How about these wars?
French and Indian War: No question: Michael Mann's adaptation of "The Last of the Mohicans" (1992). But King Vidor's "Northwest Passage" (1940), with Spencer Tracy as Major Richard Rogers, is both entertaining and beautifully photographed, despite the non-PC story.
War of 1812: Has to be DeMille's "The Buccaneer" (the later, 1958 version, with Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson and Yul Brynner as Jean Lafitte). Hollywood history, but quite entertaining and a well-staged studio Battle of New Orleans. (Okay, it was directed by Anthony Quinn -- but DeMille was the guiding force behind this remake of his 1938 version.)
Napoleonic Wars: Dead heat between Peter Weir's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2003) and Sergei Bondarchuck's "Waterloo" (1970). Two different types of warfare, of course. Neither of these are perfect, historically or cinematically. The acting in "Waterloo" is particularly uneven, but Bondarchuk captures the sweep and scope of a major battle involving 200,000 soldiers better than any other film I've seen. "Master and Commander" also has the right "feel" about it.
Second Seminole War: By default, Raoul Walsh's "Distant Drums" 1951), with Gary Cooper. Some posters call it a remake of "Objective Burma." Fair enough. There's a great movie yet to be made about the Seminole war leader Osceola (sorry, "Naked in the Sun" ain't it).
1876 Sioux (Lakota) War: "Tonka," a 1958 Disney release, directed by Lewis R. Foster and stating Sal Mineo as a Sioux teenager, that was rather ahead of its time in depicting Custer's Last Stand mainly from the Indian perspective. I begged my father to take me to see this when I was about 7 years old, and I haven't seen it since. Apparently the Disney folks have never re-released it on video. It contains one of the most accurate movie depictions of the Little Big Horn battle, though one can argue that Raoul Walsh's "They Died with Their Boots On," with Errol and Olivia, is altogether more entertaining. There's still a great Custer film to be made, too. (Sorry, haven't seen the TV film "Son of the Morning Star," which some posters like.)
Zulu War, 1879: No question: Cy Endfield's "Zulu" (1964), one of the great combat films ever made, questions of political correctness aside.
Spanish-American War: Not too many candidates here, so John Milius' "The Rough Riders" (1997), with Tom Berenger tearin' it up as Teddy Roosevelt, pretty much has the field to itself.
Philippine-American War: The best film is probably a Philippines film I haven't seen. But Henry Hathaway's "The Real Glory" (1939), with Gary Cooper and David Niven, is entertaining even if it's not exactly PC (and not exactly about the Philippine-American war; it actually is set after the war ended in 1902). The Philippine government prohibited it's showing in 1939, because of the film's negative depiction of Filipino Muslims ("Moros")."
Boxer Rebellion: Again, not much to choose from, but "55 Days at Peking" (1963) is quite entertaining. Nicholas Ray got credit for directing it, although he walked off the set partway through. David Niven, Charlton Heston, and Ava Gardner are the stars in a huge cast.
Mexican Revolution: "The Wild Bunch" (1969) is not exactly a war movie, despite the violence, but it's certainly the best film set in this turbulent historic era. The Mexican film industry has turned out dozens of films set in this period; one of the best, though not a combat film, is Fernando de Fuentes' "El Compadre Mendoza" (1934), a story of a man trying to play both sides of the revolution to survive. (De Fuentes made other worthy films on the conflict in the '30s.) Of all the films made about the fabled Pancho Villa, I have a warm spot in my heart for the non-PC Hollywood classic, Howard Hawks/Jack Conway's "Viva Villa!" (1934), with Wallace Beery chewing the scenery as Pancho. (I'm unfamiliar with the made-for-cable "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself" (2003) directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Antonio Banderas as Villa, but it sounds intriguing.) And don't forget Marlon Brando as the other great Mexican revolutionary hero in Elia Kazan's "Viva Zapata!" (1952).
French Foreign Legion: Several candidates, but I go with tradition: William Wellman's version of "Beau Geste" (1939), with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston.
Spanish Civil War: Carlo Saura's "Ay, Carmela" (1990) is probably the best-known Spanish movie set during this 1930s conflict, but there are no doubt many other interesting ones made in Spain before and after Francisco Franco died in 1975 (and he's still dead!). Of the non-Spanish films, Ken Loach's "Land and Freedom" (1995) is quite good on both combat and the politics. The 1943 Sam Wood adapatation of Ernest Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls," with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, has some good scenes but too much Akim Tamiroff; this great story needs a modern movie remake.
Indochina War (1946-1954): Pierre Schoendoerffer's "The 317th Platoon" (1965) is excellent. Another suburb non-combat film set in this era is Philip Noyce's "The Quiet American" (2002), with Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser (NOT the 1958 Audie Murphy version).
Algerian Revolution: No question: Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers" (1966). But Mark Robson's "The Lost Command" (1966), with Anthony Quinn, is pretty rousing and has a lot more combat action.
Central America, 1980s: Roger Spottiswoode's "Under Fire" (1983) and Oliver Stone's "Salvador" (1986) are more about journalism than soldiers, but both are excellent.
Modern Mercenaries: No question: John Irvin's "The Dogs of War" (1981).
Timeless Mercenaries: No question: Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai" (1954), one of the greatest of all war films.
That's enough.
reply
share