War November I: The Last of Mohicans (1992) - Recap: Part Two
What exactly is the Seven Yearsâ War?
This is the moment where I bemoan the American education system, yaddayaddayadda, we all know the deal. But OK, what exactly is it? We learn about it very little in primary schooling, since we focus more on the Revolutionary War most of the time. Which sucks, because this is the FIRST war that crosses oceans! Arguably, this is the first intercontinental war the world had ever seen!
See, as the kinda self-centered nation that we are...OK, the VERY NARCISSISTIC nation that we are, we only focus on the American campaign of this war, which was the French and Indian War. And that actually lasted 9 years, not seven. But this war not only involved England and France, but several other nations. Fighting with the British were the American colonies, the Holy Roman Empire, Portugal, and a bunch of territories that would eventually become Germany (Prussia, Brunswick, Schaumburg, Hesse). And against them with the French were the various Native American nations, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Austria, and India. Yeah, India!
In fact, this war was fought ALL OVER the goddamn place. As each empire attempted to spread their influence at lightning speed, battles were fought in most of North America, the Caribbean, ALL of Europe, Argentina, Senegal, India, Sri Lanka, and the Phillipines. Yeah, uh, this was a HUGE-ass war! And the ending results were monumental.
See, by the time the British won (which they did), they had accomplished quite a few things. France and Spain lost ground in the United States, with France losing BIG, and being pushed solely west of the Mississippi, losing Louisiana in the process. They also lost their territory in Canada, India, and much of the Caribbean. Spain gave up Florida as well, and India gave up the entire eastern region (Bengal) to the British Empire. Yeah. This is the war that gave the UK control over India. Which went...awesome...
The Seven Yearsâ War is a major part of world history, and should be known as well as any other by your average American student. Whatâs worse, arguably, is the fact that there are so few films that cover this conflict. Outside of adaptations of The Last of the Mohicans, I was able to find 21 films that cover the whole thing. The most famous of these are TLotMÂ and the classic Stanley Kubrick historical epic, Barry Lyndon.
And yes, this is on my list...even though itâs 3 hours long.
Eventually. Iâll get to it eventually. Anyway, with all of that said, letâs get back to this story, shall we?
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap: Part Two
Cora makes her empassioned plea, tells Duncan to fuck off AGAIN (which is fantastic), then goes to make out with Hawkeye through the prison cell bars. And then, AS IF THAT WERENâT ENOUGH, the French attacks the fort so badly, Munro is immediately forced to surrender. Which, again, actually happened! However...itâs about to take a turn. And itâs about to become a grisly part of military history.
See, Munro decides to surrender once he learns that Webb, the other general, has decided not to send him reinforcements, because ever British officer in this movie is an asshole, apparently. With this, and with the generous surrender terms provided by Montcalm, Munro decides to surrender to the French. This sits VERY poorly with Magua, who desperately wants to kill somebody, especially Munro.
Montcalm tries to talk him down, but Magua wants revenge for the death of his people, and especially for the death of his children and his enslavement by the Mohawk allied with Munro. His wife left him, his life was destroyed, and itâs all Munroâs fault! Yeah, shit, Maguaâs gonna fucking destroy this dude, huh? Montcalm tells Magua that the French cannot break the terms of the surrender, and will not harm the British forces. But, uh...Magua ainât French, now, is he?
The next day, the British forces and their allies are shepherded out of the fort unscathed, as promised. But as they walk through the upstate New York wilderness...
Looks like itâs ambush oâclock.
The Huron, led by Magua, come out of the forest and start attacking the troops, who are accompanied by the three Mohicans (one of whom is a prisoner). And itâs a LOT of Huron, all armed with guns and ready to kill. And lemme tell ya, they FUCK the British up. Itâs a massacre...and it actually happened.
Yeah, in one of the most infamous events in the French and Indian War, and in the Seven Yearsâ War, the Native American allies of the French killed Munroâs men after theyâd already surrendered. In reality, this was motivated by communication problems between Montcalm and the Native Americans, and happened within the fort. Munro wasnât there at the time, and would die later that year of unrelated causes. However, in the movie...
