Topic: Weekend Movie Marathon: Memorial Day

[addicted2dvd]

Weekend Movie Marathon

Memorial Day
This coming Monday is Memorial Day.... so I already decided this coming weekend I will watch some of my war/military movies. I have many in this particular genre that I never seen before... as well as several that I have. This is not really a favorite genre of mine... but I don't watch them often so I think I can get through a weekend.

Below is a list of movies I feel qualify for this marathon... the titles in Italic are in my unwatched DVD Collection. That doesn't mean I have never seen the movie... but that I haven't seen it since getting the DVD. I am bringing this topic up early so if anyone can suggest something good from my list... or is curios about a title you can request a review. I can't guarantee I will get to it this weekend... but I will try.

My War/Military Movies:

• The Adventures of Tartu
• Alexander
• Apocalypse Now
• Ariel Gunner
• Battle for Blood Island
• Battleship Potemkin
• Behind Enemy Lines
• The Big Lift
• Black Brigade
• Black Hawk Down
• Blood on the Sun
• A Bridge Too Far
• British Intellegence
• Casualties of War
• Cold Mountain
• Commandos
• Convoy
• The Dawn Express
• The Edge of Love
• Empire of the Sun
• Enemy at the Gates
• A Farewell to Arms
• The Fighting Seabees
• Flags of Our Fathers
• Flying Blind
• Flying Leathernecks
• Flying Tigers
• Forrest Gump (Adding this one as there is a nice section of the movie)
• Four in a Jeep
• Full Metal Jacket
• G.I. Jane
• The General
• Glory
• Good Morning, Vietnam
• The Green Berets
• Gung Ho!
• Hamburger Hill
• Hart's War
• Hong Kong 1941
• Identity Unknown
• In Harm's Way
• Jarhead
• The Last Chance
• The Long Voyage Home
• The Longest Day
• M*A*S*H
• Massacre at Fort Holman
• The Messenger
• Minesweeper
• The Navy Way
• One Man's Hero
• One of Our Aircraft is Missing!
• Operation Pacific
• Pearl Harbor
• Private Buckaroo
• Red Dawn
• Sands of Iwo Jima
• Saving Private Ryan
• Secret Agent
• Spitfire
• They Were Expendable
• Tigerland
• Troy
• We Were Soldiers
• Windtalkers

I think that is pretty much all of them. If I spot any more I will still be able to choose them if I feel like it.

I am also thinking I want to do a TV episode review in between each movie... to kinda brake up the movies a little. I am thinking I have 2 series that would go pretty good with this type of marathon...

- M*A*S*H
Break it up with some laughs may be a good idea for me since war movies are not a favorite genre of mine. If I decide on this... I will probably just pull out season 1 and start from the beginning.

- JAG
This one is a bit more serious... and much more military oriented. I love this show as well... so I think would still break it up well for me. If I decide on this show I will probably use season 2 since I would definitely want the episodes with Catherine Bell.

I will be starting this marathon in three days... so I will have time to decide. Any thoughts and suggestions is appreciated. But remember... no guarantees I will get to a requested movie.

[Najemikon]

You might not like war movies because you clearly haven't watched the best one!

You must watch Apocalypse Now. It's essential. It's just about to be rereleased on a limited run next month having been remastered and I can't wait. It isn't a film, it's an experience.

[addicted2dvd]

I just did get Apocalypse Now in that last package I got. I am looking forward to checking it out.

[Dragonfire]

I had to watch Apocalypse Now in senior year English...I didn't like it.

[Jimmy]

It's because you had to seen it in a class... I once was force to watch La reine Margot for a class of french litterature and I didn't like it one bit. But I rewatch it years later and it was actually a pretty good film for a french movie...

Just to give you an idea in this same class we talked of middle age french litterature : François Villon and Chrétien de Troyes are two of the names I haven't forgot 16 years later. BTW those two did write some great texts and I learned to appreciate them many years after I had to learned them in this class.

Can you believe that some poems are always clear in my memory as if I would have learned them yesterday. Of course they were really hard to memorize in the first place

Hard to believe but sometimes I'm a real classy guy

[hal9g]

Hard to believe but sometimes I'm a real classy guy

What do you mean, sometimes?   

[addicted2dvd]

You might not like war movies because you clearly haven't watched the best one!

You must watch Apocalypse Now. It's essential. It's just about to be rereleased on a limited run next month having been remastered and I can't wait. It isn't a film, it's an experience.

Speaking of Apocalypse Now... when I go to watch this (for the very first time ever)... Should I watch the original version (1979 - 153 min.) or Apocalypse Now Redux (2001 - 202 Min)?

[Jimmy]

The longer version of course
Since it's the one Coppola wanted to released but it was cut by the studio. Most of the time director cut is just a gimmick but not with this film.

[Najemikon]

 

What? No! No no no no no! Theatrical release first. Redux is merely a curiosity and most fans of the film prefer the original cut.

I heard a great description actually. Apocalypse Now was directed by a madman in a storm of insanity and that's why it's brilliant. Redux was edited to make sense. It's good, it's worth seeing, but it's not the pure experience.

It's the one Coppola thinks he wanted to release, but he's grown too old and sensible.

[Jimmy]

If a director tell me a film released isn't the one he wanted too I think I can trust his words on this

This isn't like it was a film that just got out of the theatre and released on DVD with an unrated cut as a sale gimmick.

I say the exact same thing for Manhunter, The Outsiders and many other movies. The director vision is way more important for me than the one of a studio executive or a screen test audience...

Kathy your enter key was glued on your keyboard?
I was expecting a big surprise at the of the message

Edit : Tell me I ain't crazy Kathy you had a post between me and Jon no?

[Kathy]

I deleted my message - for some reason it had a huge white blank area and took up too much room.

I said that I would watch the theatrical version first. I generally want to view things in chronological order. Of course I would watch the other version too but not until I saw the original release.

[Najemikon]

Jimmy, what I mean is that the making of Apocalypse Now almost killed the director and star. It was out of control and that madness fed into the picture. Coppola says now, "I wish I could...", but he says so from a comfy chair in an office, 30+ years older. His decision making is very different to being in the middle of the jungle. It isn't remotely the same for Manhunter as that, like most movies, had a fairly innocuous and normal production.

It's generally accepted that Redux is a bit bloated. Why else are they pushing the re-release of the original cut? When Blade-Runner was re-issued, it was the director's cut. But this time they've gone back to the original version. That tells you something.

[addicted2dvd]

Wow! What did I start! 

[Tom]

If a director tell me a film released isn't the one he wanted too I think I can trust his words on this

Does this also go for George Lucas and the original Star Wars Trilogy? 

[Jimmy]

No

It's reshoot and new effects, not a different edit.
But I ain't a Star Wars fan so I never had the chance to see anything else than the 3 originals (I only know about what is in the new cut from what I've read and the review you wrote here... maybe it was Karsten ).