Inglorious Basterds and the War Adventure
First things first this is not a post on Quentin Tarantino’s latest flick, which needless to say i am keenly awaiting. Not the least because its directed by Tarantino himself, but because it belongs to the “War Adventure” genre, or in effect an action/adventure movie with a war backdrop. Now when one speaks of war movies, you have many sub genres in it. You have the war drama kind, where a human drama is set in the backdrop of an event connected to the war. Or what are called as epic movies kind. It could be a real life incident like Normandy( The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan) or the notorious Death Railway( Bridge on the River Kwai) or the Holocaust( Schindlers List, Life is Beautiful, Pianist) or Glory( Black regiment in Civil War) . Some of them are biopics dealing with famous war heroes like Patton, El Cid, Lawrence of Arabia. Some of them concentrate on a specific battle like Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima( Iwo Jima), Waterloo, Black Hawk Down( US operation in Somalia), Gettysburg.
You then have the Vietnam War genre movies, like Apocalypse Now, Hamburger Hill, Platoon, The Deer Hunter a majority of which are quite angtsy in nature. There are movies like Atonement, Courage Under Fire, Pan’s Labyrinth, From Here to Eternity, Gone with the Wind which though set against a war backdrop, concentrate mostly on the human drama. The anti war message has been the background of many movies notable of which are Battle of Algiers, Born on 4th of July, Catch 22, Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove to name some. And of course the classic love stories with a war backdrop, Cassablanca, The English Patient, Gone With the Wind.
So what exactly constitutes the War Adventure genre?
Again like all genre classifications, this is hazy at best. But basically it could be summarized as band of brothers get on a mission, go into it and come out succesful. In effect its more of a kick ass, all’s well that ends well actioner, and the war is only a backdrop. But then most of the movies in this genre are not just kick, slash and burn fests. There is certainly good amount of drama, characterization, plotting involved in those movies.Of course you do have the Rambo, Missing in Action series, which are more like the Sunny Paaji takes on the bad, bad Viets kind, but again they are more like exceptions. Most of the action adventure stuff are totally guy movies, with the female characters generally playing a secondary role, or at times totally absent altogether.
I started off with movies like Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navaronne, Dirty Dozen in this genre, and totally loved them. And then in the midst, when i watched more serious stuff like Saving Private Ryan, Schindlers List, Pianist, these movies appeared so cheesy. Watching a realistic, horrifying opening scene of the Normandy landings in Saving Private Ryan, and then again watching Clint Eastwood gunning down dozens of Nazi soldiers in Where Eagles Dare without a single bullet even touching him, was pretty much jarring. The movies i loved in my childhood and teen years, were now looking so cheesy, so unrealistic. It was like making a graduation from reading pulp fiction novels to more intricate thrillers, and you find yourself not really wanting to read them. But then after some time, you find that you could co exist with both.
Now whatever critics might say about Where Eagles Dare or Dirty Dozen, the fact of matter remains that for me personally, it was these movies that sparked an interest in World War II. It also helped that my Dad was a big time fan of the World War genre, and i got to know more of World War II from him. Later on i got to read more and more novels, books, literature about it, and thats what sparked an interest in the Nazis, Holocaust, WW2 Battles etc.
The war adventure genre had two elements that make any great action flick- music and action scenes. Where Eagles Dare in that aspect had one of the best opening credits, a remote airfield somewhere up there in the Austrian alps, a plane slowly comming into picture, and then the credits flashing on screen. The music was brilliant too, starting off at a slow tempo, and then increasing in volume, and the shot of the plane flying among the Austrian Alps, was awesome. I watched Where Eagles Dare umpteen times just for this one single shot. The Guns of Navaronne, had a different opening credit, where the narrator gives us the backdrop of the action, and then the credits flash over the ruins on an Greek island to Dmitri Tonkin’s score. The Dirty Dozen had a totally different score, moody and melancholic, while Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Great Escape was a more jaunty one.
The action scenes were equally spectacular, Guns of Navaronne has one of the best picturized storm scenes in movies. Watching in theater, you could actually feel the storm howling, the wind whipping across your face. And of course the climactic scene in Guns of Navaronne is totally nerve wracking, i was literally sitting on the edge of my seat. Where Eagles Dare has that fabulous fight scene on the cable car, though it looks a bit cheesy nowadays, for a 60’s flick, it does seem pretty realistic and gritty. And yes could any one ever forget Steve Mc Queen’s attempts to escape from the Nazis on a bike in The Great Escape? Real kick ass stuff there.
But it was not just the action, the thundering background music, it was also the drama and the plotting that made these movies so memorable. Guns of Navaronne, works not just on the action, it also has the tense interplay between the characters, the harassed Mallory( Gregory Peck), dealing with a bunch of egoistic characters, the imperious Miller( David Niven) who takes no orders, and the Greek resistance fighter Andrea( Antony Quinn) who has a long standing grudge against M
iller. You feel the tension when Mallory takes charge and orders Miller to start being responsible for his actions, or when the traitor in the group is unmasked. For most part Where Eagles Dare is a total masala action flick, but then when you see Richard Burton, playing mind games with the Nazis doing a double cross, it is drama at its best. Clint Eastwood got the seetis for Where Eagles Dare, but in that one scene, Richard Burton totally takes control.
The Dirty Dozen and the Great Escape are two movies, where character development plays a key role in enhancing the drama. The Dirty Dozen was about a crusty tough as nails Major Reisman( Lee Marvin) has the unenviable task of training 12 hardened convicts for a suicidal mission in Germany. Not just hardened convicts, but total pyschos.
But along with these other results, it gives YOU just about the most twisted, anti-social bunch of psychopathic deformities I have ever run into! And the worst, the most dangerous of the bunch, is Maggott. You’ve got one religious maniac, one malignant dwarf, two near-idiots… and the rest I don’t even wanna think about!
The best part of Dirty Dozen is not the mission, but the interplays between Major Reisman and the bunch of looneys he has to deal with. It has John Casavettes playing Franko, a rebellious ex gangster, Telly Savalas, playing a religious maniac, who hates women, Jim Brown, another rebellious black activist, Charles Bronson, a cynical ex army officer. Tarantino rated this as one of his favorite movies, and one can see why. It has characters totally twisted and pysched up, and extreme nihilistic violence, a whole room of German officers and their wives, kids are burnt to death in the basement.
The Great Escape on the other hand, though not so nihilistic in its violence, deals with allied POW’s trying to attempt an escape from a heavily guarded German prison. Boasting of a stellar cast that included Sir Richard Attenborough, Steve Mc Queen, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, James Coburn, James Garner, the movie is one of the best war movies made in any genre. Again the best part here is the build up to the actual escape, the planning made by the prisoners, the tongue in cheek one liners. My favorite thing about Great Escape, is the way the characters are identified with nicknames. So Steve Mc Queen is the Cooler King, who spends most of his time in the cooler. James Garner is the scrounger who can arrange anything by all means, James Coburn is the manufacturer who builds all the tools needed for escape. Charles Bronson is the Tunnel King, for his ability to dig tunnels, Donald Plesance is the “Forger”, while Richard Attenborough who masterminds the entire operation is “Big X”.
Another really good WW2 Escape flick was Von Ryan’s Express, which had Frank Sinatra, playing an allied POW, who masterminds an audacious escape attempt on a train heading to Switzerland. The problem here is that Sinatra himself is hated by many of the Allied prisoners, who feel he is a Nazi stooge. The climax of the movie is one of the most tragic, and you feel the irony of it all. But going for audacious plots, The Eagle Has Landed, should take the honors. For starters this is one of those very rare WW2 flicks where the Nazis are actually the heroes. And the plot here is to kidnap Winston Churchill, and negotiate with Britian to finish the war. 
Unlike most of the other movies in this genre, this however does not have too many spectacular action scenes. But the excitement here is built up by the tension, as a spectator you are constantly asking yourself, will the Nazis actually succeed in doing this? And here again its the interplay between the characters, the officer Kurt Steiner(Michael Caine) who carries out the mission, and his superior Oberst Radl( Robert Duvall) that elevates the movie. Also Donald Sutherland’s turn as an IRA soldier, who assists the Nazis in the mission.
Quentin Tarantino is sure to give the war adventure genre a totally new look with Inglorious Basterds, and which i believe is gonna be one of the best movies this year. I am sure he would do to this genre, what Spielberg did to the war genre as a whole with Saving Private Ryan. But all said and done, movies like Where Eagles Dare, Guns of Navaronne, Dirty Dozen, Great Escape, would never be forgotten by me. They were a part of my childhood memories. And every time i watch those movies, it sends me back on a nostalgia trip.
Tags: Antony Quinn, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, David Niven, Dirty Dozen, Great Escape, Gregory Peck, Guns of Navaronne, Lee Marvin., Quentin Tarantino, Richard Burton, Where Eagles Dare, World War II Movies
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Ratnakar, your list covers much more war related movies than I have watched. My all time favourite is the Deer Hunter. There is a John Voight movie, the Odessa File, which I would put alongside the ones listed by you because of its Holocaust reference.
SKD, yeah am a sucker for this genre. The Deer Hunter is a great movie, though more of a war drama. Odessa File is more of a thriller stuff, but again the movie is not as good as the novel.
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If you are referring to thrillers which have a Holocaust reference, would reccomend
The Boys From Brazil- Gregory Peck, in a rare negative role as Dr.Josef Mengele, who plans to clone a series of Hitlers.
Also the Marathon Man, where Sir Laurence Olivier plays an ex nazi.
Nice compilation of war genre movies;Few more missing here are—
World War Genre:
A bridge too far(1979),
Days of Glory (2006)
Der Untergang(2004),
Enemy at the Gates(2001),
The Thin Red Line (1998),
A Midnight Clear(1992),
Stalingrad(1993),
Idi i smotri(1985),
Das Boot(1981)
Vitenaam Genre:
Platoon(1986) and Good morning vietnam (1987)
hey ratnakar , brilliant post bro. you covered almost all the gr8’s in the post. Deer hunter is one of the very best -and also Odessa file – but didnt read the book though. some others were DAS BOOT, GETTYSBURG, PATHS OF GLORY, HAMBURGER HILL are some of the other gr8 movies, worth mention.
All in all, an amazing genre. I still remember watching SAVING PRIVATE RYAN on the big screen, the first 15 minutes blew my F***ing mind away.
and of course BRIDGE on RIVER KWAI . even by DAVID LEAN’s lofty standards – this one was a movie superior to many …. and timeless.
@ Yayaver
A Bridge Too Far was not that great, i found the Longest Day much better.
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Have not seen Days of Glory. Der Untergang was again shocking, especially the climax scenes. Das Boot is a classic, gosh the submarine scenes, just made me so dizzy.
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Stalingrad was another great one, though did not like Enemy at the Gates much, had a very loose script. Platoon is a brilliant movie, one of Oliver Stone’s best.
@ Bipin
Thanks for bringing Gettysburg up, though the movie was long, i was just stunned at the sheer scale of the battle scenes, as well as the terrific perfomances, gosh that movie just overwhelmed me.
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Paths of Glory was a brilliant anti war movie, what a performance by Kirk Douglas, that guy always seems to give his best for Stanley Kubrick( Spartacus being the other one). Check out Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, real hard hitting movie, and one of the best on the Vietnam War.
Ratnakar, Like you I loved these movies as a kid. The heroes and villains were clearly set apart, and so many of these were based on books by Alistair McLean.
The dividing line has now started to blur and it seems Inglorious Basterds will take this trend further.
Ratnakar, I still vividly remember some scenes of Marathon Man. An outstanding one is that of Lawrence Olivier extracting a tooth (healthy!) of Dustin Hoffman. I saw it in 1987 Indian film festival in New Delhi. Those days the festival was held in Delhi every alternate year. I think Goa is the permanent venue for the festival now.
gr8 post ratnakar, i have seen many of them. Of the books i have read Guns of Navarone and it was a good one. Can you tell me the books names and author based on which some these movies made? I always like to read books on war rather than seeing them….
hail Ratnakar! great post. brought back so many old vivid memories. the one that touched the heart was the mention of the “Guns” ship-wreck impact felt on a big screen. i cudnt agree more…
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i guess u missed out mentionnig abt “Jarhead”. i liked the movie coz it was so anti-war, more like platoon…but set against “Desert Storm”
@ Prashant
Here are some good books i could recommend off hand
The Longest Day/ A Bridge Too Far-Cornelius Ryan.
