• Part 3

5. The Last of the Mohicans (1990)

         This movie covers one of my favorite moments in history: The war for the American Frontier. The Last of the Mohicans explores a bitter power struggle between 3 monumental players – The British Empire, the French Empire, and the Northeast Indian tribes caught in the middle. It’s a fictional movie covering mostly made-up characters but the backdrop, the French and Indian War, fought in America from 1755 – 1763 is portrayed with a shocking and gritty realism. As battle rages for control of the vast American frontier and threatens the destruction of the Mohicans, a dwindling tribe made of a father and his 2 sons.

         It’s the best depiction of the savage and brutal warfare you’ll see about the winning of America. I love the contrast in styles of warfare between the nation’s involved. The British and the French armies adhere to romantic, and “civilized” rules. But the Indians hide in the trees, lurk in the shadows, until they explode into the open bringing terror and death on their unfortunate enemies. The movie does not hold back on the graphic nature of Indian warfare. Trevor Jones composed one of the best musical scores in film. It’s a movie that takes you back to 18th century America. It shows why the Europeans stared at the expansive and seemingly endless mountains, forests, valleys in awe. I only wish more movies would be made on this subject.

• One Great Moment

         The Last 9 minutes of the movie is essentially a silent film with hardly a word spoken. Instead, the audience is left shaking with suspense as they watch an opera of terror and death play out in the glorious open wilderness of the long-lost American Frontier. Trevor Jone’s beautiful musical score plays over this scene juxtaposing the visceral and graphic affair playing out between the characters. It’s a powerful sequence and among my favorite moments in any movie.

4. Patton (1970)

         This might still the best World War II movie ever made. It’s without a doubt the best character study over shown on screen. Patton follows one of America’s most gifted, and controversial generals. You follow the American bulldog through the conquering of North Africa in 1943 to the invasion of France in 44’ to the downfall of Germany. The real war though isn’t between General Patton and the Nazis, but rather with himself. The movie reconstructs Patton’s multilayered character. He was a true patriot, and an outstanding warrior who favored offense and aggression. He was also a glory hound, an egomaniac, and a pre-Madonna. When he let his troops run loose it led to victories on the field. When he let his mouth run loose, it caused PR disasters for Eisenhower and the war effort. George C. Scott gives a performance for the ages. You’ll love and hate the man, but you’ll understand why he was one of America’s most essential assets in winning the war.

         The movie opted not to make Ike a character because he had passed away during filming. Another thing to think about, the real general Bradley Omar had a lot of influence on the script. The cinematography of European battlefields and the musical score are wonderful.

• One Great Moment

         George C. Scott’s magnetic performance as the venerable General is the movies greatest selling point. Scott best actor at the 1970 Oscars. Scott committed himself fastidiously to nail the multi-dimensional character traits of Patton, which is why it’s often cited as the greatest performance in film. Scott once told the New York Times that he, “simply refused to play George Patton as the standard cliche you could get from newspaper clips of the time. I didn’t want to play him as a hero just to please the Pentagon, and I didn’t want to play him as an obvious, gung-ho bully, either. I wanted to play every conceivable facet of the man.”

3. Band of Brothers (2001)

         Some stories are too important and require too much attention to tell over the course of one movie (Unbroken). Band of Brothers is one of the best cinematic creations ever. It’s a 10-part series following an elite American fighting force within the 101st airborne division that parachuted behind enemy lines during the last year of World War II. In this series, we follow Easy Company’s journey which includes 2 years of rigorous training, to landing in Normandy on D-Day, to fighting battles in France, Belgium, Holland and finally Germany.         

         The attention to detail in this series is unbelievable. Great care was taken by the show creators (which includes Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks) to tell the story of these incredible heroes. This was achieved with meticulous collaboration with Easy Company veterans who were still alive during filming. Each episode opens with commentary from the men. It’s one of the best features of the show. They relay their experience with sadness and deep emotion even though several decades have passed. It’s wonderful that we get to hear from them because, so few veterans are alive today.

          Band of Brothers features some of the greatest action sequences of any movie or TV show. The acting is also terrific. The leading cast consisted of mostly unknown actors at the time, but many of them have since blossomed into stardom. Each episode of the show serves as its own story, with its own beginning, middle, climax, and conclusion. It’s difficult to comprehend the number of battles these men fought in just a little less than a year. I Would consider this my favorite history-based mini-series if it wasn’t for #2 on my list.

• One Great Moment

         Lieutenant Ronald Spiers takes over command of Easy Company during an assault on Foy, a small German Occupied town near Bastogne. Their first commander suffers a nervous breakdown and halts the advance, leaving the company stranded in open fire. With the battle now in jeopardy, Spiers charges into the fray and leads his men to a much-needed victory. He captures the town and avoids catastrophe for the company. It’s not a large win in the grand scheme of the allied offense but it was monumental in lifting the spirits of Easy Company who was at its lowest point when the battle commenced.

2. The Pacific (2010)

         I know putting this ahead of Band of Brothers is controversial to some. And I agree that from a production and technical achievement, Band of Brothers is superior. But I like the Pacific better for 3 reasons.

