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FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:02 PM Jun 2014

What is the greatest antiwar movie ever made?

My vote is for 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly' starring Eli Wallach.

The depictions of the barbarity and waste at the prison camp and the battlefield cannot help but touch the heart of any viewer with a heart to touch. In particular, the scene with the dying soldier, seeking only one last mercy before he perishes as the result of the greed and violence of others.

Anybody who sees 'The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly' as just another cowboy shoot-em-up is really not paying attention.

168 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What is the greatest antiwar movie ever made? (Original Post) FrodosPet Jun 2014 OP
Full Metal Jacket nt The Road Runner Jun 2014 #1
+1 Add The Deer Hunter leftstreet Jun 2014 #5
American Gangster - Vietnam/USA dealing heroin. Farenheit 911, illegal Iraq War TheNutcracker Jun 2014 #108
I agree. Aristus Jun 2014 #14
I agree. n/t nomorenomore08 Jun 2014 #75
That was an excellent film. n/t 2banon Jun 2014 #104
Woodstock. H2O Man Jun 2014 #2
Nice one, Pat.:) n/t malthaussen Jun 2014 #135
It surely does!! ailsagirl Jun 2014 #139
Dr. Strangelove Boom Sound 416 Jun 2014 #3
Agreed n/t cloudbase Jun 2014 #28
I agree as well. N/T Big Blue Marble Jun 2014 #53
+1 L0oniX Jun 2014 #68
vote for Strangelove as well MFM008 Jun 2014 #79
Absolutely! etherealtruth Jun 2014 #119
PATHS OF GLORY for me. n/t zappaman Jun 2014 #4
Me too. El Supremo Jun 2014 #25
People dying in order to take "the anthill" Babel_17 Jun 2014 #151
Yes, it's absolutely harrowing Warpy Jun 2014 #31
+1 Johonny Jun 2014 #69
ditto that opiate69 Jun 2014 #95
A masterpiece (nt) Babel_17 Jun 2014 #152
Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun". scarletwoman Jun 2014 #6
+1. Hoyt Jun 2014 #18
+1 valerief Jun 2014 #22
+1 lovemydog Jun 2014 #50
+10000 brazilion, honorable mention, "Go Tell the Spartans." nadinbrzezinski Jun 2014 #57
Agreed, and never knew about until seeing the Metallica video RiffRandell Jun 2014 #92
I've never seen the Metallica video. I saw the movie in a theater when it was released in 1971. nt scarletwoman Jun 2014 #122
This one. LWolf Jun 2014 #94
It was a book written by Dalton Trumbo in 1938. scarletwoman Jun 2014 #120
I've read the book several times. LWolf Jun 2014 #121
Ah well, I've never read the book. scarletwoman Jun 2014 #123
Possibly. I was 11. LWolf Jun 2014 #125
"The Deerhunter". A classic film of what happens when those who go to war come home. livetohike Jun 2014 #7
Yes! shenmue Jun 2014 #17
R.I.P., Mr. Wallach. nt Buns_of_Fire Jun 2014 #8
All Quiet on the Western Front Coventina Jun 2014 #9
That got my vote too - PumpkinAle Jun 2014 #37
+1 It Best Shows the Pre-War Hysteria and Jingoism Stallion Jun 2014 #65
The original SteveG Jun 2014 #74
Agreed. n/t meaculpa2011 Jun 2014 #89
Interesting. Benton D Struckcheon Jun 2014 #10
"Johnny Got His Gun" Spider Jerusalem Jun 2014 #11
You beat me to Johnny Got His Gun. Any yahoo thinking of "shooting up the enemy" valerief Jun 2014 #20
Good choices. 'Das Boot' drove some from the theater. Eleanors38 Jun 2014 #24
Das Boot. Yep. hunter Jun 2014 #47
Johnny got his gun! burrowowl Jun 2014 #168
The greatest antiwar movie Exposethefrauds Jun 2014 #12
'Breaker Morant' was terrific shenmue Jun 2014 #16
Things To Come (1936) SummerSnow Jun 2014 #13
I saw that movie ~40 years ago, and again 4 months ago Martin Eden Jun 2014 #106
'Gallipoli' shenmue Jun 2014 #15
Absolutely marked50 Jun 2014 #41
