It's a fact; people love war movies. They sell, they soar, they make the big bucks. And no war movie is complete without its battle scene. And as we all can attest, some battle scenes are simply better than others. But to be frank, it's not really so simple. So what really makes a theatrical battle scene stand out? The soundtrack, for starters, or in some cases, the lack thereof. I love movie soundtracks, and they can either make or break a war scene. If the soundtrack is inappropriate, it will destroy the scene's viability and power. If it isn't appropriate, it doesn't belong in the battle scene. For this reason, exceptionally brutal historical battle scenes, especially those pertaining to the two world wars, tend to avoid being scored. Elaborating on that, I feel that historical context can be just as important in making a war scene powerful. Don't get me wrong, I love the colossal space battles in Star Wars and the massive war scenes in The Lord of the Rings, but the fact that nothing like these battles ever happened takes away from the meaning of the scenes themselves. Perhaps there was no intended meaning, something rarely present in historical battle scenes. It doesn't necessarily have to have happened in real life; of the list of my favorite scenes I compiled, one is fictitious and two involve fictional characters. That doesn't change the fact that the fictitious battle mirrors wars that did occur, and the two involving fictional characters did occur. It doesn't require much imagination to picture any historically set, period-accurate battle scene, and all the horrors it contained, to have actually occurred. Perhaps most importantly of all, a powerful war scene can't glorify war.
I've compiled a list of several of my favorite historical battle scenes. For the record, most of these scenes are EXTREMELY graphic. I've placed in them in descending order of brutality and violence.
D-Day Landings (Saving Private Ryan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UteT8zrIRiQ
The main characters are the only fictitious element in this scene, by far the most graphic of the four. In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend watching this if you've eaten recently. An incredibly powerful scene that paints the picture of the invasion of Normandy with sickening accuracy.
Okinawa (The Pacific)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xwvLe3SlEk
The only truly historical battle here, the series The Pacific was based directly on the notes and books of three marines serving in the pacific theater of the Second World War, in addition to testimony of their comrades. This scene illustrates the atrocities committed against civilians by both sides of the conflict.
The Battle of Stirling (Braveheart)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD5Imb7vWSc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJVsS-vIDdc
A semi-accurate interpretation of the real Battle of Stirling, which ended in a major Scottish victory. Don't click the first link if you have a soft spot for horses. Don't click the second one if you're an Anglophile.
Battle with the Germans (Gladiator)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33Y-3Q-7HE
By far the cleanest scene here, but an excellent one nonetheless. The only purely-fictional scene on my list, it was inspired by battles between the Roman Empire and Germanic tribes that occurred around the same time when the movie is set.
And just to clarify, here's an example of what I would not consider a well-made war scene, contrary to the video's title, from one of the most historically inaccurate movies imaginable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hcv2HiaFYo
Cut this in half in terms of the # of words. Fix the opening semi colon error.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fact; people love war movies. They sell, they soar, they make the big bucks. And no war movie is complete without its battle scene. And as we all can attest, some battle scenes are simply better than others. But to be frank, it's not really so simple. So what really makes a theatrical battle scene stand out? The soundtrack, for starters, or in some cases, the lack thereof. I love movie soundtracks, and they can either make or break a war scene. If the soundtrack is inappropriate, it will destroy the scene's viability and power. If it isn't appropriate, it doesn't belong in the battle scene. For this reason, exceptionally brutal historical battle scenes, especially those pertaining to the two world wars, tend to avoid being scored. Elaborating on that, I feel that historical context can be just as important in making a war scene powerful. Don't get me wrong, I love the colossal space battles in Star Wars and the massive war scenes in The Lord of the Rings, but the fact that nothing like these battles ever happened takes away from the meaning of the scenes themselves. Perhaps there was no intended meaning, something rarely present in historical battle scenes. It doesn't necessarily have to have happened in real life; of the list of my favorite scenes I compiled, one is fictitious and two involve fictional characters. That doesn't change the fact that the fictitious battle mirrors wars that did occur, and the two involving fictional characters did occur. It doesn't require much imagination to picture any historically set, period-accurate battle scene, and all the horrors it contained, to have actually occurred. Perhaps most importantly of all, a powerful war scene can't glorify war.
Have you seen the two Clint Eastwood directed movies about Iwo Jima. And have you seen this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See
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