Need help selecting film about war for 9/10th grade HS students

"Stalingrad" and "Enemy at the Gates."

I would add another vote for Gettysburg and band of brothers. (especially the documentary bit with the veterans talking)

IMO starship troopers was an abomination compared to the book. I would stay away from any titles that tend to be preachy.

Stalingrad is good, but I think maybe not the pinnacle of war films.

Ken Burns Civil war is extremely well done, I have heard some less glowing reviews of his WWII efforts, but his civil war one set a standard on how to make a documentary interesting. (and his special on the donner party is a good "documentary horror" flick. he makes a lot of effort to try and put the viewer there)

Band of brothers may be IMO the best overall war piece out there.

IMO starship troopers was an abomination compared to the book. I would stay away from any titles that tend to be preachy.

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But it has very realistic battle scenes.

There are a few scenes that are preachy, but I was thinking maybe some of the kids would pick up on them. The preachiness tries to be subtle, but fails in that regard.

Movies are almost never as good as the book they were based on. I have not read the book, but have been told they are not all that close.

The Winter War, or Letters from Iwo Jima

We Were Soldiers - I recommend this one. Its also based on a book, which would be good for additional reference materials for students.

To Hell And Back. Not just about Audie Murphy, also starring Audie Murphy. Very stylized but still very good.

Yep.

And as mentioned before, "TWELVE OCLOCK HIGH."

As far as "APOCALYLPSE NOW" and reading the book, you'll have to read Joesph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness." Francis Ford Copola and John Milius crafted their screenplay based on this book.

L.W.

I certainly wouldn't show that anti-American and anti-military Full metal Jacket by that pinko Stanley Kubrick (same with Flags of Our Fathers, Eastwood's Leftist sellout to get another Oscar).

For a film that shows the horror of war (without too much graphic violence and gore) and also exposes the personal conflicts of fighting, I suggest Sergeant York with Gary Cooper (1940). I routinely show this in my Film Study classes.

What do you want to teach them about war?

The 9th and 9th repeat (failed 9th first time around) students in my English classes have been working on a unit on War narratives (o'brien) and poetry (o'brien, billy collins).

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Ernie Pyle wrote powerfully about what war was like for the soldiers of WWII. If you want to show a film I'd suggest the movie The Story of G.I. Joe made at the end of WWII based on some of Pyle's dispatches from Europe.

Pyle was killed covering the war in the Pacific before the movie was finished.

We Were Soldiers

I'd say Black Hawk Down. That's the type of war the next generation is likely to have to deal with.

My first choice would be "Band of Brothers" for the reasons already raised by Noxx and Readyontheright.

"Apocalypse Now", "FMJ", and "Jarhead" are all excellent but aren't really true WAR movies in my opinion as the war is more background then subject.

As a Vet my favorite war movie is with out a doubt "Blackhawk Down" followed closely by "We Were Soldiers". Then again I'm a Helo' Guy so my reccomendations may be biased.

I also reccomend "Schindler's List" not as a war movie but for other reasons.

It's a Korean Movie. Tae Guk Gi. It's about the Korean War, and these 2 brothers that get drafted, and the older brother does all this heroic stuff to get his younger brother out of the fight, and tons of bad stuff happens. Lots of action, and it's pretty moving, it's also pretty sad. It's interesting, because the Korean War isnt a war many people know or care about, but there's more Korean War vets than WWII vets now, and kids could go actually appreciate Korean War vets and the hell they went through for a war that ultimately amounted to nothing.

Only problem is, it's subtitled, a dubbed version may exist, I think it does, but dubbed live action always looks funny, so you may wanna ask the kids what they wanna watch.

For a Vietnam movie, Platoon is good, but I like Hamburger Hill way better. Forest Gump, actually, is very good for the war parts, and the story before and after them, it actually is one of my favorite movies.

Band of Brothers is good, but you'd have to use a week or so of class time to show it all, I know because one of my teachers showed it. Kids liked it, though.