Also saw this one in class. "Dead Man Walking" (the ending) was the one that made me cry though. nt nomorenomore08 Jun 2014 #76
Casualties of War (nt) Shankapotomus Jun 2014 #19
"All Quiet on the Western Front." Eleanors38 Jun 2014 #21
I'd second that theHandpuppet Jun 2014 #40
Probably Paths of Glory. Really depressing. Those executions...I cannot watch it today... CTyankee Jun 2014 #23
Catch-22 frylock Jun 2014 #26
+1 n/t FSogol Jun 2014 #51
+ 2 femmocrat Jun 2014 #64
Agreed. Starts out being funny lunatica Jun 2014 #164
"Saving Private Ryan" and "The Day After" Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #27
IMO, Doctor Stangelove... Motown_Johnny Jun 2014 #29
There is a movie from the late 60's that really made me think about what war really is..."BEACH RED" Tikki Jun 2014 #30
Two movies..."How I Won the War" and "Tribes". Tikki Jun 2014 #100
There are many. FreedRadical Jun 2014 #32
Renior's "La Grande Illusion." 1000words Jun 2014 #33
The Bridge on the River Kwai greatlaurel Jun 2014 #34
All Quiet on the Western Front Mike Nelson Jun 2014 #35
Year Zero: Agony Jun 2014 #36
Mash Sancho Jun 2014 #38
"Born on the Fourth of July" made a lasting impression on me. Nye Bevan Jun 2014 #39
Strong ones marked50 Jun 2014 #42
Lots of good ones mentioned. BillZBubb Jun 2014 #43
You beat me to the post. That one was pretty horrific. nt raccoon Jun 2014 #91
Paths of Glory Tierra_y_Libertad Jun 2014 #44
Deerhunter. Brickbat Jun 2014 #45
That one too. RiffRandell Jun 2014 #93
It's just devastating, every frame. Brickbat Jun 2014 #97
All Quiet on the Western Front. Brigid Jun 2014 #46
Pork Chop Hill rug Jun 2014 #48
Yes..Good One...and All's Quiet on the Western Front, Bridge on Rive Kwai KoKo Jun 2014 #133
all of the above plus: " The Hill" GusBob Jun 2014 #49
Pork Chop Hill (1959) and Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War (2004) PFunk Jun 2014 #52
I think COLD MOUNTAIN should be in the running. JEB Jun 2014 #54
I'll second that. nt BootinUp Jun 2014 #59
Paths of Glory dogknob Jun 2014 #55
On the utter ridiculousness and futility of war, "King of Hearts" still resonates today. canoeist52 Jun 2014 #56
+ 1,000,000,000 What You Said !!! - And Speaking Of Hearts... WillyT Jun 2014 #96
I enjoyed the heck out of that movie Martin Eden Jun 2014 #107
Also a great pick. malthaussen Jun 2014 #136
"In the Valley of Elah" Alex P Notkeaton Jun 2014 #58
Has anyone mentioned "The Victors"? The Blue Flower Jun 2014 #60
It was not a movie but a mini-series, "The Pacific". dilby Jun 2014 #61
Also "Glory" the Civil War film. BootinUp Jun 2014 #62
Gonna mention "A Midnight Clear" just because no one else has tkmorris Jun 2014 #63
Starship Troopers Katashi_itto Jun 2014 #66
Thank you for ending my day with a good chuckle, my friend dogknob Jun 2014 #87
:) Katashi_itto Jun 2014 #88
"Nuts to War." (Anyone recognize that reference?) nt tblue37 Jun 2014 #161
Eli Wallach just died ...RIP L0oniX Jun 2014 #67
Shenandoah has always been one of my favorites Contrary1 Jun 2014 #70
Agreed - I saw Shenandoah when I was just a schoolkid. Made me ant-war for life. canoeist52 Jun 2014 #148
The Sand Pebbles. HooptieWagon Jun 2014 #71
So many great ones mentioned here but I'll add my vote for Paths of Glory. pa28 Jun 2014 #72
I'm going to go out on a limb and say "Far from Vietnam" frazzled Jun 2014 #73
The Mouse that Roared reddread Jun 2014 #77
Hair was pretty much ignored, but it tore my heart. hedgehog Jun 2014 #98
an ultimate cinema classic reddread Jun 2014 #99
Taking Chance Savannahmann Jun 2014 #78
That movie made me cry like a baby. n/t cherokeeprogressive Jun 2014 #83
