Troublesome Major gets assigned a suicide mission, and recruits 12 outcasts/convicts from the military to help him complete the mission.
What makes this movie special?
Lee Marvin is wonderful as the general enlisted for this mission: a man misunderstood by the system, who knows how to win battles. Marvin knows he’s the coolest smartest guy in the room, and he carries himself that way. As for the story, it’s pretty long, but way more enjoyable than not, as we watch the team grow and bond together, win all sorts of contests because they don’t play by normal engagement rules, all culminating in the suicide mission foreboded for the first hour and a half. Because there are 12 members, you know some of them won’t be returning, meaning you’re on the edge of your seat watching this entire sequence play out.
First mate and commanding officer of a nuclear war submarine engage in a battle for control of the ship as a strange message leads to diametrically opposed veiwpoints between the two of them.
What makes this movie special?
Quentin Tarantino supposedly helped write this script, and it shows, because this war time film’s greatest fight is a battle of wits. And what a titanic battle it is! Watching Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman fight for the control of a nuclear submarine is like watching a heavyweight boxing match. You’re glued to the screen as they throw word haymakers at one another. Plus, the claustrophobia of submarine setting makes the action scenes pop when they happen quickly and unexpectedly.
In WWI, an ambulance driver and a nurse meet each other, fall in love, and resolve to find each other after the solider is deployed, separating the star crossed lovers.
What makes this movie special?
Our first war romcom! Using Ernest Hemingway’s novel as inspiration, Frank Borzage creates a meet cute between Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. Both look carved out of marble, and great together, plus play the “longing” game quite well. This one is light on war scenes, but Borzage does wonderful stuff with shadows and cameras to make them scary and dangerous. Adolphe Menjou is also a delight as Cooper’s “best friend.”
The Nazis try stealing art from France, leaving it up to French resistance train switch operators to keep the cultural history from leaving the country.
What makes this movie special?
Cool premise for sure. We’re off the front lines, fighting one of those little fights that usually aren’t talked about onscreen. Burt Lancaster is great as the leader of the freedom fighters, jaded and exhausted from losing, and reluctant to save art. As he sees how passionate the people defend these priceless historical artifacts, Lancaster becomes more and more engaged and clever in his deceits, trying to outsmart Paul Scofield. There’s a decently constructed anti-heist heist that will have your heart racing. But John Frankenheimer’s best addition is a host of epic shots of trains getting bombed from the air, that are terrifying and inspiring to witness.
The Tang dynasty is being Robin Hooded by an organization called The Flying Daggers, trying to give power back to the people.
What makes this movie special?
Believe it or not, there are wars in China too! Yimou Zhang is one of those filmmakers I wish was more well known in the US, because he has the ability to dazzle everyone with martial arts spectacle. There’s at least two amazing set pieces in this one: 1 involving drums and 1 involving bamboo that will pick you up out of your seat and move closer to the screen because of how awesome they are. The story is a simple one, anchored by the badass Ziyi Zhang, that has a flew clever twists up its sleeve.
At a German POW camp, a group of prisoners try to discover who a mole is that prevents them from trying to escape the camp.
What makes this movie special?
Billy Wilder is one of Hollywood’s great writers. The power of this movie is it’s darkly comedic tone, capturing probably close to real life situations and conversations of people making do with their terrible situation. While amusing you, Wilder is also reminding everyone of the stakes of the situation, as the spy keeps finding ways to thwart escape efforts with subtle tactics. Wilder balances that tone wonderfully, as you leave entertained and enthralled in equal measure.
