1970s
War movies from the 1970’s
Raid on Rommel (1971)
In the eternal words of the almighty Beavis…. “Fire. FIRE!” 1971’s Raid on Rommel has plenty of it. And gunfire, and explosions. Unfortunately the sound effects folks used the same clips. Over and over again. Which makes for a fairly monotonous exercise. The plan is for Captain Foster (Richard Burton) of the British 5th Commando unit... »
Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
There are some movies which simply defy a proper explanation. Kelly’s Heroes is just one of those movies. Really this is a good film. It follows a band of misfit soldiers as they head out on their own in search of a stash of Nazi gold behind enemy lines. Of course with any film like... »
Midway (1976)
In June of 1942, quite possibly the most important naval encounter of WWII took place in the middle of the Pacific, at Midway Island. 1976’s Midway sets out to show, in much the same manner that 1970’s Tora! Tora! Tora! did about Pearl Harbor, the events and decisions that led up to and decided... »
Overlord (1975)
From across the pond comes a little-known film called Overlord, which of course was the code name for the June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion. This film really is a hidden gem. Shot completely in black and white, and brilliantly intermixed with a ton of documentary footage from the Imperial War Museum’s archives, Overlord is a... »
The Red Badge of Courage (1974)
Two words. Skip it! Wait for the 1951 version of this starring Audie Murphy and Bill Mauldin to come around on the tube, or something. Just avoid this at all costs. Stephen Crane’s classic novel, “The Red Badge of Courage“, about a boy who becomes a man through the trials of his experience in the... »
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
A Bridge Too Far is a long and complex look at the spectacularly failed Operation Market Garden, where Allied troops were to drop behind enemy lines into Holland and take bridges to support an advancing ground force in September 1944. As history has shown, it didn’t go as planned. At all. This movie is rather... »
M*A*S*H (1970)
So is M*A*S*H a “war movie” or an “anti-war movie?” It’s been called both, and I think they’re right on both counts. Robert Altman’s 1970 masterpiece which spawned the spinoff TV series comes at you from both directions, dead serious and dead funny. All at the same time. It follows the doctors of the 4077th... »
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Tora! is the quintessential model for a pseudo-documentary war movie, painstakingly attempting to chronicle the events (on both sides) leading up to the infamous 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Is this an action-packed thriller that will keep you pinned to the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next? No. Absolutely not. It... »
Apocalypse Now: Redux (1979/2001)
Saigon. Shit. Few movies could pull off opening with those two words. Apocalypse Now *is* that movie. Period. Apocalypse Now:Redux is a “director’s cut” of sorts which puts back several scenes / episodes into the film that were dropped from its initial 1979 release. Additionally it puts back the original ending. A.N. is the story of one already-unstable... »