That movie shows the pain that so many suffer at the losses Savannahmann Jun 2014 #90
Grave of the Fireflies Frank Cannon Jun 2014 #80
Absolutely! kentauros Jun 2014 #84
Never heard of it...will check it out.. Thanks! n/t KoKo Jun 2014 #147
You won't regret it. Frank Cannon Jun 2014 #158
Grave of the Fireflies is the only great movie I regret sufrommich Jun 2014 #149
From Here to Eternity or The Killing Fields or Apocalypse Now ALBliberal Jun 2014 #81
I love the movie but there were a lot of inaccuracies. The italian view of the American West Lint Head Jun 2014 #82
The historical accuracy is a minor point to the movie FrodosPet Jun 2014 #128
Perhaps not the best, but "Tribes" deserves a mention. A HERETIC I AM Jun 2014 #85
I just came here to see if anyone had mentioned Tribes yet. Cerridwen Jun 2014 #101
Recently,for me: "Letters From Iwo Jima", Ghost Dog Jun 2014 #86
Fantastic movie - my vote as well. n/t Fix The Stupid Jun 2014 #105
King of Hearts is up there, in its own way. pinto Jun 2014 #102
Fog of War, imo. 2banon Jun 2014 #103
IMO Mr Dixon Jun 2014 #109
Grave of the Fireflies, Maybe the russian film Come and See CBGLuthier Jun 2014 #110
Maybe not in your Face Anti War 4Q2u2 Jun 2014 #111
Kelly's Heroes Orsino Jun 2014 #112
Ya beat me to it. malthaussen Jun 2014 #132
Good one.....n/t KoKo Jun 2014 #142
Die Brücke (The Bridge) 1959 Special Prosciuto Jun 2014 #113
I think it's a great movie aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2014 #155
Syriana Tetris_Iguana Jun 2014 #114
Mash and Catch-22 nt abakan Jun 2014 #115
Farenheit 911 Bandit Jun 2014 #116
interesting suggestion reddread Jun 2014 #118
Born of the Fourth of July. n/t easttexaslefty Jun 2014 #117
I'll say "Joyeux Noel", just because it hasn't been mentioned Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #124
I agree about "Patton." malthaussen Jun 2014 #137
That's why Scott is in my top 5 of alltime greatest American actors Blue_Tires Jun 2014 #162
'Hearts and Minds' and 'Fog of War.' morningfog Jun 2014 #126
Maybe not the greatest, but a moving anti-war movie nonetheless Art_from_Ark Jun 2014 #127
OMG! I saw that one! That was really rough, I agree... Rhiannon12866 Jun 2014 #130
So many, but Platoon deserves a mention. daleo Jun 2014 #129
"A Time to Love and a Time to Die." Remarque's *other* war book. malthaussen Jun 2014 #131
Was a fan of his writings...."All Quiet"...Arch of Triumph, Time to Love" KoKo Jun 2014 #140
Are you familiar with Willi Heinrich's novels? malthaussen Jun 2014 #143
No...I'll check him out.. KoKo Jun 2014 #145
"Cross of Iron" was savaged by Peckinpah in the movie. malthaussen Jun 2014 #146
Nobody's mentioned "Oh, What a Lovely War?" malthaussen Jun 2014 #134
Forgot about that one! theHandpuppet Jun 2014 #150
So many have been mentioned, I'll add an obscure one... SidDithers Jun 2014 #138
Some good novels came out of that campaign. malthaussen Jun 2014 #141
Thanks, I'll look for it...nt SidDithers Jun 2014 #144
just watched eisenhower's favorite movie-the big country. if only could have deuled w/ hitler. pansypoo53219 Jun 2014 #153
Hair - No Contest Caretha Jun 2014 #154
The Seven Samurai nt Bonobo Jun 2014 #156
La Grande Illusion (1937) has got to be one of the all time anti-war films aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2014 #157
"The Harp of Burma" is a notable contender Stargleamer Jun 2014 #159
No mentions of Dr. Strangelove? eridani Jun 2014 #160
More like ten mentions, starting with Response 3.:) malthaussen Jun 2014 #163
The Bedford Incident PCIntern Jun 2014 #165
I'm late but I have to give a nod to Dawn Patrol SpookyCat Jun 2014 #166
"Story Of A Soldier" FrodosPet Jun 2014 #167

