Battle of Chosin

Youtube American experience (PBS) The Battle of Chosin

The Battle of Chosin on Thanksgiving 1950 (one of the worst battles in American History) was dramatised in an unprecedented $200 million production in China this year earning $909 million at the box office.

Quote: Pacomartin

Youtube American experience (PBS) The Battle of Chosin

The Battle of Chosin on Thanksgiving 1950 (one of the worst battles in American History) was dramatised in an unprecedented $200 million production in China this year earning $909 million at the box office.

That sounds like something that I might watch.

Quote: DRich

That sounds like something that I might watch.

It seems like when I was a kid War films were a regular part of films. Like Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979).

By "war film" I don't mean just a human interest movie set in a war, but an epic film. In the last 20 years sweeping war films have been rare.

Off hand I can only think of three in the last 20 years:
Pearl Harbor 2001 film
Dunkirk 2017 film
Midway 2019 film

Up until now, most of the countries did not have the budgets to do an epic film from the perspective of the side opposite of the US.

I am not sure if "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) is a "war movie" or an "anti-war movie".

Quote: Pacomartin

It seems like when I was a kid War films were a regular part of films. Like Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979).

By "war film" I don't mean just a human interest movie set in a war, but an epic film. In the last 20 years sweeping war films have been rare.

Off hand I can only think of three in the last 20 years:
Pearl Harbor 2001 film
Dunkirk 2017 film
Midway 2019 film

Up until now, most of the countries did not have the budgets to do an epic film from the perspective of the side opposite of the US.

I am not familiar with the movie Dunkirk. Does it appear to be a reasonably accurate portrayal? I really dont care about the human interest stories.

Quote: DRich

I am not familiar with the movie Dunkirk. Does it appear to be a reasonably accurate portrayal? I really dont care about the human interest stories.

I didn't see it, but it got very good reviews. It is surprisingly bloodless for a war movie, but it is about an evacuation and not a battle.

Quote: Pacomartin

I didn't see it, but it got very good reviews. It is surprisingly bloodless for a war movie, but it is about an evacuation and not a battle.

My experience says that movies that get good reviews and win awards are too "Human Interest" for me. I prefer more of a documentary.

Quote: Pacomartin

It seems like when I was a kid War films were a regular part of films. Like Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979).

By "war film" I don't mean just a human interest movie set in a war, but an epic film. In the last 20 years sweeping war films have been rare.

Off hand I can only think of three in the last 20 years:
Pearl Harbor 2001 film
Dunkirk 2017 film
Midway 2019 film

Up until now, most of the countries did not have the budgets to do an epic film from the perspective of the side opposite of the US.

I am not sure if "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) is a "war movie" or an "anti-war movie".

I don't even remember the latest Midway movie
Its kind of a complicated battle
I love YouTube and this video perfectly shows the intricacies of the battle to make it very understandable
Its long, 3 parts but totally worth it if you are a history nut like me. This guy does a fabulous job and accurate history in itself is entertainment to me. He tells it from Japan's perspective and includes fog of war. You learn info as Japan does so you can follow the logic of all decisions

I saw Midway 2019 recently ... not too bad of a depiction. One glaring flaw was the CGI people goofed in showing the critical stage where the US Devastator torpedo bombers nearly all got shot down, scoring no hits. These special effects people either didn't understand, or felt they couldn't show well, that it was the Japanese fighters that took them out. Instead they showed anti-aircraft fire taking them out. The dialogue in the movie tries to correct that briefly but of course the conflict with what was shown was too much to correct. I could be wrong, but I think the Jap* AA was one of those areas they had not developed as well. The movie showed it to be awesome.

I don't know about the CGI. It was really good, but you could still tell it was not real, a distraction since it was so thoroughly used. I expect if they made the movie today the CGI would be even better though.

* sorry but I am so accustomed from childhood calling them Japs, as we all did of my acquaintance, I feel like a total phony not doing it here. I don't think it really is such a terrible epithet as these things go anyway

I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]

I found a trailer

Quote: Pacomartin

Off hand I can only think of three in the last 20 years:[

Think again: there's more.