Classic Cold War Flicks

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Bill Nichols

Steve, I'm beginning to worry about you...

Welcome to the party.

Originally Posted by MM2(SS)

The hunters, I think I've seen a scene or two of that movie. I always loved the lines of the sabre, so I definitely need to check this movie out!

Be prepared to wade through a whole lot of schmaltz to get to the flying. It's worth it though, and no worse than Top Gun, which I hate, or Wings (1927), which I love.

@ Frau Kaleun: Since my opinion of A Clockwork Orange seems to exactly parallel yours I guess I'll have to give Dr Strangenlieben another chance.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

@ Frau Kaleun: Since my opinion of A Clockwork Orange seems to exactly parallel yours I guess I'll have to give Dr Strangenlieben another chance.

I really was NOT looking forward to sitting through all of Strangelove just to say I'd seen it... so I was really surprised at how much I liked it the second time around.

Or I may just have been in the right mood for that type of film that day, when the first time, I wasn't. Which is why if a movie is generally regarded as a classic for some reason, I will usually give it a second chance if the first viewing doesn't go well.

[Sailor Steve]

Does that mean I have to watch Citizen Kane a second time?

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Does that mean I have to watch Citizen Kane a second time?

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE PARDNER...



Does this mean that you didn't like it the first time?







BURN THE WITCH!! BURN HIM!!





How can someone not like Citizen Kane? IT HAS JOSEPH COTTEN IN IT for Pete's sake.

[the_tyrant]

Does james bond count?

Thirteen days is definitely worth watching

for spy flicks the original Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and not the tepid remake.

Not a Cold War flick per se but one where it sits in the background of the plot like some malevolent beast is 1979's The Great Santini. Robert Duvall is superb as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1962 looking for a hot war and if he can't fight Russian's, he'll fight at home instead. Blythe Danner is the long suffering wife and the youngsters out there can see where daughter Gwyneth Paltrow got her looks. A superb movie about a warrior without a war.

Another winner is Seven Days in May from 1964, where President Fredric March, after signing a disarmament agreement with the Soviets, tries to fend off a military coup lead by General Burt Lancaster and members of the Joint Chief's of Staff. Some accounts say that the real President Kennedy was looking forward to seeing the finished movie but that the Joint Chief's were not amused and refused the producers all military assistance during shooting.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

for spy flicks the original Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and not the tepid remake.

Not a Cold War flick per se but one where it sits in the background of the plot like some malevolent beast is 1979's The Great Santini. Robert Duvall is superb as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1962 looking for a hot war and if he can't fight Russian's, he'll fight at home instead. Blythe Danner is the long suffering wife and the youngsters out there can see where daughter Gwyneth Paltrow got her looks. A superb movie about a warrior without a war.

Another winner is Seven Days in May from 1964, where President Fredric March, after signing a disarmament agreement with the Soviets, tries to fend off a military coup lead by General Burt Lancaster and members of the Joint Chief's of Staff. Some accounts say that the real President Kennedy was looking forward to seeing the finished movie but that the Joint Chief's were not amused and refused the producers all military assistance during shooting.

The Duvall pic is not one of my faves but still worth a look. Great performances all around.

The other two - a big thumbs up for both. The Manchurian Candidate was the first movie I bought on VHS when we first got a VCR back in the Dark Ages. I had a copy of the book but put off reading it until I could watch the movie, knowing it would probably take something away from the experience. Turned out to be a good decision. There are so many "OMG" moments in that film and it manages to be both shocking and heartbreaking all at the same time. Seven Days In May is also great, but then I love March and Lancaster is never less than magnificent IMO. Douglas was never one of my all-time favorite actors, but this is certainly one of my favorites of all his performances.

The Duvall pic is not one of my faves but still worth a look. Great performances all around.

She Who Must Be Obeyed feels much the same way so maybe there's a bit'o gender bias at work. Last time we watched it on TCM, having not seen it since my soldiering days in the early eighties, she commented "We knew people like that when you were 'in'" referring to Duvall's character and his family. That hit home.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

She Who Must Be Obeyed feels much the same way so maybe there's a bit'o gender bias at work. Last time we watched it on TCM, having not seen it since my soldiering days in the early eighties, she commented "We knew people like that when you were 'in'" referring to Duvall's character and his family. That hit home.

I tend to have problems when the main character, by default the protagonist, is someone I don't find very likeable. It doesn't make it a bad picture, just one that doesn't resonate for me as much personally. I have the same problem with Gone With The Wind, lol, which kinda blows the "gender bias" theory right out of the water.

[andy_311]

Would " By Dawn's early light" be classed as a cold war movie i seen it on video inthe late 80's about a B-52 Bomber group,i know it was on telly some years ago,the gist of the story was USSR v US nuclear war the crew of the B-52 have moral doubt's about there mission or somethig like that somebody get;s nuked and they fly into the sunset(something like that0 been a while since i saw the movie.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE PARDNER...



Does this mean that you didn't like it the first time?







BURN THE WITCH!! BURN HIM!!





How can someone not like Citizen Kane? IT HAS JOSEPH COTTEN IN IT for Pete's sake.

Umm...


*Quickly changing the subject*

Yes, Seven Days In May is a GREAT cold-war flick. I'm also a fan of Failsafe (a more serious look at the Strangelove scenario) and, when it turns hot, a little-known film about the layman's reaction to a nuclear war called Panic In The Year Zero.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056331/

Another in the same vein was The World, The Flesh and The Devil, a very unusual movie and progressive at the time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053454/

Frau Kaleun wrote:

I tend to have problems when the main character, by default the protagonist, is someone I don't find very likeable. It doesn't make it a bad picture, just one that doesn't resonate for me as much personally. I have the same problem with Gone With The Wind, lol, which kinda blows the "gender bias" theory right out of the water.

Not necessarily. SWMBO hates Gone With the Wind because of the character of Scarlet O'Hara is so unlikable (and figures that Vivian Leigh probably wasn't really acting she seemed such a natural B. Meow!). She also doesn't like Casablanca or From Here to Eternity for romances saying the endings are depressing. I really enjoy all three but Chocolat, a favorite of hers, makes me break out in hives. She even cried after watching Captain Corelli's Mandolin; at Nicholas Cage for god's sake!

Back on the Cold War topic though...

Nobody mentioned Red Dawn! Here on SubSim, the ultimate flag-waving, commie killing, pick-up driving, Cuban bashing, USA boosting propaganda epic passed unnoticed and obviously unwatched. Amazing!

[Sailor Steve]

I watched it. That doesn't mean I would ever mention it.

[TLAM Strike]

The Beast (AKA The Beast of War)

[Herr-Berbunch]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

Also the book of By Dawn's Early Light - I thought it was great, and was geared up for watching the film scheduled to be shown on TV but then either Desert Shield or Desert Storm kicked off and it wasn't shown - I've still to watch it

Originally Posted by andy_311

Would " By Dawn's early light" be classed as a cold war movie i seen it on video inthe late 80's about a B-52 Bomber group,i know it was on telly some years ago,the gist of the story was USSR v US nuclear war the crew of the B-52 have moral doubt's about there mission or somethig like that somebody get;s nuked and they fly into the sunset(something like that0 been a while since i saw the movie.

I'd say it was