War movies
I watch a lot of them. Not the fictions or, even worse, the romance stories that are set during war time just because ; but the films trying to depict actual battles, and the conditions the soldiers were in. A movie can only be this accurate, but it is perfectly possible to not make the drama overlap the historical details and be more interesting than "kill them all" style movies.
IMO, the more talented in war movie making are the Germans. My favorite being Das Boot, depicting the life in a german U-boat during the battle of the Atlantic.
Co-productions result in interesting movies as well, such as The Longest Day (which I would choose over Saving Private Ryan anyday regarding D-day), and Tora Tora Tora (do I even need to mention how far behind the Pearl Harbor of 2001 is ?).
Mini series are overall well done, the most famous being Band of Brothers, and one perhaps less known : Generation Kill. I really liked this one, mainly I think because of the complete absence of music, which makes a considerable difference in terms of immersion. Both series were apparently hailed as being very accurate by soldiers themselves.
So what are your thoughts on war movies ? Do you like them, hate them ?
My dad loves war films so I've seen a fair few. I really like Enemy at the Gates, Stalingrad, The Enemy Below, The Eagle Has Landed and The Great Escape, and I have to agree with you on Das Boot. Zulu and Zulu Dawn are also personal favourites.
As for miniseries, Band of Brothers and The Pacific are both great.
I also like war books, particularly The Great Escape, The Dam Busters and Auschwitz - The Nazis And The Final Solution.
Enemy at the Gates could have done without the love story, but had interesting confrontations. I was a bit disappointed by the last one, though :
Stalingrad is also easily in my top 5, another German masterpiece.
But I haven't seen the others you mentioned, except for The Great Escape.
Another miniseries I saw is Napoleon. It was a bit hard to watch seriously because the main actor is famous in France mainly for his roles in comedy films. Still, interesting to watch if you want to know the main events of Napoleon's life.