Aristus

(66,099 posts)
14. I agree.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:20 PM
Jun 2014

I like Platoon much better as a film, but I agree with some of the criticism it received that, as jarringly realistic as it was in depicting jungle combat in Vietnam, it tended to apotheosize war as a struggle between good and evil, with Sgt Elias and Ssgt Barnes as the two icons of that struggle.

Full Metal Jacket was a no-holds-barred anti-war statement. It shows war as being ugly, gritty, nasty, petty, inconclusive, and a monumental waste of humanity and national treasure.

ailsagirl

(22,842 posts)
139. It surely does!!
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 08:01 PM
Jun 2014

Especially Country Joe & the Fish singing "Fixin' to Die Rag"

It still packs a wallop!!

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
31. Yes, it's absolutely harrowing
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:09 PM
Jun 2014

I don't think anybody can associate "war" and "glory" after seeing that one.

lovemydog

(11,833 posts)
50. +1
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:14 PM
Jun 2014

It's so powerful and so is the book. In fact, the book was banned for a while because there was a fear that if people read it they would never fight in any war. I know that's how I felt when I read it, and I've never changed my mind since reading it and seeing the movie.

All the movies on this thread are well worth seeing. I can't really name one 'best', as it's kind of weird to me to look at things that way. But if I had to pick one to show to everyone, I'd pick Johnny Gut His Gun.

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)
120. It was a book written by Dalton Trumbo in 1938.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 11:28 PM
Jun 2014

Then he directed the 1971 movie based on his book.

LWolf

(46,179 posts)
121. I've read the book several times.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 11:30 PM
Jun 2014

I never did hear about the movie. Of course, that's par for my course.

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)
123. Ah well, I've never read the book.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 11:36 PM
Jun 2014

Maybe you were too young in 1971 to hear about the movie? I remember it being a big deal at the time.

livetohike

(22,084 posts)
7. "The Deerhunter". A classic film of what happens when those who go to war come home.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:10 PM
Jun 2014

Mostly filmed in Pgh. (my hometown), it was especially heartbreaking. My generation as well.

Stallion

(6,473 posts)
65. +1 It Best Shows the Pre-War Hysteria and Jingoism
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 10:49 PM
Jun 2014

that always seems to overcome common sense as the pro-War professors, businessmen and public officials all lead the cheers during the flag waving Parade. Then the realization comes to those who followed the Parade that what they fought for was very different than what they were lead to believe.

Benton D Struckcheon

(2,347 posts)
10. Interesting.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:13 PM
Jun 2014

The Last of the Mohicans had that same kind of thing built in. No romanticization of war in that one, at all.
I've always thought The Boys in Company C was seriously underrated.

valerief

(53,235 posts)
20. You beat me to Johnny Got His Gun. Any yahoo thinking of "shooting up the enemy"
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:41 PM
Jun 2014

should watch this first.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
24. Good choices. 'Das Boot' drove some from the theater.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:49 PM
Jun 2014

That depth-charge scene when the newbie crawls into his bunk & goes to sleep. It just wouldn't end, the malevolent light show.

 

Exposethefrauds

(531 posts)
12. The greatest antiwar movie
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:18 PM
Jun 2014

The greatest antiwar movie is the one that moves someone enough where they become antiwar.

TGBU is a very interesting and good choice as is all the movies named already.

I thought Breaker Morant would be a good choice but not sure if it really the greatest

it is based on the book Scapegoats Of The Empire by Edward Witton

Highly recommended reading

Martin Eden

(12,805 posts)
106. I saw that movie ~40 years ago, and again 4 months ago
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:18 PM
Jun 2014

Very daring movie for when it was made ... between the World Wars.

It gets a big thumbs up from me, though I'm partial to All Quiet on the Western Front, and Dr Strangelove.

 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
21. "All Quiet on the Western Front."
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:42 PM
Jun 2014

Good segment.

The cause of so many wars is the disrespect we have for others, individually as well as nations. We should at least accord respect instead of demanding it.

My, what a long life. RIP, Eli Wallach.

He quite quietly repaired the spilling.

CTyankee

(63,773 posts)
23. Probably Paths of Glory. Really depressing. Those executions...I cannot watch it today...
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:44 PM
Jun 2014

it is too sad...

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
164. Agreed. Starts out being funny
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 01:04 PM
Jun 2014

then shocks you down to your soul in one scene. I don't know if I'm imagining this but wasn't that scene with the guy's guts spilling out of the jacket the last one before the intermission? It gave you time to react to that scene for quite a while before getting distracted with the next scene. Everything after that scene was relentlessly depressing. It made me feel sick that I had laughed in the beginning of the movie.

edited for spelling and clarification

 

Motown_Johnny

(22,308 posts)
29. IMO, Doctor Stangelove...
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:56 PM
Jun 2014

or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.


You know, we just can't allow a mine shaft gap.


Tikki

(14,539 posts)
30. There is a movie from the late 60's that really made me think about what war really is..."BEACH RED"
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 07:58 PM
Jun 2014

Lots and lots of death and blood...


Tikki

 

1000words

(7,051 posts)
33. Renior's "La Grande Illusion."
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:15 PM
Jun 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Illusion_%28film%29

"Renoir seeks to refute the notion that war accomplishes anything, or that it can be used as a political tool to solve problems and create a better world. "That's all an illusion", says Rosenthal, speaking of the belief that this is the war that will end war forever.