         1. The Pacific is a more contained character driven story. The 3 main characters, Eugene Sledge, Bob Lecky, and John Basilone are the focus of this mini-series. It’s much easier to follow them versus the 20-30 characters in Band of Brothers. It’s more intimate, and hits more emotionally when the characters struggle.

         2. Contrasting the Pacific theatre with the much more popular European theatre. This facet of the mini-series is its greatest selling point to me. Japan was not Europe. This was a theatre of war completely foreign to the marines. It was a different culture. They men had to contend with Japan’s unorthodox style of warfare (bayonet charges in open field, no surrendering, the hostile treatment of prisoners). The claustrophobic jungle environments rife with disease. The muggy atmosphere as temperatures soared into the triple digits. Fighting on unfamiliar terrain in a theatre most Americans back home don’t find very interesting. The minis series does a great job hammering home these unique challenges the men had to face. It’s clear that The Pacific was sending a message to Hollywood, and the U.S., to not forget these men who fought and died at this far corner of the world.

         3. The Pacific does not emphasizethe action, but rather the psychological toll of war. Post Traumatic Stress is the focal point of the series. You see troops spiral and collapse mentally. You watch men lose their humanity. One soldier is taken off the line and works out his trauma with a psychiatrist. It’s one of the few depictions of war to come out of Hollywood that addresses the serious issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The father of one of the main characters says he witnessed men return from war and they acted as if “they had their souls torn from them.”

         One final note, the Japanese Imperial Army was a brutal force that waged terrible war and committed wide scale atrocities. They were an army of death and can aptly be compared to the Nazi’s. The Pacific does not shy away from accurately recounting the depravity of the Japanese in this war. 

         The Pacific is not an easy watch. I would argue Band of Brothers has better re-watchability, but The Pacific is more worth your time. It’s the series everyone NEEDS to watch.

• One Great Moment

         In Episode 9, we watch private Eugene Sledge witness the worst war has to offer. He’s watched the Japanese terrorize and murder with utter callousness innocent Okinawan women and children. All around him he watches the men lose their humanity. With each depraved act of the Japanese, he himself feels his soul being ripped from him.  One day with his ears perk up at the sound of a crying baby echoing from what looks like an abandoned home. Curious to check it out, he enters the establishment. What he finds, and what he does next will leave audiences chilled and teary-eyed.

Honorable Mentions:

Come and see, Spartacus, Cleopatra, Untouchables, All Quiet on the Western Front, Glory, Casablanca, Apocalypto, Hacksaw Ridge, 1776 (the musical), The Lives of Others, Gladiator, Titanic, Sound of Music, Paths of Glory, Lincoln, Rome (series), Stalag 17, The Pianist

1. Schindler’s List (1993)

          This is the remarkable true story of how a sleazy businessman profiting off war uses his charm, wit, and guile to protect and save the lives of 1100 Polish Jews during the Holocaust. This is easily Steven Spielberg’s finest direction. What I like most about Schindler’s List is the structure of its narrative arc. In the beginning the color fades to black and white. It marks the early phase of registering all jews in Nazi occupied Poland begins. Meantime, we see Oskar Schindler using what’s left of his assets to schmooze SS officers and Nazi government officials. As his business, molding cheap raw materials into weapons for the Wehrmacht grows, so does the aggression against Jewish residents. I love the slow, gradual process of Oskar turning a stubborn eye from the obvious genocide happening around him; to realizing he can and must use his influence and wealth to make a difference at great cost to himself.

         The villain, Amon Goethe, played by Ralph Fiennes, is one of the most chilling and vile specimens brought to life on screen. A manifestation of absolute terror in leather boots and a grey overcoat. It’s a movie that displays the worst of humanity during one of history’s darkest episodes. But it also shows the tenderness and good nature of humanity when duty calls to help and to sacrifice. Each of us has the power to make a difference. I also want to give props to John William’s score. The violin solo is haunting, and it resonates long after finishing the movie.

         Some artists have criticized Schindler’s List for not providing deeper insight into how mundane, average Germans became architects for the Holocaust. In the movie, the Nazis in charge are depicted as pure evil. Some in academia, and other film directors argue it’s too simplistic. They question if Spielberg understands that the banality of evil is far more complex. These are arguments I would love to cover in another blog.

         Either way Schindler’s List is still one of the greatest, and most important movies ever made. And my overall #1 pick.

• One Great Moment

         Everyone who watches Schindler’s List remembers when German troops flood the Krakow Ghetto and liquidate the Jewish men, women, and children. It’s a frightening display of barbarism. Oskar Schindler on horseback stumbles upon the brutal scene. Even from a distance the chasm of indiscriminate violence and death brings disbelief and bereavement to his face. While scanning the Ghetto he locks eyes with the girl covered neck-to-toe in a bright crimson coat. The little girl in red saunters aimlessly through the streets seemingly oblivious to the suffocating panacea around her. It’s a powerful moment rich in symbolism and compounded with a chilling composition of a children’s choir in the background. The splash of red on a black-and-white canvass is visual symbolism at its finest. The girl in red symbolizes a loss of innocence. And that the world turned a blind eye and as a result, children died. I get goosebumps every time I watch this scene. Very few directors have ever used artistry to depict a massacre unfold on screen so viscerally as Spielberg.