# Movies set in the context of a war, but which are not "war movies" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255 "2008-02-12T05:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/1 "2008-02-12T05:16:37Z")
I’m watching _Three Kings_ (I’ve already seen it more than once) and it occurred to me that this is one of a rare breed of movies which take place in the context of a war (in this case, _after_ the liberation of Kuwait, but still out in the Middle East in the desert with armed soldiers in uniform, even if they’re not actively fighting against anyone,) but is not a “war movie.” It’s more of a quirky character-driven, somewhat surrealist “heist caper.” What are some other movies like this? Movies that take place in the middle of a war, but which follow a separate plot from the historical structure of the war and its battles? ---
**Author:** ![iamamoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b4bc9f/32.png) [@iamamoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamamoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/2 "2008-02-12T05:20:27Z")
I haven’t seen it in years, but the ‘Duellists’ comes to mind. It was Ridley Scott’s first feature and is set during the Napoleonic wars. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/3 "2008-02-12T05:26:42Z")
“A Midnight Clear,” based on the William Wharton book, is a WWII movie (mostly) devoid of battle. Either version is worth a look. ---
**Author:** ![bat312](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@bat312](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bat312)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/4 "2008-02-12T05:28:51Z")
Kelly’s Heroes is a classic with an all-star cast. Same movie different war. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/5 "2008-02-12T05:35:46Z")
Renoir’s _Grand Illusion_ takes place in prison camps, if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/6 "2008-02-12T05:41:25Z")
_Apocalypse Now_ is probably one of the most famous; while it definitely occurs during a war, the basic themes have nothing to do with war per se, but instead how thin the verneer of society is in any context where there is no justice or enforcement of law. (This becomes more obvious when you read Joseph Conrad’s _Heart of Darkness_, the inspiration for the film.) And _The Great Escape_ is really a prison escape movie, despite its foundation in the reality of _Luftwaffe_-run POW camps. It doesn’t portray the reality of war or POW camps realistically (nor were there Americans involved in the actual escape). I’d have to disagree, though, that _Three Kings_ is not a war movie; although it starts out as a basic heist caper along the lines of _Kelly’s Heroes_, it is, in fact, one of the best war movies around, demonstrating as it does the utter inequality and avarice of actual war. It cuts through the romantic jingoism of Tom Clancy and into the reality of war as being 98% boredom and 2% pure terror, where the smart solider looks for any chance to avoid combat duty and line his pockets, just as the top executives are doing. It is _Paths of Glory_ mixed with _Catch-22_, in its combination of horror, incidential violence, and complete absurdity. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/7 "2008-02-12T05:43:10Z")
I’m a huge fan of _Stalag 17_, which takes place in a POW camp. Great plot, great acting. Another good one is _Un long dimanche de fiançailles_, which centers on a search for a man who disappeared in WWI. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/8 "2008-02-12T05:45:45Z")
One can watch **MASH** and learn very little about the Korean War. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Dirx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Sir\_Dirx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Dirx)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/9 "2008-02-12T05:52:33Z")
Do the Indianna Jones movies “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Last Crusade” count? Both are set during WWII, if I recall correctly, with the Nazis trying to obtain the religious artifacts. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/10 "2008-02-12T06:02:58Z")
_Atonement_ isn’t strictly a war movie, but one of the protagonists is forced to enlist and gets caught up in the war. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/11 "2008-02-12T06:19:50Z")
[QUOTE=Sir Dirx] Do the Indianna Jones movies “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Last Crusade” count? Both are set during WWII, if I recall correctly, with the Nazis trying to obtain the religious artifacts. [/QUOTE] _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ is set in 1936, _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ in 1938, both predating the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 which is generally considered the beginning of WWII in Europe. As for what the German army was doing operating an enormous excavation in British-controlled Egypt in 1936…well, there isn’t really much about the film that makes sense in any objective fashion. But it’s a hell of a ride. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/12 "2008-02-12T06:34:00Z")
Roberto Benigni’s _Life is Beautiful_ is, to not give too much away, about an Italian Jew’s pursuing and marrying a higher-class woman, then his relationship with his son as they try to exist after being sent to a concentration camp. It’s definitely in the context of a war, but it’s also definitely not your typical war movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/13 "2008-02-12T06:34:50Z")
Clint Eastwood was in a Gothic thriller of sorts called [The Beguiled](http://imdb.com/title/tt0066819/) (1971) about a Union soldier taken in (and then taken prisoner) by students and matrons in a girl’s boarding school in the South during the Civil War. _The Others_ (the Nicole Kidman movie) takes place at the very end of/aftermath of WW2 and the war’s a big part of the movie, but not in the action sense. I won’t spoil for the 4 people who haven’t seen it, but it’s a very tense movie and much of it revolves around her husband coming home from the war and the bleakness of wartime shortage/air read measures/etc… John Boorman’s [Hope and Glory](http://imdb.com/title/tt0093209/) is a great autobiographical slice of life movie about a boy in London and the countryside during the Blitz. I suppose _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ could also fit into this category. I first thought of Christian Bale as a great actor after seeing him in _Empire of the Sun_, about an English boy whose family is trapped behind lines when the Japanese overrun Shang Hai. It would fit into this (and I think also introduces Ben Stiller, though that’s not really relevant or necessary to know). ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/14 "2008-02-12T06:37:21Z")
I’ll see your Hope and Glory and raise you an [Empire of the Sun](http://imdb.com/title/tt0092965/). ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/15 "2008-02-12T06:40:29Z")
_Gone With the Wind_ ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/16 "2008-02-12T06:43:02Z")
Casablanca. What do I win? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/17 "2008-02-12T06:55:59Z")
Transit papers. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/18 "2008-02-12T06:58:54Z")
I’d nominate the recent Atonement. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/19 "2008-02-12T10:47:01Z")
The African Queen, WW1 is only the catalyst for the Bogart, Hepburn romance. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/20 "2008-02-12T11:07:16Z")
I think I should have worded the OP differently. Really what I’m talking about are movies where the _primary characters_ are soldiers, in uniform, active duty, deployed in the middle of a war, but the plot is concerned with something more or less unrelated to the war. Of all of these replies, the only one that really fits what I mean is _Apocalypse Now._ I haven’t seen _Stalag 17_ but from what I’ve heard about it, maybe that one would count as well. Thanks for the replies anyway, keep them coming. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255.md?page=2)