Military Historian Reviews the Best Movie Battle Scenes of All Time
Military history expert and TV presenter Dan Snow reviews the most realistic movie battle scenes of all time. Spanning the ancient world to the Second World War, he chooses some of the most iconic scenes from cinema history, and a few surprises.
First up, he reviews The Battle of Gaugamela 331BC as recreated in the movie Alexander (2004). He praises the film for its attention to historical accuracy, faithfully depicting the climactic clash between the Macedonian Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius III.
Next, it's the Battle of Loudoun Hill as portrayed in Outlaw King (2018), which took place in May 1307. Although the movie has Robert the Bruce's Scottish force facing off against Edward, Prince of Wales (who wasn't actually there), Dan still rates the film highly for its vision of a northern European medieval battlefield.
Dan then reviews the ambush scene from one of his favourite movies, Last of the Mohicans (1992), in which a Britsh redcoat column is wiped out in the forests near Fort William Henry. Although this large scale battle never took place, it has echoes of the Battle of the Monongahela 1755, which really did happen during French and Indian War.
Next, it's the Battle of the Crater from the movie Cold Mountain (2003), which took place during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. Dan describes the clash between Union and Confederate forces as one of the most horrific portrayals of war he has ever seen.
The latest adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) is rated for accuracy next, showing life in the First World War trenches from the German perspective. In particular, the film captures the psychological impact of the introduction of tanks to the battlefield.
Finally, the iconic D-Day landing scene from Saving Private Ryan (1998) is reviewed, showing Allied units battling their way onto Omaha Beach in June 1944.
Do you agree with Dan Snow's choices? Let us know in the comments!
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My grandfather was 20 years old when he landed at Normandy. He never spoke about it, except to tell my grandmother he wouldn’t go on a cruise to Europe because “Margaret, the last time I took a boat to Europe didn’t go so well.” He would never go on a boat after he received his discharge.
He volunteered for D Day specifically so he could use that joke on his wife.
Sounds like your typical case of PTSD.
Yep, my grandfather felt the same way.
God bless him.
My great grandpa was in the Pacific front. He never ate crab again after seeing what they did to corpses he pulled from the water.
I love this format, instead of having the expert picking apart what hollywood gets wrong (which has been done many, many times by different experts because hollywood gonna hollywood), picking out their favorite war scenes that they think are good and do justice to what they are depicting.
Yeesss!
Picking things apart is easier this is much more rewarding to watching. You can learn from both types of content but this is more effective and fun in my opinion.
Agreed! Although the results are occasionally hilarious, I always prefer watching someone break down something they like to reacting for the first time to something they don’t like. As a tv guy, Dan may also have a better understanding of the storytelling requirements than most historians, whose whole job is based on accuracy.
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW@ era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW@ history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
It’s amazing how people can’t accept constructive criticism of anything these days. Everything has to be rainbows and flowers or they’ll be stressed out.
“No Persians were actually filmed in the making of this film.” Was the best line in the whole video. Love the humor. Great video as well.
Calling the filmmakers "racist" was a bit of a stretch though.
I don't think he was joking. Persians are Iranians, and he was saying that none of them were in the movie.
@@YangusCool Yeah.. That’s the joke. 😂
@@clicheguevara5282 definetly not
@@user-bj5dr1kn4n It literally is though. No Persians were harmed in the film because _there literally were no Persians_ in the film. Jesus dude. Use that brain of yours. 🤣
There was a Battle of the Bulge veteran in our neighborhood. We asked him what it was like in combat. He just said.... you dont want to know. Later we found out both sides ran out of ammo and they were beating each other with the trench shovels.
My grandfather survived that battle. He bunkered in a hole made by a bomb blast next to his dead best friend. He never spoke of it. I only know this as he agreed to be interviewed by my older sister for school. He was an academic & so he wouldn’t say no to something for school. Only time I ever heard of him crying. The war & the Holocaust were the cause of how my father raised us, detached parent from a detached parent. I refuse to have kids as I refuse to pass this generational trauma down, especially as I’ve had my own horrific trauma that’ll only worsen it. Anyway I have a good friend who is in his 90s & fought in the Korean War but he loves talking about it. I’m in my late 20s by the way, & the Korean vet is basically my only friend lol I am highly avoidant when it comes to relationships even though I’m tired of being lonely… detached parenting 101!
My great uncle was at the Bulge. He wouldn't apeak of it other than the dogs wpuld rush out to eat the bodies because they were starving.
Good luck evelyn@@a.evelyn5498
@@a.evelyn5498Way to make it all about you and your “trauma”Not surprised one bit though.
@@a.evelyn5498 I dont think we care about your non existent kids or your "trauma", god bless your grandfather nonetheless
The thing I love about All Quiet on the Western Front is how it uses makeup on the actors to show the mud and grime and dirt. The shell hole scene where Paul stabs the Frenchman has his entire face caked in dry mud and his uniform a completely different colour. The majority of other war films neglect the aspect of how dirty the soldiers would be, and it really adds to the horror the film displays…
There was this movie by peter jackson "They shall not grow old" where they coloured and upscaled old WW1 foutage. One of the most surprising things for me were, how bad their teeth were.
@@sigmundfreude4088 Haha yeah! You always forget about the things we take for granted… imagine how greasy their hair was for example.
@@sigmundfreude4088 True and you can actually see it in All quiet on the western front when they got yellowish teeth on the last year
I've been so muddy on numerous occasions that our camouflage was barely discernable. The salt from our sweat left big white marks on our uniforms too. After about a week, you get so nasty in slimy sweat and dead skin, combined with dirt. The mosquitoes would mostly stop biting. We all had crotch rot, athlete's foot, and prickly heat. The good thing about being exhausted was that you forgot about how much pain you were in.
@@joesikkspac7904 I was fortunate enough to only experience that level of mud and saturation during training on the Brecon Beacons and North Yorkshire moors, or on NATO exercises in Eastern Europe and Germany etc. However, I did experience the exact opposite in Afghanistan, and Iraq. The salt rings and discolouration of your tunic/vest happened out there too, as well as the associated injuries caused by terrain and weather conditions. We used to have regular ulcer checks as a unit, were we'd buddy up, strip down and examine each other from "arse to elbow" as the saying went. If you were over there too, I don't need to explain how bad that sand was... Might as well have been covered in crushed glass, or razor sharp iron filings. I had one on my groin/inner thigh which refused to heal, and ended up on IV antibiotics to prevent sepsis setting in. Glamorous life in the Forces, ain't it 😉
The New All Quiet on the Western front is absolutely insane, The cinematography and acting is top notch
Personally found it rather boring. I also disliked the bit and the end when the general decided to try and attack again. It’s not in the book and it’s just completely unrealistic. German morale was shattered half the army was in open mutiny no way in hell would they have attacked 6 hours before the armistice and it simply wouldn’t have been organised anyway….
Except it did happen, maybe not in the book, but historically both sides did this very thing up to the last second before armistice
@@alanb9443 I liked most of it, but that final charge was questionable to me and apparently it was the French and British who kept attacking the Germans up until the final hour.
@@alanb9443 Its not unrealistic. Yes it didn't happen in the book. But it did happen. It wasn't just the Germans that attacked it was the "Good" Guys that did so as well.
@@alanb9443 There is no hero in the movie, no mission to accomplish unlike most war films. I guess it could come across as boring to some.
All quiet on the western front is easily one of the best anti war films of all time. The amount of times I teared up and cried at the sheer brutality exposed on film …. This film is phenomenal and horrifying.
I'm about to watch it at 5 in the morning let's get this bread
I agree. I have only seen bits of it, and it hurts. Cannot see the whole film.