Oh, shit, Magua made good on that fucking promise, huh? While Hawkeye and his family save the other Munros, and the Colonel gets his heart eaten (Jesus), the rest of the army gets slaughtered, with the exception of Duncan and some men. They all escape on canoes, pursued by the Huron, and Duncan STILL THREATENS TO KILL HAWKEYE. DUDE! NOT THE FUCKING TIME YOU ASS
Everybody escapes and hides in a cave behind a waterfall, and Duncan continues to be an asshole about BEING ALIVE! God, I hate this dude. They save his ass, AGAIN, and hide in the cave to throw the Huron off of their trail. Hawkeye tells Cora about her father, and she asks him not to tell Alice about it. However, Alice is clearly, like...NOT FUCKING OK RIGHT NOW, and almost walks straight into the waterfall before being saved by Chingachgook.
Realizing that their powder is soaked, Hawkeye and his family decide to take off in order to get more so that they can save them. He pledges to come back and find Cora, and then the three of them jump into the waterfall to escape. And at that point, well, the Huron find the Munros and Duncan and take them prisoner. Theyâre brought to the main camp of the Huron, and Magua consults with an elder chief, or sachem, speaking only in Huron. Just then, Hawkeye arrives in the camp, assaulted by the people there as an outsider and enemy. He makes it to the Sachem to address him himself, and tells them the truth about Maguaâs ambush, with Heyward translating for him in French. He also offers himself in place of the girls.Â
Basically, Hawkeye and Magua both attempt individual diplomacy checks, and go up against each other. Hawkeye does OK, but Magua rolls a 16 and has a better bonus. The GM rules that Hawkeye be allowed to leave, Heyward will be brought back to the British, Alice will be given to Magua is right the wrongs done to him, and Cora will be burned alive. Damn, dude, thatâs a roughie. However, Duncan...Duncan rolls a nat 20, because he translates the statement as sacrificing HIMSELF instead of Cora. Um...damn, dude. Fucking credit where creditâs due, holy shit.Â
Heâs taken and burned, while Cora and Hawkeye are allowed to leave. Looking on from afar, Hawkeye shoots him dead, in order to put him out of his misery. Meanwhile, Uncas and Chingachgook look on as Magua takes Alice away to do God knows what. Uncas rushes in to intercept and save her, getting into a fight with Magua on his own. And it goes...poorly. Magua kills him and throws him OFF THE FUCKING MOUNTAIN.
Alice sees this happen, and walks to the cliff face. Magua tells her to come back, and Alice...OH FUCK WAIT
oh shit alice just jumped off a fucking cliff
That was...Jesus, man. And Cora saw that shit? Fuck me, man, that got brutal fuckinâ FAST! Chingachgook watches his son die, Cora watches her sister die, the sound mixing in this movie is FUCKING HORRIBLE...sorry, had to get that out. Itâs SO BAD, guys. I had to change the volume on my TV, like, 20 times.
Chingachgook and Hawkeye catch up to Maguaâs Huron party, and Chingachgook murders the ever-loving FUCK out of Magua, godDAMN
Cora and Hawkeye reunite, alive and severely traumatized, and they take off with Chingachgook and reconvene on a mountaintop. I have to turn the volume up again, because of that sound mixing issue, and we hear Chingachogook pray to the Great Spirit to watch over Uncas. He then declares himself Chingachgook...the Last of the Mohicans.
Roll credits.
Yeah, wow, that was...a lot in the last 30 minutes there.
Iâll talk more about this in a review post, but overall, I liked it...mostly. Now, if youâll excuse me, the ending music is SO LOUD, I have to turn down my TV again. The sound mixing...is garbage.
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War November I: The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - Recap: Part One
Ah, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steel City of Bridges.
Home of the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates! Historic center of the United States steel and glass industries! Birthplace of Heinz Ketchup and the Clark Bar! The first place where Mister Rogersâ Neighborhood ever aired, and where the first movie theatre opened! And of course, itâs the starting place of a conflict known as the French and Indian War. Sort of.
To fully understand this war, you gotta go back to the beginning of European settlement in the American colonies. See, once world was out about the New World, everybody looked across the Atlantic and wanted a thick, juicy piece of that sweet, sweet, delicious land. And by the time we reach 1754, tensions are high against the two European countries that tensions were always high between: the English and the French.