La Grande Illusion is a war film without any depiction of battle. Instead, the prisoner of war camp setting is used as a space in which soldiers of many nations have a common experience. Renoir portrays war as a futile exercise. For instance, Elsa, the German widow, shows photos to Maréchal and Rosenthal of her husband and her brothers who were killed, respectively, at the battles of Verdun, Liège, Charleroi, and Tannenberg. Ironically the last three of these battles were amongst Germany's most celebrated victories in World War I. Through this device, Renoir refutes the notion that one common man's bravery, honor, or duty can make an impact on a great event. This undermines the idealistic intention of Maréchal and Rosenthal to return to the front, so that by returning to the fight they can help end this war."

greatlaurel

(2,004 posts)
34. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:16 PM
Jun 2014

Outstanding antiwar film with superb acting throughout the film. It was William Holden's best and he had many great films.

Eli Wallach was a great actor, too. RIP

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
39. "Born on the Fourth of July" made a lasting impression on me.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:27 PM
Jun 2014

But I haven't seen enough of these movies to determine which is the "greatest".

BillZBubb

(10,650 posts)
43. Lots of good ones mentioned.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:41 PM
Jun 2014

One of the great ones is "Stalingrad". If I recall correctly it was a German film that I saw with subtitles. The battle was a total human disaster. Definitely worth watching if you get the opportunity.

RiffRandell

(5,909 posts)
93. That one too.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 10:20 AM
Jun 2014

A few months ago I woke up in the middle of the night, watched most of it again, by the end it was time to get up and I'm thinking, well this is a great way to start my day.

PFunk

(876 posts)
52. Pork Chop Hill (1959) and Tae Guk Gi: Brotherhood of War (2004)
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:15 PM
Jun 2014

One american, one South Korean but both are set during the Korean War. Unsung in popularity. both are hard hitting in their non-sugar coated portrayal of it despite their dates.

The Blue Flower

(5,420 posts)
60. Has anyone mentioned "The Victors"?
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:53 PM
Jun 2014

A WWII film. The title is meant to be ironic because no one wins in a war.

dilby

(2,273 posts)
61. It was not a movie but a mini-series, "The Pacific".
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:59 PM
Jun 2014

The only thing that comes close is the other mini-series "Generation Kill". The reason these two are so compelling is they are true stories on what war is like and there is no glamorization. If you are not crying by the end of "The Pacific" I don't know what to say, it's just gut wrenching to see young boys aged into old men and commit acts that are just haunting.

tkmorris

(11,138 posts)
63. Gonna mention "A Midnight Clear" just because no one else has
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 10:11 PM
Jun 2014

It is nowhere near as powerful as The Deerhunter or most of the others mentioned, by I always thought it was a severely under-rated film, and it definitely leaves an anti-war vibe with the viewer.

dogknob

(2,431 posts)
87. Thank you for ending my day with a good chuckle, my friend
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 05:03 AM
Jun 2014

"A-at l-least I-I... got to h-have... yooou!"
*dies*

Contrary1

(12,629 posts)
70. Shenandoah has always been one of my favorites
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 11:38 PM
Jun 2014

Not so much for the few Civil War battle scenes, but for how the movie depicts the utter devastation that war wreaks on the families.

And then there's Jimmy Stewart. One of the greatest actors ever, imho.

 

HooptieWagon

(17,064 posts)
71. The Sand Pebbles.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 11:40 PM
Jun 2014

I don't know about the greatest, but its a good one thats also critical of US imperialism and gunboat diplomacy. Good book, too.

frazzled

(18,402 posts)
73. I'm going to go out on a limb and say "Far from Vietnam"
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 11:48 PM
Jun 2014

Though I don't remember much of it at all. I saw it in Paris in 1970, and never since. But I will never forget Bill Klein's segment of the self-immolation. I don't really want to see this film again because it's probably a hot mess. But when you're 20 years old, living abroad as an ex-pat far from home during the height of the war and the March on Washington, and enamored of the French New Wave, it hit a chord.

It could be both the most eloquent and rankling protest film ever made, but it has gone unseen for so long that only cinéastes and New Wave aficionados remembered to hope for its reappearance.

Never released on home video in North America, the 1967 anthology movie “Far From Vietnam” was in its day intended as a cinematic intervention, a cataract of antiwar activism delivered by a dream team of New Wavers: Chris Marker, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Varda, the fashion photographer-turned-filmmaker William Klein and the old-guard Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens. Along with a virtual army of sympathetic technicians, actors and producers, the directors staged the cinematic equivalent of an angry peace march: if not the first documentary about Vietnam, then the first to be made in direct resistance to the American invasion there.

...

Seen today, “Far From Vietnam” comes across as a mournful, enraged chant. Mr. Marker, the French New Wave’s most mysterious artist, was the project’s primary architect, and its editor. The segments, which are not attributed to individual directors, are conscientiously eclectic in strategy and form, mixing stock footage, firsthand documentary scenes, pop-media imagery and, in the case of Mr. Resnais’s portion, actors and scripts. (The actor Bernard Fresson plays a spineless French intellectual articulating excuses for his class’s political apathy.)

