After being asked to paint some Samurai and Ashigaru figures for a wargame of the Battle of Sekigahara, and doing some research on the uniforms and the battle itself I throught what a great topic for a movie this would make. This one has it all - intrigue, betrayal, two massive armies pitted against each other with equally massive casualties, what more could you ask for.
Very briefly the battle was fought on the 21st of October 1600 around Sekigahara, a small village that sat astride a crossroads under the heights of Mt.'s Sasao, Matsuo and Nangu. The forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu (80,000) faced those of Ishida Mitsunari (80,000). Unfortunately for Mitsunari, large portions of his army either switched sides during the battle, or stood idle, while the rest of his army was slaughtered or scattered. Mitsunari was later captured and executed and the battle stands as the largest ever fought on Japanese soil. Tokugaua Ieyasu went on to conquer all of Japan and become Shogun.

My question is, what other battles would we like to see made into movies and why?

IMDB lists a 7-hour Japanese TV film dramatisation of Sekigahara.

Wonder what happened to the film version of Steven Pressfield's book about Thermopylae that was mooted a few years ago?

The same author's 'Last of the Amazons' would also make a great film.

Yeah, I was looking forward to 'Gates of Fire'. I think his 'Tides of War' would be a great movie too.

I think that a movie based around the Charge of the Light Brigade would be awesome.

Two great naval battles are tops on my list.

A remake of Sink the Bismarck would be great. It really screams out for modern computer graphics. The original wasn't bad for it's day, but it's day was nearly fifty years ago.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, specifically the action of Taffy Three. If they want a source go no further than Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Great action, drama, heroics, all the elements for a fantastic story.

Third choice would also go to naval one, though I really can't see this one being done, seeing as how it took place at night and would be pretty hard to show. Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13th, 1942. Where two heavy, three light cruisers and some destroyers took on a Japanese force of two battleships, and came away with a tactical victory.

My vote goes to the Battle of Long Tan - the first time Australian troops (supported by NZ Gunners) encountered the enemy in any numbers in the Vietnam conflict.

This is the insider's view of the battle by Major Harry Smith MC, Company Commander of Delta Company 6RAR at the time of the battle.

acav out

I'd like to see a decent film about the British contribution to Normandy. When my eldest was set an essay about D Day in English, she & her classmates were shown "Saving Private Ryan". A whole generation of children have grown up with the impression that D Day was an American benefit. A film about Hill 112 for example would definitely redress the balance.
How about Albuera? One of the toughest battles of the Peninsular campaign, itself one of the toughest campaigns ever fought by the British Army, where most regiments made their reputations.
Or what about Minden? A battle which was turned by the British infantryman, & a brigade of footsoldiers routed a French cavalry division unsupported.
There is nothing in the West about the biggest tank battle in history; I refer of course to Kursk, a battle virtually unknown except to military historians.
I don't remember ever seeing a film about the Glosters in Korea either - though the US has "Pork Chop Hill".
It seems to be symptomatic of the British film industry that it is incapable of paying homage to British heroes in any decent fashion, although it can produce trashy gangster movies, memorable mainly for bad language & bad taste. Despite it being the 200th anniversary of Trafalgar in 2005, there still isn't a film about a battle that set the way the 19th Century would pan out, & clear the way for British domination of the oceans allowing the development of the Empire.
Of course none of these films will ever be made, firstly because of the poverty of the film industry's output, there hasn't been a decent British war film made for decades, & secondly because they won't sell in America. I was astonished that the Russell Crowe movie "Master & Commander" about the Napoleonic Royal Navy got made, but I'm pretty sure it didn't break any records at the box office.

I'm not sure there are any accurate movies of Iwo Jima. The only movie I can think of is the John Wayne Sands of Iwo Jima

Hi Guys
I agree that a film about HILL 112 would be awesome i have just read the book ..again Hill 112 "The Cornerstone of the Normandy Campaign by Major J.J.Howe a fantastic read with some great pics and of course i have a personal interest thats were my dad was wounded.
As a lover of the Sharpe series an epic ..a reaL EPIC covering that period ,
Cheers Chris

Flags of Our Fathers is coming out this summer - story of the flag raisers (both sets) who raised flags on Mt Suribachi.