See, in 1753, the French decided to perch right on the confluence to two rivers in Pennsylvania, on a site that would later be Pittsburgh. However, there was already a British settlement there in the form of a trading post. In response, the Americans would build Fort Prince George, named after every Hamilton fanâs favorite British king. And since America did belong to him at the time, the American armies were ordered to kick the French the fuck OUT.
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, decided to send a force to finish and occupy the fort, as well as five more spots along the rivers in the territories. To lead this offensive, he sent a 21 year-old major who had recently had success in negotiating with a local Native American tribe. His name was also George.
George Washington is on one of his first big military missions. Heâs sent to route the French out of English territory, and ends up going to to Williamsburg, Virginia to do so. The French have already taken off at this point, but the tensions have already risen to the point of escalation. Each side builds new fortifications in the region, with the English fortification erected under future Pittsburgh.
Washington ends up going after some of the French, they retaliate, and before you know it, THEREâS A WAR ON! Is it English or is it French territory? Well, technically, when you think about it...
Yeah, what about the Native Americans?
Even at this early pre-American point in our history, our relationships with native Americans were...not good, to say the least. At the Albany Congress in 1754, the British managed to formally ally with the Catawba, Mohawk, and Cherokee tribes. Which is good for them. Except for the fact that the French allied with the Abenaki, Wabanaki, Miâkmawm Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot (or Huron) tribes. And yeah...that was BAD for the Brits, because thatâs a LOT of enemies to face.Â
And so, the stage is set. While war wouldnât be officially declared until TWO YEARS LATER, the British have their 42,000 poised to fight the 10,000 of the French armies. And while youâd THINK the French were at a disadvantage here, it turns out that having people who know the American frontier like the back of their hands is really valuable, and they proceed to just SPANK the British for two years. By 1757, Britain isnât going great, and while the Native Americans are getting increasingly screwed by both sides.Â
With that, itâs time to get into the battle with an adaptation of a story written during this historic conflict. Iâll get more into that later, I promise.Â
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap: Part One
The year is 1757, and the French and Indians War rages on! A young man with a glorious mullet runs headlong through the woods, brandishing a musket. This is the star of the show, Nathaniel âHawkeyeâ Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis), and heâs on the hunt for venison. Heâs accompanied by a Mohican man named Chingachgook (Russell Means), and his son Uncas (Eric Schweig).
At the end of a busy day in the Adirondack Mountains, they meet with a family of settlers, the Camerons. These are John (Terry Kinney), Alexandra (Tracey Ellis) and son James Cameron (Justin M. Rice), all of whom somehow have different accents, and one of whom will one day make a mediocre Pocahontas rip-off YEAH I SAID IT.
The Camerons tell the three men about the war between the English colonies and the French, but they donât seem to care much. The next day, they plan on heading west, hopefully away from any conflict. The next day, a British soldier comes to the village nearby, known as Albany, in an attempt to get soldiers, colonist and Native American alike, to join the fight against the French. And as said, Nathaniel doesnât really care.
This is probably a good time to mention that our friend Nathaniel is white, and is essentially the adopted son of Chingachgook. As such, he travels and identifies specifically with the Native Americans in the area, specifically of the Mohawk and Mohican variety. Although, of course, there are much fewer of the latter.
On the same day, the representatives of the local city council go to the local British general to negotiate their terms of service in serving for the crown as a militia. This is distasteful to the newly arrived officer, Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington), who seems like, well...kind of a dick. Heâs on his way to Fort William Henry, and to pick up the daughters of the general heâs to serve under. Heâll also be accompanied by Mohawk guide, Magua (Wes Studi).
Said daughters include Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe), whom Heyward wishes to marry. But, immediately, itâs obvious that Coraâs not exactly into the whole proposition. Indeed, during a luncheon on a fancy table in the middle of a field...OK...she shoves him immediately into the friendzone, and he hangs on to the edge kicking and screaming. He eventually gets her to agree to think about it, through good old-fashioned chauvinism.
Coraâs sister Alice (Jodhi May) shows up, excited for their adventure into the wilderness, and to see the...color-based slur for Native Americans that I donât feel comfortable saying for OBVIOUS REASONS. The next day, the uncertain Cora heads out with Alice, Duncan, and a platoon, led by Magua through the forest.
