War Movies: The Belle & Blade Guide to Classic War Videos Review

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War Movies: The Belle & Blade Guide to Classic War Videos ReviewOne of the worst film books foisted on us recently (check out Simon Louvash's book KEYSTONE for another), WAR MOVIES is basically one man's guide to films about war and their availability on video. Well, to paraphrase General Sherman, WAR MOVIES is hell. First off, author Freitas writes off films made before 1950. You know, really awful movies like ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, WINGS, THE BIG PARADE, SERGEANT YORK, BATTLEGROUND, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES-just terrible, horrible, dated films that should just gather dust in the archives and that no one in their right mind would ever consider watching. Unless you are some disconnected or hoary "film historian, movie critic or student of film, proclaiming these old movies as great war films." (Quote from the forward) "Author" Freitas then goes on to spew the following: ". . .proclaiming these old movies as great war films simply doesn't wash. The fact is that film making has gotten much better over the years by using a blend of new technologies, more sophisticated technologies (a little bit redundant, aren't we, Mr. Freitas?), and more complex storytelling. As a result, the modern movie is superior to its predecessors."
Uh-huh.
Check out this next proclamation: "And while the curators of these early movies implore us to watch these great films-no one is really listening or, more importantly, watching. We are too busy trying to define our own experiences. The sense of adventure and/or horror about war these films generated are, for the most part, lost on the younger generation." Well, at least one lost member of that generation, in my view.
By the way, Mr. Freitas also sells war videos. Yes, that is an ad in the back of this tome for his company (page 415), and guess what? Some of those unwatchable films are in there! Pieces of garbage like ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE STORY OF G.I. JOE, HELL IS FOR HEROES, A WALK IN THE SUN, THE STEEL HELMET (Freitas really hates Sam Fuller, by the way) are available from his company-why? If they do not speak to moviegoers now, why carry them? Doesn't he need room on the shelves for classics like IN LOVE AND WAR, THE HANOI HILTON and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE? Surely, no one under the age of 75 will watch some piece of dreck like FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (rated 3.5 out of 5, for having won 8 "undeserved" Oscars) instead of a "highly entertaining" film rated 3.0 like G. I. JANE. . .
To give Freitas credit, he does like some films that are actually good (GLORY, GETTYSBURG, BAND OF BROTHERS, Ken Burns' THE CIVIL WAR), but there is no consistency to the ratings (see the end of the paragraph above). Plus, some fairly well-known films are not in here: Roland Emmerich's THE PATRIOT (in fact, there are no films about war pre-Civil War in here), SCHINDLER'S LIST, 1941, THE GREAT DICTATOR, FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO and others. For John Wayne fans (and there are still many out there), Freitas writes him off with this blurb at the end of his "review" of THE FIGHTING SEABEES: "All of Wayne's movies are about him and the audience's fascination with his larger-than-life persona on the screen (Well, duh!). Times change, of course, and Wayne is becoming mostly a fading curiousity today." Hmmmmm. I wonder if all those sub-intellectuals (like yours truly) who watch Turner Classic Movies and who buy DVDs and videotapes of films like THE SEARCHERS, THE QUIET MAN, SANDS OF IWO JIMA, TRUE GRIT and others just don't show up on Mr. Freitas' radar. I'm beginning to suspect who really suggested to President Bush that there were WMD's in Iraq.
Stay away from this book. It's awful. Feh.War Movies: The Belle & Blade Guide to Classic War Videos OverviewFinally, here is a comprehensive war movie guide that reviews in detail dozens of compelling stories about men in the military and at war. Can you name the 25 best combat movies of all time, the ten best WWII movies, the five best military legal dramas, fact-based military scandals, or prisoner-of-war movies? War Movies: The Belle & Blade Guide to Classic War Videos attempts to do this and much more. Written with the goal of identifying the best war movies ever produced, these reviews promise to stir discussion and provoke debate. ANZACS, Attack!, Band of Brothers, Battle of Algiers, Come and See, Capitaine Conan, Dieppe, 84 Charlie MoPic, No Man's Land, Piece of Cake, Pretty Village, Pretty Flame, Stalingrad, 317th Platoon, Underground, When Trumpets Fade, Black Hawk Down, Das Boot, Hamburger Hill, The Thin Red Line, Glory, Catch-22, Behind the Lines, The Human Condition and many more must-see films are reviewed in this new movie guide for dedicated war movie fans.

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