Battleground (1949)
Sometimes, you can get a bad taste in your mouth for a particular genre, if you watch the wrong movies first. I used to say I didn’t like war movies, simply because I’d seen a few classic (that were incredibly boring). Now that I’ve seen the right ones, I love the genre! With that introduction, I’d put Battleground in the first category: ones that will give the genre a bad name.
James Whitmore scored an Oscar nomination by playing the tough drill sergeant with hurty feet. That’s really all he does: limp around on his aching, frostbitten feet and bark out orders with a scowling face. But in reality, everyone’s feet would hurt in the cold. James isn’t the only one with a stereotypical character; the vast majority of this movie is stereotypical. A WWII movie made in the late 1940s was really tough to master because we were enjoying the golden post-war age. What would be the point in watching a heavy, realistic war drama? Instead, you have a movie full of characters who buy the proverbial farm minutes before battle scenes. Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, and Jerome Courtland play a variety of soldiers of different ages and geographical backgrounds with nicknames like “Kipp” and “Pop” to endear them to the audience; but it’s clear from within five minutes of meeting them what will happen to each one.
If you haven’t seen classic war films before, you might be drawn to this one because of the self-explanatory title and the Oscar nominations. But rent one of the better ones instead if you want to like the genre: They Were Expendable, Go for Broke!, or The Longest Day are all better options.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Van Johnson movies here!
James Whitmore scored an Oscar nomination by playing the tough drill sergeant with hurty feet. That’s really all he does: limp around on his aching, frostbitten feet and bark out orders with a scowling face. But in reality, everyone’s feet would hurt in the cold. James isn’t the only one with a stereotypical character; the vast majority of this movie is stereotypical. A WWII movie made in the late 1940s was really tough to master because we were enjoying the golden post-war age. What would be the point in watching a heavy, realistic war drama? Instead, you have a movie full of characters who buy the proverbial farm minutes before battle scenes. Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Don Taylor, and Jerome Courtland play a variety of soldiers of different ages and geographical backgrounds with nicknames like “Kipp” and “Pop” to endear them to the audience; but it’s clear from within five minutes of meeting them what will happen to each one.
If you haven’t seen classic war films before, you might be drawn to this one because of the self-explanatory title and the Oscar nominations. But rent one of the better ones instead if you want to like the genre: They Were Expendable, Go for Broke!, or The Longest Day are all better options.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Van Johnson movies here!