All Quiet on Western Front- Erich Maria Remarque
A Farewell to Arms(WW1)/ For Whom the Bells Toll(Spanish Civil War)- Ernest Hemmingway
The Eagle Has Landed- Jack Higgins
Eye of the Needle- Ken Follet( the movie version was good too), Fanaa was copied from this.
English Patient-Michael Onadtje
From Here to Eternity- James Jones
The Dogs of War- Frederick Forsyth
The Bridge over the River Kwai-Pierre Boulle
@ Satyen
Have not seen Jarhead, but loved 3 Kings, kinda heist flick set on backdrop of Gulf War. It had some great acting by George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.
Another similiar kind of movie was Clint Eastwood’s Kelly Heroes, about a bunch of rogue soldiers who try to steal a gold bullion during the War.
@ Ratnakar: yes, i hv watched three kings, and it was really a great watch. havent watched Kelly heroes, but plan to catch it soon.
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Jarhead was released sometime before Brokeback, so Jake Gyllenhal (who is the main protagonist in Jarhead) was not so widely known then. its a great psychological study of what goes on with the soldiers who are facing the war in a completely alien environment. worth-a-watch, but a bit depressing on all counts.
War movies and gangster are two of the favourite genres of many movie lovers. I have not seen many of the movies you have mentioned.
I can add a few of my favourites , which is not being discussed here so far…
1. Jacob’s ladder- a psychological thriller based on the aftermath of Vietnam War.
2. Windtalkers- a typical John Woo action War film.
3. Pearl Harbour- I know this one’s your favourite, so surprised to see t missing.
4. Night of the Generals- Another superior war based thriller.
5. A Few Good men- This one’s everyone’s favourite I guess.
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However the list of War films are too humongous to discuss in one post !!
And yes, after watching the outstanding trailer, eagerly waiting for Tarantino’s IB.
Cheers!
~uh~
@ UH
Pearl Harbor my favorite??? No Way, i think there is a confusion with the other Pearl harbor based Movie Tora!Tora!Tora!.
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In fact i wud rate Pearl Harbor as one of my least favorite in the War Genre, yeah the Pearl Harbor attack scenes were good, but that overlong Bollywood style love triangle just put me off big time.
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Night of the Generals is a more underrated flick and really good one.
@ Satyen
I do have to check out on Jarhead, vis a vis Gulf War, Courage Under Fire is a really good one, adopting a Rashomon style narration, against the Gulf War backdrop. It had great performances from Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan( a total change from her rom com roles) and Matt Damon.
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On the lines of Jarhead, i would recommend you to check out Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, which explores the pyschological effects on a group of soldiers during the training, and set against Vietnam War backdrop.
In fact Kubrick’s anti war trilogy Paths of Glory, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket is a classic in itself.
Dunno which category it will fall into, but Syriana is one more film I have’nt seen, but want to.
All quite on Western Front was one of my early experience of war movie, but I had read the book before, which was more impactful than the movie.
McLean’s one more book I loved, but the movie was not that great Ice Station Zebra.
Syriana is more of a political thriller, and same with Ice Station Zebra. Yeah the movie was not as great as the book.
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Do check out Syriana, but its pretty much multi layered, and you would have to get some backdrop of CIA-Mid East politics. Its a great movie, again some great performances from George Clooney(totally unrecognizable), Matt Damon.
@ Ratna (15)- I must have confused, i remember one of your reviews on MS. Courage Under Fire is my fav too, excellent storytelling and Denzel Washington was outstanding.
On Macabre war films- Rambo IV was really gruesome. Not for the weak nerved. I really don’t know it I want to watch it again.
@ UH
Yeah that MS review was on movie Tora!Tora!Tora! which was on the Pearl Harbor incident, and for me to date one of the best on it.
Interestingly most of the anti war movies are centered around Vietnam War, rather than WW2, i guess due to the fact that the Americans lost there badly.
Havent watched many war movies,the recent one I watched was “We were Soldiers” , found the movie very brutal and real …
Ratnakar, you’re an encyclopedia of cinema man, my wife keeps saying noone would be as crazy about movies as I am, I’ll get her to read ur posts
Ratnakar- great buildup to await a hopefully great forthcoming movie.You’ve done an exhaustive listing of some of the best movies in this genre over here.In addition to these I also remember watching Kelly’s Heroe’s as a kid in school & soaking in the war ambience.Also another movie to mention is the recent Valkyrie.