Magua suddenly and unexpectedly turns on the British army, killing several soldiers as part as an ambush by a group of Native Americans. Canât be Mohawk, then, since they allied with the British at this point in the war. The troop of soldiers is slaughtered, only saved by the intervention of Chingachcook and his sons.
The Munro sisters and Duncan survive, as do all three of our Mohicans. The guys agree to lead the tourists to Fort William Henry, and reveal that Magua and his compatriots are actually Huron. Makes sense, since they did ally with the French in the war. Speaking of, Duncanâs incensed by the fact that Hawkeye seems to not be a part of the war effort, but Hawkeye genuinely doesnât give a shit.
The group happens upon the Camerons, and find that they were indeed slaughtered, likely by Magua and his people. They choose not to bury them, despite their connection, in order not to reveal their presence there, and thus aid in tracking the party. Now itâs Coraâs turn to be incensed, until she learns the reason why later that night from Hawkeye, while on a watch. In the process of their conversation, we learn that Hawkeyeâs parents died when he was a toddler, and he was raised by Chingachgook as his own son. And as he tells her a Mohican myth about the origins of the night sky, Cora beings her transformation into the inevitable love interest.
Their journey continues through the next day, and they happen upon a battlefield that night. This is Fort William Henry, where Colonel Edmund Munro (Maurice Roeves) is waging a battle against General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm (Patrice Chereau). The date is August 3, 1757, which I know because this actually happened. This siege, as well as its commanding generals, is real. However, itâs not gonna go well for the British.
When the family reunites, Duncan reveals that Maguaâs a dick, and didnât deliver a letter that was meant to prevent the girls from coming, and to get reinforcements from Albany. At this point, Munro has accepted that, well...theyâre completely fucked. With more men and a greater artillery, the French are absolutely going to win. However, thereâs some hope when itâs revealed that Webb is in a fort only 12 miles way, and might be able to send reinforcements.
But JUST as he gets that information, Magua tells Montcalm that heâs headed to Fort Edwards. He also reveals that he ABSOLUTELY DESPISES Munro for some reason. And when I say he hates him...
When the Grey Hair is dead, Magua will eat his heart. Before he dies, Magua will put his children under the knife, so the Grey Hair will know his seed is wiped out forever.
Yeah, OK, he fucking hates this dude. Canât wait to find out the probably horrible reason why. In the meantime, Hawkeye and his guys are taking the fuck off, but not before he goes to Cora one last time to make goo-goo eyes with her. She makes them back at him, because Inevitable Love Interest, and they part ways.
Speaking of parting ways, the militia find out about the Camerons, and realize that itâs time to head back home. Based on their deal with Webb, they have the right to leave if their livelihoods and properties are threatened. However, Munro decides to...well, he decides to be a dick, and he refuses to release them for this purpose on only Hawkeyeâs word about the Camerons.
When asked to testify to the slaughter, Duncan also goes for the asshole route, and says that he saw nothing of concern. Hawkeye calls him a liar (which he fucking is), he gets all pissy about it, and Cora (who saw the entire thing) officially says âfuck this dudeâ and storms off. The militia and Hawkeye start to indicate their plans to leave, Duncan shouts that âTHAT IS SEDITIONâ, and Hawkeye straight-up threatens the dude. Good, kick his ASS.
After Munro tells them to fuck off, and the militia suddenly starts feeling the urge to throw all the British tea in a harbor somewhere for some reason, Cora tells Duncan to promptly fuck off. She also goes to make out with Hawkeye, because Inevitable Love Interest. However, that comes back to bite them in the ass when Hawkeye sneaks the militia out that night, and is arrested by Munro for sedition.
Good place to pause, I think! See you in Part Two!
Yeah, I know, thatâs hopefully obvious to everybody. Whether you support a given war or not, I think we can all agree that war is objectively bad. Sure, the results of war can be positive. After all, without the Civil War and its outcomes, I very possibly would be unable to type this right now, as a Black American man. But am I glad that the Civil War actually happened? Well...no. No, obviously no! The fact that it took 618,222 deaths for me to have a movie blog isnât really worth it, now is it?
