Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Rated R
Director: Oliver Stone
Theatrical Feature Running Time: 145 mins.

Need to know if it's recommended by anyone who has seen it.

The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the
effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others),
Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise),
a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by
enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas,
however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when
he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is
furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down.
He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans'
hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that
ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic
somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an
outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally
powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best
performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but
only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for
Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Warning: This product is intended for mature audiences only. It may contain
violence, sexual content, drug abuse and/or strong language. You must be
17 or older to purchase it. By ordering this item you are certifying that you
are at least 17 years of age.

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Theatrical Feature Running Time: 166 mins
Director: Robert Aldrich

A Favorite of Ann L.


One of MGM's biggest moneymakers of the 1960s--and the sixth
highest-grossing film in the studio's history. Lee Marvin plays Major
Reisman, assigned to coordinate a suicide mission on a French chateau
held by top Nazi officers. Since no "normal" GI can be expected to volunteer
for this mission, Reisman is compelled to draw his personnel from a group
of military prisoners serving life sentences. This "dirty dozen" includes a sex
pervert (Telly Savalas), a psycho (John Cassavetes),a retarded killer
(Donald Sutherland), and the equally malevolent Charles Bronson,
Trini Lopez, Jim Brown, and Clint Walker. On the dim promise of
receiving pardons if they survive, the criminals undergo a brutal training
program, then are marched behind enemy lines dressed as Nazi soldiers,
the better to overtake the chateau and kill everyone in it--including the
innocent wives and mistresses of the German officers. Hal Erickson, All
Movie Guide, www.blockbuster.com.

The Great Escape (1966)
Theatrical Feature Running Time: 172 mins (almost 3 hrs.)
Director: John Sturges

A fave of Dewey.

The Great Escape is based on the true story of a group of Allied prisoners
of war who managed to escape from an allegedly impenetrable Nazi prison
camp during World War II. At the beginning of the film, the Nazis gather all
their most devious and troublesome POWs and place them at a new prison
camp, which was designed to be impervious to escapes. Immediately, the
prisoners develop a scheme where they will leave the camp by building
three separate escape tunnels. Richard Attenborough is the British
soldier who masterminds the whole plan, and who commands his motley
squad--featuring Charles Bronson as a Polish trench-digging expert,
James Garner as an American with a talent for theft, Donald Pleasence
as a masterful forger, and Steve McQueen as an American rebel--through
the construction of the tunnels and, eventually, their escape. An epic
adventure film, The Great Escape runs nearly three hours, featuring a
rousing Elmer Bernstein score and exciting action sequences -- including a
notorious motorcycle chase between McQueen and the Nazis -- the likes of
which had never been seen before in Hollywood productions. ~ Stephen
Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Director: J. Lee Thompson

Ann L. says,  "My most antsy film (I'm nervous anyway, and what with the
coffee, it's worser."

The guns of Navarone are huge Nazi cannons, installed on an Aegean
island behind enemy lines. Anthony Quayle is the officer assigned by the
British to lead a task force to put the guns out of commission. When Quayle
is injured, the mission winds up in the relatively inexperienced hands of
Gregory Peck. There's little love lost between Peck, explosives expert
David Niven and Greek patriot Anthony Quinn, especially when it
becomes known that there's a traitor in their midst. Resistance leader Irene
Papas weeds out the traitor, but there's still those guns to take care of.
Filmed on location in Rhodes and distinguished by Oscar-winning special
effects, Guns of Navarone (based on Alistair MacLean's best-seller) was a
major box-office hit of 1961; less successful was the pared-down 1977
sequel, Force Ten From Navarone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Patton (1970)
Rated PG
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

A favorite of Walt.

In 1943 North Africa, George Patton (George C. Scott) assumes command
of (and instills some much-needed discipline in) the American forces.
Engaged in battle against Germany's Field Marshal Rommel (Karl Michael
Vogler), Patton drives back "The Desert Fox" by using the German's own
tactics. Promoted to Lieutenant General, Patton is sent to Sicily, where he
engages in a personal war of egos with British Field Marshal Montgomery
(Michael Bates). Performing brilliantly in Italy, Patton seriously jeopardizes
his future with a single slap. While touring an Army hospital, the General
comes across a GI (Tim Considine) suffering from nervous fatigue.
Incensed by what he considers a slacker, Patton smacks the poor soldier
and orders him to get well in a hurry. This incident results in his losing his
command---and, by extension, missing out on D-Day. In his final campaign,
Patton leads the US 3rd Army through Europe. Unabashedly flamboyant,
Patton remains a valuable resource, but ultimately proves too much of a
"loose cannon" in comparison to the more level-headed tactics of his old
friend Omar Bradley (Karl Malden). Patton won 7 Academy Awards,
including Best Picture and Best Actor for Scott, an award that he refused. ~
Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Sand Pebbles (1966)
Theatrical Feature Running Time: 179 mins (almost 3 hrs.)
Director: Robert Wise

A favorite of Dewey.

Steve McQueen received his only Academy Award nomination for his
performance in this epic-scale war drama, based on the novel by Richard
McKenna. In 1926, as China teeters on the edge of political revolution in
the midst of a civil war, the USS San Pablo  is ordered to patrol the Yangtze
River to represent and protect American interests. While the San Pablo may
be an American ship, much of the labor is actually performed by Chinese
locals willing to work for American money, while stern but inexperienced
commanding officer Captain Collins (Richard Crenna) frequently drills his
charges, unsure what else to do. A machinist's mate with just under a
decade of navy service behind him, Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) is
assigned to the San Pablo and immediately makes enemies among the
crew -- he prefers to do his own work rather than farm it out to others, and
the one Chinese man who works by his side, Po Han (Mako), is treated as
an apprentice rather than a servant. Holman also falls in love with an
idealistic American missionary (Candice Bergen), while his shipmate
Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) falls for a Chinese girl and - with
marriage plans in mind - kidnaps her to prevent her from being auctioned
off. As Holman's methods and attitudes continue to anger his comrades,
they find themselves increasingly at odds with the Chinese, especially after
Frenchy's girlfriend becomes pregnant and Po Han is captured by
revolutionary forces and branded a traitor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Theatrical Feature Running Time: 169 mins.
Rated R
Director: Steven Spielberg

A Favorite of Walt.

Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's
D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a
prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at
Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and
GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach
to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American
soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence.
Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the
beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his
backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell),
learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed
in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan
(Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt.
Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham
(Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of
right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam
Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward
Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious
Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the
Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and
North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with
Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in
the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single
soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the
incident is based on a true occurence in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day:
June 6, 1944. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

South Pacific (1958)
Romance, War

Rob sent an article from the NY Times re this movie on Memorial Day,
2008. The synopsis is at Movies: Romance.

Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Theatrical running time: 155 mins.
Director: Brian G. Hutton

A fave of Gary, who says, "Entertaining plot with evidence of Burton's talent
and Eastwood's demeanor."

An expensive but enormously profitable war picture, Where Eagles Dare
centers upon a daring rescue and even more daring escape. Disguised as
Nazi officers, commandoes Maj. John Smith (Richard Burton), Lt. Morris
Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) and six other courageous souls parachute
behind enemy lines. Their mission: to rescue an American general, held
captive in a supposedly impenetrable Alpine castle. Aiding and abetting the
commandoes are Allied undercover agents Mary (Mary Ure) and Heidi
(Ingrid Pitt). Also on hand is a British officer (Patrick Wymark), who
masterminded the mission. Somewhere, somehow, someone amongst the
Allies is going to turn out to be a traitor. There's also a neat plot twist in
store when the commandoes manage to reach the American general --
which leads to yet another twist. The vertigo-inducing climax has made
Where Eagles Dare one of the most sought-after of "early" Eastwood
starring features. The film was written directly for the screen by espionage
novelist Alistair MacLean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Zulu (1964)
Director: Cy Raker Endfield
Theatrical running time: 138 mins.

Gary says, "Intense movie based on factual events and real people."

Filmed on a grand scale, Zulu is a rousing recreation of the January 22,
1879, siege of Rorke's Drift in Natal, Africa. An army of 4,000 Zulu warriors
have already decimated a huge British garrison; now they are on their way
to the much smaller Rorke's Drift. A Royal Engineers officer (Stanley
Baker) is determined to stand his ground, despite having only a skeleton
garrison at his command. His steamroller tactics are constantly at odds with
those of a by-the-book lieutenant (Michael Caine), who feels that a retreat
is called for, but it becomes clear that if the garrison is to survive, they'd
better pay heed. Jack Hawkins and Ulla Jacobsson are also on hand as
an idealistic missionary and his somewhat more pragmatic daughter.
Richard Burton provides the narration for Zulu, closing the film with the
observation that 11 of the 1,344 Victoria Crosses awarded since 1856 were
bestowed upon the survivors of Rorke's Drift. Zulu was followed in 1979 by
a "prequel," Zulu Dawn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
War
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