# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/21 "2008-02-12T11:20:48Z")
_The Long and the Short and the Tall_ is kinda relevant. It’s set in a war - Malaya in WW2 - and all characters are soldiers. There is no direct combat - it’s just a bunch of bored soldiers sitting around in a jungle hut - so in that sense it could take place anywhere. The themes discussed are related to war - so war is integral to the story - but ultimately it goes much deeper into the human condition and (IMO) goes beyond what we’d usually understand as a “war movie”. ---
**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, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/22 "2008-02-12T11:47:34Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] 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. [/QUOTE] Does the final series of _Blackadder_ count? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/23 "2008-02-12T13:55:56Z")
**Mister Roberts** , a service comedy, is set on a Navy ship during WWII that never sees any battle action. Part of the plot involves Roberts’s efforts to get transferred into a battle area. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/24 "2008-02-12T14:08:51Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] _Gone With the Wind_ [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=rick] Casablanca [/quote] To finish the trifecta, \* Dr. Zhivago\* ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/25 "2008-02-12T14:10:44Z")
**Pan’s Labyrinth** maybe? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/26 "2008-02-12T14:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=minlokwat] **Pan’s Labyrinth** maybe? [/QUOTE] _Belle Epoque_ and _Lengua de las mariposas_ (I think the English title might have just been “Butterfly”) are set during the Civil War in Spain, but I think that _Pan’s Labyrinth_ is actually set just after the conclusion of the live war, but during the aftermath when they are hunting down the remaining resistance. There are several good foreign films that fit this category. Louis Malle’s _[Au revoir, les enfants](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092593/)_ is a fantastic example of a film set during the second World War. _Schindler’s List_ and _Life is Beautiful_ would be examples of the subgenre of Holocaust films. _The Diary of Anne Frank_ would be another obvious example. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/27 "2008-02-12T14:35:56Z")
Since it popped into my head while reading this, I have to throw in “A League of Their Own.” It’s a baseball movie, yet the story line can only exist because of WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/28 "2008-02-12T14:48:23Z")
Would you count a movie like _Bridge on the River Kwai_ or other prison-camp movies? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/29 "2008-02-12T14:54:35Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] I’ll see your Hope and Glory and raise you an [Empire of the Sun](http://imdb.com/title/tt0092965/). [/QUOTE] I’ve seen both of those and the Oscar for best picture that year went to The Last Emperor. OH and A Very Long Engagement is a great war movie, but from the point of view of the women and the aftermath of WW I. Paths of Glory For a funnier movie try Father Goose, which is one of favorite films and not just because it has Leslie Caron or another great Cary Grant film Operation Petticoat. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/30 "2008-02-12T15:00:36Z")
[Tigerland](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170691/) is one of the best movies I’ve seen about the Vietnam war, despite the fact that it never leaves American soil. Please disregard the fact that Colin Farrel and Joel Schumacher were involved with the project. It’s a good movie, honest! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/31 "2008-02-12T15:08:15Z")
I still think Kelly’s Heroes fits the OP’s revised definition. It’s also one of my favorite movies period so I wanted to bring it up again. ---
**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/32 "2008-02-12T16:06:51Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja] Since it popped into my head while reading this, I have to throw in “A League of Their Own.” It’s a baseball movie, yet the story line can only exist because of WW2. [/QUOTE] Oh shit, that reminds me of _The Boys of C Company_ which is some movie I saw on TV a long time ago about soldiers in Vietnam who form a soccer team. This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/33 "2008-02-12T16:29:31Z")
_Cadence_ with Charlie and Martin Sheen. All the characters are soldiers during Viet Nam but it takes place in a stockade in Germany. _Command Decision_ with Clark Gable is not exactly what the OP is asking for. It is a war movie set in WWII but there is not combat. It takes place in England and deals with a general sending aircrews off to die. ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/34 "2008-02-12T16:32:06Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Paths of Glory [/QUOTE] This is possibly my all-time favorite film, as my user name signals, but I don’t think it meets the OP’s definition. Most of the first half is about the attack on the Anthill, so it’s directly concerned with combat. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/35 "2008-02-12T16:36:19Z")
_The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ uses the Civil War (oops, the American Civil War) as a backdrop. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/36 "2008-02-12T16:48:12Z")
**Cold Mountain** takes place during the American Civil War, and the male protagonist is sent off to fight for the South, but after, as I recall, one battle scene, the rest of the movie is about him trying to make his way home, and how his sweetheart gets along without him. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/37 "2008-02-12T16:51:19Z")
How about [Hollywood Canteen](http://imdb.com/title/tt0036922/) and [Stage Door Canteen](http://imdb.com/title/tt0036384/)? ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/38 "2008-02-12T17:14:22Z")
On the lighter side, there’s Steven Spielberg’s _1941_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/39 "2008-02-12T17:17:12Z")
I guess I’ve gotta disagree with the general premise of the thread, because I’d say most of the films listed here are War Movies. I think it’s specious to say a war movie is only a war movie if it’s a Combat Movie (that’s like saying a romantic comedy is only a romantic comedy if it has heterosexuals as the lovebirds). Most of the films here deal with the themes, trappings, and repercussions of War. Sometime, the war can be peripheral to the action (_Casablanca, GWTW_), sometimes the themes are not war-exclusive (_Apocalypse Now_), and sometimes there is a comingling of genres (_Three Kings_, Buster Keaton’s _The General_), but to say that any of these are somehow not War movies is to assert a narrow-to-the-point-of-arbitrary definition. That is not to say that anything with a soldier or a tank is automatically a war movie, but just because it doesn’t have an epic frontline battleground doesn’t mean it isn’t, either. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255/40 "2008-02-12T17:19:36Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] 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. [/QUOTE] The Thin Red Line is set on a battlefield, during a war, and the characters are soldiers; but what’s going on in the movie has little to do with war, storytelling, plausible human interaction, or [indeed even any understanding of cause-and-effect or physics itself](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7905672&postcount=77). It’s not a war movie in any intelligible sense. If pressed, I’d guess it’s a shock piece about the effects of cocaine on Hollywood. Sailboat [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-set-in-the-context-of-a-war-but-which-are-not-war-movies/437255.md?page=3)