The mix includes self-condemning speeches from Hubert H. Humphrey and Gen. William C. Westmoreland, the folk satirist Tom Paxton singing “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation,” a detailed stock-footage history of postcolonial Vietnam, footage of a “traditional” North Vietnamese clown play about President Johnson weeping over his Air Force’s failure, on-the-street explorations of protests on the home front, interviews with Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro, portraits of Hanoi inhabitants and their one-man concrete bomb shelters, and so on.

...

The hammer blow of “Far From Vietnam,” however, comes with Mr. Klein’s segment about the legacy and family of Norman Morrison, a 31-year-old Baltimore Quaker who in 1965 doused himself with kerosene outside the Pentagon office of Robert McNamara, then secretary of defense, and set himself ablaze. Grief doesn’t prevent Mr. Morrison’s serene pacifist widow from endorsing her his martyrdom, and Mr. Klein makes clear that Mr. Morrison immediately became a folk hero in Vietnam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/movies/the-filmfar-from-vietnam-returns-after-decades.html


ON EDIT: Ooh, I found a trailer:



 

Savannahmann

(3,891 posts)
90. That movie shows the pain that so many suffer at the losses
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 07:32 AM
Jun 2014

The discomfort of the transportation workers who carry the bodies of the fallen. The agony the escorts feel in carrying the fallen home. The mechanical reciting of lines. "The President of the United States, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a Grateful nation present you with this flag."

I had a friend who lost part of his hand at work many years ago in an accident. He went to a meeting a couple months after and the company offered him $25,000. He thought for a moment and said. "No deal, give me the hand back." I remembered that incident after Taking Chance. No deal, give me my son, brother, or friend back, keep the flag.

Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)
80. Grave of the Fireflies
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 12:23 AM
Jun 2014

There has never been a more heartbreaking portrayal of war's innocent victims.

I believe that no less than Roger Ebert called it one of the best antiwar films ever made.

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
84. Absolutely!
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:08 AM
Jun 2014

And you'd have to be Dick Cheney (i.e., heartless) to not cry at the end.

I've seen it a few times (with many years between viewings) and just thinking about it tears me up a bit...

Frank Cannon

(7,570 posts)
158. You won't regret it.
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 01:02 AM
Jun 2014

Just have a box of Kleenex handy. My wife and I handle sad movies pretty well, but this one had us bawling like a couple of little kids. I'm talking "projectile" crying here.

Lint Head

(15,064 posts)
82. I love the movie but there were a lot of inaccuracies. The italian view of the American West
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 12:34 AM
Jun 2014

mixed with the Civil War was a little disconcerting.

Other than that, Paths of Glory.

FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)
128. The historical accuracy is a minor point to the movie
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 02:42 AM
Jun 2014

To me, it was about the emotion.

The emotion of the confederate prisoners as Tuco was being destroyed in Angel Eyes' office. The drunken resignation of Captain Clinton. The desperation for one last kindness, one last drag of smoke, on the dying soldier's face.

This, more than battle scenes, is what tells the cost of war.

A HERETIC I AM

(24,321 posts)
85. Perhaps not the best, but "Tribes" deserves a mention.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:15 AM
Jun 2014

Jan Michael Vincent and Darrin McGavin, a 1970's made-for-TV movie that was remarkably well done.

Cerridwen

(13,251 posts)
101. I just came here to see if anyone had mentioned Tribes yet.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:00 PM
Jun 2014

I hadn't seen it before. When I asked my SO yesterday about this thread, he mentioned it and we watched it on youtube yesterday afternoon.

pinto

(106,886 posts)
102. King of Hearts is up there, in its own way.
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:01 PM
Jun 2014

Dr. Strangelove would probably be the most well known example.

CBGLuthier

(12,723 posts)
110. Grave of the Fireflies, Maybe the russian film Come and See
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:27 PM
Jun 2014

Both of those make films like Saving Private Ryan look like a sunny day at the beach.


The Good the Bad and The Ugly does have a fine antiwar sentiment running throughout it.

 

4Q2u2

(1,406 posts)
111. Maybe not in your Face Anti War
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:30 PM
Jun 2014

The Best Years of Our Lives did make an impression of what happened after the War and what a Country owed to it's Vets and those needs not always understood or met. I believe it was the first post war movie that was not all rah-rah and Candy Canes.

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
112. Kelly's Heroes
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 01:48 PM
Jun 2014

It's not deep, but it effectively highlights the divide between the war enthusiasts and the miserable assholes who have to do the fighting.