But, unfortunately, war is an uncomfortable reality of all species, to a certain degree. You might wonder what I mean by that, since lions donât have political skirmishes that result in widespread casualties. But, first off all...thatâs not exactly true, now, is it?
Competition for resources and territory is VERY much an animal thing to do, and weâre no exception. In our case, though, war is far more complex by nature of our speciesâ evolutionary complexities. So, no matter what we do, war is a part of human nature. Peace is obviously the preferred option for everybody, but war happens. It has, it is, and it will.
But with that said, the perception of war has DRASTICALLY differed over time. It began as epic tales of glory and heroism, producing legendary heroes and epic battles told mouth-to-mouth. The warrior became the soldier, the soldier became the hero, the hero became the leader, and the leader begat their own warriors. Itâs literally the oldest story in the book.
So, war was a part of mythology and told tales since tales have been told. Pretty early on, belief was tied into war, and religious ideology was tied into not only the war itself, but into the stories told about war. Heroes prospered under the eyes of their god, or under the tenets of strict belief, and war became not only an aspect of heroism, but a noble and honorable thing for a character to engage in.
This meant that heroes werenât just defined by their ability to wage war, but their willingness to enter it. The Bible has a TON of war in it, and some of its greatest heroes willingly entered those wars. David stepped up and killed a giant, and the people of Israel just went âHey, youâre cool, wanna be king now?â And so, the glory and power of war could take someone from lowly to being a king. And from that, a dangerous precedent begins to emerge. At this point, according to the stories of the time, war is...kinda good?
By the way, this is mostly off the dome. I am NOT a scholar of this bent by any means, but this is based off of my knowledge of historical depictions of war. And Iâm also not saying that history looked kindly on war universally. God knows a HELL of a lot of people hated war, in reality and in story. However, you donât hear about anti-war stories much. And again...there is a point to this, I promise.
Time passes, and war doesnât change too much. The gun and artillery are invented, as well as other technologies, and many battles are won and lost worldwide. But in terms of cultural depictions, war is still mostly full of heroic acts and dastardly villains, all fighting for Gods and countries. And again, Iâm not saying this is universal (the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind, for one), but itâs definitely present. But all the while, war technology is advancing, and things are getting deadlier and more dangerous. We hit a bit of a lull worldwide, and life moves on for about 40 years.
And thatâs when the Black Hand struck.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip in 1914, and events transpire that lead to World War I, also called the Great War. All the countries of Europe are all chuffed to jump in on this one, because war is still seen as a noble pursuit of freedom and justice, for the most part. But what people donât realize is the fact that war technology has gotten EXTREMELY powerful.
France enters this war with the same military outfits they were wearing 40 years before, and Germany steps to the plate and goes âSchau da! Ein bunter Soldat hebt sich vom Feld ab! ErschieĂ ihn.â And after that change, and the introduction of grenades, submarines, tanks, machine guns, anti-aircraft weapony, and AIRCRAFT, war got a LOT deadlier, and a lot more dangerous. And after you lose FORTY MILLION PEOPLE to a war, you start to think...this war thing...might be REALLY FUCKING BAD.
And thatâs where culture steps in.
In 1929, Erich Maria Remarque writes All Quiet on the Western Front, a book about his experiences on the German front of the Great War, and the brutal story made an impact with audiences worldwide. Ernest Hemingway joined in on the âwar is a little fuckedâ fun with his novel, A Farewell to Arms. And anti-war sentiment slowly builds steam worldwide. Soon after, film jumped in on the game, with the first well-regarded war film being an adaptation of Remarqueâs novel, released in 1930.
But then, Germany starts to act up again when some Austrian dude starts making some really fucked-up speeches. And when his speeches lead to a SECOND World War, people start to forget that whole âwar is badâ thing, and film as a medium is quickly recruited in the use of...well, recruitment.
Propaganda is all the rage, and the world is all in on this one. The United States ESPECIALLY gets hyped up about it, and it will leave the war forever changed. Anti-war media disappears for a little bit, or is toned down at least. After the Allies win the war (using two FUCKING NUKES in the process), America has a reputation as a powerful, dangerous, warmongering country, and we quickly enter both a cold war and a Korean War as a result.
