Six Lesser Seen Modern WW2 Movies That Are Good
1) When Trumpets Fade (1998)
This one was a sleeper, a HBO TV movie from the director of Raw Deal (1986). Released in 1998 and buried by the hype of Spielberg’s WW2 flick, here’s a movie that is clearly superior. It certainly makes the former look almost juvenile. What is so good about it? It pulls absolutely, positively no punches at all. It’s realism is such that I get the feeling Band of Brothers tried top copy it, but didn’t have the balls to. Here, the soldiers want the fuck out, patriotism be damned.
In WW2, that was common, especially in the bloodiest battle in Europe for the Allies. Finally, a war movie that almost lets you peer into history itself and all the nastiness that came with it, rather than a pompous award-chasing project. This movie throws studio inhibition in the toilet, like the patriotism that dies in it’s story. (Fading Trumpets). The lead character is something else, a mixture of Bob Barnes (Platoon) and Captain Winters (Band of Brothers), with a little bit of Tony Soprano thrown in. The realistic and cold savagery of this movie is unrivaled. I can’t sing this movie’s praises enough. Full review here, to understand why it is the best of the best.
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