One of The Most Realistic War Movies Ever Made. This Gem Starring Michael Caine Is Praised by A Military Expert
Have you wondered which war movies are among the most realistic? A military expert decided to highlight a 1964 film with Michael Caine.
What makes a war movie described as realistic? And which productions can actually be said to fit into this category? Many reasons can be found, while the titles that fulfill them are rather not necessarily that many. War veteran James D. Dever, who retired from the Marines in the late 1990s and now does consulting work in the entertainment industry, pointed out one particular film that he believes is one of the most realistic. And besides, it's also his favorite.
It's about Zulu, in which we could see Michael Caine, among others. The Cy Endfield-directed work, according to Dever, deserves an honorable mention because of how it takes care of details that may not catch the eye of the average viewer, but will certainly be appreciated by those familiar with the subject.
If you’ve never seen that movie, check it out. You’ll see the formations that fit that time period, the rifles, the way they act. It’s so real, that’s what makes it a good movie – explained for Task & Purpose.
One of my favourite movies [that] I think is very accurate, an old movie but I think is fantastic, is Zulu. [The Battle of] Rorke’s Drift, the way they filmed that was done very well, I love it. It’s one of my favourite movies; I watch it all the time. I look at the accuracy of the weapons, the colour sergeant, the lieutenants; they did a really great job with that movie. You felt you were there and it looks real and that’s what to me is a good movie – revealed in another interview for One Room With A View.
Indeed, details are what can play to a movie's advantage or disadvantage. Besides, Dever himself pointed out how they can hurt productions, accusing modern films of not making many of them care about making the costumes look realistic.
It doesn’t matter what period, it’s the uniforms, and the way they move and act; to me it brings realism. Some of these movies you see now, it looks like they got the wardrobe off the rack and put it on. It doesn’t look dirty, or sweaty, or you feel like they’ve had that uniform on for a while.
And there's something about the fact that even something so seemingly trivial can pull you out of immersion. In this case, you don't have to be an expert to notice that something isn't right when you see a soldier on screen in a clean and fresh uniform, in which, according to the events of the movie, he has already spent some time and should be definitely more worn.
Many films try to make the plot as close as possible to the reality of the events that are depicted. Despite this, some filmmakers lack a certain precision and for some reason cannot take care of the smallest details, such as just the right uniforms, the right weapons or even the way the characters express themselves.
Zulu, however, is an example of how a good war movie can be made, around which the praise and high ratings are not at all surprising. And if you're curious about this production about outnumbered British soldiers fighting Zulu warriors in Rorke's Drift, you can find it on VOD.