All the while, anti-war sentiment begins to rebuild slowly, and it ekes out further as films about World War II are made. But the fun thing about war films is that...really, theyâre ALL anti-war. So, as soon as theyâre made again, they help to fuel this building anti-war sentiment. But thatâs NOTHING compared to reality.Â
And reality is about to hit HARD, right in the fucking face.
When we went into Vietnam in 1955, we were excited to fight against communism in the region, and to spread the American ideal even further. However, both military and media technology had advanced at this point, meaning that the American public could now see war up close and personal.
AND WE DIDNâT FUCKING LIKE IT
Other than essentially birthing the hippie movement, the new footage coming in from the southeast Asian jungle nation shocked and disgusted many Americans, and the rest of the world as well. And while the political ramifications of the Vietnam War and the resulting countercultures are...complicated, to say the least, this post is about the media implications. And boy howdy, were there media-related implications.
See, now that the secret was out, some of the first anti-war messages to be pushed out into the common zeitgeist were released via the art of film. The old anti-war fervor of war-focusing films came back, AND WITH A FUCKING VENGEANCE. And this sponsored some of the best movies ever made.
First and foremost in my heart will always be Stanley Kubrickâs 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Genuinely a hilarious comedy, and one I whole heartedly recommend to anyone whoâs interested. But while this film was anti-war to a certain degree, that sentiment would just grow as time went on, and as films continued being made. And now, Vietnam provided brand new material to use.
Not every way film made at the time was anti-war. John Wayne, professional racist and uber-patriot, was so concerned about anti-war sentiment that he got the permission from Lyndon B. Johnson to make a big-budget war propaganda film...which people saw, but apparently hated. And while this film wasnât alone, the tide turned QUICKLY. This was especially as war vets started coming home. And those vets...they were not doing OK.
In 1978, Michael Cimino tries to capture PTSD in Vietnam soldiers in The Deer Hunter. Havenât seen it, but itâs on my list, thatâs for sure. This film truly brings the barbarous nature of the war to the cinema, at a time where people were truly tired of Vietnam. Anti-war sentiment was at a high, and Vietnam was a taboo subject in Hollywood. But even then, the film was released after much confusion over the screenplay.
Hereâs the thing, though: no Vietnam vets were actually consulted when they wrote this film, as far as I can tell. What that means is that this is a movie made from the mediaâs interpretation of the war, and not from experience. This is because it was written in a MONTH, and the writer, Derek Washburn, based his script almost entirely on news footage. Which is...problematic. But the next movie would involve a veteran in its production. And it...well...it changed everything.
Francis Ford Coppolaâs Apocalypse Now is considered one of the greatest films ever made. I have not seen it. BUT I WILL GODDAMN IT
Anyway, a friend of Coppolaâs served as the basis for the main character of the film. And while some of the events of the film have been disputed or disproven, it at least snows some effort to depict realism in the setting. More importantly, this film set the tropes that would become a part of the entire genre of war films from then on. Sure, many of them had their roots in previous films, but something about the Vietnam War really brought the genre into full focus.
And the rest is movie history.
Iâve touched upon the depiction of Vietnam vets in film with the OG, John Rambo. Check out my Recap (Part One | Part Two) and Review of First Blood if youâre curious. And itâs only, like, my 4th post, so...be gentle, I was (and am) new at this.
But what movies am I looking at this month? After all, thereâs a lot of literal history to cover here. And while itâs unlikely Iâll get to all of them, I should still post my list of possibles! Bold ones are the ones I havenât seen, as per normal. And hey, if you want to use this as a watchlist for yourself, youâre more than free to! And if youâre wondering after all of this what a war film is, well...itâs war
And thatâs all there is to it. Right?
