We certainly have our share of war movies, and with good reason, IMO. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two movies dealing with the Gulf War, both fiction: Three Kings, and Courage Under Fire. According to this war movie database, there are only two others, neither of which I’ve heard of. Why is that do you suppose? Is it because most of us “saw it live” the first time around? This was the first time the public had such a raw and timely look into warfare as it was being waged. I would think that despite that, there had to be thousands of stories during that period that would make a great pic, that the general public has no knowledge of. I mean, we already have major pics about the Balkans operation (Behind Eneny Lines) and the Somolia debacle (Blackhawk Down). Both good movies, BTW, with the latter being excellent IMO. So, what do you think- why no Gulf War pics? Anyone know of any stories that would qualify?
The only one I know of are the ones you mentioned, but my husband likes war movies and he wishes there were some about the gulf war too.
Hey, if Grenada warrants one movie, the Gulf War merits at least ten or twelve.
I think it’s because the Gulf War was won so quickly, and because the outcome was not really in doubt. It’s hard to develop a dramatic plot out of that, especially with no major battles that the public recognizes.
We all watched the Gulf War on TV. It was already widely exposed in the media. I imagine that reduces the impact of movies.
Hmmm. Several answers.
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The media was hamstrung, so they didn’t have the ability to produce the same “in the trenches” journalism that came from Vietnam or WWII. So, scant source material. Pictures of planes taking off in clockwork order from aircraft carriers does not a drama make.
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The fighting war was over too quickly. No chance for attitudes to change on account of fortunes of war, encounters with the populations, etc.
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The conflict isn’t over, in a sense. We didn’t win or lose. The outcome and the “lessons” are still in flux. Every day we’re fighting Iraq by sending planes over. Every day we’re fighting Iraqi sympathizers.
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We don’t want to piss off the Arab or Muslim populations any more than necessary by turning them into stereotypical “foes”. There’s a lot of ambivalence all around about what, exactly, the various nations, cultures, and religions are confronting one other about.
Wasn’t “Three Kings” a Gulf War film? (Maybe it doesn’t actually contain battle footage. I never saw it, I’m afraid.)
For the same reason the studio audience (as well as me at home) chuckled when Jim Carrey described his latest film Dumb and Dumber as “an odyssey about post-Gulf War America.” The Gulf War simply wasn’t long enough or significant enough or tragic enough to affect American society. As such, it makes a weak backdrop for an epic war movie.
Blackhawk Down, on the other hand, was more like a mini-Vietnam (why are we here… nearly every civilian is out to get us… the overall war doesn’t matter as much as protecting your buddies… there is major political baggage attached to the outcome, etc etc) and the events it depicts are more interesting dramatically than any ground battle that took place in Kuwait/Iraq.
For what it’s worth, Three Kings is a super-excellent movie with more than a little subtext. I went into it not expecting much–Clooney? Ice Cube? Markey Mark?–and was pleasantly surprised by both the depth of characterization and the subtle political undertones. The Gulf War doesn’t need a huge Longest-Day-style heroic epic. Three Kings is the definitive Gulf War movie.
Don’t flame me for saying this, but maybe one of the reasons is that it’s just not as glamourous/noble to fight over oil than it is to defeat an Evil Empire. Not a judgment from my end, but there’s a huge difference in public perception, and hence “filmability”, if that’s even a word.
I agree that the OP’s question is a fascinating one. In fact, I used it as the launching point for my own review of Three Kings. The comparison to movies about Vietnam is pretty eye-opening, I think.
I once read a lengthy article refuting the many inaccuracies of “The Three Kings” by a Gulf War vet on his homepage. I would love to find that article again. I believe I found a page he had on skepticism through a link once…perhaps through skepdic.com. Anyway, he had movie reviews on his personal page.
</semi hijack>
So what are the other two movies about the Gulf War called?
Total members of U.S. Armed Forces who served in World War II: 16,112,566
Total who served during Gulf War: 2,322,332
Total who were deployed to the Gulf: 1,136,658
Pauly Shore was in a comedy taken place in the Gulf War. Can’t remember the name for the life of me.
In the Army Now, Epimetheus.
There has been at least one British movie based on operations in the Gulf: Bravo Two Zero (based on the book by Andy McNab). This tells the story of an SAS mission behind enemy lines that goes wrong, which indicates that perhaps the reason for the lack of movies was that stories in which things go wrong are more interesting, and the war went a little too smoothly for filmmakers (although I’m surprised there’s not been more about the “friendly fire” incidents).
Here’s some information on the film: http://www.compleatseanbean.com/bravo.html
An acclaimed non-fiction film about the war is Werner Herzog’s Lektionen in Finsternis (Lessons in Darkness): http://us.imdb.com/Title?0104706
(For what it’s worth, I think “Three Kings” is intended as a symbolic tale, not as a documentary, so I don’t think a list of complaints about military inaccuracies is very relevant.)
How many well-known stories are there that could come out of the Gulf War? I don’t mean to decry the individual achievements and hardships faced by soldiers who fought in the Gulf War, but when you think of war films you usually think of momentous battles that could have decided the fate of a war, or calamitous defeats.
I can think of films about Stalingrad, the D-Day beaches, Arnhem and the Ardennes. None of these were walkovers for the ‘good guys’; all involved unexpected victories, crushing defeats or where the stakes were enormously high. The Gulf War was in comparison a walkover.
I also stand by my earlier point: whether it was an accurate representation or not, the Gulf War had vast media exposure. News and views, mission and battle outcomes were available and analysed quickly. There is less of a sense of mystery or “what was it really like?”.
Somebody might be able to spin up a decent tale about the tank battle near Basra. I don’t know about deep messages, but you could certainly get a good shoot 'em up out of it.
But you know what we realy need? We need the Gulf War equivalent of a sweeping WWII epic like “The Longest Day” or “Midway”.
I want to see hollywood capture the war as a whole. From the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait through the buildup and Desert Shield, and then climaxing in the big battle. I want it to be historically accurate. I want it to be some that can be looked back on as an historically accurate portrayal of the ‘big picture’ - the strategy, teh tactics, acts of heroism, and a minimum of moralizing or making of deep points.
Just a great epic. The sweep of that war was large enough to justify an epic telling.
Courage Under Fire