Still, I'd reccomend Tae Guk Gi, it's a war kids dont usually think much of, or anyone thinks much of. Eventually they'll get around to seeing a WWII movie, or playing a WWII video game or something, but they're much less likely to see anything about the Korean War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tae_Guk_Gi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUfxNixF0M

i suggest:
1. Glory
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. We Were Soldiers
4. The Patriot
5. The Big Red One
6. Blackhawk Down

PBS just released a new documentary called "the war" supposed to be amazing and it shows the air war, the ground war.. the eastern and pacific fronts... and the effect on the home front.... all at once

oh, and band of brothers is fabulous

wow, i cant believe no one has mentioned it yet :banghead:

a great war movie about the greatest general to ever LIVE!!

PATTON

Paths of Glory is another Kubrick film that should be a must see for students.

Band of Brothers; Battleground; All Quiet; Blackhawk Down; We Were Soldiers; Zulu; Letters From Iwo Jima.

All very good with actual character development and perspective.

And--would you believe it--they make the case for "old-fashioned values".

I was lucky enough to read the book first. "We were Soldiers Once, and Young" ~ Lt Gen Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L Galloway

I would recommend some excerpts from the book before you show the movie. It helps put things in perspective.

Good luck, getting 9th graders to sit still long enough to make your point is work enough by itself. You are a better man than I am.

Im not a vet, but you could consider me a historian of sorts since thats what i am studying right now. However, of interest to you, in my sophomore highschool history class, the teacher showed my class the second episode of band of brothers. I think its a great series and was happy that my teacher introduced me to it!

Band of Brothers is the absolute best but likely too long for your class. A few of my favorites:

Das Boot -- old missile guys like me relate to submariners
Saving Private Ryan -- the mission's a stretch but good doggie reality
Twelve O'Clock High -- mission orientation dear to old SAC pukes; good example of combat stress; been there/felt that
Memphis Belle -- combat crew cohesion at its best
The Bridges at Toko Ri -- good guy, lousy mission but gets it done
The Big Red One -- great universal soldier/War 2 stuff
Full Metal Jacket -- good Vietnam
Platoon -- good Vietnam
We Were Soldiers Once -- better Vietnam
Flight of the Intruder -- great Vietnam air
Strategic Air Command -- because General James ("Jimmy") Stewart actually flew those birds

While I'm not much of a vet (a bad ankle got me booted after Basic Training some years back) I am a lifelong military history junkie and I currently teach social studies in a special ed program. Some thoughts:

-While I love many of the movies suggested, I don't think most are good for a classroom (especially for what you seem to be looking for).

-I showed Gallipoli last year. It is one of my favorite movies- it isn't just about battle scenes but there is some decent character development and relationship building between the various characters so you actually care about them when they get killed. My students were bored and hated it.

-The Lost Battalion. Despite having Rick Schroder (anyone my generation who as a kid watched him as a kid in Silver Spoons can be forgiven for needing convincing to take him seriously in a war movie- and he does great) and being made for TV (A&E) it is a GREAT movie. It is based on a real event that few people know. It is VERY dramatic, shows many interpersonal dynamics, and yes, there is plenty of action. I love it, and I think it should work better than Gallipoli with students.

-Band of Brothers is just too long. The Pianist was good, and the kids liked it. Schindler's List may be a bit too much for most teens (I always worry showing something about the Holocaust with kids- they aren't always the most respectful bunch). Most of the others are more about being action films set in war (with some great exceptions), are too long, or too political (usually anti-military) to be suitable for the classroom.

TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
THE LONGEST DAY
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

The above were all terrific movies. Some episodes of the old 1960s series COMBAT! were pretty darn good too.

Hands down, the answer is We Were Soldiers.

Make them read the book We Were Soldiers, Once and Young by Hal Moore and Joe Galloway.

Use the website LZ X-Ray for additional background material.

Kelly's Heroes