The Wall Exclusively in VUE Cinemas this Friday – From All Quiet on the Western Front to The Hurt Locker: Best War Films
There’s no denying that war films have brought us some of the greatest moments in cinema history. From Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now to Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, their ability to explore the darkest and most complicated elements of the human psyche whilst presenting riveting narratives and pushing the boundaries of the medium is second to none.
The latest addition to a canon of superlative movies is Doug Liman’s The Wall, an often overwhelmingly tense technical marvel. To celebrate its release, we decided to round up some of the finest pictures from the genre...
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Lewis Milestone’s masterpiece follows a young soldier who must deal with constant disillusionment whilst living through the horror of World War One. It is many ways the first truly great war film to be made and has aged outstandingly well. First off, while the soldiers are playing quite simply, this allows the film to present what war is like for real soldiers rather than for idealized characters. Most importantly, it contains some truly spellbinding scenes, from Lew Ayres going on about the brotherhood of man and the futility of killing as he watches his French enemy die beside him, to the closing scene of the hand reaching out from the trenches to seize a butterfly only to fall back as an enemy's bullet hits its target.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Adapting Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness but transporting the story to the Vietnam War, Coppola’s masterpiece follows Captain Willard who is sent on a mission to assassinate a renegade colonel in Cambodia. His grand opus of a war film is perfect on nearly every level, from its masterful performances to a series of unbelievably powerful moments including the iconic Ride of the Valkyries scene. Of course, its success was not always a given and the process of making Apocalypse Now was amongst the most arduous in film history. Coppola shot over 200 hours of footage and thus took three years to edit it as well as having to spend millions of his own money when the film went over budget and dealing with a star (Marlon Brando) who initially turned up drunk and having not read the script.
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Stanley Kubrick was one of the most eclectic and diverse directors to ever live; he was always looking at what genre he could tackle next. However, one subject that he always returned to was the subject of war, albeit with vastly different approaches. Arguably his greatest foray into the genre was Full Metal Jacket. It is essentially two films in one with the first exploring a training camp and the second depicting their deployment in Vietnam. Whilst it is hard to deny that the first is considerably more powerful and unique, the whole package is still an impeccably crafted and eccentric film that easily ranks in the greatest war movies of all time.
Platoon (1986)
Whilst far less subversive than Coppola and Kubrick’s efforts, Oliver Stone’s put gunch of a film has a power and immediacy that is truly mesmerising to watch. This is somewhat unsurprising considering that Stone is a Vietnam veteran himself; he takes his harrowing experience and uses it to craft a truly realistic war film filled with twisted nuances that grab your imagination and refuse to let go.
Schindler’s List (1993)
Steven Spielberg's World War Two film is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who outwitted the Nazis to save 1200 Jews from German occupied Poland. The film won seven Oscars and deservedly so - it is a epic and profoundly moving drama that is in equal parts intelligent, accessible and stunningly put together. As for the performances, their all round brilliance essentially both introduced us to and cemented Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson as the two of the best actors in the business.
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Kathryn Bigelow’s ferociously suspenseful film centred on a bomb squad in the Iraq War is a truly unique take on the genre and one of the first exceptional depictions of this particular war. By focusing on a maverick who is addicted to the adrenaline rush of dismantling bombs, Bigelow is able to create a tense yet action filled picture that never let’s up its momentum for a second. War films are too often oversaturated with unsubtle moral judgements but the horror of war is constantly here yet simmering beneath the immediate tension.
The Wall (2017)
Doug Liman’s upcoming war film follows two American soldiers who are trapped by a lethal sniper while investigating a pipeline construction site in Iraq. It a simple and concise picture that showcases Limon as an expert at creating tension and a master storyteller. The Wall is in many ways a counterpart to The Hurt Locker in its ability to create an atmosphere that is almost too stressful for the viewer. This is all anchored by an authentic and charismatic performance from Aaron Taylor Johnson who continues to go from strength to strength in his career.
THE WALL IS RELEASED EXCLUSIVELY IN VUE CINEMAS ON JULY 28
No Comment