I want more of this!!

The version I have is over seven hours. Get the Ruscico copy - it's not particularly cheap, but the quality more than makes up for it. It really is excellent. I got shivers down my spine so many times whilst watching it; it's just superb, with fantastic climaxes of drama, music and action.

In one sequence the music gets more and more impressive and chilling, until the shot suddenly cuts to tens of thousands of troops of the Grande Armee advancing into Russia. It's truly SPECTACULAR.

And as several of you have mentioned both "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus", let me add another one of the Hollywood Roman epics from the 1960s, namely:

"The Fall of the Roman Empire"

There are several battle scenes between Romans and Germans (early on), and Persians (somewhere in the middle) and also against one another (near the end). And not a computer animated character anywhere on the screen!, naturally. Several of the leading British and American actors are in it, as well as Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif.

Elisabet

"On my YET TO SEE list:
Zulu Dawn
Kagemusha
Charge of the Light Brigade
Ben Hur
Doctor Zhivago (mainly for the cossack charge)
Boris Godunov (very hard to get)
Cromwell (but I hear a lot that it is propaganda...oh well...since I put Alexandr Nevsky and the Patriot in the list I cannot complain about that anymore :p) "

Hey we're watching it for the battles not necessarily the politics eh?

Zulu Dawn - pretty good though it has its problems. Not as good as Zulu - too much Nam subtext.

Kagemusha - beautiful Kurosawa movie but, sadly, no real battle - the historical battle between the Oda and Takeda clans is only implied (no budget I guess) but you see a lot of the armor and behind the scenes drama. I recommend that you STILL see this and follow up with 'RAN', which DOES have the battle scenes (a three-way siege! and a big battle at the end whose buildup, for my money, inspired Mel Gibson's staging of the battle of Stirling in Braveheart)

Charge of the Light Brigade - Tony Richardson's version, flawed, generally more historically accurate but suffers from Vietnamitis as does Zulu Dawn. The lovestory here is as putrid as the one in Pearl Harbor, perhaps worse. The best thing about this is the Monty Python style Victorian era animations. My recommendation is rent this from a lending library and buy the more inaccurate but better staged Michael (Casablanca) Curtiz version starring Erroll Flynn.

Cromwell - lots of politics but two pretty good battle scenes - if you've ever read Pilgrim's Progress or The Holy War then it'll remind you a lot of that though! Edgehill is well staged and the prevarications of the nobles, Essex and Manchester are also a precursor to Braveheart's Mornay, Lochlan and Craig. Naseby is a bit hokey - I guess this is where Mel Gibson got the idea that as long as it's a great scene, it doesn't have to be historically accurate (like leaving the bridge out of Stirling Bridge) but it's a well staged fight. Superb performances by Obi Wan ERRRM Sir Alec Guiness and James Bond ERRRM Timothy Dalton as King Charles I and Prince Rupert of the Rhine. There's even a scene between them that has King Charles maneuvering wooden blocks with flags over a map that's so much like the scene in Braveheart before Falkirk!

Those are all I've seen, hope this helps.

Tom516


"It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons."
- Pierre Rissient

Ok I recently discovered some hidden gems made in east dating back to the 60´s and 70´s. Often this films was supported by the state government and therefore could provide with army divisions as extras wich meant massive mega battles with real people!! Waaaaay before the era of CG. I have to put Michael the brave as my favorite flick, as this mega epic has some of the largest battle scenes ever made in the film history.



Dacii - by the same director as michael the brave, roman legions vs dacian tribes. thousend of extras!!!

Michael the Brave - a classic. rivals braveheart, waterloo and voyjna i mir in the battle scenes, MASSIVE!!

With Fire and Sword - grand polish epic, good battle scenes

Colonel Wolodyjowski - polish - A MASSIVE SIEGE BATTLE ONCE AGAIN!!

Stars of Eger - Hungaria - MASSIVE SIEGE BATTLE --thousend of extras!

The Fall of Berlin - russian - WW2 made as a progaganda film under stalins personal supervision, therefore they could lend real army battalions and divisions to take part in the massive war scenes!

The Great Wall - japanese epic - a great mega battle in the middle with thousend of extras + chariots!!

Nice list of excellent older war movies. I would also add 'A Bridge Too Far' and 'Cross of Iron' as they have some of the most gripping depictions of World War II battles pre-'Saving Private Ryan'.

