# Do all countries make patriotic action movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 12, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203 "2024-04-12T17:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/21 "2024-04-12T20:15:18Z")
Yeah, a better question might be: “Would all countries make patriotic action movies if they had the means for it?” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/22 "2024-04-12T20:23:39Z")
[Alexander Nevsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky_(film)) was a government approved film that danced around many issues portraying a medieval invasion of Novgorod. The wiki article mentions others participated in the filmmaking to keep Eisenstein from “wandering into formalism”, a Soviet bugaboo. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/23 "2024-04-12T20:28:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’m trying to think of a Canadian war movie. (Our movie industry isn’t very strong, because we’re so close to the US.) As soon as I saw this topic I immediately thought that any patriotic Canadian action movie would only be made as an ironic comedy. I thought _Canadian Bacon_, though that was directed by an American who still got a lot of the details right. On the other hand, [Bon Cop, Bad Cop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxMuCyzXgC4) was a pretty kickass action movie. Though not necessarily “patriotic,” its major throughline is the relationship between English and French Canada. It’s fairly incisive, for a flick that at one point has an Ontario woman climaxing with a Quebecois dude while yelling “Vive le Quebec libre!” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/24 "2024-04-12T20:35:43Z")
How about a [patriotic Canadian commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ-UTvLHb4U)? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/25 "2024-04-12T21:13:47Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Gate is written by a far-right guy IIRC and is entirely about the Japanese military kicking ass Could be. I haven’t heard of it but, certainly, I haven’t seen every film. If the standard for the OP is that even one example, anytime in the last 100 years, that’s going to be hard to find a nation that doesn’t match. But, assuming that I didn’t have some massive blind spot back when I was living in the country, I wouldn’t say that it’s a common theme. Most movies tended to be either Godzilla, Godzilla for Kids, Samurai Movie, Artsy/Clever Samurai Movie in black and white for no reason, The Japanese Odd Couple, or Tepid Drama Film. Anime had action, but usually more focused on the police or robot police, fighting friendly crooks and saving cats from trees. Of course, maybe it’s a new development since I left? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/26 "2024-04-12T21:24:01Z")
Canada could have had its own robust, independent film industry, [but they chose to take over the US’s.](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0285470/) If you’ve an hour and ten minutes, [this video will tell you all aboot it.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XEaFLdK_e64&pp=ygUedGhlIGNhbmFkaWFuIGNvbnNwaXJhY3kgKDE5ODUp) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/27 "2024-04-13T03:26:37Z")
I watched _Andrei Rublev_ recently. A 205-minute masterpiece, but already in the first scene, let alone watching the entire first chapter, you can see why it was shelved. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/28 "2024-04-13T06:12:16Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If the standard for the OP is that even one example, anytime in the last 100 years, that’s going to be hard to find a nation that doesn’t match. Heh, if we were to extend it out to 100 years (and why not? movies are that old), Japan would certainly qualify. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/29 "2024-04-13T07:51:00Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I suspect some of the Nazi propaganda films from the 30s and 40s would qualify as “action movies.” Definitely, but OTOH I can’t think of any post-War German war or action movie that was overtly patriotic. Patriotism thankfully fell out of fashion after 1945 for obvious reasons. There are quite a lot of German war movies, but I can’t think of any that isn’t actually an anti-war movie, depicting the horrors of war and/or the nazi regime. The only one I can think of that even lets you root for the Germans is “Das Boot”, but not out of patriotism but for the horrors those men have to endure, and the end of the movie makes the futility of those horrors and war in general quite clear. ---
**Author:** ![Jebbilene](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jebbilene/32/3414_2.png) [@Jebbilene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jebbilene)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/30 "2024-04-13T08:13:18Z")
Australia has the movie _Gallipolli_, which was in real life a defeat, but we are proud of it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/31 "2024-04-13T08:22:11Z")
No message. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/32 "2024-04-13T08:33:04Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The closest that I can think of for Japan would be something like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade The last couple of Godzilla movies from Toho have strong nationalistic themes and have a very rah-rah patriotic feel to them, with _Shin Godzilla_ being parallel to the Fukushima disaster and Godzilla Minus One focusing on the immediate postwar era. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/33 "2024-04-13T08:34:33Z")
