Historical Events That Must Be Filmed

Great topic, where to begin (rubbing hands together)

I'd like to see more films made of the Roma conquest through Europe and being stopped by the savage hords at the border with what became Germany.

I'd love to see an American version of the Battle of Stalingrad (not that one that came out a few years ago that was not factual)

I would LOVE to see one on the Battle of Kursk.
One on Trafalgar, more on The Crimean War, more on the Napoleanic Wars, The Revolutionary War, Another good one on The Boxer Rebellion, several good ones on WWI, WWII, Korea.

A remake on Horatio Hornblower, Seahawk, Captain Blood.

More Viking movies.

One about the Austrailians and the Japanese fighting along the Kokoda Trail. Another where they are in Burma fighting for Imphal-Kohima.

A good remake of Wake Island.

A good movie about Guadalcanal.

A good remake of Hell To Eternity.

A good remake of Hell's Angels.

I'll think of more later.

From what the History channel, has turned up, the Last stand would not be that exciting, and would go in the direction of the Alamo.
The running gun battles would not be as great as digging in to fight to the death.

Rick

There needs to be a movie made about the Korean War (1950-53) that shows just what our boys were up against when the Chinese entered the conflict. Plus the usual drama with Truman/MacArthur, the Inchon landing and the air war in MIG Alley.

I'm sure that I'd like to see the Battle of Horseshoe Bend with General Andrew Jackson, in war with the Creek Indians, maybe a story about Andrew Jackson. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend took place in Alabama back in the early to mid 1800's.

I really like civil war movies, and enjoyed Gettysburg, and God's & Generals. Looking forward to the third installment of this series.

Cheers B)

Hi
From an English point of view in the Korean conflict the battle of the inchon river with the Glorious Gloucester Regiment.

Regards

Arthur

There was a costly European production of STALINGRAD, a very accurate account on the whole battle, directed by Joseph Vilsmayer, but probably didn't make it to the US.

Guadalcanal Diary, starring very young Anthony Quinn, very early in the war, is an interesting film to watch today as well, judging it from the standpoint of what the War Department intended the audience to see about units.

Hi ya all.

Cole, there are a few good Korean War movies made but I would like to see them remade using the proper people in them.

Some of the best Korean War movies I have ever seen are:

Fixed Bayonets w/ Richard Basehart. This one is about our guys who got trapped at the Frozen Chosin. Excellent movie.

Target Zero, gerat movie which had an American Infantry patrol and a British Tank crew who fought side by side. This one has Charles Bronson, Chuck Connors, L.Q.Jones and so many others. This one is excellent as well.

The Hunters. Great jet fighter movie w/ Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner.

10 Seconds to zero. Another Mitchum Korean War movie.

Pork Chop Hill. Great movie with the Americans and Chinese doing the eyeball stuff. Gregory Peck, Norman Fell, and so many others.

Prisoner of War w/ Ronald Reagan and Steve Forrest. G.I's in a Chinese POW camp with Russian "advisors" in charge. Ronald Reagan is an American intelligence officer who is assigned to be dropped behind enemy lines and to be taken capture so he can infiltrate the POW camp. This movie is excellent.

The Glory Brigade w/ Victor Mature and Lee Marvin. This was about an American Engineer Platoon who was attched to a Greek Infantry Company. Really a good movie.

Ice Cold in Alex. This one is from the UK point of view and was excellent if I recall. What I don't recall is if this one was a WWII or Korean War movie.

Itdo, I have a copy of Stalingrad which is in German and Russian but also has translated English. This movie is excellent and it is a remake of one made in the lats 1950's which translated the title is Stalingrad Dogs, Dso You Want To Live Forever? or something like that.

Hi JWFan, I did see TRL but I absolutely disliked it. The original was not much better.

Itdo, I have a copy of Guadalcanal Diary and though it is full of propaganda, it is a well made movie and I liked it. I mainly got this movie because of Anthony Quinn being in it.

JWFan, i'll toss a monkey wrench into your question on who was the greatest Naval Commander by saying that Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was. He also has my vote because he is a Texan as well.

TRK,

Did you know about all of the Horatio Hornblower movies on A&E?....From 1998 to 2003 they made seven of these films..most of which i have seen and are actually very good.Ioan Gruffudd stars as the young Hornblower...you might remember his as Lancelot in King Arthur (last year).

Low budget films,but again...good quality.

_IHW

Ringo Kid: Thanks for posting that list, I happen to be a big fan of THE HUNTERS, BTW. However, there are no new films covering the Korean conflict. I think MASH (ugh!) was the last movie to even remotely deal with the Korean war, and that was 35 years ago. It's time for something new. And although CGI gets overused a lot, it would be effective in showing waves of Chinese Communist troops, don't you think?

Ringo, "Stalingrad" isn't a remake of the Fifties version "Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben?" which would translate into "Dogs, you want to live forever?", it's just the same topic. The earlier film is notable for its being Germany's first try on a war-film, and it's very gritty considering the time it was made it, yet it also has some of the sweetness so many German Fifties films had to offer the audience some good feelings.
The later "Stalingrad" was something of a Private Ryan for European audiences.

I think before this gets out of hand about who was the best naval commander you have to understand something. A great naval commander from one era may not translate into him being great in another era. Ships and equipment changed drastically from the periods between Nelson and Nimitz, there really is no way to compare the people. With that being said, both, were great commanders who pioneered war at sea for the era's they lived in.

Hi IHW, Cole, Itdo, JWFan, Viper.

IHW, I saw I think 5 of those H.Hornblower movies and I think I have at least 4 taped. I thought they were VERY well made and I liked Ioan Griffudd. He is a good actor. I have not had a chance to watch him in newer King Arthur movie and darn it, I was just in a video store last night picking out two titles I had not seen. But back on the H.H. movies. I liked them all and I think they are better than all the Sharpes Rifles movies made--though I loved those as well.

Cole, quite welcome. I might have forgotten about a few good Korean War movies, and as a matter of fact, there was one made with Humphrey Bogart as a M*A*S*H Doctor. I can't remember it's titile and it might be Battle Circus? not sure. Anyway, if I recall, it was a hokey movie and did not hold my interest.

Oh as I now remember, DID leave out a VERY good Korean War movie. This one is Time Limit w/ Richard Basehart, Richard Widmark, Joe Di Rida (SP?) and a few other good actors. This one is to do with American officers while imporisoned in a Chinese POW camp (under the control of Russians) and they murder a fellow officer but all of them made up a story about his death as being from a case of Acute Appendicitus (SP?) or something like that. Anyway, they wanted the character played by Richard Basehart to take heat because he decided to keep quiet about it. Anyway, this is one of my all-time favorite movies. Every actor and actress in this film did an excellent job. BTW, this is a Richard Widmark production.

Like you, I was never a fan of the M*A*S*H movie. I thought it had VERY few good moments in it and thought it weas very boring. I'm highly surprised it was well tought enough to be made into the good TV series it was.

What's CGI? i'm not familiar with that one.

Itdo, thanks for the correct title. My memory is definately rusty and needs oiling. I don't know about it not being the one that was remade. I was in Switzerland in 2000 and my friend Juerg played it and said it was remade as Stalingrad. If Stalingrad is not a remade version od "Dogs" then it does have many many similarities in it. Anyway, that was the first time I had ever seen or heard about this movie. If i'm not mistaken, I think Wolfgang Priess was in it as the Feldgendarmerie Officer? Either way, I like both movies. There is another that I hear is good and I want a copy of which is Die Brucke (The Bridge) and a trio of movies called 08/15 w/ Hans-Christian Bleth (SP?) in them. And lastly, I'd like a copy of Colonel Redl, it sounds like a good story and also has H-C B in it.

JWFan, I do not have a reasonable explanation of why I think C.W.Nimitz is better than those others mentioned, or I would give you a reason. One of my personal reasons sounds lame but it's because he was a Texan. Born and raised in Johnson City--which is not but maybe an hour or so's drive from San Antonio, Texas and near where Ladybird Johnson still lives.

Vipor hit the nail on the head with his explanation. For me it's just a matter of preferance. Just like I prefer John Wayne over Clint Eastwood. Or James Cagney over Humphrey Bogart though I like all these listed. See what I mean?

Best regards and Cheers--TRK.

RingoKid: I also recall a Korean War movie called All the Young Men. It starred Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier. It was more character oriented, I think.

Ringo: yes, Hans-Christian Blech is in 08/15, and Wolfgang Preiss is in "Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben" (both actors appear in The Longest Day). The only similarity between the Stalingrad movies is, well, Stalingrad. And you can't avoid it being a unit picture. Since both films view the conflict from the German perspective, there are similiarities as well.

I rather enjoyed "Enemy at the Gates". It is not a film about Stalingrad per se, but about the "private" battle between two snipers. So of course the film can't (and doesn't want to) do justice to the battle as a whole. It's done by Jean-Jacques Annaud which we consider just one of the greatest European directors around. I had a long talk with him, in 2000, about "Enemy", and since the theme of the film is really how legends are made, and how the public is made to believe in false legends, we were also talking about the influence of Ford on himself which he could not deny. As a joke, he finally signed a photo to me with "If the Legend becomes fact..." A very intelligent man and fascinating filmmaker.

Try to catch "The Bridge" (Die Brücke), it is considered one of the best German movies ever, and one of the very best anti-war-films. The b/w photography is striking. It was this film that enabled its director, Bernhard Wicki, to direct the German section of The Longest Day. You'll recognise the same actor from the early Stalingrad movie in it, Günter Pfitzman.