America didn't invent "moving pictures." That honor goes to an obscure Englishman, Louis Le Prince, who beat Thomas Edison and his 1891 Kinetoscope by three years.
Regardless of who invented motion pictures, there is little debate about which nation was responsible for creating a mass-market industry that made motion pictures an art form and a hugely successful commercial enterprise. Before the first decade of the 20th century was out, theaters that exhibited moving pictures had sprung up all over the world. And the American film industry was supplying them with products to exhibit.
This mixture of art and capitalism proved to be fortuitous. At its very worst, Hollywood was a schlock factory, churning out eminently forgettable, formulaic junk. At its best, Tinseltown made provocative, thought-provoking, dazzlingly beautiful art that managed to both entertain and move us.
There is perhaps no more apt subject for the cinema than war. Drama, tragedy, action, and the intensity of it all fit very well on the big screen. In some ways, the best way to tell the story of war is on film. Only movies can capture the sweeping panorama of battle, while at the same time shrinking the drama of conflict to the smallest of engagements: man against man.
We all have our favorites. There are many objectively good war films, but going to the movies is still a personal experience. How many war films have you seen that you absolutely loved but were panned by critics or rejected by audiences?
I loved "A Bridge Too Far," based on the second of Cornelius Ryan's trilogy of books about World War II ("The Longest Day" and "The Last Battle"), even though it was tepidly reviewed and did slightly above average at the box office. It was a fabulous Hollywood blockbuster with a cast of dozens of the most popular actors at the time, including Americans, British, and Germans. At three hours, critics thought it was too long, and character development was lacking.
I still loved it and consider it one of the best war movies I've seen.
I haven't talked to anyone who wasn't moved by the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan." Some World War II veterans who fought at Omaha Beach walked out of the theater. The realism of Steven Spielberg's vision hit too close to home.
Peggy Noonan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, saw the film with a friend, John Whitehead, who was in the first wave that landed at Omaha.
As the famous first 20 minutes rolled out, John wordlessly pointed at the screen and didn’t take his hand down. I said “What?” and he said softly, with awe: “That’s exactly what it looked like.” He couldn’t believe all those years later he was seeing it again. Director Steven Spielberg gave John that moment.
From end to end, "Saving Private Ryan" managed to capture war's brutal truths about life and death. The most realistic hand-to-hand fight in film history was the knife fight between Mellish and an SS soldier in a bombed-out building.
Mellish eventually pulls out his knife in an attempt to kill the SS soldier, who proves too strong and overpowers him. While any other movie might have seen Mellish saved at the last moment by Upham, Saving Private Ryan instead shows the young soldier paralyzed with fear, unable to help Mellish. The SS soldier then starts plunging the knife towards Mellish's chest, who pleads with the German to stop. The blade slowly sinks into Mellish's chest as the SS soldier says in untranslated German "Give up, you have no chance. Let us end this. It's easier for you, way easier. You will see, it's over in a moment."
Only slightly less intense was "We Were Soldiers," which captured the early days of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The Battle of la Drang Valley was a seminal moment in America's participation in the war, and the film caught the fear and determination of the American troops who fought for their lives for four days.
It was the first engagement of American and North Vietnamese regulars. The film's main character, Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, played by Mel Gibson, took his 450-man battalion deep into enemy territory. Intelligence said he was facing a couple of companies of Viet Cong rebels. Instead, Moore was up against a division of crack North Vietnamese regulars.
If you like action movies, it doesn't get much better than "We Were Soldiers." The film is one long firefight with 10,000 gunshots in the movie, according to Lee Bender, one of the film’s sound designers.
Finally, "Kelly's Heroes" rounds out my favorite war films. Clint Eastwood and a war-weary platoon go searching for gold bullion ten miles behind German lines. The film is a parody of war films with the crazy commanding general played by Carrol O'Connor, a hippie tank commander played magnificently by Donald Southerland, and Telly Savalas as the non-nonsense sergeant.
The film succeeds on two levels; the fact that Eastwood and his misfit band of soldiers are risking their lives for personal gain instead of some grand, national objective is hidden from the "regular army" who believe Eastwood's small force is actually taking the initiative and attacking the Germans. The comedic moments are juxtaposed against the life-and-death reality of war in a unique and satisfying way.
It's anti-war without cracking you over the head with it.