> [@Jebbilene](#): > > Australia has the movie _Gallipolli_, which was in real life a defeat, but we are proud of it anyway. You beat me to it. Very good movie featuring a young Mel Gibson in one of his early roles, it wasn’t exactly a patriotic Rah Rah movie, more a character driven movie about the futility of war. [Gallipoli (1981 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_(1981_film)) Here’s a link to the movie [https://youtu.be/9aWmqyawu2k?si=Xr7-DhSulIM-Y\_PV](https://youtu.be/9aWmqyawu2k?si=Xr7-DhSulIM-Y_PV) The other one, in a similar vein that I can think of was Breaker Morant. based on a true story, set in the Boer War. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/34 "2024-04-13T08:37:51Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If the standard for the OP is that even one example, anytime in the last 100 years, that’s going to be hard to find a nation that doesn’t match. My country of residence, Luxembourg, is a tiny speck of land that spent most of its history getting passed back and forth as a prize between the great European empires and being used as a barracks for one army or another. Not really a national background that lends itself to exhilarating, flag-waving action; the arc of Luxembourgish identity is more about patiently enduring a series of occupations while waiting for the opportunity to declare independence (with part of the debate being about the point the locals decided there was such a thing as a distinct Luxembourgish identity). Which is not to say Luxembourg doesn’t have patriotic cinema. It’s just that these movies don’t take the usual form of the shoot-em-up story being discussed in the thread, where heroic soldiers kick ass to defeat invaders and defend Luxembourgish culture on the battlefield. No, Luxembourg’s patriotic war movies are almost always dramas rather than action flicks, stories about stubborn resistance, bearing up under external attempts to dominate and erase Luxembourgish identity. For example, there’s **[_Réfractaire_](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0447692/)** (2009), which is about a young Luxembourger who spent the first years of the war at university in Germany and then returns home in 1944 and decides to dodge the Nazi induction that’s mandatory for men like him. Very patriotic, but almost devoid of action, focusing on the tension of evasion and concealment and deception in what would be mundane settings at any other time in history. So, patriotism, check, but rah-rah military action, no check. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/35 "2024-04-13T08:40:55Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Which is not to say Luxembourg doesn’t have patriotic cinema. Now you’ve got me pondering the existence of patriotic films about Andorra or San Marino or Vanuatu. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/36 "2024-04-13T08:59:50Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > So, patriotism, check, but rah-rah military action, no check. I can understand that. Patriotism, but not necessarily an action film involving guns and action. _A Few Good Men_ involved neither guns nor action. Why can’t all American patriotic films be like that one? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/37 "2024-04-13T10:45:33Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > _A Few Good Men_ involved neither guns nor action. Why can’t all American patriotic films be like that one? Because then nobody gets machine-gunned up, duh! US law requires a hand grenade every ten minutes or else the movie will be rated W (for “woke”). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/38 "2024-04-13T10:47:20Z")
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying action movies. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/39 "2024-04-13T11:39:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Now you’ve got me pondering the existence of patriotic films about Andorra or San Marino or Vanuatu. I just Googled “Swiss action movies” and discovered [Mad Heidi](https://ravenbanner.store/products/mad-heidi-standard-edition): > In a dystopian Switzerland that has fallen under the fascist rule of an evil cheese tyrant (Casper Van Dien), Heidi (Alice Lucy) lives a pure and simple life in the Swiss Alps. Grandfather Alpöhi (David Schofield) does his best to protect Heidi, but her desire for freedom soon lands her in trouble with the dictator’s henchmen. When pushed too far the innocent Heidi transforms into a kick-ass warrior who sets out to liberate her country from the heinous cheese fascists. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203/40 "2024-04-13T11:42:36Z")
> [@Jebbilene](#): > > Australia has the movie _Gallipolli_, which was in real life a defeat, but we are proud of it anyway. Yes, Australia and New Zealand each have their own movies centering around various wars or similar events, but they aren’t really in a jingoistic vein, more just authentic dramatic retellings, a kind of “hey, we were there too, doing our bit” chipping in. Meanwhile our fictional action movies tend towards gritty thriller realism or caper comedy (_Mad Max_ notwithstanding). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-countries-make-patriotic-action-movies/1000203.md?page=3)