Five war films to watch on Veterans Day
November 7, 2016
This Veterans Day, take a moment to view these war films,
which tell the story of Americans at war in various conflicts
The film dramatizes the story of the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces as they work to end the Somali civil war and bring down warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. The emotional film, directed by Ridley Scott, accurately portrays modern combat. The movie depicts the hopelessness in the seemingly impossible task of returning to base through crowds of hostile locals. [caption id="attachment_1014650" align="alignnone" width="325"]
“Heartbreak Ridge”
Clint Eastwood directs and stars in this film about the US intervention in Grenada in 1983. Eastwood plays Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway, a grizzled U.S. Marine veteran who must lead a misfit platoon of Force Recon Marines. The film is an accurate study in leadership, as Highway is able to bring his platoon up to Marine Corps standards and lead them to war in Grenada, where they engage the enemy in a brief firefight and accomplish their objectives despite sustaining casualties.
“Act of Valor” is unique because the film utilizes actual Navy SEALs and was fully supported by Naval Special Warfare Command. Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, the story follows members of SEAL Team 7 as they rescue hostages that have information on a terrorist attack targeting the United States. Since it was filmed on-site at actual U.S. Navy training sites, the battle sequences come across as realistic. The military is portrayed positively and accurately in their training, communication, weapons and tactics. While the film received negative reviews for poor acting and character development, the action scenes were highly praised.
Peter Berg directs the film adaptation of the book Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. The story is about a Navy SEAL team sent into Eastern Afghanistan to capture or kill a high-level Taliban leader, but they are discovered by locals and are ambushed by Taliban fighters. The film does an outstanding job portraying the culture of SEALs, such as the brotherhood shared by servicemembers. It has a theme of perseverance, as the SEALs are forced to push through their grievous wounds in order to take the fight to the enemy and survive.
Steven Spielberg’s Oscar winning war epic portrays Army Rangers and members of the 101st Airborne Division during and after the D-Day landings 1944. The film showcases the relationships between soldiers and their civilian lives and how they intertwine during combat. The infamous battle of Normandy, shown in the first twenty minutes of the film, is among the most graphic, honest and sobering battle scenes ever filmed.
