VideoHound's War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film

Rating:
Summary: A video guide with a sense of humility - wow!
Review: A good portion of the author's introduction is spent preparing faithful war movie fans for the shock of finding out their personal favorite(s) have gone missing. Sacrifices were made to leave room for the requirements of a new kind of omnibus video guide, one with a sense of historical accuracy. Sidebars in this book don't just celebrate the stars or throw out 'didjaknow' trivia. Some of these war films were made in *wartime*, with inevitable effects otherwise unnoticeable to the average civilian. There's a reason why both versions of Henry V are included; so you can appreciate the textual differences between Ken Branagh's 1989 portrait of a young man who grows up fast and Olivier's hand-made (of papier-mache and metal paint no less) epic, photographed throughout the worst of the Nazi's 'Gott strafe England' campaign. International sections cover British, French, Japanese and Russian war stories, while times between the World Wars, during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and postwar adjustment periods are also given unique treatments.

It's a good idea to read even the sections you usually skip in a reference book. The video resource section will tip you off to the Belle and Blade, a really specialized war/action/conflict tape dealer. Captain Dale Dye's foreword breaks with the dry standard of an academic overview or the typical celebrity's bout of name-dropping and in-jokes. It's a free-standing autobiography that retells, in a self-deprecating but unaffected style, his journey from disillusioned early retirement (as, he says, 'a man without a plan') to the Oscar-caliber experience of Saving Private Ryan by way of an intense collaboration with fellow Viet Vet, Oliver Stone.

Breaks in the tension (of realistic films like Zulu, or stories about hardened vets like Sam Fuller, who filmed his platoon's liberation of a Czech concentration camp) allow for humor, too. Chuckle at the title cards from silent dogfight film Wings. Note how Waterloo is like a spaghetti western. Find out why John Wayne's directorial oddity, The Alamo, prefigured Blazing Saddles! Mayo's personally compiled list of war genre cliches is a Cook's Tour of international stereotypes... It's a small world, after all!

Rating:
Summary: Great Expectations . . . Sorry Results
Review: Always being an avid follower of Combat/War Films, I thought that this book would aid me in being very selective concerning purchases and objective reviews.

As a neophyte, I trusted that this title "WAR MOVIES" would be comprehensive enough to give me a great scope of the films in this genre. If nothing else, this book made me seek out the GREAT films that this volume never covers . . . this volume is severely in need of an overhaul and update!!! Trust me!

I could never understand the misuse of close to 100 pages of cast names and useless cross references to other useless data at the conclusion of the book.

Face it - this book is a good start, but it is not COMPREHENSIVE! Bring down the price or make a revision - at this stage I could redo the thing!!!

I do not regret buying the book, but sometimes one has to admit that you have purchased a 'READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION!'

Rating:
Summary: VideoHound's WAR MOVIES:
Review: Growing up as a teenager during World War II, I thought I had seen every war movie ever made. Not only did I miss a lot of movies, I was flabbergasted at the number and variety of the films of that genre. WAR MOVIES: CLASSIC CONFLICT ON FILM is undoubtedly the finest and most complete book ever published about such a far-reaching subject.
Yet, WAR MOVIES is really not a book to read, but a volume to refer to, time and again. Still, it is not merely a reference book because of the way in which the movies are categorized. This publication is a must for any student of film or for that matter, anyone with an interest in armed conflict.

One of the many interesting aspects of this volume is the authors excellent commentary on every movie and the side bars that contain extremely interesting and mostly unknown trivia about each film, its director, its stars, the story line and the political atmosphere of the times. Writers and researchers of the future will use this as a compendium to help explain the horrors of war, its psychological effect on the participants and the socio-ecomonics behind the story.

There is no doubt that WAR MOVIES: CLASSIC CONFLICT ON FILM will be required reading for film and history students of the future.

Rating:
Summary: Hit and Miss Book
Review: This book is really a hit and miss when it comes to the quality and understanding of the reviews.

On one hand, there are some good reviews that put insight into the background of a film as well as the meaning behind it. I particularly enjoyed the review of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" as well as the review of "Yojimbo," and I commend Mike Mayo for speaking against the racism and bland nature of "Gone With the Wind."

On the other hand, some of the reviews make me raise an eyebrow. For example, in the review of "Hamburger Hill" Mike Mayo puts down the film because seemingly it wants to put handsome men on the screen with out their shirts off. Yeah, OK Mike...that was like five minutes of the film. It sounds like you're hiding some repressed feelings. I didn't walk away from "Hamburger Hill" with the same feelings I did when I left "Wild America."

The very fact he includes some films like "Yojimbo" makes me wonder what he considers a war film. There is nothing war-like about "Yojimbo," except for the fact it is a "war" between two rival merchants. But then if he considers that to be a war film, why not include the movie "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," which was about the war between two rival gangs in Chicago. Including Yojimbo and not a film like "Heaven and Earth," a great Japanese film and one of the best for the Sengoku Jidai period, confuses me and frankly disappoints.

So in the end, I wouldn't say this is an aweful book, but I don't rate it too highly.

Rating:
Summary: Want an excellent war movie reference guide: Here it is!
Review: This is supposed to be a movie guide, but when I started looking through it I was so fascinated that I read it cover-to-cover, just like a novel. But I have always been a great fan of war movies. This is an outstanding reference, the only one of its kind I have seen. I hope that the author will give us Volume II, which will include many other great movies not included. This book is comprehensive and LARGE, and I realize it would be difficult to put together a single source covering all the movies of this genre and also include the wealth of information on each move as included here. This book contains far more information than your usual movie guide. The book includes pictures, quotes, cast, story lines, historical background, and special salutes to outstanding actors and directors. The indices in the back are given by several categories, which make finding things fast and easy. Thanks to this book, I learned there are a few gems out there that I have missed! The book also gives recognition to outstanding overlooked films such as "When Trumpets Fade" and "The Boys in Company C", to name a few. If you want an excellent war movie reference guide: here it is! The author rates movies from one to four bones. I give it a five. Woof! Woof!