Howdy All

Just saw "King Kong" the other night, (What a hoot! Lotta fun if a little long--actually TOO MUCH action, but mesmerizing just the same) and it occurred to me as Hollywood churns out remake after remake and makes feature length blockbusters based on old TV shows, why is it that they've never (except for a couple of TV productions from the 1970s of All Quiet on the Western Front and the Red Badge of Courage, both starring John-Boy Walton) given the same treatment to old war movies? I for one would like to see a big budget remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, preferably directed by Peter Jackson with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin somewhat reprising their LOTR roles as Paul Bauer and Katcinski. The Battle of the Bulge could use a new and improved version too. And why not a feature length version of Combat to boot! Mind you the 'Classics' must be sacrosanct, for instance, I'd hate to see Brad Pitt trying to jump his motorcycle over the Swiss border, but aside from that caveat what other old war movies or war TV shows would you like to see remade with all the bells and whistles of modern movie making?

John

Very good question! I don't know who would star in them but 6 movies that come to mind are 'Sands of Iwo Jima', '300 Spartans', 'The Vikings' which starred Kirk Douglas & Ernest Borgnine, & 'Ivanhoe' which starred Robert Wagner. Also, "El Cid' & 'Taras Bulba'. When I first started typing this, I only had 2 movies in mind. I read on another forum that many Hollyweird stars are toy soldier collectors. I hope some of the movie producers visit planetfigure on a regular basis.

Mike

Mike, They making Frank Miller's (Sin City) graphic novel 300 into a move. It may not be accurate but will be cool to see a movie done in the format as Miller's graphic novel.~Gary

http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/

I believe that a movie-version of "Combat!" was in the works, but has since been cancelled. The lead role was supposed to go to Bruce Willis. Speaking of which, wouldn't he make a good Maj. Reisman?

Personally, I don't like remakes...

OTH, how about a remake of Rat Patrol with Matt Damon and Ben Afflack :lol: ?

Keith

Although the Richard Thomas "Red Badge of Courage" is still a favorite (Ahhh, nostalgia) of mine, it really needs to be remade.

Victor Mature as Hannibal needs a remake....they keep to the historical accuracy of the battles culminating in Cannae, but worked with a budget that was sad even back then. A noble effort by the spaghetti and sandal people.
Mature was getting long in tooth at the time, but still gave it his all. The film just came out on dvd and I'm waiting for my copy!

Here's my list of remakes.

All quiet on the Western Front

The red badge of courage

Zulu (I know you can't top a classic, but it would be neat to see it done more accurately)


Make a movie of this.

Camerone (If you'd make a movie about the Foreign Legion this would be it)

The Somme

Pegasus Bridge (An Ambrose book that would be cool to see made into a movie)


I know more will come to mind.~Gary

Re-makes - sorry, I don't like the idea of movie re-makes. Most of them I've seen are just duds. Do you know why Hollywood makes re-makes? It's called 'the formula'. A producer says to himself, "They made $50M on "ABC123" on a $5M budget in 1953. Bruce Willis is interested! Hot damn - let's do it again!!!"

There will now be a brief pause why I use the spitoon.

OK - so I'm a contrarian and cranky and can't get into the spirit of the thing. I apologize.

Now that that's out of the way. How about some ORIGINAL new war movies? Eh, anybody like the sound of this? ORIGINALITY in HOLLYWOOD - What a concept!! The most original war movies I've seen out of Hollywood in the last few years have been "Saving Private Ryan" and the "Band of Brothers" series. Those were masterpieces, for entirely different reasons, but none the less excellent. How about following them up with - - - -

"Fix Bayonets!" adapted from the book by John W. Thomason, Jr., Capt., USMC

"The Storm of Steel" adapted from the book by Ernst Junger

"A Rifleman Went to War" adapted from the book by H. W. McBride

"There's a Devil in the Drum" adapted from the book by J. F. Lucy

All four are excellent Great War memoirs, original and honest, written by men who were "of that time". I'd like to see a really gifted screenwriter try to capture the "differentness" of the men [and women] who fought in the Great War. Hey folks - they didn't think like us! Neither did they think like the WW2 generation! They weren't half as cynical as we are today, many were deeply religious, most honestly believed in their Country, most loved their heritage deeply, and they studied the crafts of war and threw themselves into it without reservations.

And, before you bring it up, no unfortunately, I haven't seen "An Extremely Long Engagement", but I'm looking forward to it.

What say you?

