Zombie Jon Snow said:

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If we were going by whistleable themes Bridge on the River Kwai would win - for Colonel Bogey theme.

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Well, yeah, of course. But Kwai isn't up against The Great Escape right now. For that matter, the theme from Force 10 is fun to whistle, too.

Locked in a dead heat, next vote will determine the winner.

The "NIT" Championship (Vote Here)
Conspiracy vs The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

"Play in Game" Results
#8 The Great Escape 66.7% - #9 The Dirty Dozen 33.3%

The Elite Eight Match-ups
#1 Band of Brothers vs #8 The Great Escape
#2 Saving Private Ryan vs #12 Das Boot
#3 Schindler's List vs #6 Casablanca
#4 Inglourious Basterds vs #5 Patton

VOTE HERE!!

The "NIT" Champion


Conspiracy 48.8% - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 51.2%

The Survey of films watched is still open and will be until the close of the tournament.

A couple for future votes:
Miracle at St Anna
Until They Sail

It's a shame there isn't a great movie focused on the Battle of Okinawa. That said, we can fast forward to Band of Brothers winning this whole thing.

ridiculous

Conspiracy beat by a fantasy novel.

FFS

........


I can only assume not enough people saw Conspiracy. It was a BBC/HBO movie and not a theater movie back in 2003.

I just rewatched again last Saturday - really really good - it's on HBO Max if anyone wants some real WWII education about the planning of the Final Solution and the politics/power struggles in the Third Reich.

Noblemen06 said:

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It's a shame there isn't a great movie focused on the Battle of Okinawa. That said, we can fast forward to Band of Brothers winning this whole thing.

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Hacksaw Ridge is - but focused on Doss and not the bigger scope oft the battle.

There is also a 1971 Japanese made movie called Battle of Okinawa that is from their perspective. I've never seen it just thought I would mention it.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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ridiculous

Conspiracy beat by a fantasy novel.

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Says the man that stated -

Quote:

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And I voted for everything SW in every bracket it has been in because it's SW.

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All kidding aside, I watched for the first time because of your reaction to it being snubbed in the main poll. It is well done and should be watched for the history it contains but IMO not great movie, then again neither is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is infuriating at how many at the Wannsee Conference that survived the war were able to escape any sort of real justice.

Quote:

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I can only assume not enough people saw Conspiracy. It was a BBC/HBO movie and not a theater movie back in 2003.

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Of the 40 people that have responded to the survey about the films in this tournament, 8 have said they have seen it. 32 for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

jkag89 said:

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Zombie Jon Snow said:

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ridiculous

Conspiracy beat by a fantasy novel.

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Says the man that stated -

Quote:

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And I voted for everything SW in every bracket it has been in because it's SW.

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Well I left off the pertinent part:

"Conspiracy beat by a fantasy novel..... in a WWII poll".


Glad you watched Conspiracy.

I certainly don't think it's the best movie ever.... not even the best WWII movie. But it belonged in this poll imho. Historically and based on the impact of that meeting it is huge in context.

The performances I thought were very good across the board - not Oscar worthy but solid - but the setting is of course just a meeting. It wasn't exciting at all, nor visually interesting, it's all about the context and realism.

Well Bib Fortuna did make a fairly strong argument for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a WWII movie beyond the opening Blitz scene.

i saw that... i remain unmoved.

It's still fantasy vs 100% reality.

I agree on Conspiracy being the easy winner for me. It's a neat movie, I love when a movie like that can use one location primarily and put together so much in the setting. (For example 12 Angry Men). Add to that how it is depicting a non-action aspect of the war, but a principal event nonetheless, makes it stand out.

I didn't know the history of that event beforehand. Watched the movie a while back and was pretty much immediately reading more about it after it finished.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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i saw that... i remain unmoved.

It's still fantasy vs 100% reality.

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I was the one who suggested the inclusion of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe based solely on the opening Blitz sequence and the resulting historical migration of children from the cities the Nazis threatened. I think it is a good film of a wonderful book, but having said that, I did not vote for it over Conspiracy. Conspiracy is, as you stated, not an exciting movie, but there is an important story in there that, while there may be some embellishment, is essentially factual as to how the Holocaust came to be.

I had never heard of the movie until one evening, while strolling through Amazon Prime, I happened upon it. I was glad that I found it.

Still time to vote, will close the poll around 6

The Elite Eight Match-ups
#1 Band of Brothers vs #8 The Great Escape
#2 Saving Private Ryan vs #12 Das Boot
#3 Schindler's List vs #6 Casablanca
#4 Inglourious Basterds vs #5 Patton

VOTE HERE!!


I would also appreciate taking The Survey of which films in the tournament you have actually watched.

The Elite Eight Results
#1 Band of Brothers 72.4% -. #8 The Great Escape 27.6%
#2 Saving Private Ryan 76.3% - #12 Das Boot
#3 Schindler's List 53.4% - #6 Casablanca 46.6%
#4 Inglourious Basterds 42.4% - #5 Patton 57.6%

Final Four Match-ups
#1 Band of Brothers vs #5 Patton
#2 Saving Private Ryan vs #3 Schindler's List

VOTE HERE!!

SPR vs Schindler's List will be interesting. Schindler's List is a better but hugely depressing movie. Has anybody seen it more than once?

Bruce Almighty said:

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SPR vs Schindler's List will be interesting. Schindler's List is a better but hugely depressing movie. Has anybody seen it more than once?

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I have. Opening night in the theater. Then I bought the movie on laser disc (yep, I'm a sucker who dropped a sh*t-ton of cash on that technology) and watched it again. Hugely depressing is an accurate description.

Both Spielberg movies too.

Bruce Almighty said:

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SPR vs Schindler's List will be interesting. Schindler's List is a better but hugely depressing movie. Has anybody seen it more than once?

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That's the thing.....damn.

I love both but......

SPR has the greatest opening 20 minutes of any movie ever. Period. I do like the rest of the movie as well but it wouldn't be so highly regarded if it did not have that D-Day scene. It does a great job I think of showing some of the monotony and also how regular men (teachers, etc.) are affected by it all.

But I think that SL might be the better overall movie. But I've never been able to watch it more than once. I have caught parts of it again and I just can't even make it through but I recognize how great it is and that it is because it is SOOOO realistic and well done in the worst possible way. That film HAD to be made. I vividly remember a very crowded theater and it ending and it was just dead silence. And nobody moved for minutes and there was just the sound of soft sobbing and sniffles. Gut wrenching.

I watched Schindler's list in theaters when it came out, then watched it with my kids a year ago or so (they are college age). I feel like I'm doing "my duty" to watch that movie. Never forget and whatnot.

Ol Jock 99 said:

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Both Spielberg movies too.

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Don't forget he not only Produced and Directed both of those movies AND was a Producer on Band of Brothers as well. Hanks and the other directors considered and used Spielberg as a "final eye" on the whole production so while he did not direct any episode he was heavily involved including background he derived from SPR and Schindler's List and from contacts he made and historians he brought in for accuracy.

He has a huge hand then in 3 of the final 4.

Morning Bump!

Final Four Match-ups
#1 Band of Brothers vs #5 Patton
#2 Saving Private Ryan vs #3 Schindler's List

VOTE HERE!!

I would also appreciate you taking The Survey of which films in the tournament you have actually watched if you have not done so.

Quote:

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I vividly remember a very crowded theater and it ending and it was just dead silence. And nobody moved for minutes and there was just the sound of soft sobbing and sniffles. Gut wrenching.

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Which is probably why that episode of Seinfeld was so damn funny.

I'm really interested in the survey results.

Great list of movies. Some more obscure gems in here too. Thanks!

Polls open til 6:00! Low voter turn out so for the round.

Final Four Results
#1 Band of Brothers 77.1% - #5 Patton 22.9%
#2 Saving Private Ryan 71,4% - #3 Schindler's List 28.6%

Championship Match-up
#1 Band of Brothers vs #2 Saving Private Ryan

Consolation Match-up
#3 Schindler's List vs #5 Patton

VOTE HERE!!!

This may have been the predictable championship yet.

Bruce Almighty said:

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This may have been the predictable championship yet.

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But it started a conversation. About movies that were left out or lost to nonWWII movies.

Bruce Almighty said:

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This may have been the predictable championship yet.

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The only poll of these I've been surprised by the eventual winner was Christmas Vacation winning Christmas one. I was a little surprised at some of the bracket winners or how quickly some films I consider classics dropped out but going in I knew that Band of Brothers was a lock for the Finals and would face either Saving Private Ryan or Patton with Inglourious Basterds being a long shot.

After the opening scene; which was groundbreaking for sure, saving private Ryan isn't even that great a movie. The plot itself is pretty unrealistic and that's before Spielberg had to add his typical schmaltz to the end.

This article pretty much sums it up for me.

https://ricochet.com/452328/archives/why-i-hate-saving-private-ryan/

Morning Bump

Tournament voting will close at 6:00 this evening. The final results along with the survey data from the Survey will hopefully be posted soon after.

Championship Match-up
#1 Band of Brothers vs #2 Saving Private Ryan

Consolation Match-up
#3 Schindler's List vs #5 Patton

VOTE HERE!!!

Take The Survey!

Final Results


#1 Band of Brothers 78.4 % - #2 Saving Private Ryan 21.6%

Consolation Match-up
#3 Schindler's List 44.4% - #5 Patton 55.6%

And the Survey Says . . .
Number of respondents to the survey: 46 (about half of the average response to each round)

Break down on how many films a respondent watched:
1-25 (3)
26-50 (14)
51-75 (14)
76-100 (8)
101-125 (3)
126-150 (2)
151+ (2)

(#) next to each film is the number of those who checked off that film as watched

Those films in BOLD are the films I have not seen, those with an asterisks beside them are films I watched for the first time in preparing the brackets or watched because I overlooked them in making the bracket.

The Battles
Dunkirk (2017) (44)
The Thin Red Line (34)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (38)
The Longest Day (39)
A Bridge Too Far (37)
Midway (1976) (33)
Midway (2019) (22)
Flags of Our Fathers (30)
Battle of Britain (19)

The Ground War
Saving Privat Ryan (45)
Fury (37)
Battleground (11)
Enemy at the Gates (40)
Cross of Iron (9)
A Midnight Clear (6)
Sahara (15)
The Big Red One (25)

The War on the High Seas
The Enemy Below (19)
Lifeboat (11)
The Caine Mutiny (22)
Destination Tokyo (13)
Run Silent Run Deep (21)
Sink the Bismarck! * (19)
U-571 (39)
Greyhound (15)

The Air War
Twelve O'Clock High (21)
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (18)
The Dam Busters (12)
Memphis Belle (30)
The Tuskegee Airmen (18)
Air Force (7)
A Guy Named Joe (7)
Command Decision (6)

Mini-Series
Band of Brothers (42)
The Pacific (35)
Generation War (Unsere Mtter, unsere Vterm Our Mothers, Our Fathers) (7)
Winds of War (15)
War of Remembrance (10)
Holocaust (8)
Catch-22 (9)
Ike: The War Years (6)

WWII Biopics
Patton (42)
The King's Speech (35)
Hacksaw Ridge (35)
The Imitation Game (25)
Unbroken (30)
To Hell and Back (19)
Darkest Hour (26)
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (12)

John Wayne Movies
They Were Expendable (22)
Sands of Iwo Jima (30)
In Harm's Way (19)
The Long Voyage Home (9)
Flying Tigers (17)
Back to Bataan (12)
Operation Pacific (13)
Flying Leathernecks (21)

Commando Movies
Where Eagles Dare (22)
The Dirty Dozen (37)
The Guns of Navarone (34)
Objective, Burma! (4)
The Great Raid (23)
The Devil's Brigade (13)
Too Late the Hero (3)
Force 10 from Navarone (26)

POW Movies
The Great Escape (35)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (38)
Stalag 17 (24)
Empire of the Sun (30)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (7)
King Rat (7)
To End All Wars * (3)
Von Ryan's Express (15)

The Resistance
Casablanca (39)
A Hidden Life (3)
The Train (7)
Valkyrie (34)
Defiance (20)
Army of Shadows (L'arme des ombres) (1)
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (3)
To Have and Have Not (6)

Spy/Espionage Films
Notorious (12)
Foreign Correspondent (5)
36 Hours (3)
Eye of the Needle (12)
The Eagle Has Landed (18)
Allied (10)
Saboteur (11)
Ministry of Fear (1)

Holocaust Related Films
Schindler's List (39)
Life Is Beautiful (21)
The Pianist (26)
Judgment at Nuremberg (16)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (14)
Sophie's Choice (13)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) (24)
The Reader (7)

The War from the German, Japanese and Italian Perspective
Das Boot (27)
Rome, Open City * (3)
Letters from Iwo Jima (30)
Downfall (15)
Stalingrad (1993) (14)
Grave of the Fireflies (5)
Two Women (4)
Children of Hiroshima * (1)

The Homefront
The Great Dictator (12)
Inglourious Basterds (40)
To Be or Not to Be (1942) (8)
Jojo Rabbit * (22)
Kelly's Heroes (28)
The Producers (25)
The Americanization of Emily (6)
Catch-22 (25)

Light Hearted Comedies
Mister Roberts (14)
The More the Merrier (4)
Hope and Glory (7)
Father Goose (15)
Operation Petticoat (24)
Top Secret! (28)
A Foreign Affair (4)
Buck Privates (7)

Sci-Fi / Comic Book / Horror / Fantasy
Raiders of the Lost Ark (44)
The Final Countdown (21)
Captain America: The First Avenger (30)
Hellboy (2004) (29)
Overlord (13)
The Rocketeer (33)
The Boys from Brazil (18)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (43)

Miscellaneous
The Third Man (9)
The Hill (6)
From Here to Eternity (18)
Atonement (12)
The English Patient (28)
A Matter of Life and Death aka Stairway to Heaven (3)
So Proudly We Hail! (3)
We've Never Been Licked (29)

The NIT
Conspiracy * (8)
City of Life and Death (1)
Battle of the Bulge (1965) (25)
Ike: Countdown to D-Day (6)
The Scarlet and The Black (2)
Victory (12)
Come and See (3)
The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) (3)
When Trumpets Fade * (8)
The Sound of Music (36)
White Christmas (30)
The Book Thief (9)
1941 (30)
Pearl Harbor (36)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (36)
South Pacific (26)

Edit: Like to thank everyone that participated, especially those that took the time to complete the survery.

46 responses and only 42 have seen Band of Brothers? The other 4 should be ashamed!

Its a shame more folks haven't seen Come and See.