The Lost Battalion

[Tycho]

I just bought this and watched it based on the recommendation of a lot of fellow forum members here. Wow! Great movie.

I wasn't sure I was going to like Rick Shroder in a war movie. I didn't realize he'd done Crimson Tide as well (love that flick!)

This was a really good war movie - very real and extremely captivating. I was pretty impressed. The themes in it of junior officers being angry with their superiors was a common one in war movies - but this is a true story that actually happened. It was a great look into the various ethnic groups that made up the new immigration waves into the United States at the turn of the last century as well: Polocks, Jews, Italians, even a Chinese and a Native American. That element to this was there all along in the picture as well. Pretty good.

[Blue2th]

Eh, the politically correct term would be Polish. Polocks are the guys referred to in the joke "How many Polocks does it take to change a light bulb." Haven't seen that movie yet, but I will as I like war movies.

[Tycho]

You'll love The Lost Batallion then: lot of blood and combat wounds by shrapnel - the best effect in the whole film is when a grenade goes off and you see this guy totally come apart from the inside out - skeleton separating from flesh, and all of it going everywhere. I think it was the best war kill effect I've ever seen actually. SPLAT! I mean this shot was serious!

[Blue2th]

Better than the soldier getting blown up by the sticky bomb in Private Ryan? Or the guy being shredded by the German 20 mm cannon on top of that Tiger tank? Ouch! Talk about meat for the grinder! Everytime I see that movie I get teary eyed! I can't believe the things soldiers actually went through. All true. But I will see this movie for sure.

[Tycho]

Yes, the effect was a biological dissection by implosion (anyway that's what the effect looked like - technically it was an EXplosion because a mortar shell explosive caused it - but like I said, for the effect, they either blew a body made in efugy (spelling) wide apart, else (and probably) they did it with digital graffics - but it looked as if the guy had swallowed the live grenade first. I suppose if a shell went off behind the character, it might have had this effect in real life, but that was nasty-cool anyway! BOOM!


Meanwhile, I think from my situation, living middle-class, I might never serve in the armed forces if I had to rethink this now. Politicians make self-serving choices and young men die for words like honor, duty, etc. Those words are cheaper to sell than the paychecks, college funds, or VA benefits the poor get by enlisting.

That's the big attraction: money for bodies to stop bullets.

Let's say the "volunteer" military was actually that: totally volunteer with no pay - you even had to buy your own meals while you served - heck maybe buy your own ammunition. "But we're looking for a few stupid men." You can claim you did your duty, earned personal honor, etc. But we're never going to pay you. Would you go take that hill now?

Yeah, the politicians would have to fight their own wars then - but maybe we'd do well then to have Chuck Norris for President?

[CaptainSolo1138]

"How many Polocks does it take to change a light bulb."

I don't know, how many?

I'm glad my recommendation was in good order, Tycho. I'd have felt the better part of embarrassed had it not been. Like "Pearl Harbor", this is one of them movies that I want to take the time to watch again but can't find the time (or copy of it for that matter) to do so.

How deep does your interest in WWII run, Tycho?

[Blue2th]

Let's say the "volunteer" military was actually that: totally volunteer with no pay - you even had to buy your own meals while you served - heck maybe buy your own ammunition. "But we're looking for a few stupid men." You can claim you did your duty, earned personal honor, etc. But we're never going to pay you. Would you go take that hill now?

In the old days, when money was short to pay the troops, I'm sure that's why conquerors let their troops pilliage the villiage. There probably wouldn't be alot of modern warfare if there were no pay. Of course then you have conscripts which don't make good soldiers so they say......BTW, I can't find this movie anywhere in retail. Guess I'll have to look online.

[Tycho]

I'm watching World War II movies now - as it's the sequel to World War I.

Rumor is that the Presidents of Iran and North Korea are collaborating on a new sequel with Executive Producer George Bush right now

So far, they've cast Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Hezbollah, but there are currently contract disputes, so I don't know if it will happen.

For World War II movies, I plan on watching:

Pearl Harbor
U-571
Schindler’s List
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
Midway
The Thin Red Line
Windtalkers

Maybe you know of a good movie about the dropping of "the bombs?"

Well, I definitely have an interest in World War II flicks, but there are so many of them that picking them out is a hard, hard task. So as you'll note from the list above, I prefer modern movies, and I've picked mostly films about America's involvement, plus both theaters of combat, air, land, and sea.

Meanwhile, The Lost Battalion was never found by myself at retail, so I ordered it from BestBuy.com and it came pretty quickly. It's worth it too. I didn't buy Rick Schreoder in the role as the movie opened, but as soon as they were deployed out from the trenches and actually lost, surrounded by the Germans, he really shined as his character. The movie's really worth it - but you have to give them the first 1/2 hour (just the first time you watch it - afterwards, you'll be a fan. Trust me.)

[CaptainSolo1138]

"Enemy at the Gates" needs to be added to your "must see" list, Tycho. If anything else, you get a hot (albeit dirty) shot of Rachel Weisz's butt.

"Band of Brothers" is AWESOME. It was shown all last week on the History Channel (Two episodes per night, making for easy to manage chunks since in it's entirety it's 600 minutes) and they show two episodes every Saturday and Sunday morning (9:00 am EST).

[Tycho]

Who's in Enemy at the Gates and what's it about?