All the best,
Dan

There is a movie of one of the books of Sven Hassel, they should make it again but in parts may be a mini-serie.

The Devil's Brigade.

Red Dawn.

All Quiet on Western Front.

Beau Geste

There is a new movie from the book of Arturo Perez Reverte series "El Capitan Alatriste"(Swashbuckling adventure)which is base on the Thirty Years Wars, I hope they make it good.

You can see the trailer here.

http://www.fox.es/trailers/alatriste-11015/132/


They should make the Great Siege: Malta 1565 by Ernle Bradford

Saludos

Eduardo

Dan,
Speaking of good books to be made into movies, there's a movie adaptation of "No True Glory" in the planning stages, with shooting taking place this year. Harrison Ford has already signed up to play MGen. Mattis (nice to see him trade in his fedore for a K-pot). If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it; you will definitely get a new-found appreciation for what our troops are doing in Iraq under the toughest conditions. My only concern is that this movie will become just another excuse for Hollywood Bush-bashing.
Also, "Flags of our Fathers" is currently in post-production with its release due early this summer. I read that a trailer will be out soon.

I personally don't care for re-makes myself, for two reasons, one I just can't get into most of CG I've seen, and I think Hollywood has lost something of its artistic nature. That having been said I have to agree with All Quiet on the Western Front (one of my fav books) a full length movie on Pegasus Bridge ala A Bridge Too Far (the last good war movie IMHO). I would also like to see Rat Patrol turned into a movie only not with Damon and Afleck :lol: :lol: . Not to screw with perfection, but they were to remake Zulu or Charge of the Light Brigade accurately (I know, hollywood and accurate is oxymoronic) and with a GOOD cast, I'd drop $10+ for a ticket.

Pete - Thanks and I'll look for the book!

Alas, being a former USAF type, I have some appreciation of what our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and many, many other...uh...stimulating locations are doing. Far too many locations for the numbers in uniform - I'll say it and leave it at that.

I have the greatest confidence in their hearts and souls and their technical abilities to do the next-to-impossible every day. In my book, they are the finest young men and women anywhere. Some of their senior leadership is worthy of them, but, as in all conflicts, some is not.

On the subject of 'Bush-bashing', I think we should maybe leave that to another forum.

All the best,
Daniel R. Morton, Major, USAF, BSC
Retired

I'm not a big fan of remakes in general. I think there are a lot of great new stories to be told and filmed. Saving Private Ryan is a good example. The studio could've used that money to remake a classic, but instead they chose to create something completely new that set a very high standard for all other war movies.

Who needs remakes?

Just give me 'Sink The Bismark' and 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri' and I'd be happy. :lol:

And also 'Un long Dimanche de Fiançailles' for the most visually striking (and realistic) reconstruction of WWI in the trenches ever seen on a screen. In all, a thoroughly enjoyable movie from the people who gave you 'Amélie'. Not for the gung-ho types though.

Q.

Dan, You don't know what you're missing. It's a visually stunning movie (I think so anyway). The story is not bad either. ~Gary

A very long engagement? Here I thought it was something new.~Gary

Gary,

'Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles' is the original French title of 'An Extremely Long Engagement'.

The two-disc edition is well worth having.

Check out the director's audio commentary. It'll give you an all together new vision of the film. You'd also be interested to know that the details in the war scenes were drawn from real events. Also note how the images were processed to reproduce the look of vintage tinted postcards.

Quang

"Fix Bayonets!" adapted from the book by John W. Thomason, Jr., Capt., USMC

One of my favorite books along with And a Few Marines. I grew up reading his stuff. How about "What Price Glory"? I doubt anyone could do better than James Cagney and Dan Daly. The supporting cast was also superb.

Mike

Yo Guys
Dan, Gary--my next question was going to be what books would you like to see put on film, ya beat me to the punch. I'd love to see Bruce Catton's "Glory Road" (the second book of Catton's trilogy of the Army of the Potomac covering Antietam through Gettysburg, a classic) made into a twelve hour HBO miniseries--well, one can dream. DAN--you've got to see "Very Long Engagement," the combat scenes are downright searing and the rest of the movie's not too bad too. Also, one of the best 'Great War' movies I've ever seen is kind of strange as it's an anti-war musical and impossible to find on video--Richard Attenborough's "Oh What a Lovely War," that captures a lot of the details just so--let me know if you ever find it on video. EDUARDO--that "Alariste" movie looks pretty cool and I know Andrea already has the figure.
Cheers
John