In America this has been going on since the early 90's, the AMC-Turner war-movie-athon. The interesting thing about the deluge is the number of obscure movies one sees, World War II propaganda flicks rarely aired since the war.
Then there are the old standards, Bridge on The River Kuai, The Longest Day, a Bridge too Far, my personal favorite, They Were Expendable.
They Were Expendable is a John Ford classic, all his cinematography tricks are there. The sense of scope, the use of shadows, etc...The man is the greatest American director ever, and if you disagree with me, your a commie. Anywho, an air of despair hangs over the entire film. We know the entire crew is doomed. The men of Motor Torpedo Squadron start out with hope, but as the war drags on the Japs advance, the squadron loses boats, men, equipment, runs out of torpedoes, runs low on fuel; the army takes a boat away to patrol a lake. The entire film seems to slow, almost as if its taking place in a sleepy southern town. Eventually Robert Taylor and John Wayne are flown out of the Philippines.
Interestingly, They Were Expendable is based on a book, and if said book is to be believed, how events are portrayed in the movie is pretty much how it went down, including the pretty nurse.
As it happens I have an article in the current issues of World War II Quarterly about this very topic, the Philippine campaign, not pretty nurses, sorry.
I wrote a few weeks ago how I've come to view The Longest Day as a bad movie. I guess I've changed. Below are some of my favorite war movies:
They Were Expendable (obviously)
A Bridge Too Far (I wrote about this recently too. Gets better with age)
Midway (feels like the 70's but I don't care, Eric Estrada!)
We Were Soldiers (recently reviewed here as well)
Nothing really interesting, pretty standard fair for anyone who grew up watching TV in the 70s and 80s.
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