How about a realistic movie on WWI - The Argonne, Verdun, Ypres.

WWII - Villars Bocage, Falaise Gap, The Last Battle - Cornelius Ryan's book on the last days of Berlin.

Just some ideas.

I heard that it was being rumoured to be made into a movie , however they are making the graphic novel "300"into a movie so that may mean the movie based on "Gates of Fire" maybe cancelled or put on hold

Heres a link to some details of the "300" movie

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=16617


Ian

Golan Heights, October, 1973.

A movie based around the attack at the Somme. WW1 seems to be generally ignored by the movie business, maybe because there is no real "bad guy". But then again, doesn't that help make a truly powerful story?

I would love to see a few movies made:

How about the Chosin resivoir in Korea. What an amazing story and set in such a harsh environment!

Or the story of the dropping of the first atomic bomb? (bet that one will never ever get made!)

I'd even like to see a movie about the invasion of Iraq.

That would make a great movie.




Mostly because it was a crap movie. More like something made for TV.

I think a movie based around the battle for Goose Green would be great, or Wireless Ridge. Also one about the fantastic defence of Mirbat in Oman by the SAS.

Now that I've read Richard Holmes' book Dusty Warriors about 1PWRR in Iraq, there are some incidents in there that I would like to see on screen, like Johnson Beharry winning his VC.

Specailly if they could work in the conversation between two Challenger commanders - "What's that on your gun barrel?" - "A market stall"

Steve,

I would love to see some "home made" films about the Commonwealth contributions to the ETO. For that matter, all the things you mentioned would be very interesting to me.

I have always been a bit baffled about the lack of military related movies produced in Great Britain considering the huge tradition and history behind her.

I know there is some minor bitterness regarding the U.S. movie industry making it seem like the Yanks did it all alone, but without any other point of view being produced, I guess it's going to continue.

Barry

Yup,

and IMHO it is only getting worse. The biggest problem is that, apart from very very few movies, in order to compete with the present Hollywood output, you have to spend such an amount of money that nobody but Hollywood is able to cough up. Especially when you are talking about modern (post 1600) wars.

Hollywood is so dominant, and has so much money to spend that it is almost if not completely impossible to break into anymore for anyone from the outside with a war/battlefield movie. The acting might be crappy, it miught be complete historical fallacy, but the special effects seem to offset it (and those tend to cost the most). That is what Hollywood seems to be all about lately most of the time: overawe with special effects.

The only way around it is come up with a series like HBO's Rome (and even that is in many ways beyond the budgets available outside Hollywood).

Simply put, most of the public, wether American or otherwise is not so much interested in the historical truth, but rather in special effects (basically the old idea of "bread and games"). And as the US is by far the biggest market for Hollywood Hollywood caters to what the market wants to see... which, by and large seems to be action, explosions and Americans being the hero (at least where it is historically remotely tenable). And historical truth is only secondary, as could be seen in Saving Private Ryan (no SS Tiger units even near the Americans for a considerable amount of time, certainly not within the timeframe of the movie in that location) or the horror of horrors in U-5whatever.

Simply put, you will not believe the fights I (or others) have gotten into with Americans (mostly non-history students/enthousiasts) on messageboards when stating that it was the Russians who broke the back of the Germans in WW II, let alone suggesting that the bomber offensive was not as effective as advertised, and that the American help to the Russians sped up their victory vs the Germans considerably rather then made them survive. Or suggesting that by the time Normandy came around, the war was already lost for Germany...

Just my euro 0.02

Barry, I know what you're saying. But I can't blame America for making films about history with them as the main protagonists. Why shouldn't they? It's up to other nations to set the record straight. Even if they're inaccurate, at least they make them.
I've seen some other ideas here that would be excellent, but you can't rely on the British film industry to make them in a positive way. I remember a TV movie made about Bosnia which didn't impress me. I wouldn't like to see Iraq treated the same way, although with all the "shock horror" stories coming out of Iraq, I'm sure the BBC will be commissioning a mud-slinging session soon.
I would have thought with the CG special effects we see now in films that it wouldn't cost the earth to make a reasonable "epic" about a British subject.


