Genre of the Month - War Movies - page 2

06-10-2008 16:00

Into a new century brought a new breed of military movie as our war on terror was depicted from every angle on the big screen.

Movies like Stop Loss, Lions for Lambs, Redacted and Rendition, that have plagued the cinema over the past eighteen months, have broken with Hollywood tradition, as this is the first time that films have been shot and released while the war, that is taking place in the film, is still being waged.

During the Second World War and Vietnam the films that were produced were for propaganda purpose intended to rally the support of those back home, feature films were released when these conflicts came to an end.

However times are changing and reasons behind why America and Great Britain are at war has caused great unrest and these movies are attempting to tackle and highlight these issues. However Lions for Lambs and Redacted, despite high profile casts and directors have not been met well with cinema goers.

The movie industry has seen a disengagement that the public has with the war and the question 'why did we go to war?' still remains. But in the eyes of those whose confidence in the war effort is slowly ebbing away, or has disappeared altogether, their quintessential question of our time is why did we go to war? And was oil really a major factor?

Since the string of films covering 9/11 it seemed only a matter of time before movies surrounding the war on terror began to emerge. But what are the motives behind the making of these movies? Do they genuinely want to highlight the atrocities that are currently happening in Iraq and Afghanistan therefore igniting a new interest in the war?

Is it propaganda a way to bring the troops home? Or is it just all for personal gain, exploiting a topic that is current, on going and effecting many lives?

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw