Ok I know I just made a thread but now I'm begging for help I need to know either Aye) a Kickass Samurai movie Bee) A kick ass war movie or See)A movie that combines both like a movie about wars in feudal china because I have a hankerin for some slicen and what not here is a list of what I have that I can think of off the top of my head:
War
1) A Bridge to far
2) Apocolypse (sp)Now
3) Platoon
4) Force Ten from Navaron
5) Saving Private Ryan
6) Deer Hunter
7) (something else but I forgot)
Well I think I have a little bit more of both but as you can see my samurai movies have pretty much concentrated on one thing Toshiro Mifune with a heavy emphasis on Akira Kurosawa. I'm sure there are excelent movies outside of these two people, as well as more with their involvment but I don't know of them or haven't seen them I just bought Throne of Blood but I haven't watched it yet. If you can suggest any good ones that or either or both genres I'd be very greatful. Thanks and I know I can count on the good old OT movie Board... Hopefully.
The Longest Day is still the best WWII movie ever. It was filmed by an American, a German and a British director. If you have never seen it I highly recommend it. It is the best filmed account of the Normandy invasion.
If you can find a good movie about feudal China let me know especially dealing with the 6 kingdoms... not hero I already no about that one. But I'm addicted to this stuff and I need a quick fix fast... FAST!!!!
It's set in the first year of the Ming Dynasty. It's not a large scale "war" epic(revolves around a group of Koreans being hunted by some Yuan[Mongol] troops). But it's an epic nonetheless.
Brief Synopsis:
A Korean envoy went to speak with the Ming, were blamed for some deaths, & sent as prisoners into the desert. Some Mongols show up & kill the Ming guys, leaving the Koreans to their own fate in the harsh desert as the Yuan have no beef with Korea. The Koreans are in a hard spot. They can't return to Korea because of the shame of failing their diplomatic goals, and the Ming are rather angry at them as well.
It gets really twisty good from there.
Big budget(I suspect primarily on the arrow gore), with some excellent spear & swordwork involved. Seriously, there are some graphic shots with them arrows.
Actually TurkishGuy, do you like large scale movies about entire armies? That's the sense I get when you mention wanting stuff about the 6 Empires & all that. Or do you also enjoy Kung-Fu + weapons kinda stuff? Because I have a rather extensive number of Kung-Fu flicks I could recommend...Such as "Shaolin Devil/Shaolin Angel"..."Blood of the Dragon"...Five Venoms...etc...
A lot of those revolve around villages & temples though, feuds with local governers & such as opposed to huge kingdoms. You know, bad ass Martial Arts guy helps girl & family end harrassment from the govt. kinda stuff.
Blood of the Dragon is a must see if you enjoy watching one Bad Ass spear weilding Kung-Fu master take on 50 troops at once. And a few unique & interesting weapons thrown into the mix.
(I'm leaving town for a couple weeks so drop me an email at nikashmost@gmail.com and I can send you a nice list of great Kung-Fu I recommend when I get back.)
Samurai war movie: Ran, directed by Akira Kurosawa is loosely based on the Shakespearian play King Lear. Huge battle scenes, epic quality.
WWII war movies about war with Japan: Tora Tora Tora, The Thin Red Line, Bridge Over the River Kwai, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (stars Takeshi Kitano and David Bowie - not heavy on action, but intriguing anyway).
When it comes to Samurai flicks, I am a neophyte, so I won't pretend otherwise (but I did see this really cool one a few summers ago called 'Twin Dragons' - any help anyone?)
Now then, as for your war list - here are my 2 cents (note: I LOATHE war films that are 'anti-war' films - ah, the irony, what a better metaphor for the damnation of Man than making a film that criticizes the futility of the human condition - ENOUGH! I GET IT! Which is why I like 'Heartbreak Ridge' (but I won't put it on the list) Here are few off the beaten trail... (and in no particular order)
1. Breaker Morant
2. Gallipoli
3. Cross of Iron
4. GUNS of Navarone (the sequel Rod? ugh)
5. Tora! Tora! Tora!
6. Full Metal Jacket (duh)
7. The Dogs of War
8. (parts of) The Thin Red Line
9. Paths of Glory
10. 1941 (?!?)
Thanks alot for all your input and if anybody has anymore keep 'em comin the more I have the more money I can waste with a clear conscience... I will definately check out each one of these.... I've actually been looking at Ran for a while because I'm a huge Kurosawa fan, I must have had that movie in my hands 10 times in the local suncoast but I never get it now I've got to. Now, Mr. Daniel, the reason I have the sequel to guns of navarone and not the original has to do with one simple name Harrison Ford... Basically I am collecting every movie he has been in and he happens to be in the sequel along with a slew of second teir actors you would recognize, like jaws from james bond. I actually have Full metal Jacket I don't know why I didn't add that to my list and the rest I will seriously look into especially Gallipoli those Ausies didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they tried to take on good old Turkish defenses.. Thanks again and keep 'em comin I'm hoping to build a library that will one day be able to stack from here to the moon.
This normally isn't TOO difficult to find, but if you want Indiana Ford + War, there's a flick called 'Hanover Street' (came out '78 or '79) Its technically a WWII film but caution it is a chick flick.
As Marc Daniel says, "parts of The Thin Red Line". It might be a hit or miss type thing. I've seen it twice. The first time I thought, man this sucks. The second time I liked it a lot & found it very cerebral for a war movie. You may rent it & find you really don't like it much at all. I agree with Marc Daniel that Full Metal Jacket is a kick ass movie. One fact that surprised me about the film is that the scenes in Viet Nam were all filmed in England; they must've spent a fortune truckin' in all those palm trees. Don't know if it's been mentioned, but "Hamburger Hill" was an OK Viet Nam movie. I liked Platoon a lot more. The best war movie I've seen recently was Black Hawk Down.
Yeah I think I'd buy anything with harrison ford in it except hollywood homicide... and I agree Full metal Jacket is pretty cool.. I'm at home now so I'm gonna list all my war movies now:
1. A Bridge to far
2. The Great Escape
3. Force 10 from Navarone
4. Hamburger hill
5. Apocolypse now
6. Saving Private Ryan
7. Platoon
8. Full Metal JAcket
9. Army of Darkness (?)
First things first - As for the 'Thin Red Line'
bear in mind I don't own of it, so when its on cable its chopped up which deteriorates the overall mood of the film . That, and I loathe Ben Chaplin (even though I enjoyed 'Birthday Girl' go figure) Terrence Malick doesn't work a lot has a dumptruck load of talent - do yourself a favor and see 'Badlands'.
Second, my apologies (this is for everyone) for my post regarding 'Cleopatra 2525' - I have no idea why people are droning on and on about friggin' TV wrestling. The last time I 'watched' wrestling was when it pre-empted SNL back in the 80s.
Third, 'Black Hawk Down' - yeah, you're right, its actually better the second time around. I mean what can you say about a war flick that not only has Jeremy Piven in it AND having elfish Orlando 'I can't believe my parents named me this' Bloom break his back? Kudos Mr. Scott, kudos indeed.
I don't think of them as war movies really. They seem more like social commentary or something. Dr. Strangelove is partially comedy too. War and comedy don't often mix except for say Hogan's Heroes or something like that. Which reminds me: Stalag 17 (1953), on which Hogan's Heroes is based, now that's an interesting war movie to add to your collection Turk. I recommend it highly. You'll discover that the original Schultz character was quite different from the Schultz in the TV series.
Stalag 17 you say... I'll have to see if I can find it so far after consulting with you I've picked up two movies Ran and Musa the Warrior and of those two I've only had time to watch musa (working full time and going to school full time don't lend itself to movie viewing) and let me tell you this Musa did not let me down. I really enjoyed it and I recommend it to anyone into that sort of flick (kinda like a better braveheart in northern china... at least thats the easiest way to explain it). I also have high hopes for Ran and it will be the first Kurosawa movie I've seen that does not star Mifune.. aside from Dream, so I'm very excited about that. I plan on researching all the titles mentioned here so far and more then likely buying the vast majority... So keep it up thanks alot again. Two down about 40 to go...
Well, Theres also a movie called heaven and earth, good Samurai war movie, and also Sword in the moon, it has a feeling of musa the warrior. Those two are the ones that people really missed out on.. if you like Ran and Musa, you'll like these.