It seems like there's one anti-war film (and novel) that seldom gets mentioned and about which I have a theory, the film is "Johnny got his gun" and my theory is that the movie is so devastating and so morally challenging and so able to evoke feelings of horror and anxiety and isolation that it became impossible for those who profit from war to rationalize their actions or for governments to hide the fact from those who saw the movie or read the book that there is no promised salvation or rescue or even redemption for the men they force to fight their wars and that they, the leadership, are completely responsible for the senseless slaughter they condemn their young men to and that all the suffering and dehumanization they create is demonic in nature and that they are going to Hell, if there is one (and for them, I hope there is one...) and so, the film has been suppressed and hidden away beneath a mountain of bad reviews, short memories, apathy and deceit.
@@waynemyers2469 I saw it when I was 13 when it came out . I am 65 now. I remember the ill feeling in my stomach when watching it. Sad, sad, sad.
@@itisonlyme1 Yes, sad indeed, sad and troubling and horrific. The author, I believe his name was Trumbo, basically was shunned by the establishment and Hollywood and never was able to achieve any kind of success despite his obvious talents...
Thank you for your brilliant analysis of these films. I confess I was disappointed in "All Quiet". The most memorable part of the novel is those iconic final two paragraphs. I wish the filmmakers had alluded to them in some way. I guess they wanted to punch up the tragedy of Paul Baumer's death by placing it just seconds before the armistice went into effect. In the novel, it's a month or so before the cease-fire. The true tragedy of Paul's death is that it happened on an unimportant day, when nothing really consequential happened. The Army report didn't even mention any casualties. So Paul's death melted unnoticed into all of the other millions and millions of deaths caused by the war. That's a real tragedy.
I think any death in WW1 is a real tragedy, making it a slightly bit more poetic is okay
I think both endings have some value, in the first version you can feel the insignificance of Paul's death and in the 2022 version you can see the pride of wanting the war to end symbolically on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month which resulted in thousands more deaths
The poor men that served in ww1 delt with more than we can ever imagine. It’s so sad The way the novel discussed love and appreciation for their fellow soldiers, the horses deaths, the urge to euthanise gassed soldiers, it’s all stuck with me After serving myself, deploying but never seeing action I understood how much you love your fellow personnel, how unnaturally close you get I’m proud us aussies refused to use capital punishment when all our allies did, cowardice was understandable in those circumstances and the men didn’t deserve being shot over broken nerves, they needed support and treatment I wish the generals were posthumously convicted of war crimes for ordering such punishment
@@carlosandleon You can. But Paul just dying without any fuss or consequence highlights the fact, that every death in WWI is the end of a tragic story. Also that ending is the point for the storys name. The movie is great, but pumping his death full of poetic tragedy really bugged me.
For me the only thing that annoyed me about the latest remake is that they completely left out all the old timers and men back home when Paul is on leave, coming up to him and acting like they know what needs to happen in order to win. Erich Maria Remarque was making a very strong statement here about society and its propensity for older men and those who don't have to actually fight being the most willing to send their most viable progeny off to die.
Walking out of the theater opening weekend of Saving Private Ryan. An old man with a WWII Veteran hat was in the lobby weeping holding his wife. She just held him and kept saying "I didn't know, I didn't know" One of the most powerful moments I had ever seen related to a movie
Now see, that's the reason I wouldn't think that WW2 veterans would even want to watch movies about the war.
@@luckypunfire6263 There was similar reactions to the movie "Come and See" when it first came out, German veterans weeping and saying "this is what happened" That movie still haunts me to this day, more terrifying than any horror film I have ever seen.
As a pastor I had at least 3 WW2 vets with untreated PTSD decades after their experiences.
@@mikejohnson555 this is THE anti-war movie!
The theaters actually set up hotlines a few weeks after the film's release so that any veterans who went and saw it would have someone to talk to if their PTSD kicked in
When I went to see Saving Private Ryan, there two men sitting next to me in the theater, a guy my age and an older man. During the opening scene, I overheard the younger man whisper to the older, "Dad are you ok? Do you want to leave?" I could see him shake head. They stayed. As we were leaving, I couldn't help but ask him, "You were there, weren't you?" He looked at me for a moment and then said, "Yeah..." I said, "I'm sorry. Was it that bad?" He looked away, and said, "Worse. But slower. We were on that beach for a long time."
And. The smells.
My grandfather could never watch that scene. I didn’t really understand it at that age. A decade later I was fighting across the Middle East (2003-05, 2006-2009, 2013, 2016) and would ultimately end up doing 21 years as an infantryman myself. Still don’t understand how those men took that beach. It’s why they’re still the ‘Greatest Generation’ even after I accumulated almost 3 years more of combat time than my grandfather did that has never been in question. The pure grit of those men. And, at least in the case of my grandfather, he still led a productive and happy life after all that horror (he lost a brother in a friendly fire incident in France a few months later. Badly called air strike hit their lines).
@@dpproductionstoys131 I have been told that Smell Memory is the strongest. I joined in 1983, and served (with some breaks) until 2014. In 1985 I was a young paratrooper, as "assault troops" my unit was sent to the Amphibious Warfare School at Little Creek Naval Base in Virginia, taught by US Marines. (One of the beaches used for training has some resemblance to Omaha Beach, Normandy; after having visited Omaha Beach in 2009, I didn't really see the similarities.) Watching the Landing scene in SPR, I suddenly could "Smell" the salt water, diesel fumes, vomit, and sweat! Also, the sounds of the machineguns! You can tell the difference between the brass casings of the rounds, and the metallic links as they hit the concrete floor of the bunker! I had experienced that in training. It is a tiny detail, that really added to the Feeling of Immersion to me!
And then everyone clapped
All respect to him. I watched it at the Military Academy. It really woke me up to what I was signing up for. And in Iraq I had good cause to remember. War is terrible.
I like how he can acknowledge the bias of filmmakers and still appreciate the film. He’s honest without becoming preachy or overtly political. Also, he balances his passion for warfare and military history with compassion for the individuals involved. He’s a great speaker!
The greatest generation to ever have lived and served humanity in the fight against pure evil. A generation that knew all too well what sacrifice and hardship was all about combined with a strong sense of duty. Won't ever see that again.
Acknowledges the bias of filmmakers? No, he doesn't. He projects his own bias onto film makes, accusing them of the stupid stuff he actually thinks in his own fucked up head, and all you woke people applaud along like non-think losers.
The historical advisor getting to charge with the companion cavalry is touching. Just about brings a tear to the eye.
My friend, the historical advisor to the Sharpe and Hornblower TV series, also had a similar contract. He lived in his Rifles uniform, and when they weren't actually filming, disappeared into the hills living off the land and researching how the troops survived!
My Grandfather fought in WW1 at Ypres and the Somme, he was shot in the gut going over the top at the Somme. He survived, the doctor told him the bullet wove its way between all his intestines and that was what saved him. His best friend who went over beside him wasn't so lucky, he caught one in the head. He didn't start talking about it to my brother and I until his late 80's, he did make it to 93 before he passed. I still miss him.
Those are stories to add to your family's genealogy. I wish I had stories from older family members that had experienced such incredible things and were willing to share the stories. I was far too young when my great grandparents and great-great grandparents died to even have a clue what was going on. I wish those stories from their youths were documented somewhere. I may get lucky and find something like a journal at my grandmothers house one day. If I'm lucky, of course.
my Gdad Lancashire fusiliers and M.G.C SOMME .
Incredibly lucky. Perforated intestine before penicillin (early 1940s) would have been a near certain death sentence from the resulting infection.
@@tylisirn When we were little kids he told us he had 3 belly buttons and of course we didn't believe him until he showed us. He was quite the character. But yes, hard to understand how lucky he was until you factor in the shear quantity of men killed in that war, I'm sure there were some equally incredible lucky stories of survival as well.
My Grandad was meant to be a the Somme, but he was lucky and shipped out to Belfast in early 1916 to quell "The Troubles" Phew!
My grandpa was a tanker and landed at Juno on D-Day. When Saving Private Ryan came out my dad and I saw it, and then he said my grandpa should go see it, who replied that "I saw it once already, thanks".
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW2 era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW2 history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
Only one amphibious tank actually made it to the beaches cause the rest sunk in the stormy water.. so he must've landed after the fighting was over..
Early afternoon, I believe, so there was definitely still fighting going on. If not at the beach then in the town.
@@doctorroboto5018 Probably fought tiger tanks.. Tough man..
@@tacotuesday2489 you’re thinking of Omaha beach, tanks landed much better at Juno and were one of the reasons that invasion was so much more successful
As impactful as the landing scene in Saving Private Ryan, the scene that got to me the most in that movie was the end battle sequence. How all the characters we've spent the movie with are just brutally and callously dispatched one by one. Nobody gets the "noble sacrifice" death. A guy gets blown up because he sets the fuse wrong on his sticky bomb. A bunch of guys get eviscerated by a German AA gun, which literally tears them to pieces. One of our Rangers is just stabbed to death by an SS man who is very much enjoying killing him. The sniper is just blown up by a Marder III. It reinforces the point that there is no glory to be found here, only brutality.
Look up Douglas MacArthur's quote on soldiers and war. It seems to me that the only ones who call war noble and glorious are the politicians who orchestrate it and the arms manufacturers who supply it.
Dan, you should take a look at the Soviet era film "Come and see". It contains nothing that glorifies war or battle. Instead it is an incredible account of the brutality of the SS in Belorus. Filmed largely from the perspective of a boy of about thirteen.
@tygraig2721 omg, imagine us, scholars, attend this movie in cinema. And Barefoot Gen too
I, too, appreciated the closing battle as it's one of the few depictions of well equipped Germans fighting effectively.
@josephglatz25 "One of our Rangers is just stabbed to death by an SS man who is very much enjoying killing him." That's not true. I don't know if you understand what he's saying, but he's actually comforting the soldier while killing him. He says stuff like "It's ok, you can let go. It's gonna be over soon, that's ok." While the Ranger looses the strength and the knife gets pushed into his heart. There was no hate and there was no cursing involved, which you could not say the other way around. It's two warriors doing their profession. The other guy that's not fighting is just ignored by the SS man.
Upon my first viewing of All Quiet, the scene with the revealing of the tanks and the sheer terror of the German soldiers was the first time I felt like I had seen something new in war films since Saving Private Ryan.
The beginning scene of all quite on the western front with the young soldier is incredible… pure adrenaline, young boy quickly losing it and losing it and allowing it and calming up until he just BREAKS. All he sees is red if he can even see at all. Doesn’t even aim his gun, just shoots till the clip is gone, doesn’t reload because his brain has shut down on auto pilot. And the fear and emotions all boil up to an automated “grab shovel and charge” I was at first expecting him to kill a team mate. That was insane…
Quite?
He's not shooting he's just reloading without shooting
My mans said team mate 🤣🤣
@@AcidAdventurer he thinks this is a game of battlefield 😝
Team mate?
One thing i wish he mentioned about the Alexander scene is that they actually had formations and clearly defined front lines, which is brilliant. Most movies show ancient and medieval battles as chaotic melees where everyone pairs off into duels, whereas in reality formations and front lines were a thing
true, actually one of the best depictions of a Macedonian phalanx in film
True, you almost always see those men just running into certain death like madmen. Most of the times, you would slow down and stand shield to shield, pushing, stabbing and just trying to punch a hole in the enemy formation. Same with cavalry, they would only complete the charge if the enemy routed, because no horseman would charge directly into a tight formation of men, spears and swords. If the enemy held their ground, they would stop the charge and perhaps try again
but, did he mention that he hid the palestae in his cavalry formation, as this was key to the battle?
True and if I can remember correctly that’s also why Aztecs lost some battles against fewer numbers of Europeans they were fighting in formations like romans against canons and firearms
@@jonasweber9408 Hmmm, no. It's mostly because the Spaniards have superior weaponry as well as the spread of smallpox that killed the majority of Aztecs that lead to their defeat.
"Last Of The Mohicans" is an outstanding movie. A "must-see" in my opinion.
Some of it is reasonable but the book is several magnitudes better - but don't forget that James Fenimore Cooper who wrote it lived in a different century and made most of it up.
Yes, love the scenery & a marvelous story.
The marching formation was because they had surrendered to the French, so that was how they were controlling the enemy force.
This is why looking into multiple sources is so rewarding. I love how different historians will focus on different things. I saw a separate WWI expert historian break down that same All Quiet scene and he went way into tactics. About how the tanks stopping and shooting into the trenches was unrealistic because of how heavy the tank was, the comparatively small engine and terrain that would risk the tank getting stuck. And like you mentioned the infantry would've have been with the tanks. He also mentioned the tank driving directly into the trench on purpose would not happen either. As well as the line of flame throwers being almost 100% fiction and would've never happened, grenades being the more likely tool to clear trenches.
One of the most horrifying things about the D-Day scene in SPR is how when the ramp drops the guys all get decimated by machinegun fire. It's so immediate. It doesn't matter how well-trained you were, how badass or brave you were, how good you could shoot, if a machine gun was aiming at you when the ramp came down you were dead and there was literally nothing you could do.
I feel that way about guns in general tbh. The knights complained of such as well, that a well trained dedicated warrior could just be wiped out by some random. I agree fully don't get me wrong. Going over the top in WW1 I feel was similar, didn't matter how good you were. Random machine gun fire, mines, and artillery just didn't discriminate and you could die with no warning.
There's a story about a soldier who managed to escape the fusillade because he tripped going down the ramp and fell out of a machine gun's line of fire...the others on the landing craft were not as fortunate...
MG 42. Highest rate of fire for any single barrel machine gun…EVER.
@@cwcsquared Yeah but would over heat quickly if you fired for too long melting the barrel. You would fire it in short bursts.
Aren't we lucky that you are here to tell us these things..
All Quiet On The Western Front was written by Erich Maria Remarque. He was conscripted in WW1, and his experience led to him writing AQOTWF. It was a huge bestseller, and the 1930 film won Best Picture and Best Actor (Lew Ayres as Paul). He later had to flee Germany after the rise of the Big Bad. He became an American citizen in 1947, married the actress Paulette Goddard, and passed away in 1972.
He passed away in 1970 in Locarno, Switzerland. He was 72 years old when he died.
I know the subject is pretty serious. But i found „rise of the big bad“ a really cute euphemism.😂
@@Voice_of_p I despise the big bad so much that I don't even like using his name. And thanks! 😁
@@ChristChickAutistic Call the bastard whatever you like. The important part is remembering that he was still a Human the same as you and I. Other Humans are capable of being just like him.
It was required reading when I was in high school (Australian here). This was in the 1980s. It was important, I think, for we children of allies to read about that war (the first) from a German perspective, because this was about the time the real sanctification of the ANZAC legend was taking hold. It showed that the blokes on the other side were also just people. Now, WW2 was a different matter. But the Great War were people on both sides answering the call of pollies who couldn't decide where borders were; greed and nationalisation. It made me understand how Germany could produce a monster like the Austrian failed artist. The man served in WW1 and needed someone to blame. It also makes me understand how his party is making such a rise again in places not Germany. People need to blame for situations out of their control (poverty, in particular) and the leaders point fingers at everyone but the actual solutions. I don't agree with it (one has to draw the line well before the point people are suggesting that Certain People shouldn't exist or one becomes the monster), but I do understand it.
I love a passionate historian, his enjoyment of retelling this all is infectious
Let’s be honest, Dan Snow loves the LOTM score so any chance he gets to review clips from this film he takes! And I cannot blame him. It should have won an Oscar.
It was ineligible, so couldn’t even be nominated sadly as the main themes were not new and written specifically for the movie. But yeah one of the great soundtracks.
@@donnchaodalaigh4031 The Gael.........
I showed "SPR" to my grandfather, a WWII medic. He found the portrayal of the D-Day landing realistic and upsetting, but he did complain about many of the inaccuracies later on; PVT Reiben backtalking Capt. Miller was something he said would never have happened. He also said the common use of the word "fuck" really wasn't common at that time as it was in later years and said that unlike in the movie, everyone kept their damn helmet on all the time.
Your gramps was an OG no doubt. I love to hear peoples account, did he have any other stories from ww2?
Yep about the F word. My late grandad was a US army LT in the Pacific. Not gonna lie, I don't think I even heard him swear all my life. And we were very close. The most toughest and kindest gentleman I ever known in my life. They are trully the greatest generation.
My grandfather served in ww2 aswell. He passed at 99 years old in 2019. We were very close, as long as I knew him he never once swore or cussed in my presence. SPR was one of the only movies that he only watched once.
@@Thespartan19 My grandfather was in the Pacific, severely wounded at the battle of Okinawa. He said f#ck all the time, but he went on to be a truck driver/mechanic, not sure if that is where he picked up the lingo. Definitely the toughest man I ever knew, he was one of 5 that survived an attack out of 173 that started the fight. He lived to be 99 yrs old, long enough to meet my son that I named after the man that saved his life.
My grandmother was an Irish nurse at Normandy and she too was taken aback by that beach scene - She had also been involved in nursing liberated prisoners from a concentration camp. That story was deeply human and tragic, something she only spoke of near her death - she was a beautiful sweet old woman who you would never know kept the grim horrors of war in her heart. Lest we forget.
In Outlaw King, I was the extra at 13:57 here, just on Bruce’s left. It really was that muddy, with a stream of water constantly running down the middle, all mixed in with crap from the on-set horses. One of the most fun experiences of my life. So impressed with the making of that film, and I so hope for a sequel featuring Bannockburn.
I am going to assume your a reenactor, because I can't imagine anyone else saying that running around in mud, water, and horse sh was "fun". ...But if that's true, good on you for helping to keep history alive! It was a great movie in part because the extras were relatively accurate and not just generically medieval like so many movies.
@@taracampbell2433 Thank you! Not a reenactor, just mad haha. Honestly, it was just a week of dressing up and play fighting, only better, because you didn’t need to imagine anything - it was all there! And when we were told to act all exhausted and battle weary, there was no need to pretend. We were worked hard on that set!
Nice, may I ask you how much did you get paid?
Being just on Bruce's left at that particular moment, I think you should have been charged with saying "Very chivalrous of you my Lord to let the enemy king walk free, but we are not fighting for you anymore cause you're a bloody idiot!"
@@emmanuelmatsakis983 Indeed, there is absolutely no way that a high value prisoner such as the King of England would EVER be released without there first being the payment of a literal 'King's Ransom' which would have virtually bankrupted England. The ransom paid for the release of Richard the Lionheart, (150,000 gold Marks), did almost bankrupt the Kingdom of England.
I took my 15 year old son on a special trip to Normandy to pay respect, we brought two English Roses from our garden in England and my son chose to place one on a allied grave, and asked could we visit the German cemetery in Les Noires Terres where he placed the 2nd on a single German grave that stated unknown soldier. I'm very proud of him 🙏🏽
Sounds like a remarkable boy...and father.
Congratulations on raising a son so well.
Regarding the spades in "Nothing new on the western front": Remarque describes a sharpend spade a a highly efficient weapon in close combat. They preferred it to bayonettes who often got stuck. So the soldier in this scene was not improvising.
Being inside a WW1 tank would’ve been just as terrifying as being in the trenches. Imagine the noise, fumes, and smoke they had to endure. I used to mow the grass on softball fields and if you were inside the windowless metal garage when somebody hit it with a home run the noise would make you shit yourself if you weren’t expecting it.
Absolutely it was rudimental and there will be a build up of gas and oil so they will suffocate or even fire from the inside. Absolutely the worst thing
Plus the fact that they were in completely experimental weapons, at least I believe they were experimental at the time Britain had came out with them, I could be wrong
Not to mention they were practically experimental. They could collapse out of nowhere and leave u stranded. Also,I see tankers nowadays complain about the temperature in the tank,but the guys back then were practically melting in those things
Personally, I think I would have rather been in one of those tanks than going over the top
@@genesmolko8113 well,u gotta pick your poison. Do u wanna risk getting shot in the gut and die slowly in no man’s land,or risk getting stranded in the middle of enemy lines and either choke,blow up,or get shot to death? However I think I’d rather be a tanker too tbh
The only movie I ever saw in the theater with my grandfather was Saving Private Ryan. He sat apart from the rest of the family and at the end of the landing scene, I looked over at him and saw him sobbing. The only time I ever saw him break. I have his journal from his time at Marshal Island during the bombing of Tokyo and now as an adult have a deep respect for him and all those involved.
My grandpa also fought in the Pacific during WW2. Him and his brother were both on the USS Pensacola. He never talked about his experiences, not to any of his children or grandchildren. It was only after he died and by looking up online resources about everything that we learned the ship had thirteen battle stars by the time the war was over. Reading about everything the ship itself went through, I understand why he never wanted to talk about it.
As a boy, my father introduced me to one of his drinking buddies and asked Jimmy to "show my boy your scars". "Sure, Aaron!" he smiled. He unbuttoned the light, summertime shirt. I still can 'see' those Bataan march scars on Jimmy's small frame...
I remember when it came out in theaters they set up special support lines for WW2 vets to call after seeing the movie
that’s when they napalmed the whole civilian city (made of wood) over and over again, including the last day of the war.
My Great Uncle was Artillery at the Somme, had his legs run over, my family called him mad Uncle Ben, they didn't understand PTSD back in those days. He sat in a chair for the rest of his life until the gangrene set in. He also lost his brother at the second battle of Krithya, Gallipoli and his 16-year-old cousin towards the end of the Gallipoli conflict.
My great-great grandfather was in the US civil war; records from his unit show that he had a horse, a saddle, a rifle, and a certain amount of ammunition. He survived and returned home, but within a year his hair turned completely white, and he went blind. When he returned, he brought his wife a nice salt-glazed pitcher "liberated" from an abandoned house. My sister has it still.
Was he on the NZ or NL side?
This was an unexpectedly heavy episode. The historian really brings into view the weight of human casualty and loss of life, while still being analytical. Very moving and informative
Dan Snow, the historian, is famous in the UK. He is a personal friend of Prince William. Snow's grandfather was a General in the British Army during the First World War. He is also a descendant of Lloyd George who was British Prime Minister from 1916-1922.
@Moutton Noir wow! I didn't know that. No wonder he speaks so emotionally and is well informed. He had family that first hand experienced alot of the atrocities. Thanks for sharing
@@knockshinnoch1950 I would love him reaction after reacting to the movies, doing a reaction video about the war series scenes (like Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Vikings, and others!)
He has some great podcasts and shows out that have the same mix of analytical fact and the human element
I remember him and his dad had a show on the military channel(now known as Americas heroes channel) when I was a child. The dad, who I think was named Dan Sr, although I’m not sure. He would walk around and explain facts and how the battle unfolded at the physical battlefield, while his dad would open a briefcase and a cgi little battlefield would appear and blue and red soldiers would move around and fight. I think it was called Battlefront or something.
I was 17 when Saving Private Ryan came out, I went opening night. The theater was crowded to capacity, I sat in the front row and just before the previews started an elderly couple sat next to me. When the opening scene started i was drawn in, part way through the old couple had gone. When the movie was over I was some of the last ones out. I saw the couple sitting at a table in the lobby, the old man was shaking and his wife just held him. I stopped and asked if they needed help, I noticed the 29th infantry division hat. The woman told me she had called her daughter to pick them up because she could not drive and her husband was in no shape to drive. Their daughter lived three hours from there and was on her way. I waited their with the couple until their daughter arrived and walked them out to her car. Old men in crumpled hats that tool around the VFW or American Legion halls have done more by 20 years old than most modern men have in our life times.
God bless those who struggled and often fell on our behalf. Rest in peace Allied servicemen and women too. War is a tragedy for all. 😢
That opening scene was a bit tough to take.
OP you should have told them to call their daughter back to go back home and given them a ride yourself.
@@RTStx1 In 1998 Cell phone ownership was still quite low, so if his daughter had already left home she might not be contactable.
And many of those men were so young and did not really want to fight. We barely even knew what PTSD was
Check out the realism of the fight scenes in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. That's how I imagine people behaved when they fought each other with swords and spears. A lot of hesitation, back and forth, trying to drive off the enemy but also running away and regrouping rather than going all suicidal.
Magua was such a good character. he wasn't evil and cold, but simply a tragic victim of circumstance that eventually manifested itself in this way. he's a great man on a horrible downward spiral, specifically because of events he was forced to go through.
I was at my cousin's wedding and my uncle ended up thanking me and my father for being able to take leave to come and for serving. An older gentleman came up and thanked me for my service and said he was in WW2. I ended up talking to him for a little bit and it turned out he was a landing craft driver for Omaha Beach at 17 years old. He saw other boats dropping their men off too early and them just sinking into the ocean as they walked off. He said since he knew that was the day he was going to die he tried to get his boat as close to shore as possible to give his guys the best chance of surviving. I was 21 at the time and had only been in the Army for a year and I couldn't even imagine what those men went through and honestly felt weird for him thanking me for my service with all he had been through.
I've been in the same position. The military is an odd master - you can join and fight the most brutal of wars, or sit in Western Germany and do nothing for a decade. Your service is what counts in the end - you put your life on the line, something that most other people will never do nor understand. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. It is appreciated.
Was he a Frenchman?
@@mjanny6330 the boat drivers where mostly british so there is a good chance he was a british gentleman
@@sebastianmanthey742 Actually, the US Navy & US Coast Guard drove most of the US landing craft. As a Coastie, I used to get a lot of sh!t about shallow water and not being under fire. The CG lost a higher number of sailors per capita, because the vessels providing cover fire had a shallower draft than the Navy, so they got in closer to shore - and took more fire.
@@davidstone1227 One of the historical inaccuracies Dan Snow refers to is that the first waves at Omaha Beach were carried by British LCAs, with Royal Navy crews. The LCAs were better armoured than the American boats.
fun fact, around 30:06 in the video you can see how the film suddenly cuts to a title card accompanied with silence. This choice was meant to exhibit just how quickly a solider could die in no man’s land, and it is speculated that Heinrich died right as the title card appeared
I could honestly just sit and listen to Dan Snow describe things for hours. He makes it so interesting and involving, and his voice is fantastic.
Agreed.
And also his Dad was very infectious with history detail also,to watch the pair together deliberate and dissect history is brilliant 👍🏻
My mother in law lost her fiancé on D Day. She was truly devastated. Harry was 20. She eventually met her future husband and they had a long and happy marriage . But he was never forgotten in the family. When ever the anniversary of D Day arrives I think of the loss of so many young men.
My grandfather and all 5 of his brothers fought in WW2, 2 in the pacific 4 in Europe, all were part of D-Day landing. My great uncle Mike, like a grandfather to me, said there were body parts everywhere, the water was red with blood. He went to drag a guy from the water to shore that was wounded, once he got him to shore he saw the guy was blow in half from ribs down, the water was keeping the organs in place. Once the water pressure wasn't there they all came(sp) out. He was wounded twice, last time from friendly fire when a spitfire rolled into his howitzer position and strafed them. He and his brothers all made it to Berlin, and all were wounded at least once. They all had PTSD, we just never knew it. They just called it nightmares.
Wow.
That's a good zogbot
thank you from belgium
The ones who ended up in Berlin were part of the occupation after the Soviet taking of the city and even more to the west. I was unaware until MARK FELTON uploads how critical a role the Canadians played in keeping the Red Army out of Denmark. And I was and am a pretty well informed on 20th Century Canadians at war. Thanks to Mark Felton's wonderful short and incisive video essays here on KZhead.
To have it called them nightmares, seems that they may have tried shrugging it off a long time. Thanks for their service BTW.. Much love from Philippines
The craziest part of the D-Day scene in Saving Private Ryan is that, for as terrible as it is on screen, it was so much harder in real life. The beaches were larger with less cover, the cliffs steeper, and the 20 minutes between landing and clearing the bunkers in the movie was more like several hours in the real battle. Within a day, the U.S. troops suffered 5,000-6,000 casualties and had only gained 1.6miles of ground inland.
And it was considered a massive success
@@LearnedSophistry because ultimately it was, the process was horrific though.
@@LearnedSophistry without it there would not been a France liberation
@@CapCody Not true but then France & all of Germany would have been part of the soviet Comintern/ Eastern Bloc. ;-)
@@kleinerprinz99 well, in a way, kind of. As after dday, the Allies could push their way to France, and most importantly Germany.
I'm surprised he didn't know that the soldiers used to use the digging tool as a weapon. I had to watch the older version of All quiet on the western front in ninth grade, and one of the scenes I remember most is the one where the older soldier tells the younger soldiers to never use their knives but to use the shovels instead.
Yeah, he is obviously a "Expert"! 🤣🤣🤣
It sounded like he was saying he didn't expect that character to immediately use it to stab someone more than he was saying he never thought it was or could be a weapon.
E tools are wonderful things!
i could listen to this man for hours upon hours, such charisma, such knowledge and eloquence!
My grandad was at Dunkirk, sword beach / grand bunker and Pegasus bridge, and rarely spoke of the war until the end of his life. He did watch this film and he was right back there. I sometimes wonder if he was so quiet because of the PTSD suffered. It's a generation that we will never get back and can never thank enough. Miss you grandad.
My Grandpa was in the Navy in the Pacific in WWII and he refused to eat Asian food and basically hated all Asians due to serving there
Somebody is full of shit here. Pegasus Bridge- at 0016 on the 6/6/1944, 181 men of the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry drop by parachute and capture a bridge over the Caen Canal. Sword Beach- at 0725 on the 6/6/1944 the first units of the 13th/18th Hussars approach the beach in DD sherman tanks. He could not have been in two places on the same day. He probably served his time in the Catering Corp and made it up, or you made it up. It is bullshit either way.
@@wyattgeorge5124 believable as every word a politician spits out
So your grandad fought with the airborne at Pegasus Bridge on the night of 5.6.44, then landed on the beaches with infantry on the morning of 6.6.44 and then fought all the way up the coast to the Grand Bunker by 9.6.44, rather than fighting inland? I'd be very interested in hearing more about his exploits.
@@sf8180 I know he was in the royal artillery. I don't think he went into the grand bunker but landed near it I think. I don't have any details about individual battles and what I know is passed on by my uncle so there may be inaccuracies. I just know he had a bloody hard time of it. He stayed in the army and was also sent to Palestine after the war where the Jews were less than welcoming.
When I went to see this at the cinema I saw two old men walk in and sit down front, both in black blazers, both with ribbons attached, both wearing black beret with their unit badge attached. About ten minutes into the film during this landing sequence one of them broke down into tears, his friend leading him out of the theatre. To this day I have never had such an impactful thing happen to me watching a movie, it changed my entire view of the film.
Same thing happened to me when I watched the movie in Auckland (NZ) - a number of older vets were in the cinema and they had all left before the end of the landing scene. It was a modern cinema with loud surround sound and such a powerful / emotive sequence visually and audibly.
My grandfather had to leave the theater during Saving Private Ryan. He said that he started... "smelling things." Napalm, the sea, blood, oil, smoke. And once he realized what was going on, he had to leave and I don't blame him. War is hell, man.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
@@GoodAvatar-ut5pq Yes, one thing that most don't realize about war when watching movies is the smell. Especially the smell of gasoline / napalm.
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW2 era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW2 history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
I always thought it was such a powerful scene in Cold Mountain with that Crater at the Battle of Petersburg, particularly the standoff between the Native American Confederate soldier and the African American Union Soldier. Both representing struggling entities during that timeframe in the Continental U.S. A nod to the Director for creating that addition to the film. Underrated movie, too IMO.
I never knew how the trenches came about in the First World War ( thought they were all part of the great strategy of the Generals in charge) and when you say it was from soldiers initially digging down to get some cover and then one joining up with another , that makes so much sense and really is quite indictive of the sheer ferocity of the firepower that all these poor guys were trying to save themselves from .
Modern trenches were a staple as far back as the American Civil War. Even longer ago they were common in siege warfare. His explanation is only partly true.
The only time you would dig extensive trench networks is you plan being there a long time! Joining small trench networks together over time when you are bogged down is much more believable!
The trenches at Beaumont Hamel in Northern France are preserved as a museum. The German and Allied trenches were barely 50 yards apart. Over a ton of ammo, grenades, shell cases etc are dug up by farmers every year even after a century. The whole of Northern France and Belgium is a giant cemetery. There’s a monument near the Albert sector to over 380,000 men whose remains were never found. They were vaporised by artillery, squashed flat by tanks or blown apart by mines and grenades. There’s nothing glamorous about total war.
The First World War was an artillery or as John Keegan calls it “a gunners’ war.” The trenches were necessary to provide cover from the guns. The Germans constructed to consolidate their gains when their offensive stalled at the Battle of the Marne. They held most of the high ground. The Allies were forced to dig in because they were running low on ammunition. The result was a war of attrition, in which there was little change in the front lines until late in the war, & one which Germany inevitably couldn’t win as it had more limited resources to draw upon, especially given the blockade the Royal Navy imposed on the continent.
@@paulorchard7960 Riflemen in trenches was the standard way of fighting, from before the beginning of WW1. That's why they carried entrenching tools. It didn't just 'happen'. They did however get much deeper and more complex as they learned - and battles got more static.
I attended a screening of Saving Private Ryan - a matinee - and it just so happened that the theater was filled (not fully) with a substantial number of WWII vets and their families. The audible gasps and tears from the opening of the movie and the somber demeanors of everyone once the lights came on was an experience I'll never forget. Something similar happened during the movie Pearl Harbor, but to a lesser degree. However, the actual Japanese raid on PH was, as far as I could tell, borderline traumatic to watch for the vets in attendance. Another stunning piece of work from History Hit, per usual.
29:58 In the book, i don't remember exactly where, Paul explains that the Trench spade is better than the bayonet for close quarters combat because its better for quicker, stronger strikes, and sometimes the bayonet will get stuck. So this is historically acurate.
Thank you. Fascinating as per usual.
I'm always impressed by the horses. They must be extremely well trained to do these scenes.
Yeah, even blank artillery and all those people screaming would be enough to make most horses nope right out of there.
The real hero’s of the film
I wonder how many horses were injured in the shooting, especially the one who did a forward somersault. The other thing about the horses. They would have been prime targets by the Scotts. Of course, showing men killing men is ok, but couldn't show horses being killed.
Or the care of the horses is ignored. 😢
9 million horses died in WW1
I feel it is worth mentioning the sound effects in Private Ryan. Those ricochets really convey the kinetik impacts of bullets. It really stuck with me and gave a sense of the leathality all around the troops. I only learned that they (deservedly) won an Oscar for it long time after.
I agree, the ricochets off the beach obstacles makes one realize that the Germans are trying their darnest to kill the men assaulting, because they know it really is life or death, if I don't kill them, they will kill me.
Sounded real.
pretty sure they used the same noises in medal of honor
Wasn't it Skywalker Sound who was in charge of mixing?
I love how you explain everything and put it into historical accuracy. My great uncle started that he couldn’t watch saving private Ryan because the landing on D day was so accurate. He landed in the second wave at Omaha
Outstanding video and commentary! Well done Sir.
Dan's excitement is so infectious it makes me want to go study history!
You won't regret it! Even as a hobby it's very fulfilling, and experts are happy to line you up with the right sources.
It's a great hobby but - there's no money in it. .
It makes me want to puke.
@@modelrailwaynoob What? Why?...
Great hobby! I love learning the history of the world
I love how Dan Snow is so humbled and sad for the loss of human life. - and he reminds us so well that it was tragic and terrifying for everyone involved, no matter which side they were on. He's such a great narrator!
I had family at the Battle of the Crater (Union) and at D-Day. Great to see Dan's analysis of both.
0:39 Alexander (2004) 7:13 Outlaw King (2018) 15:28 The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 22:00 Cold Mountain (2003) 27:33 All Quiet On The Western Front (2022) 35:00 Saving Private Ryan (1998
The 2022 all quiet on the western front didn't have as much suffering or something to that effect, unlike the original witch was a bit more brutal.
@@thetexan1011 when was the original film released?
@@MentalMickey999 1930. A second movie was released in 1979
@@MentalMickey999 the 1920's i believe Edit, googled it, it was a book in 1929 and a movie in 1930
All Quiet 1930 was far better. Lots of the cast fought in WW1.
Fun fact about All Quiet on the Western Front, the original movie made back in the 1930s many actors were actually veterans of WW1 And when it first aired in theaters, it was banned in some places, most common reason was either "This movie is too anti-german" or "This movie is too pro-german" depending of the country Edit: tried to fix some grammar mistakes
Interesting, I didn't even know there was a movie about it. Only read the book. Maybe I should watch it.
@@HippieInHeart I think there are 3 different versions; from the 30s, 70s and the recent one.
@@paigetomkinson1137 Yes, I have heard that too, in a different video. Also the guy in the other video said that the newest one isn't really an adaptation of the book because very many major plot points are missing, but it is rather a very loose interpretation of the book. Still good though, according to him. The only really bad mistake that he pointed out is that, *towards the end of the movie* (this indicates a *spoiler* btw), the germans are depicted as being aggressive and launching attacks right up until the end while in reality the germans were utterly beaten and it was the allies who kept launching attacks until the very last minute before the armistice went into effect.
@@HippieInHeart Thank you for the information! I will be watching the one from the 1970s, it's free here on KZhead.
Why put in the comment that you fixed grammar? What's the point?
My history teacher in 11th grade showed us the beginning scene of Saving Private Ryan, then turned it off and continued the lesson. I've always been incredibly squeamish, and sensitive to others pain. I cried the rest of the day. That class also showed us almost all of Band of Brothers and the hour long Nazi Concentration Camps film. It was a very traumatic experience. I'm grateful for it... but I was 16 and coming from an abusive household, I struggled to handle all of that. Its difficult to cope with for any human with a slice of compassion. Wish we had better counseling. Instead, the teacher would end the lesson and say, "Have a good day."
Idgaf
Hopefully you didn't sue your school district.
My father has Jewish blood. He was shown that horror in Temple school while very young. He went crazy for months. He couldn’t clean his room because of the “clean german” stereotype. He told me that he would spend hours trying to make the blind strings asymmetrical. The way that this is taught needs to be changed to suite different psychological groups.
@@sebastiangoodbody8219 Just don't bitch later in life when you discover that nobody gives a fu** about you...
Teachers shouldn't be showing those scenes in school.
Honestly you should review the original All Quiet. Despite how old it is, most of the actors on the set were veterans and most scenes came from their personal experiences.
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW2 era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW2 history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
Actually this is just not true. Most actors were not of age to serve and those that did never left the United States during the war.
@@wintersnoob the original was filmed in 1930, and used German war vets as advisers and extras.
@@wintersnoob I think you need to read the comment again.
For me Master and Commander has some very historically accurate naval battle scenes. The sound design is so impressive, one thing I have never seen in any other movie, is having sound move slower than light, at the start of the movie the French frigate is seen in the distance and you see the flashes of the cannon and then after a delay you hear the sound. It's also the only movie I've seen that has actors of the right age and diversity (as the navy at the time was actually very diverse), it's the only time I've heard mention the standard practice of loading more than one cannon ball in the gun at a time, having the cannons fly backwards when fired and using the correct terminology throughout the movie. Unlike most age of sail films that has all the sails out and has wind coming from multiple directions. Whereas Master and Commander has correctly set sails.
Lesser of two weevils
I'm pretty sure they've covered it on the channel before and were just as complimentary
That's a fantastic movie. There have always been talks of follow-up movies, but unfortunately nothing yet :(
@@GIR9595 They were, it was also Dan Snow in fact.
Master and Commander is a masterpiece. I can't think of a single period movie that does a better job with immersion. It really feels like a window back in time. On top of the top notch score, sound design, special FX, casting, and performances, the script itself is fantastic. The heartwarming friendship between Jack and Stephen being the emotional center of the film really sells the whole thing for me. The supporting characters feel authentic and appropriately crusty. Even the super young kid does a fantastic job with his performance. This is one of the few films I have no criticisms of. It just works. Love it.
HI Dan , I loved the stuff you've done with your father, This however is on a different level alltogether, A succint explanation of the battles as well as the historical context. Thanks😀
Love the overview and thoughts on each hand-picked famous battle scenes in movies! I'd like to hear your take on 2 other war movies I grew up enjoying as well : The Lost Battalion and Gettysburg. Thanks!
The original All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) had amazingly realistic battle scenes and special effects for its time -- without a single computer in sight.
The original is the better movie. People still knew then how the first world war had been. Now it's just information off documents. Mendez' 1917 is special because he
@The Paradox Destroyer Not particularly. The book and the original film does exactly what was intended.
@@juttamaier2111the 1979 film is the best one imo because it uses the 1930 movie as a really good reference while making a story with characters you will remember long after watching the film
I thought the scene with all the computers in the new one was weird too.
The 1930 version is a bit old in my view. Sound is busted, too, from old age (at least in the version I watched, a few weeks ago). For me the prime version is the 1979 one. Cinematography, realism and faithfulness to source material are exceptional. The 2022 version is utter crap. It is like generation ADHD watched the old movies, yelled "boring" at the story parts and made a compilation of the "fun" and "interesting" parts. I was seriously let-down and considered walking out of the theatre mid-movie. For reference, I study military history for 30 years as a hobby, focus on WW1 and WW2.
You can just tell that Dan is so passionate about history. He's such a knowledgeable historian, and I found his commentary absolutely fascinating.
Very well done, sir. Thank you 😊
A security guard, where I worked, was at Omaha beach. He said that "Saving Private Ryan" invasion scenes were the most accurate he had ever seen. Only two things that did not come across was that visibility was very limited due to the smoke from cordite and he was glad that he could not get smell from the screen, even though he remembered it vividly. My father was at Utah beach, running a landing craft and made many trips from ship to shore. Had three landing craft shot out from under him and his crew.
How old is your father?
@@dude9318 Lost my dad in 1980 in a wreck. Semi ran a red light. He always said he was living on borrowed time. He was in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy.
To answer your question; he was born in 1917.
@@russelrogers2540 Sorry to here about your loss
@@russelrogers2540 alright i see
I think it'd be the fucking coolest thing ever to walk through a military history museum with Dan Snow. Having him explaining and telling stories.. would be dope 🤙😎
Actually might not be so fucking cool. I went to a museum in Dunkirk France when I was younger and it was a solemn and difficult experience for me. The French people treated me respectfully too. I will never forget what I saw and felt there.
I've had the pleasure of that exact experience. My history teacher was the wife of another historian who regularly made documentaries for UK's Channel 5, as well as being a chief researcher for Dan Snow and his father, Peter. We went on a 7 day trip to Normandy, spending 1 day at each Beach, and Dan came to be our guide whilst at Gold Beach as he was in the area for filming. He was honestly amazing, and so patient dealing with 30 or so 14 year old history geeks
This was very well done, Dan. Sometime in the future, I'd like to see you review some of the battles in Vietnam. I served there from 1968-69, and I left for home ... badly wounded and deaf ... at Hamburger Hill. About half of my hearing was restored at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. My father wouldn't talk about his experiences in WWII, where he was a tank driver in the 3rd Armored Division.
See if you can find "20th Century Battlefields", which he made with his dad, Peter Snow. Episode 5 covered part of Vietnam. Search KZhead for "20th century battlefields vietnam"
I hadn't heard of Outlaw King until l'd watched another video of movie reviews from this channel. Besides the historical inaccuracies such as Edward Il not representing the English at the battle, l found the movie after getting hold of it and it was rivetting. A fantastic depiction and one if the best movies of the medieval period I've seen.
My grandfather turned 23 during the Normandy landings he was on Omaha he served in the 1st infantry division US army from 1941 to 1953 he's 101 now
Tell him Thank you. He's a true Hero ❣️
Tell him thank you so much for what he and his buddies did. We don't even know.
ok
I remember watching Saving Private Ryan 25 years ago and suddenly realizing the obvious, that every war movie I'd ever seen before had lied about something very important. After introducing a character, if that character is killed in battle, it's always heroic, their sacrifice being critical to the success of the mission. That Omaha Beach scene opened my eyes to the fact that in actual war, most of the people who die do so for no "reason" other than being there in greater numbers gives a better chance for victory. Their role was to use up the enemy's ammunition. My grandmother used to call it "gun fodder." Ever since watching the movie, I've thanked every WWII vet I've met and asked them for their stories. Invariably fascinating, no matter what their roles were. They made the world I grew up in and continue to live in possible.
I heard a story of a WW1 soldier who said that when they first went to battle, they knew they would survive because they were the hero in their story. Then after a few days, they KNEW there was a chance they would survive as long as they trained and prepared and made better decisions than everyone else. Later they came to the realization that they were already dead. War doesn't care who you are or how well you prepared. Hearing that completely changed my perspective of war, just like you described.
@@stifflered precisely. A bullet doesn't care where you're from, what religion you follow, who you voted for, or what your job it. If you're on its path, you die. Your skills help you accomplish the mission. They don't guarantee you come back from it.
@@stiffleredthat’s from a show bro stop capping
@@brandonellis5614 shows are also stories. I don't know where I heard it or if it's true, I just said I heard a story. Shows and stories can also reference real life quotes without giving credit. No cap
They gave half of Europe to communism and created a degenerate modern world.
My uncle tried to describe to me what happened to him that day but there was no way to truly understand. Years later I saw this movie long after his death. I saw vividly what he had described and for twenty minutes, just sobbed for my uncle.
Which one? Saving Private Ryan?
Yep@@AlphaChinoz
@@mikedbarkerhotmail thanks for sharing, sadly almost all these veterans are gone by now, I'd love to meet them. I'm quite young, and it was just a few years ago that I realized that there still are people alive, to this day, who were part of arguably the biggest historical event in human history! It's quite sobering to think about...
You are an excellent narrator. Thank You!
I really like that he chose these scenes to talk about unlike some other 'historian reacts to war movies' videos where they are presented with scenes and have to react off the cuff. Dan's podcast is great too.
It is VERY common for this genre of content to feature a speaker that has either not been presented context or doesn’t grasp the very idea of fiction and contextual presentation… and I have gotten fucking tired of it. So yes it was fantastic to see a video of this nature
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW2 era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW2 history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
All Quiet is a terrifying movie. The way that cheer turns to terror so quickly is truly chilling. I don’t know if it’s an enjoyable movie, but it certainly is important
I would say it's enjoyable in a different way.
Totally agree. It’s a tough watch. It just doesn’t let you go
Fantastic video. Many thanks. Love this channel.
Fantastic video as always thank you.
I love Dan for how he dissects these scenes. No hatred for the inaccuracies, just an explanation about how they’re forgivable when you look at the big picture. His style and his way of looking at history is most definitely the biggest reason I chose to sub to the actual History Hit service.
Great video. I love “The Siege at Jadotville” for it’s portrayal of desperate kinetic defensive fighting. Well acted too.
Opening scene in saving private private Ryan is my all time favourite. Truly depicts how awful war is.
Im so glad all quiet (2022) is getting recognition. Its amazing with its visuals and writing. I cried 4 different times I was so invested
I think it may just be more traumatizing than Saving Private Ryan. There's something about the way you get sucked in and immersed in the movie that makes it feel 100% real, only to watch people burn alive. Get squished by tanks. Blown to bits. You name it. Truly horrifying in the best way possible.
what is the new film like compared to the older 2?
I rate it as the best in this list. Powerful film.
My great-grandfather was at the battle of Verdun in WW1. He always wanted to get back there, but when my mother was old enough to go with him, he did not want to go anymore. He lost his brother there, we still have a document honoring both of them as heroes of the Kaiserreich, he frankly never gave a f' about it, neither his iron cross, that has never been able to bring back his brother that was sacrificed for the Kaiser's madness. He himself was wounded and woke up in a field hospital with amnesia, not knowing who he was anymore. His wife found him miraculously after a long search and helped him recover. I always wanted to tell this story because it is just so cliché dramatic, but true indeed. My great-grandfather's name was Michael and my brother still carries his name to remember us about him. Both of us never met him even though he got quite old, but I sometimes think of him when my mother prays for us that we shall never experience a war, so we shall not lose in us what her grandfather's eyes had told her that he lost in Verdun. Side note: my grandfather frankly never got to take part in WW2, as a farmer he was to important for the Nazis at the home front. We still have that apple farm and I am planning to restore it. (Just to say one positive thing at last.)
You hear so few first hand accounts of WW1 soldiers, and even less from the Deutsche. Thanks for sharing that, it was very interesting to read and I'm sorry for your families loss.
@@jackburton9214 Thank you
Why madness of the kaiser ? Wilhelm tried to prevent ww1
@@generalfeldmarschall3781 By Supporting Austrian war mongering ?
He was only happy to go to France when he wasn’t a good guest I supposed.
This was amazing. Quality 🔥
I love this guy's passion and way of speaking.
The spade (better: folding spade, "Klappspaten") was an important tool in the trenches of the battlefields in WW 1, and not just for digging. Because of the narrowness of the trenches, it became the main weapon in hand-to-hand combat. But also in assault attacks, because it was easier to handle than the bayonet on the empty Mauser 98 rifle. If I remember correctly, Remarque himself describes in his book "All Quiet on the Western Front" the fact that in close combat it was difficult and time-consuming to pull the bayonet out of the opponent's muscular torso. Especially when other soldiers continued to attack. Some soldiers even sharpened their spades. There even was a very old-faishoned saying in the German language used by very old people or those who were brought up by them, to give a warning if there is trouble soon, "Hier tanzt gleich der Klappspaten!" which means: "The folding spade is about to dance here soon!"
The Spetsnaz to this day train with sharpened spades for CQB (Close Quarters Battle.) They even train to use it as an oversized throwing knife...
@@guhalakshmiratan5566 shame they're getting whooped
Have you seen the movie Saving Ryan's Privates? It's the true WW2 era story about how Ryan, a soldier storming the beach in Normandy, had his privates blown off, and tried to save them but was unable to reattach his pee pee so he became the first tranny marine in WW2 history. Semper Fi, my nigga!
@@adamantiumrage a shame? No, not really. They deserve to get destroyed & they’re getting exactly that: what they deserve.
The entrenching tool that the English and commonwealth forces used was also a pretty handy close quarter weapon. I've read a diary of a Australian officer at lone pine in Gallipoli who was saved by a corporal using one to kill 7 Turks in quick succession.
I really liked how the ambush scene in Mohicans developed slowly, organically, and then into a melee.
It truly is a masterful example of suspense and escalation.
One of my favorite movies, I've always marveled at how that scene really conveys the feelings that must have been experienced by people of that era, of the terror of ambush out in the middle of nowhere, from eerie quiet to chaos.
Agreed! Floored me the first time I saw it. Michael Mann really has a talent for this. The film he did after this one, _Heat_, builds the tension up exquisitely during the bank heist, until, just when they think they've pulled it off, Val Kilmer's character spots the cops and unhesitatingly opens fire, starting a crazy ass gunfight in downtown L.A. Great filmmaking!
@@geschickt and Kilmer's reload technique was so good that supposedly they showed it as training to troops.
@@bennyc409 Yeah, I read that too!
Absolutely great!
Such a big fan of Dan and his work. He deserves to be on the honours list
My uncle Richard (my namesake) was wounded and later succumbed to his injuries on Omaha Beach: he was just 19 years old. Accordingly, this opening scene has always held special (and dreadful) importance for me. Thank you for this sensitive and insightful breakdown of an important moment in military (and indeed, world) history.
Your comment at 20:22 about the score is bang-on. There’s an entire generation of classical musicians who spent their childhoods and teenage years grokking the Last of the Mohicans score. What Trevor Jones did with that score, combining Gaelic themes and harmonies with early music techniques (which of course owes a lot to the Doug MacLean song he used) was kind of the first exposure a lot of us had to anything that wasn’t straight-up Romantic Tradition in film scoring. Remains one of my all-time favorite movies, and the score is a huge part of that.
The Bruce splitting his axe on de Bohun's head is like something out of a movie.
I visited Normandy in 2018 and I was amazed to see rusty artillery shells standing by the side of the road. The farmers are still ploughing them up, and they place them there for collection. Astonishing.
I saw the same in the Verdun area.
I took my then teenaged son to see Saving Private Ryan at the movies, to show him what his grandfather and uncles went through. There were few dry eyes in the theater when it was over, my son included. We talked about it for days afterwards.
It's a movie I'll never forget. It made me see war as the true horror it is for the first time
10 minutes was great and rest was Hollywood bs
My grandfather dropped me off at the theater to see it when I was a teenager. I almost threw up.
i have seen the movie many times but at the end when captain miller dies i have to shed a tear too. And i am 56.
@@gerbrand8132 I dont get through it dry eyed
What I love about Dans analysis of Saving Private Ryan especially is he can with his history cap on point out the minor inaccuracies, while overall saying meh it’s forgivable because generally it’s one of the greatest examples of what warfare was truly like ever put to camera
First time watching your videos. Great!!
All Quiet on the Western Front really got me crying, depicts in a beautiful and awesome way all that is wrong with war and with people that crave it. Awesome movie and also awesome book.
38:09 YES! absolutely correct!! I was watching at a theater with very few people, and an old gentleman sitting behind me started sobbing halfway through the scene! Now after hearing his commentary 25 years later, I finally can grasp the sadness of that gentleman ......