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
132. Ya beat me to it.
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 07:39 PM
Jun 2014

I often think of Kelly's Heroes as one of the cleverest anti-war movies ever made, but a lot of people seem to think it is too heavy-handed. But the scene with the Tiger evoking Eastwood's westerns is priceless.



Alberty's facial expressions are brilliant, too. I've loved just about every role he's played.

-- Ml
 

Special Prosciuto

(731 posts)
113. Die Brücke (The Bridge) 1959
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 02:16 PM
Jun 2014

Maybe not the greatest but a good lesser-known film. There is also a 2008 remake.

aint_no_life_nowhere

(21,925 posts)
155. I think it's a great movie
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 12:20 AM
Jun 2014

I saw it with subtitles on American TV back in the early 60s. It's a very powerful film about the last days of WWII and 13 and 14 year old German kids recruited into the German army who have to defend a bridge against the advancing Americans. It really does make a statement about the pointlessness of war.

Tetris_Iguana

(501 posts)
114. Syriana
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 02:57 PM
Jun 2014

Such an in-depth cerebral commentary on the latest war folly even 10 years later.

Plus it doesn't hurt that George Clooney is in it

 

reddread

(6,896 posts)
118. interesting suggestion
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 05:07 PM
Jun 2014

After seeing your post, I felt the documentary was about more than war to such a degree that it took me a minute to remember the heart rending scenes of that mother in DC.

Which, in a just America, would have been replayed nightly on the evening news.
I see an even bigger issue of trust and betrayal being replayed repeatedly, in different scenes.
Terrorism. Unlawful, unwarranted surveillance. Death dealing and money making on unprecedented scale.
All on the back of the US taxpayer.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
124. I'll say "Joyeux Noel", just because it hasn't been mentioned
Thu Jun 26, 2014, 11:44 PM
Jun 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeux_No%C3%ABl

and believe it or not, "Patton", which is chock-full of unspoken, subversive anti-war sentiments depending on which perspective you watch the movie from...I love "Patton" because it's ambiguity makes it (especially in the politically volatile era that the film was released) kind of like a Rorschach test -- Do you see an anti-war statement or patriotic hagiography?

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
137. I agree about "Patton."
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 07:59 PM
Jun 2014

Outwardly hagiographic, but the subtext is amazing.

And George C. Scott played both Patton and Buck Turgison. Interesting, no?

-- Mal

daleo

(21,317 posts)
129. So many, but Platoon deserves a mention.
Fri Jun 27, 2014, 02:55 AM
Jun 2014

The scene where the bulldoze the dead into a mass grave, so that the battle can start all over again said it all.

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
131. "A Time to Love and a Time to Die." Remarque's *other* war book.
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 07:30 PM
Jun 2014

Okay, maybe not the "best," but definitely shows the futility and stupidity of war. And Remarque has a cameo in the movie.

Since there are so many touting "All Quiet On the Western Front," I thought it would be useful to mention his book about WW2. Of course he wrote several other books about war.

-- Mal

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
140. Was a fan of his writings...."All Quiet"...Arch of Triumph, Time to Love"
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 08:04 PM
Jun 2014

Bio Snip:

On June 22, 1898, Erich Maria Remarque, the author of the great World War I novel All Quiet on the Western Front, is born in Osnabruck, Germany.

A student at the University of Munster, Remarque was drafted into the German army at the age of 18. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and was wounded no fewer than five times, the last time seriously. After the war, he worked various jobs—teacher, stonecutter, race-car driver, sports journalist—while working to complete the novel he had had in mind since the war. Published in Germany in 1929 as Im Westen Nichts Neues, it sold 1.2 million copies within a year; the English translation, All Quiet on the Western Front, published the same year, went on to similar success. It was subsequently translated into 12 languages, and made into a celebrated Hollywood film in 1930.

The smashing success of All Quiet on the Western Front was due in large part to its reflection of a widespread disillusionment with the war that took hold of many during the 1920s. Praised as a novel of unyielding realism, All Quiet on the Western Front described in stark detail the physical trauma of war. Remarque also articulated the numbing frustration and anger of the conscript soldier, sent into battle by government and military leaders for reasons of politics and power that he struggled to understand. In the words of his protagonist, Paul Baumer: I see how peoples are set against one another and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one anotherI see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring.

The celebrated American journalist H. L. Mencken called All Quiet on the Western Front "unquestionably the best story of the World War." Both the book and the 1930 film version were banned by the Nazis after their rise to power in Germany in 1933 as prejudicial to German national prestige. Remarque went on to write nine more novels, all dealing with the horror and futility of war and the struggle to understand its purpose; his last novel, The Night in Lisbon, was unsparing in its condemnation of World War II as Adolf Hitler's attempt to perpetrate the extermination of Jews and other nonpeople on behalf of the master race.