Chris, "Waterloo" certainly fits the bill as an epic (although Rod Steiger as Napoleon overacts sumthin' shockin'). It's even pretty accurate historically. But it was made in Russia 30 years ago, using the Russian Army. The last time it was shown on TV, a critic criticised the "interminable battle scenes" in it. Um, it's a film about...a battle!

Hi all

I feel that the depiction of battles from military history as always been a bone of contention for as very often the big money companys call the tune with regard what we see ..they are very clever in many ways as they start off with the historical hook and then depart into very often what can be discribed as fantasy land.
I sat with my dad when Saving Private Ryan and he said to me it was in his opinion the only film he has seen which made a good jod of what the landings were like.
He was also impressed with the way the troops were made to look,he also that that Bof B was a very good "mini Series".
How ever he did make a very good point as some one who was involved in D-Day on the sharpe end the landings were paramount to the out come of the war in Europe and there were very bad losses during the intial invasion, however the desperate and bitter fighting that ensued D-Day +6 on has very rarely been depicted and he feels that if the film makers took the time to talk to veterans they would find incredible story lines humor...the truth ,without making up stories,sadley time is running out f or those guys with truthfull history in there memories(out of my dads section 2 left).
Perhaps the newer conflicts will be depicted in a truthful and honest way and the young men and women who serve will be given the honor of being portrayed as it was .
On a lighter note he did say he was pleased that in SPR and Bof B that the use of the hand grenade was more realisticaly depicted as in some films a hand grenade would almost blow the building up...lol lol he said if they had made grenades like that in those days you would not have been able to pick them up lol lol let alone throw them.
Just my 2 cents
Cheers Chris

A single battle? Tough choices.

How about a campaign? WWI East Africa. A gentleman named General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck An awesome story that has only been told in footnotes. I think it would make a great movie.

I'll go with Steve/Hohenstaufen -- Albuera, Minden, the Glosters would be great. I'm a Yank, BTW ...

If I had to choose just one -- I'd go for the Battle of Okinawa -- the whole thing -- naval, air, ground ... from both sides ... not because I'm a Yank, but because of the size, scope, and savagery ...

Unfortunately battle films simply don't sell. Even most of them that make(made) a serious effort don't do well because the average viewer doesn't know enough about the context of that battle to understand it. Most films have no maps/graphics, etc, to place the various actions and give people something to help them understand the technology & tactics of the time. Not that they care. So you get "Pearl Harbor" ...

Heck, most "history" books do a bad job for the same reason -- they're writing popular and all the maps & photos cost research & production money, so you get a lot of "they went hither & yon" stuff but no real idea of what that means on the terrain ...

John

I'd definetly have to say Long tan, or the battles for FSB Coral & Balmoral.
Cheers

I don't know about that. You can't expect to make a documentary as a feature film. Remember most of the world isn't interested in the detailed history of war. They want to be entertained by good stories. If you take the best war movies of all time, they aren't necessarily accurate.

'BLack Hawk Down' was a reasonable movie about a battle. So was 'Enemy at the Gates' (if you ignore the end)-'Braveheart', 'Alamo', and a few others are all war movies, accurate or not.

In the '80s everyone thought we'd seen the last of period movies like westerns, sword&shield epics, war movies, etc. Then along came Young Guns, Unforgiven, Braveheart, Saving Pvt Ryan, The Thin Red Line and som many others.

Never say never, but be realistic. You guys seem to expect a documentary. For that you have to go to the History Channel. And even that's dicey.

Steven Spielberg's father was a "hump" pilot during WWII... (For those of you not familiar "The Hump" refers to the Himilaya mountains) Speilberg/Hanks have done a lot to remind us of the history of WWII in Europe. For that I give them great kudos! What I would like to see is an efforet towards the CBI theatre (China - Burma - India). There are many exciting subjects that could be explored here... Yes, we have seen the Flying Tigers and the 14th Airforce. Little is known about the Merrills Maruders and many of the other specialized units that fought under really extreme conditions.

I would really like to see Steven Spielberg do something in honor of his father's service and the veterans of the CBI.

http://cbi-theater.home.comcast.net/menu/cbi_home.html

Check out this site and tell them what you think...

Paul