# Saving Private Ryan: what other movies "accurately" portray combat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387 "2013-08-05T12:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/1 "2013-08-05T12:52:50Z")
[Saving Private Ryan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_private_ryan) was in theatres fifteen years ago. Many veterans of the Allied landing at Normandy regarded the film as realistic, to the point of reinvigorating their long-dormant PTSD: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Other WWII veterans, however, stated that the film was the most realistic depiction of combat they had ever seen. The film was so realistic that combat veterans of D-Day and Vietnam left theaters rather than finish watching the opening scene depicting the Normandy invasion. Their visits to posttraumatic stress disorder counselors rose in number after the film’s release, and many counselors advised “‘more psychologically vulnerable’” veterans to avoid watching it. What other war movies have received high marks for accurately portraying the various aspects of war? For example, I enjoyed [Memphis Belle,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Belle_(film)) but was it realistic as far as the combat scenes were concerned? The scenes leading up to combat the sense of dread/anticipation? The boredom of weather delays? What about U-571, or Platoon, or Full Metal Jacket? Any others? Again, I’m not asking about “good” war movies in terms of drama/cinema, but about which ones are regarded as most accurate in conveying what soldiers/sailors/airmen might have experienced at the time. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/2 "2013-08-05T13:04:43Z")
Blackhawk Down. ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/3 "2013-08-05T13:12:30Z")
The Hurt Locker ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/4 "2013-08-05T13:22:15Z")
Not sure about precisely how closely it represented reality, but since you mentioned U-571, I must say that Das Boot is far more realistic and far less “Hollywood” (of course, it wasn’t a Hollywood film anyway). The events are far less black-and-white, and the frustration and boredom is palpable in a way I have not seen in similar films. Movies like Memphis Belle don’t escape their movie-ness in my opinion because the writers try to make one mission contain examples of stuff that happened in a few dozen missions. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/5 "2013-08-05T13:40:38Z")
> [@OtisCampbellWasRight](#): > > The Hurt Locker [If Wikipedia is any indication,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_hurt_locker#Response_among_veterans) then combat veterans weren’t all that impressed with the accuracy of this movie. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/6 "2013-08-05T13:48:24Z")
For the Vietnam War, probably _Hamburger Hill._ ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/7 "2013-08-05T13:56:54Z")
I second Blackhawk Down. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/8 "2013-08-05T14:04:12Z")
I wasn’t a fan of _The Thin Red Line_ overall, but I did think the scenes with actual combat were done quite well. It really conveyed a sense of being there, where you can’t see anything but tall grass and you’re being shot at from _somewhere_. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/9 "2013-08-05T14:04:35Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > For example, I enjoyed [Memphis Belle,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Belle_(film)) but was it realistic as far as the combat scenes were concerned? I can actually talk about this movie at one remove; my grandfather was a B-17 ball turret / top turret gunner in the 8th AF in WWII- he started his 1st mission a few months after the events in the movie- just in time for the worst part of the air war over Germany. Anyway, he saw the movie when it came out and I asked him how accurate it was- he said it was pretty accurate, except that there was WAY too much chatter over the intercom system; apparently once they were in enemy territory, they didn’t talk over the intercom because it might distract someone or drown out a “Bandits” call from someone. I didn’t get much on the way of commentary about the blood and guts parts; he didn’t ever talk about that much. He said the ubiquitous presence of bikes everywhere on the base was something that few movies get right- apparently they all rode bicycles around everywhere. He also said that the movie looked the part more than anything else he’d seen- the uniforms, the bombers and the sets were dead-on. Oh, and a tidbit about a different movie; apparently the Vietnam combat scenes in “Forrest Gump” were realistic enough to startle a friend of mine’s PTSD-affected Vietnam vet dad into some kind of flashback where he hit the deck in the movie theater and started low-crawling around. Apparently he’s ok when he knows ahead of time that there will be Vietnam combat scenes, but if they surprise him and they’re realistic enough, the old reflexes take over. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/10 "2013-08-05T14:11:00Z")
Band of Brothers did a good job, very similar in style to Saving Private Ryan. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/11 "2013-08-05T14:54:44Z")
It’s my impression that combat experience is mostly a combination of boredom, unknowns, and stress. While the plot of A Midnight Clear was atypical I bet it’s closer to what combat feels like than most of what Hollywood makes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/12 "2013-08-05T14:58:31Z")
_ **U-571** _ was an absolute piece of crap. It bore as much resemblance to WWII and real-life combat as _ **Happy Days** _ bore to the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/13 "2013-08-05T15:01:57Z")
This might not be what you’re looking for exactly, it is animated. But Waltz With Bashir is about an Israeli vet’s war experiences and the way combat is depicted is strikingly realistic. You can be joking around with your fellow soldiers on the front line when one of their head’s pops with a sniper bullet. Then you spend 12 hours going out of your mind with fear keeping your head down. I liked the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/14 "2013-08-05T15:02:25Z")
Das Boot sure as hell looks real to me. What about… Platoon? Apocalypse Now? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/15 "2013-08-05T15:06:03Z")
I seem to recall that [We Were Soldiers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277434/?ref_=sr_1) got a positive response from veterans. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/16 "2013-08-05T15:09:16Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > It’s my impression that combat experience is mostly a combination of boredom, unknowns, and stress. While the plot of A Midnight Clear was atypical I bet it’s closer to what combat feels like than most of what Hollywood makes. My late husband, who was a Dustoff pilot in Viet Nam, described it as “hours and hours of sheer boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror.” He also said _Saving Private Ryan_ was a very realistic depiction of combat. He said the one thing most movies don’t get right is the constant, deafening _noise_. He also said that the TV show M_A_S_H_ was a realistic portrayal of the spirit of the medical units-- the stress, the black humor, the drinking, the stuff they did to pass the time between crises. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/17 "2013-08-05T15:11:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > For the Vietnam War, probably _Hamburger Hill._ A friend of mine, who is a Vietnam veteran, told me that’s the most realistic movie depiction of that war he’s seen. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/18 "2013-08-05T15:22:46Z")
I think “Twelve O’Clock High” with Gregory Peck was a fairly accurate portrayal of Bomber Command. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/19 "2013-08-05T15:33:19Z")
When Orson Welles depicted combat realistically in [Chimes at Midnight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bWraOy6Kw4), no-one had ever seen it done so realistically (except Welles and everyone else who’d seen the muddy battle in _Seven Samurai_) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387/20 "2013-08-05T15:40:34Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > For the Vietnam War, probably _Hamburger Hill._ I was going to say this one. When I saw it in the theater, a guy flipped out. He had been in 'Nam, and he flashed back badly. Apparently, the fire fights were very realistic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-private-ryan-what-other-movies-accurately-portray-combat/665387.md?page=2)