends. In later years he rarely talked about it. In fact he liked to spend his holidays in Germany.

There are several Dutch books written about this period, obviously. Few have been translated in any the languages. But i have read several. It as uncanny to see how my dad's experiences and stories were near identical to theses stories.
Jeroen

Reading your post brought MILA 18 by Leon Uris to my mind. Thanks for recommending Das Boot it is one of the few that I seem to have missed from the list.

A song which remained my favorite for many years was Road to Moscow by Al Stewart

rgds