War Films
 

A Bridge Too Far (1977, Dickie )

A load of stars ... massive scale of operations ( that"s nae CGI parachutists etc) ... the other 'disaster' film of this year ;). Watching it now is just an exercise in spectacle. Real crowds. Real explosions. Really jaw dropping in places.

Thought we should have this thread. This seems like common sense considering section title ;)

Brilliant film. I watch it every September 17th without fail.

I visited Arnhem bridge a few years ago and went to the house where the British headquarters were.

I went there as well Dem. It was a quick stop off as we were in Holland.
I want to go back and do a full tour which includes Eindhoven, Grave Bridge, Nijmegen, all the drop zones, Kate Ter Horst's house, all the cemetery's and of course Arnhem and more..
It is the 75th Anniversary next year so that could be a possibility.

Yeah, we also went into Belgium the same trip. The Flanders museum at Ypres is excellent and the Menin Gate (See pics taken below) was quite an emotional experience.

Well worth a visit...but i must warn you there's quite a lot of grit seemingly floating about in the air that gets in your eyes.

Did notice that Sidney Hayers was the Second Unit director .... ;):hail:

Lost Command (1967, Mark Robson)

Anthony Quinn stars as Raspeguy, a French officer in the thick of it is 'left stranded' when his comission is invalidated in an Armistice shuffle. Through some slight shenanigans, he acquires a new post in a fraught region with a ragtag bunch of the armies dregs. I bought this as tis a 15 from this period. So far there was more unpleasantness in Last Of The Mohicans :lol:. Ahem. Enjoying .... Bridge At Remagen next .... ;)

Lost Command Pt 2
 

Well shut my mouth. Terrorism and bitchslapping ahoy. Now I see why it's a 15. Recommended!!. :nod:

The Great Escape (1963)
 

It became a cliche that practically every year at Christmas time, somebody somewhere would say,"oh no not The Great Escape again", now I'm not calling them liars,f**king idiots yes, but I can never remember ever seeing it at Christmas time, but hey I digress. Watching it again on Blu Ray after quite a while of not seeing for a long time Xmas or not, it was a very nice surprise, seeing this film looking so good and still just as entertaining as I remembered it. And while it's not my all-time favourite war film, that's a toss-up between Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953) and the ever-ludicrous Where Eagles Dare (1968) (you do wonder what possessed them to have helicopters in the film). The Great Escape is the war equivalent of all those star-studded 1970's disaster movies, there are more famous faces than you can care to name. And while everyone concerned does a top-notch job, from British stalwarts like Richard Attenborough and Donald Pleasence to ever-reliable American character actors Charles Bronson and James Coburn, it is, of course, Steve McQueen as Hilts "The Cooler King" who for me steals the film,and while he gets no more screen time than the others, you do feel like it is his movie, if only for the motorbike scenes, which any petrol head or motorbike fan will appreciate. And while McQueen does all his own riding in the film, its famously Stuntman Bud Ekins who does the famous jump. My only real criticism would be that at the time it does feel a little bit episodic in places and you don't get any real feeling of how long it takes them to dig the tunnels, that's probably due to filmmakers having to cram a lot into its running time. Also when Attenborough gets outwitted by the German's and fall's for the oldest trick in the book you do groan in sympathy wishing he hadn't. Anyway, an enjoyable and a good old-fashioned war movie...

Enjoyable review of a classic film, Inspector. :clap: