A foreign Field (released in 1993) - Starring Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Lauren Bacall - 50 years after D-Day

A Foreign Field is a movie made by the BBC for commemorating the 50th anniversary of the D-day landings and portrays the story of the veterans who come to Normandy in search of the memories of their loved ones. It stars Lauren Bacall, Alec Guinness, John Randolph, Leo mcKern, Edward Herrman, Geraldine Chaplin and host of American, Australian, and French Actors. Directed by Charles Sturridge it was produced by BBC and is a staple on the channel during World War II anniversaries.
The movie has two World War veterans, Cyril and Waldo coming to Normandy to find their stories again. Cyril is accompanied by his old friend Amos whereas Waldo has his uptight daughter and her henpecked husband coming with him him. Amos played by the legendary Sir Alec Guinness is a treat to watch as the mentally affected veteran. Both of them remember the blood bath in the beaches of Normandy and among those terrifying tales a memory of a beautiful French nurse is tucked away.



After fifty years of being unaware of each others association, they have come in search of that old flame who kept them sane during those terrifying times. Cyril being British hates crazy Americans and the American Wald hates the uppity British. While sharing their memories, each find out about Angelique, the French Nurse and almost comes to blows because of her. Rounding up the people stalking the memories is Lisa, a boozy widow who has a secret of her own. These unlikely group move through the fields of Normandy, the memories of comrades long gone and understand the finality of life again.
Amos played by Alec Guinness should be one of the most favorite character of a war movie. With his gestures and facial expression he goes down in to our hearts as the wounded man both in body and mind. The others play the war scarred, but stable characters. The bickering husband and wife duo cauldron have been avoided as they had nothing, not even as the thankless generation which followed. But the cake goes to Angelique, the fresh faced nurse who had seduced both the veterans, now old and confined to a home. Lauren Bacall returns to a better suited role and is great as the loud mouthed widow who is in search of her brother's grave. Even at this dismal place she sings her blues away ad is one of the most enduring images in “The Foreign Field”.
Some times I wonder how come this sweet movie is tucked away as a television movie outed during the anniversaries. It raises a few laughs about men who fought for freedom which would help them in the quest for happiness. It chronicles the young who died and the later old ones who survived but are haunted by those memories. This movie does not deserve to be confined to those television outings but has to reach one and all. It will be a welcome break from all those sugary romances one is forced to watch nowadays. Great movie need to be watched by all.

Robin Hood (released in 1922) - A classic movie starring Douglas Fairbanks, Wallace Beery and Enid Bennett

Robin Hood released in 1922 is considered one of the most costliest movies ever made. It cost a whopping 1.2 million dollars to make his movie and is considered the ultimate spectacle. Douglas Fairbanks starred in this movie portraying the outlaw Robin Hood who robs the rich to give it to the poor.
The earl of Huntington becomes King Richards favorite by wining a jousting tournament against the cheating Guy Gisborne. He becomes the kings right hand man and this enables him to meet Lady Marion Fitzwalter and he falls in love with her. When Richard the lion-heart leaves for the crusades, Huntington accompanies him. Richard appoints his cruel sadistic brother John as regent who fancies Lady Marion. Goaded by Guy, John usurps the throne as Richard departs and set him-selves as the tyrannical ruler.
Lady Marion send a message to Huntington and tells him about all the tyrannies of John and urges him to come back. When Huntington asks Richard permission to leave, Richard suspects cowardice and refuses leave. Huntington, not wanting to divert Richards attention from the battle ahead leaves on his own accord and is branded a deserter. He is captured and imprisoned by Guy who wants to kill him to gain Marion. But Huntington escapes and sets himself as an outlaw Robin Hood, in the jungles of Sherwood and wows to defeat King John.



