Wow ! , just finished watching Force ten from Navarone, a first for me and also a last, anyone seen it ? Hollywood has a lot to answer for, Braveheart, The great escape ,U561 (probably got that number wrong) and this turkey was right up there with the best (or worst) of them. Russian tanks posing as German ones, a grey painted diesel train that turns into a red and white electric one whilst going through a tunnel, a stolen Lancaster bomber and an utterly shambolic plot and of course Hollywood insists on portraying any one English as being an upper class toff.

C'mon lets point out some more or any other typically bad turkey's.

N.

Tried to struggle through Braveheart last night but had to give up, Mel Gibsons steaming pile of S**T thats supposed to portray William Wallace's struggle against the nasty British, it may come as a surprise to some but this movie is considered to be one of the most factually incorrect movies Hollywood has ever spewed up,beside the fact that most of the main protagenists actualy did exsist there is virtualy nothing correct in it, Gibson should be ashamed of this blatant piece of Brit-bashing. Sorry to rant on but this one really ticks me off!

.N.

You are of course quite right Greg, is that a new avatar by the way ?
N.

Yep! What war movie is it from? 🙂

Battle of Britain, Neil - thats Robert Shaw in my avatar pic. BoB was one of the first films I saw a the flicks (1969 - I think), and fired my enthusiasm for all things with wings. Again it was over dramatised but an enjoyable movie. The scale of the fight scenes (using real aircraft) haven't been repeated in any film since.

Hi Martin - yes i agree it is a very good film (did n't do too well at the box office - lost a lot of £!). One that is unlikely to be repeated either in term of the use of real aircraft in action. I can reccommend the double disc DVD - the second disc has a documentary with Michael Caine on the Battle of Britain and the making of the film itself. Well worth it!

It comes as no surprise to me that most modelers (including myself) find most war/conflict movies to be nothing more than ten pounds of horse shite in a five pound bag. After all, as modelers, we are concerned with accuracy, thus, we advertently/inadvertently become amateur historians that are able to pick out even the most obscure inaccuracies within a war/conflict movie.

Hollywood and movie makers world wide are interested in drawing a crowd so as to make big profits. In order to do this, there has to be quite a bit of "gilding the lily" and stereotypical characterizations. A 100% accurate war/conflict movie would cost way to much to make with very little in way of returns.

Personally, the war/conflict movies that I enjoy are not 100% accurate, but they do contain a minimum of b******t and stereotypical characters. One of my all time favorites is "The Blue Max" which is historical fiction, but, in my opinion does give a pretty accurate portrayal of the life and times of WWI aviators and aviation. "The Battle of Britain" is another one of my all time favorites and while there are some inaccuracies, none of them are what I would consider to be glaring. The only real problem I have with "The Battle of Britain" is Susannah York, who has no acting ability whatsoever and whose voice grates on my nerves with the same fury as an auto theft alarm.

There are some war/conflict movies that are so fuggin bad, that after viewing them, I felt the strong urge to give the producer(s) the tip of my Doc Martens. Some of these war/conflict movies include (but are not limited to) Flyboys, Der Rote Baron, Red Tails, Pearl Harbor, Enemy at the Gates, Unsere Mutter Unsere Vater, Gladiator, Braveheart.

Then there are the war/conflict that I enjoy despite the inaccuracies such as Dark Blue World, Aces High (Malcolm McDowell is too cool), Dawn Patrol, Stalingrad, Das Boot, When Trumpets Fade, Saints and Soldiers, and The Trench to name a few.

There are also some war/conflict movies that are so bad that they are actually good. Any war/conflict movie that stars John Wayne is a good example. Also Castle Keep, Tora Tora Tora, Richthofen & Brown, and The Battle of the Bulge.

Some of you may agree/disagree with my choices, but as my sainted father used to say "Its a matter of taste the woman said as she kissed the cow on it's arse"

P.S Sussanah York is pretty tastey mate,
N.