I would also recommend 1997's 'Rough Riders' which is an excellent look at Theodore Roosevelt's involvement in the Spanish American War of 1898. It contains some very good battle scenes and a wonderful depiction of Roosevelt by Tom Berenger.

'The Crossing' from 2000 is a very good portrayal of the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolution and Jeff Daniels is excellent as George Washington.

Other Pre-1995 films that would be well worth watching on DVD that contain good battle scenes would be (in no particular order):
1)'Paths of Glory' WWI Western Front classic
2)'Attack' WWII European Campaign
3)'Halls of Montezuma' WWII Pacific Campaign
4)'A Walk in the Sun' WWII Italian Campaign
5)'All Quiet on the Western Front' 1930 and 1979 Versions WWI Western Front
6)'Battleground' WWII Battle of the Bulge
7)'Beach Red' WWII Pacific Campaign
8)'Fort Apache' 19th century American Indian War
9)'Geronimo- An American Legend' 19th century American Indian War
10)'Son of the Morning Star' Battle of Little Big Horn 19th century American Indian War
11)'Last of the Mohicans' 1936 and 1992 Version French and Indian War
12)'The Bridge at Remagen' WWII European Campaign
13)'Patton' Biopic on legendary General George S. Patton WWII European Campaign
14)'Major Dundee' American Southwest and Mexico during American Civil War
15)'The Blue Max' (Good Aerial combat depiction of WWI)
16)'Battle of Britain' (Good Aerial combat depiction of WWII)
17)'Full Metal Jacket' Vietnam War
18)'Platoon' Vietnam War
19)'Go Tell the Spartans' Early Vietnam War
20)'Duck You Sucker' AKA 'Fistful of Dynamite' Mexican Revolution
21)'The Wild Bunch' Mexican Revolution
22)'Villa Rides' Mexican Revolution
23)'The Big Red One' WWII European Campaign
24)'Merrill's Marauders' WWII Burma Campaign
25)'Fixed Bayonets' Korean War
26)'The Dirty Dozen' WWII
27)'George Washington' 1984 TV film American Revolution
28)'War and Peace' 1956 Version even though the superior 1968 version has already been mentioned
29)'Twelve O'Clock High' WWII European Air War
30)'The Desert Fox' WWII North African and European Campaign
31)'The Desert Rats' WWII North Africa
32)'Guadalcanal Diary' WWII Pacific Campaign
33)'Battle Cry' WWII Pacific Campaign
34)'The Thin Red Line' 1964 Version WWII Pacific Campaign
35)'The Four Feathers' 1939 Version Battle of Omdurman Sudan Campaign
36)'Battle of Okinawa' Interesting Japanese film on this horrific battle
37)'Japan's Longest Day' Gripping depiction of Japan's decision to surrender at the end of WWII
38)'The Command' 19th century American Indian War
39)'Drums Along the Mohawk' American Revolution
40)'Stalingrad' Gritty 1993 German film on one of the most devastating battles of WWII
41)'The Young Lions' WWII European Campaign
42)'The Last Valley' Michael Caine in the Thirty Years War
43)'Gallipoli' with a young Mel Gibson WWI
44)'Kelly's Heroes' WWII
45)'Where Eagles Dare' WWII
46)'The Guns of Navarone' WWII
47)'Von Ryan's Express' WWII
48)'Breaker Morant' Boer War
49)'The Red Badge of Courage' 1951 Version American Civil War
50)'Objective Burma' WWII
51)'The Train' WWII European Campaign
52)'Ulzana's Raid' 19th century American Indian War
53)'Young Winston' Great depiction of the Battle of Omdurman in this biopic about Churchill
54)'Oh! What a Lovely War' Pretty amazing musical on WWI
55)'Henry V' 1989 and 1944 versions contain depictions of the Battle of Agincourt
56)'She Wore A Yellow Ribbon' 19th century American Indian War
57)'Rio Grande' 19th century American Indian War
58)'How the West Was Won' contains a brief depiction of the Battle of Shiloh American Civil War
59)'They Were Expendable' WWII Pacific Campaign
60)'The Wind and the Lion' Fictional treatment of a real incident in the early part of the 20th Century contains US Marines in action and a very good Sean Connery plus an excellent Brian Keith as Theodore Roosevelt

I hope readers of this list can sample some ,if not all, of these films as they are mostly excellent depictions of the changes in warfare over the last few centuries and showcase some really great actors and directors.

Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.