He soon forms the band of merry men with Little John, Friar Tuck and others and they oppose the enemies like Sheriff of Nottingham who terrorize the poor. He robs the rich and gives it to the poor and saves them from the yoke of taxation. Soon these band of merry men soon make King John life miserable and he tries to get back by imprisoning Marion. But Robin Hood arrives to save her and defeats Guy in a grueling battle. But Robin Hood is captured and is saved by the arrival of Richard at the right time. Soon John and his cohorts are captured and sent to prison and Robin Hood is given back his titles and Marion.
This silent era film is characterized by lavish sets and great camera work which makes it a very grand spectacle. It is said that the castle of King John is built even up to the minutest details and thousands of extras with the right clothing were employed to give feel of the era. However this movie is a Douglas Fairbanks vehicle and he steals the show. A major departure from the book, this movie does not portray Robin's meetings with little John, Friar Tuck etc and this is indeed a sore disappointment.
This movie scored high at the box office and is said to have been the first one to have a grand premier. All the actions and the spectacle is worth a watch even without the obvious absence of dialogues. The actions and portrayal of the actors as merry men is sometimes little funny but one has to understand that they suffer a major handicap due the absence of dialogues. Ultimately it is indeed Douglas Fair bank's Robin Hood and one need to watch this movie to watch this Athletic American star of yesteryears.

Battle of the bulge (released in 1965) - starring Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews and Charles Bronson, history of the famous battle of the same name

Battle of the Bulge is a war epic based on the real battle which ranged across Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg during the Second World War. The movie was released in 1965 on the 21st anniversary of the battle. The movie starred Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Telly Savalas, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews and Charles Bronson. The Director Ken Annakin had reorganized the chronological events of the battle for maximum impact.
The movie begins with Lieutenant Colonel Riley and his fellow officer flying re-con over the Ardennes forest to check on German positions. Col Riley has his suspicions about a German counterattack and is not taken seriously. The war is dragging itself to the end and all the allied troops are in a complacent mood. When Riley produces pictures of a Tiger tank on the move it is deemed as a coincidence by his superiors, General Grey and Col Pritchard.
Riley, convinced that something is brewing on the German side leaves to collect evidence to the Siegfried line. Here he interviews some German PO W's captured by Major Walenski and Captain weaver. He finds all the PO W's are teenagers and feels that experienced German soldiers are withdrawn to prepare for the ultimate battle. Again his suspicions are dismissed by his superiors.



But actually German are undertaking massive preparations to mount an attack on the allied positions. This is led by Colonel Hessler who is heading to the town of Ambleve to see Gen Kohler to plan the attack. He is shown a massive contingent of Tiger tanks, arms and heavy ammunition. Gen Kohler tells him that he has all the fuel necessary for 50 hrs of battle after which they have no supplies. Hessler feels that he can decimate the allies with this fire power.
When the GI's are asleep Hessler launches his attack and completely decimates the allied positions. Major Walenski tries to withdraw to the Belgium town to fight another day. But the SS troops are disguised as Americans and rearrange the signs dispersing a confused allies and in the end massacring the whole unit.
Gen Gray, Colonel Pritchard, and other officers are evacuated from the the head quarters and ask the men to fight till the last stand. Kiley meanwhile deduces that the Germans are low on fuel and devices a strategy to slow the attack so that the fuel is used up. In the mean time the Germans led by Lt. Schumacher are disguised as Americans and intercept these messages. Many Soldiers fight for their loved ones decimated in Ambleve, and Hessler in his desperation attacks the fuel depot. In this ultimate battle scenes you find an injured Riley and a host of other officers defend the depot. They use barrels of gasoline as burning missiles and hurl them down to the advancing Tiger tanks. The American tanks are pounded but they stand their ground and retreat slowly, hastening the burning up of fuel by the Germans. A desperate Hessler tries to go it alone and launches an attack on the Germans and his tank is blown up by the gasoline maelstrom.
With their fuel completely used up and their arms rendered useless the Germans abandon their positions and the battle is won. In the last scene the German loss is shown with Hessler's Man Friday Conrad disgusted with the battle and its cruelties throwing off the gun and heading home on the Siegfried line. There are lot of historical inaccuracies but the movie is a brilliant portrayal of the battle where the allies were with their back up to the wall, but still rallied to win. Good watch for action movie buffs.

