Netflix recommendations?

[Random8145]

Interesting article attached to this post about the cultural impact of 'The Day After'..

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1726693672174092619

Another good one to watch in the same vein is the British movie "Threads" which is actually more intense IMO. I believe they were going to originally maybe split "The Day After" into two parts but then realized for the proper effect they couldn't do that, I might be mixing that up with their deciding on no commercials after the attack sequence though). I might be misremembering but they also made a decision to not include music in the film for similar reasons. What got me was at the end when it says that the reality would be worse and they had to tone it down for the film. I've also read that the guy who made it did so because he thought Reagan was going to get us into a war with the Soviets.

 

[Random8145]

There is a new WWII series on Netflix called "WWII: From the Frontlines." It doesn't introduce much of anything new historically, but holy crap they really restored some of the WWII footage with color and SOUND effects. Some of the combat footage is literally like watching one of these modern realistic war movies/miniseries only it is real.

 

[Random8145]

Another very good film to watch, and which influenced Steven Spielberg in making "Saving Private Ryan," is the 1985 Soviet anti-war film "Come and See" (which shows what the Germans were really like on the Eastern Front). The director actually could only show a fraction of the things the Germans did because it would have been too graphic otherwise. The film is not really graphic, but horrific, as it was designed as a horror movie. It is kind of like "The Day After" except applied to the Eastern Front in WWII. The film portrays the war from the perspective of the civilian population.

IMO it is one of the best war films ever made.

 

[MIDNJAC]

I'm sure the russians were pretty civilized on the eastern front as well. Probably showcased heavily in the USSR film you mention. Classic state-directed "anti" war movie

 

[JTS11]

I'm sure the russians were pretty civilized on the eastern front as well. Probably showcased heavily in the USSR film you mention. Classic state-directed "anti" war movie

I'm pretty sure every German that could (civilian and military), sought to end up on Allied controlled ground when the music stopped. There's probably a reason the USSR "anti-war" film never caught on in the States. 🤔

 

[Random8145]

I'm sure the russians were pretty civilized on the eastern front as well. Probably showcased heavily in the USSR film you mention. Classic state-directed "anti" war movie

Not really, no. The film takes place in Soviet Byelorussia. It does not showcase Soviet forces as friendly and peaceful and German forces as evil, it showcases the German forces as evil and the people of the region, including a group of partisans, committing a brutal counterattack after the Germans burn a village alive, then machine gunning the German troops they captured. It was absolutely not any propaganda film. It almost didn't make it past the censors because the one Nazi, in describing why they are murdering the peoples of the region, says, "You spread the disease of communism."

That the film was made in the USSR does not at all mean it wasn't anti-war. It is most definitely NOT pro-war. It is probably the only film that gives an idea of the things the German forces were doing in the East. It is true that the Germans much preferred to surrender to the Allied forces than the Soviets, but that is because they had been engaged in a war of annihilation against the Soviets and peoples of eastern Europe, so those people were a wee bit resentful.

 

[number9]

Not Netflix, but The Ipcress File has been re-made on AMC+. It's very good. I think the first episode is available free on Amazon Prime Video.

 

[Swanee]

Masters of the Air on Apple TV shows some real promise.

The first episode is good. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have done a good job.

The CGI is still CGI, and thusly I prefer the HBO Memphis Belle in that regard, but it looks good so far!

 

[ChuckMK23]

Masters of the Air on Apple TV shows some real promise.

The first episode is good. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have done a good job.

The CGI is still CGI, and thusly I prefer the HBO Memphis Belle in that regard, but it looks good so far!

Episodes 1 and 2 dropped last night.

They got the personal flight equipment and uniforms exactly right. Impressive.

 

[Mos]

Masters of the Air on Apple TV shows some real promise.

The first episode is good. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have done a good job.

The CGI is still CGI, and thusly I prefer the HBO Memphis Belle in that regard, but it looks good so far!

I was thinking it was just okay at first, but the first mission and its aftermath really hits hard.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I watched episodes 1 and 2 of what I'm calling Elvis Bombs Nazis last night. First impression was good. They definitely paid very close attention to all the technical details. I have no idea if that was how you'd actually bring a B-17 down in a high-crosswind landing, but it looked believable.

My only gripe is more or less the same one I had about The Pacific - it's cool that they throw us right into the action and all, but with the exception of one or two "name" actors, I had zero idea who all the other characters were even after two episodes. I was having trouble even keeping track of who was on what crew, and obviously doesn't help that for most of the scenes they're buried under their flight gear. As opposed to Band of Brothers, with the scenes at Toccoa and in England giving us a chance to see the characters interact and get to care about what happens to them before the bullets start flying. Plus, any flying show is going to have a lot of technical details...all of us on this board are airplane nerds to one degree or another, but I suspect anyone who isn't one is going to feel pretty lost.

I was thinking it was just okay at first, but the first mission and its aftermath really hits hard.

That was my thought too. Struck me that the way the director chose to have the aircrew characters play their reaction after landing and in debrief was much more spot-on than the usual way it's played in war movies. Nobody's crying or freaking out; they're pissed off.

 

[Griz882]

I posted this earlier in Best Naval Aviation Movies, but I’ll move it here to join in…

Watched the first episode of Masters of the Air today. The first part of the opening scene is very much like the opening scene of Greyhound (Yes, I’ll write) but quickly morphs to good war story telling. The actors were clearly taught what switches to toggle during checklists and the aviation scenes seem solid. There is one anomaly, a commissioned officer serving as a tail gunner. Sure, Clark Gable did it, but I can’t think of another example…maybe he is assigned as some kind of an aerial observer. That said, I could be mistaken in identifying the character.

 

[Uncle Fester]

There is one anomaly, a commissioned officer serving as a tail gunner. Sure, Clark Gable did it, but I can’t think of another example…maybe he is assigned as some kind of an aerial observer. That said, I could be mistaken in identifying the character.

I was curious about that too, so I dug around and found this:

While the tail gunner position was sloted for an enlisted man, sometimes the possition would be flown by a co-pilot who was an officer. This was usually done in lead aircraft where the squadron commander would fly as pilot and was referred to as the Command Pilot. The aircraft's regular pilot would be moved to co-pilot. The reason the regular co-pilot was moved back to the tail gunner position instead of leaving the regular gunner in place was to allow him to relay information on the condition of the formation to the pilots. This helped to co-ordinate the formation and keep it as tight as possible. B-17: Queen of the Skies

 

[Griz882]

I was curious about that too, so I dug around and found this:

Excellent information. Thanks.

 

[DanMa1156]

Paramount + has The Courier which was a true (and new to me) story of what is apparently considered one of the best informants to the west from inside the Soviet government and the person who brought the information back time. Really fascinating.