Discussion of everything and anything World War II
Excerpts from Military Studies MA Thesis by Anthony Wilson 2001 – Theme of War in films
For once, I am not going to analyse my original analysis or evaluation. I am going to leave this as nature intended it twenty-one years ago. The inspiration for the thesis, Saving Private Ryan has been reviewed. So the end is here, the end of the thesis, that is the final part, no more crossing … Read more
This was the only film for this study which was viewed in the way it was intended, on the big screen. I saw Saving Private Ryan within days of its release in 1998. It was amazing and exhausting in equal measures, particularly the first twenty minutes or so. In conjunction with a lecture on the … Read more
Market Garden Musings A question for the ages is why did September 1944’s Operation Market Garden fail. This is not going to be a definitive answer because I do not think there is one. I do not claim any new knowledge or point of view, but I have studied it in one way or another … Read more
Steven Spielberg had wanted to make the film version of Thomas Kennealy’s book Schindler’s Ark for several years before he finally produced his multi-Oscar-winning masterpiece. In this blog, it is going to be Schindler’s List the film that is the focus of attention. The Girl in the Red Coat Spielberg chose to film in black … Read more
The simple answer to ‘Is Memphis Belle a true story?’ is yes. The more complicated answer is that the film does not really tell the story of the mission or the crew that undertook it. Saving Private Ryan was the first film analyzed for the thesis and nearly three thousand words were written on it … Read more
Ironically, I call the Four Horsemen naïve in the following analysis and I feel that I was somewhat naïve in my treatment of this film (and the others for that matter). It is one of a very small number of films Mark Hamill did between Star Wars and The Return of the Jedi. So watch … Read more
Look what I should have written This next part of the thesis deals with the 1957 film, The Enemy Below. Two members of the cast of The Enemy Below, Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens would also appear later in the thesis, in The Longest Day. The film could easily do with more of a synopsis … Read more
This next instalment of the thesis is interesting for several reasons. It is based on the novel by Willi Heinrich, The Willing Flesh. This is a fictionalized rendering of the experiences of Johann Schwerdfeger in the Battle of the Caucasus and the Kuban Pocket. For someone who is pedantic about weapons in films, this film … Read more
Watch a Bridge Too Far online if you want a classic Second World War Film. Here are some of my thoughts on it from over twenty years ago and some of what I think now. Firstly, I do not know exactly what I was up to nearly twenty-five years ago when I first wrote this. … Read more
There is only a short introduction to this section as it is hopefully self-explanatory. This is the first part of two parts with The Erwin Rommel film The Desert Fox (based on the book, Rommel: The Desert Fox by Brigadier Desmond Young) being the first and The Enemy Below being the second. Anomalies There are … Read more