300 (Released in 2007) - Historical battle and valour

The ancient world was replete with fights and wars. Armies travelled long distances to fight, and warfare was often with massive casualties. One of the most famous kings of the ancient times was Xerxes The Great (Xerxes 1 of Persia), and he was involved with one of the most famous battles of historic times. This was the Battle of Thermopylae (wikipedia), where a much smaller contingent of Greek troops led by the King Leonidas I of Sparta fought till the end to hold off a much larger contingent (in the millions) of Persian troops led by King Xerxes. This was a battle that is part of modern strategy because of the use of terrain planning to level the odds of superior armed forces. King Leonidas was also fighting a rear-guard battle with his Spartan council to get them to support him over this battle, and he wanted to shame them with his valiant sacrifice to take action. In the end, he was betrayed by a traitor (Ephialtes) from within the Greek citizenry who revealed a small path that allowed the Persians to outflank the small Greek army.



The movie is a copy of a graphic comic-book style novel by Frank Miller (with the novel having the same name), and is not a re-telling of the actual battle. It is a heavily dramatized telling of the story, and hence also became controversial. In Iran, the movie was heavily criticized because the movie did not portray the Persian army and its King in a very positive light. The movie was directed by Zack Snyder. The movie was also shot in a novel way, with the characters acting against the background of bluescreens in a Studio (shot in a digital backlot technique). This was seen as very innovative and got a lot of publicity. The score of the movie was also controversial because after release, it started becoming clear that the score seemed to be heavily inspired from other movies, and was eventually acknowledged by Warner Bros. Pictures in an official statement.
The movie is about the conflict between King Leonidas of Sparta and the Persian Emperor Xerxes. Xerxes wants the Greeks to acknowledge their submission to him, something the proud Spartan king refuses to accept. Leonidas now anticipates war, and wants the support of the Council of Sparta and the priesthood (Ephor), but the Ephors do not support him (they have been bought over by the Persians). Without this support, Leonidas sets out with a small force to fight at a superior terrain where we can fight and hold off the numerically many times superior Persians. And hence the battle starts at Thermopylae. where Leonidas refuses riches by Xerxes and promises to make him bleed. The Spartans used their tight formations to defeat the many thrusts by the Persians, but look set for defeat when they are betrayed and a secret path is shown to the Persians.
In Sparta, the Queen is trying to rally support, and eventually manages to get the Council united in battle against the Persians. Eventually, the Spartans are beaten by the sheer force of the Persians, but by this time, the Greeks send in a force that has a much higher number of warriors. With memories of losses against 300 Spartans, the Persian army is low on morale, and eventually lose the final battle, the Battle of Plataea (Wikipedia).

The Last Samurai (2003) - starring Tom Cruise

The Last Samurai is set during tumultuous times in both the United States and Japan. The movie is set during the 1870's, a decade after the American Civil War, a time when the United States fought an intense internal war between the forces of the Union and the Confederates. Similarly, there were dramatic changes going on in Japanese society at that time. The 'samurai' (warrior class) that were a major elements in Japanese society were losing their position and influence, and a proper military was starting to form. This was the time of the Meiji Restoration of 1867-1868 (wikipedia).
The story of the movie is about an old warrior, named Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), who is a veteran of the Indian wars (where the United States Army fought the Native Indian tribes), and who is traumatized by his role in a massacre of Native Indians. He is wandering around pretty aimlessly, making a living by recounting his adventures in gun shows, something that earns him a living, but does nothing to enliven his life.



However, he is a perpetual drunk, and is finally fired from his job; now he has pretty much no options other than to accept an offer to train the Imperial Japanese army (part of the growing western influences in Japan post the Meiji Restoration). This offer is made to him by his former commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Bagley (Tony Goldwyn). Algren pretty much blames Bagley for his transgressions during the war, and has no love lost for him. This offer from Bagley is made on behalf of a Japanese businessman who has stakes in the restoration, called Mr. Omura (Masato Harada).
Algren goes about this task, training peasants and farmers in how to handle rifles as part of this training. However, in their first conflict, they come into battle with a group of rebel samurai warriors, led by Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe); the army is unequal to the battle and gets defeated by the samurai. One of Algren's colleagues is killed in this attack, and Algren himself fights valiantly, defeating and killing the brother-in-law of the samurai leader. In this fight, he uses a spear with a flag of a white tiger, and Katsumoto believes that to be an omen, and spares Algren's life and takes him prisoner.
Algren is now prisoner at a remote village, living in the house of Hirotaro, whom he had killed. In this village, Algren finally starts to become more at peace him himself, and also starts to really learn the art of wielding the samurai sword as well as learn the Japanese language. In a fight with ninja assassins who had attacked the village, Algren fights along with the samurai, and manages to give a good account of himself even though the samurai take several losses.
With spring, Algren is now back in Tokyo, but now refuses to support Omura in his battle with the samurai, and at the same time, Katsumoto is arrested even after offering advice to the emperor. Algren manages to help Katsumoto regain his freedom, even though in this effort, Katsumoto's son, Nobutada (Shin Koyamada) is killed. After regaining his freedom, Katsumoto learns that a better equipped army unit is going to attack a much smaller samurai force, and it is there that Algren recalls the Battle of Thermopylae, where a much smaller force used better technology and the advantage of terrain to defeat a much larger army.
This comes true as the samurai are able to lead the larger army into a trap, however, soon the samurai realize that the army will get backup units, and another such battle will mean defeat. They resolve to make an attack of their own. However, they face canon fire, something that proves murderous, and then a second unit of infantry. In a battle, Algren kills Bagley when Bagley attacks Katsumoto; but then the second line of Gatling guns hit the samurai as they advance. The Japanese army, then ceases fire in respect of the samurai. Katsumoto ends his life.
In the end, as the emperor prepares to sign a deal with American ambassadors that would make the US as the exclusive dealers for firearms, Algren presents Katsumoto's sword to the emperor; the emperor understands the message and refuses to sign the deal, and also reduces Omura's powers and influence when he objects. Algren returns for the peace he finally found to the small Japanese village.

Track listing:
"A Way of Life"– 8:03
"Spectres in the Fog"– 4:07
"Taken"– 3:36
"A Hard Teacher"– 5:44
"To Know My Enemy"– 4:48
"Idyll's End"– 6:40
"Safe Passage"– 4:56
"Ronin"– 1:53
"Red Warrior"– 3:56
"The Way of the Sword"– 7:59
"A Small Measure of Peace"– 7:59

El Cid (1961) - The story of a hero

El Cid, the legendary hero of Spain was a real person named Don Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar ((c. 1040, Vivar, near Burgos – July 10, 1099, Valencia)). He lived around 1035 A.D. Although he spent much of his time fighting on the side of the Moors, he became identified as the best incarnation of the true Castilian Christian spirit. His name came from the Arabic "sayyid" meaning "lord" or "chief." He was a nobleman, who was educated in the royal court of Castile, and was one of the leading warriors of Alfonso VI against the Moors. He is considered the national hero of Spain.
As is expected, a movie made on such a hero is always made more romantic than reality, with acts of heroism and valor magnified, and when the movie has such actors such as Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, the movie seems much more romanticized than the original. The movie was released in 1961 and earned 3 Oscar nominations, but was unable to win any Oscars.



The movie was directed by Anthony Mann, and was shot primarily on location in Spain (including the historic castles of Belmonte (Cuenca) and Peñíscola (Castellón)), with a smaller number of scenes being shot in Rome. The movie used real swords during the shooting, so you would expect that the action scenes needed a much better control and thorough safety measures.
El Cid was part of an aristocratic family, but not very powerful or high in the Spanish royal court. However, he became famous as a man who was a warrior at the same time as he was a peacemaker, willing to spare enemies if they swore their allegiance to his king. This was a time when there were many royals, with many of these royals fighting for power, and fighting for the throne. And this was also a time when the Moors were fighting for gaining space in Spain, in their quest to introduce the power of Islam inside Spain.
He was to fight back charges of treason, and eventually loses favor at the royal court, becoming a mercenary when his king Alfonso abandons him. He even fights on the side of the Moors, but eventually comes back to support his king when he is called back. He also came to command much more influence among the common people, earning their respect, and forming his own army composed of both Christians and Moors, forming his own fiefdom comprising the city of Valencia and its neighboring regions.
The book had some great scenes, such as the fight between two single warriors to get control of the city, which was a great fight. Shooting on location imparted some incredible majesty and splendor to the movie.