# Military movie, made in America, America the bad guys???? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245 "2014-11-01T11:27:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/21 "2014-11-01T23:54:44Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Soldier Blue. Not exactly what you asked for. …it’s about the Indian Wars. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > _Dances with Wolves_, too. Sort of, anyway. _[Little Big Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Big_Man_(film))_ is another example where the Indians are the good guys and the American Army are the bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/22 "2014-11-02T02:39:51Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Can you remind me who won those two battles? He didn’t specify that the non-American side had to win. Getting thumped from the the POV of the enemy still counts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/23 "2014-11-02T08:56:05Z")
The 1962 Korean War drama [War Hunt](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056675/) featured an American soldier who slept all day and crept out at night to slit throats of the enemy. Definitely not a rah-rah take on the US war effort. First film with Robert Redford. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/24 "2014-11-02T09:16:50Z")
I just got home from watching _Fury_ and it didn’t make any attempt to present anyone in a good light. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/25 "2014-11-03T18:11:29Z")
_We Were Soldiers_ shows both the American and North Vietnamese sides of a battle, rather even handedly, too. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/26 "2014-11-03T18:19:53Z")
What about _Apocalypse Now_? Pretty expressly showed the Americans as, basically, bad guys. Did not really show the Vietnamese POV though. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/27 "2014-11-03T18:23:10Z")
The Book Thief is not a military movie, but it is a WWII movie. And I actually haven’t seen the movie version, but I did read the book and I know the movie exists. The protagonists are German and most of the characters are non-Jewish Germans. Some are pro-Nazi but most are not. The Americans only really come in as kind of a faceless other side. Friends and relatives are killed by the Americans and they hide from the Americans’ air raids and so forth. The only truly villainous one is Hitler, of course, but the Americans aren’t really portrayed as heroes. They’re just the guys on the other side- the ones bombing the city. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/28 "2014-11-03T18:37:39Z")
A lot of Civil War movies, especially ones before 1980, subscribe to the Magnolia Myth and portray the United States Army as evil in their battles against the Confederacy. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/29 "2014-11-03T18:50:56Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > thx > yeah, i thought of that one, but haven’t seen it > does it make the Americans look wicked and the Japanese look noble? Not really, they’re more a faceless force that destroy the protaganists’ unit. Much like the North Vietnamese in Platoon really. It’s a good movie, well worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/30 "2014-11-03T18:59:52Z")
Das Boot - Portrayed from the point of view of a German U-boat during WWII. Valkyrie - Actually the Allies don’t really appear at all, except for the brief battle in the beginning where von Stauffenberg is wounded. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The problem with such movies, of course, is that no studio on earth has the budget for full-scale military hardware… so they are happy to partner with the appropriate branch of the services to get carriers, Harriers, choppers, jets, big-ass guns and a few thousand troops in uniform. At the cost of review by the military and at most showing a rogue soldier or officer doing bad things, and never judging the military or US position badly. > > Most films that fit the OP are small, character-driven and use only mockup or salvage equipment. The big-CGI era might change that, somewhat. Yes, I believe acclaimed documentarian Michael Bay encountered a similar problem filming his series on the Cybertron Wars.😃 With current technology, filmmakers can create whatever cinema army they want. The main problem with those stories is making the enemy appear sympathetic as protagonists. Like you have to be a Nazi who tried to kill Hitler or a relatively low level German, Japanese, Vietnamese or whoever soldier with the worst, most dangerous job in their military. And even then, the Americans or our Allies won’t necessarily be the “bad guys” so much as a faceless force of nature battering the protagonist from afar. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/31 "2014-11-03T20:45:08Z")
A Midnight Clear Late in WWII a group of German “soldiers” (old men and young kids) tries to surrender to a group of Americans but it goes badly. Terrific film. Wasn’t a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/32 "2014-11-04T00:16:13Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Das Boot - Portrayed from the point of view of a German U-boat during WWII. I thought of that one, but it’s a German movie, not a US production, as specified in the OP. (There were apparently plans for it to be a Hollywood production with a US director or star, but these fell through.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/33 "2014-11-04T01:39:14Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > In an allegorical sense I suppose you could count \*Avatar \*as sort of having a similar theme to DwW and the like. Alternate title: _Dances with Smurfs._ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/34 "2014-11-04T01:42:04Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And what would be the point to it? Portraying your own side, in a relatively contemporary within-living-memory context so that _many in your audience actually knew the people and their mores_, as “faceless generic evil robots” does not really work. Well, what about, say, the Spanish-American War? It was a relatively modern war, it’s easy to make a case for it as an instance of American naked aggression and expansion by conquest, and nobody who knew anybody who fought in it is still alive. And then there’s the Mexican-American War . . . no, let’s not go there . . . ---
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/35 "2014-11-04T11:38:27Z")
The movie Unthinkable with Samuel L Jackson might fit the bill. It is not strictly a military movie, and the IMDB site quotes it as a psychological thriller, as the US has a terror suspect in custody and at what lengths people will go to get the information. High level military officers and the FBI are involved. No fighting between opposing armies. > **[Unthinkable (2010) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914863/)** > > Unthinkable: Directed by Gregor Jordan. With Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michael Sheen, Stephen Root. A psychological thriller centered around a black-ops interrogator and an F.B.I. Agent who press a suspect terrorist into divulging the... > **[Unthinkable](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/unthinkable)** > > FBI Agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) races to discover the location of three nuclear bombs, each programmed to detonate in a different city. When authorities arrest terrorist suspect Younger (Michael Sheen), who announced the murderous plot in a... ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/36 "2014-11-04T12:36:46Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > The Rock has a Scottish protagonist go against a unit of American Navy Seals. > > They were rogue, but their cause was fairly noble. The Scottish protagonist was assisting the SEALS in their mission to neutralize the former military turned mercenary types being led by a rogue US Marine who had taken over Alcatraz. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/37 "2014-11-04T15:03:50Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Not really, they’re more a faceless force that destroy the protaganists’ unit. Much like the North Vietnamese in Platoon really. It’s a good movie, well worth watching. You mean like the Marines who callously gun down the two Japanese POWs? But I see your point. The marines are generally just “The Enemy” throughout the film with a few exceptions, good and bad. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/38 "2014-11-04T16:43:04Z")
Didn’t “The Enemy Below” treat both sides sort of evenhandedly? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/39 "2014-11-04T16:54:05Z")
_ **The General** _ by Buster Keaton. Big budget, American made, and Buster was a good guy on the side of the CSA (though he was a civilian for most of the movie - the army wouldn’t take him). He got his train engine back from the Yankees. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245/40 "2014-11-04T18:25:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And then there’s the Mexican-American War . . . no, let’s not go there . . . _One Man’s Hero_, starring Tom Berenger, about the San Patricio regiment, a group of Irish-American Catholics who deserted from the U.S. Army to fight for Mexico. imdb lists it as a Spain/USA/Mexico production. I suspect Spain and Mexico contributed the lion’s share, but there were American companies involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-movie-made-in-america-america-the-bad-guys/703245.md?page=3)