I finally watched Das Boot tonight and AQOTWF about a month ago, and it’s fascinating seeing a war film from the German perspective, it feels akin to the many Vietnam war films American directors have given us. They all share the message of “we’re just people and our shitty governments (or dictator) put us here”. Now do your best to survive in all the senselessness.

In short, I know they’re anti-war. I guess I’m just fascinated by war films from all points of view.

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kiwi-66 t1_jac0gvi wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:59 AM

Check out Stalingrad (1993) and the older adaptations of All Quiet (both of these are far more closer to the book and also it's themes too). Another great anti-war film is Paths of Glory (1957) which is comparable to All Quiet in some ways.

If you haven't already seen it, Come and See (1985) is an absolute masterpiece.

dhriggs OP t1_jac0qtx wrote on February 28, 2023 at 10:03 AM

I was going to mention Paths of Glory. That one kind of takes the cake.

efs120 t1_jad4ore wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:07 PM

And the Ascent, by the director of Come and See’s late wife. Both make for an excellent pairing of Russian war movies.

lionelgobgob t1_jac69qj wrote on February 28, 2023 at 11:20 AM

I am puzzled by the praise for All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). I found it a technically proficient film that lacked the pathos of the book and the previous movies. Das Boot is much superior.

efs120 t1_jad4cao wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:05 PM

Yeah it’s a decent war movie but it’s not All Quiet. Every single departure from the book was a poor choice and made the movie worse than it should have been. There’s a good reason Germans hate that movie.

JohnnyPoopwater t1_jacc2e5 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 12:27 PM

Check out The Downfall too. It's exceptional.

Winged_Pegasus t1_jadspc3 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 6:40 PM

The source of the subtitled Hitler memes

GreyGreenBrownOakova t1_jackhnw wrote on February 28, 2023 at 1:44 PM

Letters from Iwo Jima is the Japanese viewpoint to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers.

shoelala100 t1_jaeiaxn wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:22 PM

It’s also by Eastwood

Greedy-Loss9030 t1_jabythv wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:35 AM

Check out Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron. Its another German-focused WWII flick.

dhriggs OP t1_jabz6u3 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:40 AM

Adding to my watchlist. Thx!

fartook t1_jabz6pt wrote on February 28, 2023 at 9:40 AM

watch the old versions of 'all quiet' they are better imo.

also if you really like the film read the book it is very short.

cdnav8r t1_jacxk5e wrote on February 28, 2023 at 3:20 PM

There's a Das Boot tv series you might enjoy. I believe it's on Hulu in the United States.

Empros t1_jac3049 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 10:36 AM

I know it's not a movie but unsere mütter unsere väter is a pretty good television show from the German perspective In world War 2.

kirkaracha t1_jaeeevg wrote on February 28, 2023 at 8:58 PM

It's known as Generation War in the US.

AllenWoody34 t1_jac5nqz wrote on February 28, 2023 at 11:12 AM

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) by Lewis Milestone is an absolute masterpiece. Do watch it if you haven't already.

Try checking out the Human Condition trilogy if you haven't already seen it.

kaukanapoissa t1_jaceqt8 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 12:54 PM

Yes, two excellent German war films.

shed1 t1_jad5a0t wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:11 PM

Though now defunct, you may enjoy the back catalog of the podcast, "Friendly Fire," in which the hosts watched hundreds of war movies and discussed them seriously (but definitely not too seriously).

dittybopper_05H t1_jacugoe wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:59 PM

If you want a really subtle anti-war film about a fictional conflict, check out the original Red Dawn (1984).

WTF am I saying?

Watch the entire film. The "Wolverines" suffer 80% casualties and the only two survivors do so by running away. The "bad guys" aren't one dimensional, with the singular exception of zampolit General Bratchenko.

The one character who undergoes the most personal growth in the entire film is bad guy Colonel Ernesto Bella. He goes from being proud, to being disgusted with what he's become, and finally resolves to resign and return to his wife in Cuba. In the end, he lets Matt and Jed Eckert go, saying "Vaya con Dios" ("Go with God"), a strange thing indeed for a committed Communist to say.

Plus, don't even know if the US won the war at the end. The ending narration is ambiguous about the matter:

Erica: [closing narration] I never saw the Eckert Brothers again. In time, this war - like every other war - ended. But I never forgot. And I come to this place often, when no one else does. "... In the early days of World War 3, guerillas - mostly children - placed the names of their lost upon this rock. They fought here alone and gave up their lives, so that this nation should not perish from the earth."

The USA still survives, and the area around Calumet is apparently back in US hands, but that doesn't necessarily mean the USSR and its allies were completely thrown out of US territory, the only real way you can define a "win" when you've been invaded. Calumet was only about 40 miles behind enemy lines. USSR could still occupy much of the plain states and that ending narration would still be true.

Also, that particular ending was tacked on at the insistence of the studio, who wanted a "happy ending" unlike the ambiguous one John Milius wanted. He still managed to make it ambiguous.