Black Hawk Down: what makes a war film?

[lordlardass]

Im intrested in war and stuff like that, have since i was little but its not the best war film ive ever seen. when you seen the first hour then you seen the rest of the film. nothing wrong with te photography or special effects, just found it draged on a bit.
Best War Films:Platoon, Full meatal Jacket, battle of britian.

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It's a huge sh** sandwhich and were all gunna have to take a bite

[Davis]

Um, younggun, Black Hawk Down is a true story. They all really did survive.

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"He who breaks a thing to discover what it is has left the path of wisdom."
-Gandalf

www.pmind.com

[Matt J Heaton]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica, sans serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Red House Painter:
I'm just bored of the scripts. While the realism increases (saving private ryan) the dialogue gets worse. I watched hamburger hill again last night and just got so annoyed with all the lingo and cool army speak. People don't really say 'Yo mothafuckers don't know shit. That guys dug in like an alabama tick'

Ok I know that was from predator which is not a war film, but it is just the sort of thing all those 'good ol' american boys' say.

What was with that stupid sharp shooter twat in Saving Private who has to say a prayer and kiss his cross before blowing someones head off. It's so self righteous and cliched I just get bored because anything powerful about the film just gets sucked out.

It's only one step away from having someone talking to themselves to explain the plot of a film when they are alone and there is no one in earshot!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I like that kind of dialogue. Its a rare film that features characters talking like real people talk. Real speech is 99% boring.

I personally find it hard to watch the British equivilent.


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[miker]

in BlackHD, did they show the bit where the somalians drag the corpse of an american soldier around behind their car for the mutual desecration by the mob? I wonder how the deceased's parents felt about that, were they told he was KIA, died a hero etc..

does it feel good perhaps that the yanks are shooting lots of black people?

war is only good for one thing: the economy

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[The Woddler]

I haven't seen BHD yet, but from what I've heard (and the trailers/clips I've seen) it looks pretty appalling from a moral standpoint.

-no voice is given to the 1,000+ Somalis killed in the 'operation' (compared with 18 US soldiers). They are just faceless animals who run at the camera and get mown down. Apparently, in reality many innocent local women and children were amoung the dead locals. My dad has worked in Somalia and says that there is still a deep-seated hatred of the US (which, as recent events have proven, is not just limited to Africa). Why don't the yanks try to look at, and understand, this tide of anti-American sentiment, rather than making pointless patriotic war films? (from what I've heard from the US, criticising/questioning of the nation is not really permitted at the moment- un-American activities and all that).

On a purely film-making level, everyone is praising Scott's nihilistic, intense, chaotic, all-action, depersonalised view of war. To me, this sounds exactly the same as Hamburger Hill (surely one of the most underrated war films of all time?), where hundreds of faceless soldiers engage in battle after pointless battle to capture a pointless hill.

W

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[BuBu]

I have now seen it. I went with my Liberian fiance who survived the Liberian civil war and came to England as a refugee and studied English at University; he thought it was great for suspense but thought it was too pro America and disregarded the Samoilan people.
I mean what was the line at the end "we don't set out to be hero's sometimes it just happens that way" it could have done without that.
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[This message has been edited by BuBu (edited January 24, 2002).]

[steven_craig]

welcome back bubu - "Your alive!"
youv been keeping a low profile lately...

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My preciousssssss!

[SoulJacker]

Hamburger Hill is a great battle/war film.

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Jay & Silent Bob DO NOT LICK BALLS.

[Davis]

You know, I see a lot more America bashing from all you brits then I do American pride from all us Americans on this board. Heaven forbid anything is ever about America. None of us Americans have been like, "Pssh, that movie was so British." You fail to realize, these movies aren't being made for you. America is the largest movie going nation in the world, so Hollywood makes movies for America. If you don't like that, don't watch Hollywood movies. We sure don't watch Bridget Jones' Diary. And if I did, I wouldn't come on here saying "What a British movie," as if that was an insult.

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"He who breaks a thing to discover what it is has left the path of wisdom."
-Gandalf

www.pmind.com

[nate_dog]

I'm Canadian and up here, we get Americanization the worst. It seems that the Americans don't want to see the other viewpoint of the situation. They're happy just living in their own dream-world where everything ends with their precious stars and stripes waving around. For me, it's not a question of just not watching it because it is in my face everywhere.

Those movies would make more money if they appeal to a wider audience. The least they can do is make their movies more universal.

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I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING