Worst WW2 movies ever made?

I kinda liked "Fortress".

It has alternately horrible effects and really good ones as well. But the acting was professional, the characters were likable and the action scenes harrowing.

it was a sincere low budget effort from a team of film makers that really wanted to pay hommage to the brave flyers of World War Two. In my book compares favorably to something like "Saints And Soldiers" I and II or "Pathfinders".

I wouldn't put it on a par with the bigger budget Hollywood pictures or even try to compare it with them in terms of results.

Many many bigger budget movies have cheesy scenes or dialog in them.

I view it as an "amuse gueule" while I'm waiting for "Masters of the Air" which will no doubt be the definitive last word on the subject.

 

"Zone Troopers" goes into another category entirely, along with "War of the Dead" "Iron Sky" "Castle Keep" "Inglorious Basterds" and other shlock that uses WWII as a backdrop for something else.

Are they bad? Are they even trying to be good movies? Starting in the late 1970s a whole bunch of movie makers were trying very hard to be Ed Wood.

 

'The Big Red One' - 'nuff said; and 'Windtalkers'. It's a close call but 'The Big Red One' takes the biscuit for being shoddy.

 

I like "Big Red One". I don't love it or think its the best WWII movie ever made. But I like it. Low budget. Heartfelt and sincere. Lee Marvin's last hurrah. Old school deus ex machina with the tough as nails German bogeyman who happens to show up everywhere the Four Horsemen are. Hardly deserves to be on a worst list.

Compare to a stinker like "Spoils of War" (2009) that only had one real actor, a non-existant budget for squibs, a silly "Kelly's Heroes"-like plot. Bad dialogue.There was really nothing redeeming about it. Waste of time all around.

 

I may have been a bit hasty re. 'The Big Red One'. I defo don't want to do down Lee Marvin's last film. It has to be 'Escape to Athena' instead. That's a safe bet!

 

Now you're getting warmer my friend. (LOL)

 

There's probably room for a thread about films that didn't achieve their potential; films that sounded good pre-release but, for some reason(s) didn't completely work. I.e. Enemy At The Gates.

 

Agreed. The criteria for movies that missed the mark or didn't perform well at the box office or did not meet expectations would be different from just plain BAD.

"Fortress" is a case in point. It was crafted with love and respect for its subject matter, but just didn't have the budget to pull off all the technical requirements of a great WWII movie. It has some good elements and some really kick ass scenes. It's a direct to dvd feature, though, and I wouldn't compare it to a "Saving Private Ryan" or "Pearl Harbor"... Does it deserve to be on a worst list?

 

That's a good point. Staying in the air, 'Red Tails' was good in parts and too decent to be on a -worst' list. The film as a whole is too uneven to get onto a 'best' list.

 

So moving this to a new thread...

 

That must be all of the Italian made soft porn films about WWII, really crappy stuff.

 

Well this is an oldie'.....

Battle of the Buldge was on not too long ago with Fonda...

Wow it's bad.

 

Battle of the Bulge was a good movie...Back when I didn't know the difference between an M47 Patton tank and a King Tiger or near about anything else about the World War II.

 

I guess this a bad movie: Commando attack
It is in full length on YouTube

 

I love Battle of the Bulge.

Especially good when I was a kid. Who cares if they didn't have the correct tanks? It isn't a documentary.

Shaw, Fonda, Bronson, MacArthur, Ryan and Ty Hardin all did a great job. Good music too.

 

Saints and Soldiers, The Void. Let's just say AVOID this atrocity at all costs. Flat acting, boring local's, bad acting, did I mention the bad acting? It has bad acting, the worst I've seen, ever.

 

It has it's own Wiki page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-51_Dragon_Fighter