And The Blogscar Goes To ...

In honor of Oscar Blogscar night, I'm offering up the following nominations for Best War Movie of the Right Wing Blogosphere. I'm sure I missed some excellent films, but these ten are sure to warm the cockles of the average right winger's violence pumping heart while quenching his or her blood lust for a knock down drag out, blow the enemy to smithereens, save the personal and political nuance for chick-flicks, all out war movie. OoRah!

Before we vote, the Academy wishes to posthumously bestow the Lifetime Achievement Award for Common Sense on screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky for the outstanding performance of 1976 - basically telling Vanessa Redgrave to STFU.

  It was the "Zionist hoodlums" phrase that startled the crowd and has, to this day, been drawn out of context and used to label Redgrave an anti-Semite. Much later in the program, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky ("Network") presented the writing awards but first interjected, "I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own propaganda."

We considered sticking with the wonderful golden statuette of the MPA, but decided the image of some gold-plated pacifist standing around with his arms folded while waiting for an Islamofascist to come by and frag his gilded backside simply wasn't in keeping with this year's theme. So, without further ado ...

And the nominees are:

A Bridge Too Far - Tagline: Out of the sky comes the screen's most incredible spectacle of men and war! This WWII film with an all start cast follows the perspectives of American, Polish and British soldiers attempting to capture key bridges behind German lines in a complicated parachute and armoured assault.

Battle of the Bulge - Tagline: The Epic Adventure of the Clash that Turned the Tide of World War II. In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent this occurrence, Hitler orders an all out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp. "The Battle of the Bulge" shows this conflict from the perspective of an American intelligence officer as well as from a German Panzer Commander.

Big Red One - Tagline: The real glory of war is surviving. A veteran sergeant (Lee Marvin) of the World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivors Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill), the writer Pvt. Zab (Robert Carradine), the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson (Kelly Ward) in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium and France, ending in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where they face the true horror of the war.

(The) Dirty Dozen - Tagline: Train them! Excite them! Arm them!...Then turn them loose on the Nazis! A Major with an attitude problem and a history of getting things done is told to interview military prisoners with death sentences or long terms for a dangerous mission; To parachute behind enemy lines and cause havoc for the German Generals at a rest house on the eve of D-Day.

(The) Great Escape - Tagline: A Glorious Saga Of The R.A.F. Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist type prisoners of war are all put in an 'escape proof' camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe.

(The) Longest Day - Tagline: This is the day that changed the world... When history held its breath. The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, the US, Britain, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day. The longest day."

Midway - Tagline: In every war there is a battle to end all battles. The summer of 1942 brought Naval stalemate to the Pacific as the American and Japanese fleets stood at even numbers each waiting for the other to begin a renewed offensive. "Midway" tells the story of this historic June battle where a Japanese carrier force, in an attempt to occupy Midway island and lure the American fleet to destruction, was meet valiantly by US forces operating off of three aircraft carriers and numerous escort ships. It was the first battle in which naval air power was extensively used, and at its conclusion the Japanese Carrier force had been completely destroyed which lead the way for the US 1943 and 44 offensives which would eventually bring the Pacific War to a close.

Patton - Tagline: None listed but does a real war movie need one? The story of General George S. Patton, Jr. during World War II. His battlefield genius garners him fear and respect from the Germans, and resentment and misunderstanding from the Allies. A military historian and poet, he believes he was a warrior in many past lives, and that he is destined for something great during this life, but his stubbornness and controversial methods nearly prevent the fulfillment of that destiny.

Pork Chop Hill - Tagline: Bold! Blunt! Blistering! The battle picture without equal! American GI's must retake a barren hill in Korea that has been overrun by Red Chinese troops. The ensuing battle becomes a meat grinder for American and Chinese alike. This story of a an actual battle is all grit.

Sands of Iwo Jima - Tagline: Alone and outnumbered, they had one thing in their favor... the American dream. A great human story... makes a mighty motion picture. And how could we not have a nominee featuring the Duke, John Wayne as the implacable Sgt. John M. Stryker. Need I say more?

Be sure and vote!!

Comments

[Steel]

Wait. A. Minute.

Where's The Bridge Over the River Kwai?

[gahrie]

The ultimate rightwing war movie of all time is "The Green Berets" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063035/

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

Where is Red Dawn? Or Battle of Britain?

[Cassandra]

What a great idea. The thought of having to listen to George Clooney bloviate is making me personally quite ill.

Though I do have to say that my two favorites aren't on your list :)

[FloridaPatty]

Where is Tora! Tora! Tora! ? Where is The Bridge on the River Kwai? and I thought it was Hamburger Hill.

Had uncles and my dad as WW II vets. Spent many an evening watching every one of these while my dad narrated the actual event. Priceless!

[spd rdr]

Okay, I can see perhaps passing over such gems as "The Enemy Below," "Hell's Angels," Run Silent, Run Deep," "The Young Lions," "Sink the Bismark" and even "All Quiet on the Western Front" But "Saving Private Ryan?" It's gotta be there.