Though he became a naturalized American citizen and was during the 1930s a frequent participant in New York City nightlife and a companion for several years in Hollywood of the actress Marlene Dietrich, Remarque lived for most of his later life at Porto Ronco, on the shore of Lake Maggiore in Switzerland. He died at Locarno in 1970 with his wife, the actress Paulette Goddard, at his side.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/erich-maria-remarque-born

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
143. Are you familiar with Willi Heinrich's novels?
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 08:09 PM
Jun 2014

I'd venture to say that Heinrich is to the WW2 Eastern Front as Remarque is to the WW1 Western Front.

-- Mal

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
145. No...I'll check him out..
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 08:55 PM
Jun 2014

Thanks for the Heads Up... With War back in the picture (when did it ever end) I'm doing Summer reading.....with the "older stuff to refresh.

Sad that we have so few vets of our latest Wars/Invasion/Interventions for Democracy writing the hard hitting prose and the incredible poetry of WWI and II.

It seems our Volunteer Army isn't able to make sense of it the way others could in other times.

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
146. "Cross of Iron" was savaged by Peckinpah in the movie.
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 08:57 PM
Jun 2014

As usually happens, the book is much better. You might also check out Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier, which is just about as grim. But Sajer has been subjected to a lot of criticism for supposed inaccuracies as history and panned as a "novel," which is kind of ridiculous. And some of the criticisms are kind of ridiculous, too, the kind of nit-picking that you get from fanatics who have studied every incidental bit of trivia they can and seem to think that a mistake of memory is proof of fraud. It's a good read, anyway, and that's the point, isn't it?

I mention this because Heinrich has been subjected to some of the same kinds of criticism, although to a much lesser extent.

-- Mal

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
134. Nobody's mentioned "Oh, What a Lovely War?"
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 07:51 PM
Jun 2014

Well, you don't get much more anti-war than that one. And it's a topical choice, what with the 100th anniversary coming up. Some people dislike it because it is a typical Attenborough flick: long, in need of editing, and somewhat lacking in plot. I understand the play was better, but aren't they always? And the closing scene is one of the more gripping in cinema (as well as cinematography).



-- Mal

SidDithers

(44,228 posts)
138. So many have been mentioned, I'll add an obscure one...
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 07:59 PM
Jun 2014

The 1993 version of Stalingrad (the 2013 Stalingrad movie was shite)




It's bleak as hell.

Sid

 

Caretha

(2,737 posts)
154. Hair - No Contest
Sat Jun 28, 2014, 10:56 PM
Jun 2014

We thought we had the warmongers beat! Fuck....it's so damn hard, they are thinking up more wars by the minute -

How will we put these evil "Lizard Bastards" finally down?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_%28musical%29

Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the "Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to succumb to the pressures of his parents (and conservative America) to serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifistic principles and risking his life.

aint_no_life_nowhere

(21,925 posts)
157. La Grande Illusion (1937) has got to be one of the all time anti-war films
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 12:31 AM
Jun 2014

and is generally recognized as such. In fact, it's one of the greatest films ever made. Erich Von Stroheim was at his best. The film was banned by Nazi Germany because it described camaraderie between German and French and between Gentile and Jew during a time when people were supposed to be killing each other.

malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
163. More like ten mentions, starting with Response 3.:)
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 11:52 AM
Jun 2014

Pay attention, there will be a quiz later.

-- Mal

SpookyCat

(1,066 posts)
166. I'm late but I have to give a nod to Dawn Patrol
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 04:35 PM
Jun 2014

The 1938 version.

Amazing cast and begins like a romp but when it turns, it turns fast and horribly. One of my favorites.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you do.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030044/?ref_=nv_sr_2




FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)
167. "Story Of A Soldier"
Sun Jun 29, 2014, 05:00 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060196/faq#.2.1.4

Bugles are calling from prairie to shore,
Sign up and fall in and march off to war
Drums beating loudly, hearts beating proudly
March blue and gray and smile as you go.
Smoke hides the valleys and fire paints the plains,
Loud roar the cannons till ruin remains;
Blue grass and cotton burnt and forgotten
All hope seems gone so, soldier, march on to die.
Count all the crosses and count all the tears,
These are the losses and sad souvenirs;
This devastation once was a nation
So fall the dice, how high is the price.
There in the distance a flag I can see,
Scorched and in ribbons but whose can it be;
How ends the story, whose is the glory,
Ask if we dare our comrades out there who sleep.
Count all the crosses and count all the tears,
These are the losses and sad souvenirs;
This devastation once was a nation
So fall the dice, how high is the price we pay.
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