World War I AKA The Great War (1914 - 1918)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); dir. Lewis Milestone
Paths of Glory (1957); dir. Stanley KubrickÂ
Lawrence of Arabia (1962); dir. David Lean
Johnny Got His Gun (1971); dir. Dalton Trumbo
Joyeux NoĂŤl (2005); dir. Christian Carion
War Horse (2011); dir. Steven Spielberg
Wonder Woman (2017); dir. Patty Jenkins
1917 (2019); dir. Sam Mendes
World War II AKA The Second World War (1939 - 1945)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943);
dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
From Here to Eternity (1953); dir. Fred Zinnemann
Stalag 17 (1953); dir. Billy Wilder
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); dir. David Lean
The Great Escape (1963); dir. John Sturges
Dr. Strangelove (1964); dir. Stanley Kubrick
The Dirty Dozen (1967); dir. Robert Aldrich
Battle of Britain (1969); dir. Guy Hamilton
Patton (1970); dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970);Â
dir. Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, and Toshio Masuda
Gallipoli (1981); dir. Peter Weir (WWII)
Das Boot (1981); dir. Wolfgang Petersen
Sophieâs Choice (1982); dir. Alan J. Pakula
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983); dir. Nagisa Oshima
Come and See (1985); dir. Elem Klimov
Empire of the Sun (1987); dir. Steven Spielberg
Grave of the Fireflies (1988); dir. Isao Takahata
Schindlerâs List (1993); dir. Steven Spielberg
The English Patient (1996); dir. Anthony Minghella
Life is Beautiful (1997); dir. Roberto Benigni
The Thin Red Line (1998); dir. Terrence Malick
Saving Private Ryan (1998); dir. Steven Spielberg
The Pianist (2002); dir. Roman Polanski
Downfall (2004); dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006); dir. Clint Eastwood
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008); dir. Mark Herman
Inglorious Basterds (2009); dir. Quentin Tarantino
The Flowers of War (2011); dir. Zhang Yimou
Dunkirk (2017); dir. Christopher Nolan
The Vietnam War (1955 - 1975)
The Deer Hunter (1978); dir. Michael Cimino
Apocalypse Now (1979); dir. Francis Ford Coppola
First Blood (1983); dir. Ted Kotcheff
Platoon (1986); dir. Oliver Stone
Full Metal Jacket (1987); dir. Stanley Kubrick
Hamburger Hill (1987); dir. John Irvin
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987); dir. Barry Levinson
Casualties of War (1989); dir. Brian de Palma
Born on the Fourth of July (1989); dir. Oliver Stone
Forrest Gump (1994); dir. Robert Zemeckis
We Were Soldiers (2002); dir. Randall Wallace
Da 5 Bloods (2020); dir. Spike Lee
Other Wars
Troy (2004); dir. Wolfgang Petersen (Trojan War)
300 (2007); dir. Zack Snyder (Greco-Persian Wars)
Chimes at Midnight (1976); dir. Orson Welles (War of the Roses)
Braveheart (1995); dir. Mel Gibson (First War of Scottish Independence)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992); dir. Michael MannÂ
(French-Indian War)
Johnny Tremain (1957); dir. Robert Stevenson (American Revolution)
The Patriot (2000); dir. Roland Emmerich (American Revolution)
The Buccaneer (1958); dir. Anthony Quinn (War of 1812)
Gone with the Wind (1939); dir. Victor Fleming (Civil War)
The Red Badge of Courage (1951); dir. John Huston (Civil War)
Glory (1989); dir. Edward Zwick (Civil War)
Gettysburg (1993); dir. Roland F. Maxwell (Civil War)
Lincoln (2012); dir. Steven Spielberg (Civil War)
The Steel Helmet (1951); dir. Sam Fuller (Korean War)
M*A*S*H (1970); dir. Robert Altman (Korean War)
The Battle of Algiers (1966); dir. Gillo Pontecorvo (Algerian War)
Che (2008); dir. Steven Soderbergh (Cold War)
Three Kings (1999); dir. David O. Russell (Gulf War)
Jarhead (2005); dir. Sam Mendes
Black Hawk Down (2001); dir. Ridley Scott (Somali Civil War)
Hotel Rwanda (2004); dir. Terry George (Rwanda Civil War)
The Hurt Locker (2008); dir. Kathryn Bigelow (Iraq War)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012); dir. Kathryn Bigelow (Iraq War)
...Thatâs a LOT of war.
So, no time like the present to get started, right? Letâs see, letâs see, this is gonna be a rough month...letâs start early on, huh? Iâd go for Chimes at Midnight, but thatâs barely a war film. So, letâs watch something right within the genre. And something about a war I hardly know anything about...
Next: The Last of the Mohicans (1992); dir. Michael Mann