[Dan]

lol I tried to stay away from great films which went into the whys and wherefore of war. Where Eagles Dare and The Canadian Geese are two of MY favorites which didn't make the list. Now how much fighting was there in Bridge Over the River Kwai, I ask ya??? The Wind and the Lion, Galipoli, I could go on for ever, but the list had to end somewhere. SO I picked mostly trafitional old American films from WWII. And Pork Chop Hill was with Greg Peck and dealt with the Kporean War. Hamburger Hill was awesome, and Saving Ryan, but no contemporary movies made it on this list.

[Jim]

Where's Apocalypse Now ... I voted for Pork Chop Hill, but I think most are too young to remember it. My kids wouldn't watch it becasue it was in Black and White.

[dittybopper]

To Steel above: The survivers of the POW camp depicted in Bride on the River Kwai said that the movie was a full of crap and completely distorted what actually occured. The History Channel runs a documentary about the bridge now and then.
My suggestions:
We Were Soldiers, Iron Triangle, Objective Burma, Blackhawk Down, To Hell and Back, Hearbreak Ridge.

[spd rdr]

"Das Boot."
Okay, so I'm Navy.
Tell me it didn't move you.

[Patrick Walsh]

My vote is for "Glory". It works as a traditional "turning boys into men" movie as it does about honoring the African American men of the regiment. I particularly like the comparison between the 54th who were real soldiers and the "contraband" outfit which was merely wearing the uniform. I think Morgan Freeman's character captures the essence of what it means to be a soldier in the scene where he walks guard with a wooden pike, in the rain, at night, hundreds of miles from the nearest enemy.

Plus what about "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" or "Fort Apache" or "Rio Grande" I can't stand to watch "Battle of the Bulge" more than once every couple years but I watch the trilogy several times a year.

Finally, I know of at least two guys who joined the Army to become tankers after watching "Kelly's Heroes."

[Little Miss Chatterbox]

Unfortunately, you need to have some more recent movies for me to be able to vote. I have loved war movies like "Black Hawk Down", "We Were Soldiers", "Patriot", etc.

[wolfwalker]

I also wonder at the absence of such gems as "The Enemy Below," "Sink the Bismarck," and "Run Silent, Run Deep." And I suppose that one could disqualify "Gettysburg" on any of several grounds...

... but I genuinely can't believe that no one has yet mentioned "Twelve O'Clock High."

[JJJet]

I voted for Patton. It was tough choice between that 'The Longest Day' and 'The Great Escape.' Some of the other movies mentioned are great also. I would have liked to see 'We Were Soldiers' in the list. 'Midway' had too many action sequences from 'Tora, Tora, Tora.' Japanese planes attacking Midway with Torpedoes when they used only bombs is just too much for me. Also, in The Battle of the Bulge, there is no snow on the ground and there a few trees. The battle was fought in a snowy forest. Maybe I'm just anal.

JJJet

[Crazy Politico]

I voted for Dirty Dozen, but really wish Run Silent, Run Deep had been on the list. One of the most under apprecaited movies of the genre.

[lurking]

I voted for The Great Escape.

I learned a lot by watching some of these movies with a WWII veteran. Like in the Great Escape, there is a scene where Steve McQueen flashes his Military pin at the German soldiers as they are about to catch him. Apparently if you didn't identify yourself and what military you were with, you could be shot on sight.

Compare and contrast this with Bridge on the River Kwai. Prisoners of war (so I was told) were to do everything they could to interfere with the enemy as in the Great Escape, but not so Bridge on the River Kwai. Both are very interesting movies.

The Longest Day is a great movie, a mini history lesson.

[Quando]

You forgot "The Bridges at Toko Ri."

"Where do we get such men?"

[patd95]

A movie totally missed is, 'The Wild Geese.' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078492/

Apart from the crappy acting of Richard Burton and Richard Harris, there are some great themes and message that still hold up today - professional soldiering, international race relations, political subtrufuge...this is a must see and I'm suprised this did not make your list.

[Mrs. Davis]

Not one mention for Zulu?

And now that we're at it, Gunga Din, Four Feathers (1939), Dr. Strangelove, Sergeant York, In Which We Serve, Go Tell the Spartans.

[Chris]

Someone beat me to "Objective Burma", but I counter with "Stalag 17", which was better than "The Great Escape" in many ways.

[Dan Kauffman]

Patton of course

Skazal on toishe sookim sinh

[Florida Patty]

Well if we're broadening the vote. Hand's down is Ken Burn's documentary series on the Civil War.
Five Stars.

[OhBloodyHell]

You're also missing The Stunt Man (sort of a war movie) and The Boys In Company C, and Paths of Glory.

I also concur with mentions of Sgt. York and Bridge on the River Kwai.

One clear question, of course, is, are we looking at war as kicking ass, or as the human response to it? We talkin' manly men, or thoughtful introspection? --Both-- are appropriate in the realm of humans.

Only the former seems to be the author's interpretation, which is fine.

Of the listing given, though, it does seem only fitting that, so far, Patton is *** kicking ASS ***.