Great War movies

[machine3589]

WWII has lots upon lots of films about it. On the other hand, WWI has a distinctly shorter list of ecranisations. I understand why WWII is favoured by the movie industry, but how do we make WWI a more common subject of war movies?

Preferably good ones, not pieces of piss like Flyboys.

[rast]

There were tons of war movies - pre-WW2, somehow WW2 then overshadowed WW1 - better plots? better scoundrels? - The heroes certainly didn't change much.

Looking at the German WW1 films, they certainly lacked a coherent plot. There were quite realistic battle scenes, but a gripping plot was just not there, just a collection of scenes.

American war movies were better - completely unrealistic - but at least there was a plot, like: boy meets girl. And film isn't about reality...

[machine3589]

Originally Posted by rast

There were tons of war movies - pre-WW2, somehow WW2 then overshadowed WW1 - better plots? better scoundrels? - The heroes certainly didn't change much.

Nobody asked you for better plots.

American war movies were better - completely unrealistic - but at least there was a plot, like: boy meets girl. And film isn't about reality...

Nobody asked you about reality.

[Corbell Mark IV]

Well, that problems with WWI are obvious, the action was slow and tortorous, not cinimatic. THe equipment would seem pathetic to a modern audiance.

Still, it could be done...

I'm thinking of a Steven Segal style meeting.

In 1987, Seagal began work on his first film, Above the Law (titled Nico in Europe), with director Andrew Davis and reportedly as a favor to a former aikido student, the agent Michael Ovitz, who believed he could make anyone a star

Supposedly Segal was made a star over a bet.


Now POD a similar bet between say two producers. "I can make a hit from any war".

"Oh yeah, how about WWI?"

Course butterflies might cost us the career of Steven Segal...

[The Kiat]

Originally Posted by rast

There were tons of war movies - pre-WW2, somehow WW2 then overshadowed WW1 - better plots? better scoundrels? - The heroes certainly didn't change much.

Looking at the German WW1 films, they certainly lacked a coherent plot. There were quite realistic battle scenes, but a gripping plot was just not there, just a collection of scenes.

American war movies were better - completely unrealistic - but at least there was a plot, like: boy meets girl. And film isn't about reality...

I think the actual war lacked a coherent plot.

[MrP]

Originally Posted by machine3589

Nobody asked you for better plots.



Nobody asked you about reality.

Bit snippish, aren't you? Especially when both the points flow completely naturally from your OP desire to have more (and preferably good) films about WWI.

[Expat]

These are all good reasons and I'd like to add some. Hollywood's predominance is a big one. America didn't really participate in the more dramatic moments of the First World War. As Rast said, they did their best, and in the first three years of the academy awards, two best pictures went to WW1 films (Wings and All Quiet) and there's also Sergeant York and a few others here and there. But by-and-large there was no national pathos compelling Americans to tell the major stories of WW1.

WW2 on the other hand was painted as a black-and-white struggle of good and evil, fought by you, your friends, neighbors and family. Vanity propels the subject matter onto the screen. That still holds today.

Also, Nazis make for seriously top-notch villains.

To answer your question about how to get more WW1 movies, the easiest way is to get America drawn in earlier (as stopping the predominance of Hollywood is exceedingly difficult.) Once it's a national strugge, the films will come.

Technological limitations are an issue, but not a major one. Also, expect to see more in the future. As WW2 fades from living memory, we should see the market for war movies spread out a bit as that particular sub-genre becomes less immediate.

Finally: ecranisations...is that a real word?

[Greenlanterncorps]

Originally Posted by machine3589

WWII has lots upon lots of films about it. On the other hand, WWI has a distinctly shorter list of ecranisations. I understand why WWII is favoured by the movie industry, but how do we make WWI a more common subject of war movies?

Preferably good ones, not pieces of piss like Flyboys.

The Blue Max
Zeppelin
The Riddle of the Sands
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Gallipoli
The Lighthorseman
Sergeant York
The Fighting 69th
Captain Eddie

The numbers are small but the quality is high.

[machine3589]

Originally Posted by Expat

Finally: ecranisations...is that a real word?

Direct translation. Slavic language.

