Saving Private Ryan
Ran
Please add other Action/Drama/War films to this list.
WWII in HD: The Air War http://www.history.com/shows/wwii-in-hd/articles/wwii-in-hd-the-air-war
See entire program on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ3xxAJdeuw
Excellent!
I would add Fighter Squadron (1948) to the list.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040353/combined
It's a sharp contrast to Twelve O'Clock High in its tone. Twelve O'Clock High and most of its lesser clones [Command Decision (1948), The War Lover (1962) and Memphis Belle (1989) to name a few] show the desperation and grimness of the bomber crews of WWII, while Fighter Squadron was much more upbeat with the devil-may-care attitudes of the fighter pilots of that war. That difference in tone was not in accuracy but in the difference between being a bomber crewman and a fighter pilot. I'm a retired Army Armor/Cavalry officer, but I started my military career in the Air Force as an F-4 Phantom Weapons Systems Officer (backseater), so I know a little something about that difference.
The only issue I have with Fighter Squadron is that the eponymous squadron flew P-47 Thunderbolts, while everything they accomplished was in real life accomplished by squadrons equipped with P-51 Mustangs, while the P-51s were painted up with German crosses and swastikas and used to play Messerschmitt Bf-109s. As I say at the end of my own review on the movie, "What this movie did was the equivalent of filming the movie TO HELL AND BACK (in which Audie Murphy, the highest decorated soldier of WWII, actually played himself), but having Audie Murphy played instead by Neville Brand (another WWII veteran-turned-actor who was a highly decorated hero in his own right, but an older, larger and homelier man) and then making the real Audie Murphy play a German!"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040353/reviews-5
Also a good complimentary movie to Twelve O'Clock High is the aforementioned The War Lover. Twelve O'Clock High shows the bomber campaign of WWII from the perspective of the field grade officers and generals, while The War Lover shows it from the perspective of the NCOs and company grade officers.
Well, Tom, The 'Stang did extend the range bombers could be escorted but the 'Thundahboalt' (Sorry I always fondly remember the original Australian narration for Discovery-Wings), started giving the Jagdwaffe a hard time when they extended their range and were allowed by Doolittle (and insubordinate renegades like Zemke & Robert Johnson) to break away from the bomber stream & 'look for trouble'. Indeed these actions forced Germany to draw the majority of it's forces as far East as was practical.
Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?