[BlairWitch749]

Well modern Hollywood just needs to make something dynamic and it could spur interest. Tom Hanks and Ron Howard talked about remaking a movie about Alvin York a couple of years ago but it didn't work out

I think one could produce a brilliant movie about Erwin Rommel in WW1... the guy's actions there in real life exceeded almost any movie drama hollywood has ever produced. Dennis Showalter just produced an excellent research piece into his entire life and it would make a great basis for the movie along with Rommel's own memoirs

[Tom_B]

I agree about Rommel's WWI exploits being a good possibility. However for at least 2 years now I've that there is a movie waiting to be made in the exploits of Emden and her crew incl. their making their way home.

[BlackWave]

Problem is, when people think of WW1, they think of slow, tedious trench battles, whereas WW2 had dogfights, tank battles, and whatnot. And let's face it, a lot of WW1 was slow, tedious trench battles. It just doesn't lend itself to film as well as WW2.

[9 Fanged Hummingbird]

Originally Posted by Greenlanterncorps

The Blue Max
Zeppelin
The Riddle of the Sands
The Thirty-Nine Steps
Gallipoli
The Lighthorseman
Sergeant York
The Fighting 69th
Captain Eddie

The numbers are small but the quality is high.

You left out The Lost Battalion, which I thought was a really good movie. And realistic and based on a true story too. And it was also rather recent, just not that widely known of because it's a History Channel movie.

[Greenlanterncorps]

Originally Posted by Tom_B

I agree about Rommel's WWI exploits being a good possibility. However for at least 2 years now I've that there is a movie waiting to be made in the exploits of Emden and her crew incl. their making their way home.

Not to mention von Lettow-Vorbeck...

[BlairWitch749]

Originally Posted by BlackWave

Problem is, when people think of WW1, they think of slow, tedious trench battles, whereas WW2 had dogfights, tank battles, and whatnot. And let's face it, a lot of WW1 was slow, tedious trench battles. It just doesn't lend itself to film as well as WW2.

Rommel's battles were fast moving (relatively)... even when he fought in France he fought in the Argonne where the heavy tree lines stopped the sort of digging in that one would see on the Aisne or at Ypres... it was more broken country small unit tactics... his epic battles in Romania and Italy were also fast moving over rugged terrain

[BlackWave]

Originally Posted by BlairWitch749

Rommel's battles were fast moving (relatively)... even when he fought in France he fought in the Argonne where the heavy tree lines stopped the sort of digging in that one would see on the Aisne or at Ypres... it was more broken country small unit tactics... his epic battles in Romania and Italy were also fast moving over rugged terrain

Well, yes, but I'm talking WW1 in general. Many film execs or directors won't likely be aware of that, as opposed to the epic battles of WW2 like Overlord or the Battle of Britain.

[Greenlanterncorps]

Originally Posted by Hresvelgr

You left out The Lost Battalion, which I thought was a really good movie. And realistic and based on a true story too. And it was also rather recent, just not that widely known of because it's a History Channel movie.

I forgot that one, it's on my "to watch" list.

[BlairWitch749]

Originally Posted by BlackWave

Well, yes, but I'm talking WW1 in general. Many film execs or directors won't likely be aware of that, as opposed to the epic battles of WW2 like Overlord or the Battle of Britain.

It's just a question of bringing in the correct writer and director though. If you brought in Dennis Showalter who is a major Rommel WW1 expert and Speilberg or another action director it could be a major hit

Just looking at Rommel, but there were a hundred junior officers just like him who had similar tales of epic battles that were not just sitting in a trench waiting to machine gun up the next wave

[BlackWave]

Originally Posted by BlairWitch749

It's just a question of bringing in the correct writer and director though. If you brought in Dennis Showalter who is a major Rommel WW1 expert and Speilberg or another action director it could be a major hit

Just looking at Rommel, but there were a hundred junior officers just like him who had similar tales of epic battles that were not just sitting in a trench waiting to machine gun up the next wave

True, but was Rommel an all-American hero who fought for freedom and got the girl? Huh? No? Then forget it!

[BlairWitch749]

Originally Posted by BlackWave

True, but was Rommel an all-American hero who fought for freedom and got the girl? Huh? No? Then forget it!

He had enough drama, got married during the war... wife was starving during the blockade turnip winter... fathered a child with another woman right before the war, conflicts with his commanding officers and conflicts with neighboring units... major war battles in which he may have been the most gifted company and battalion commander ever (and fighting for freedom... his country at that time was nicer to blacks and jews than america, britain and france)