Top 10 War Related 'comedic' Satires (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gatie]

SYLLABICATION: sat·ire
PRONUNCIATION: AUDIO: str KEY
NOUN: 1a. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. b. The branch of literature constituting such works. See synonyms at caricature.
2. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity

Given the era in which 'Kelly's Heroes' was made (1970), the obvious irony of Sutherland's 1944 hippie and the Capt's warnings about looting as he measures a sailboat for the belly of a B17, the sarcasm of Don Rickle's (talk about typecasting) caustic comments on war (Constant whining, "I'm gonna get a rupture carrying this thing", when he only left his easy supply post for the gold) and the general wit of depicting a bunch of American "Heroes" as simple greedy thieves, not liberators or even heroes and then the audacity of making you like them and even cheer them on - I think this is the height of satire.

Given the backdrop of the Vietnam war (treading lightly), much like MASH broke war down to it's lowest denominator - death, 'Kelly's Heroes' attempted to satirize war by breaking it down to what some criticize war is really all about - Money. But it did it lightly, was not as preachy as MASH and made it fun and enjoyable. But under all the funny antics, a definite message about the folly, vice and stupidity of war was there. You (the viewer) just don't see it because you LIKE these guys!

Either that or I'm full of sh*t, YMMV!

Author's note - I don't necessarily agree with this message and the movie is one of my favorites with (in spite of??) this message. MOF, the movie can be thoroughly enjoyed without ever seeing, hearing or acknowledging the message, but I still say it is there.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Nice list and a fine idea, Nils. Some random comments:

Catch 22 is I think, a noble, but failed effort. While I admire some of the film, in the end I think that Nichols probably proved that the Heller’s book is really unfilmable.

I second The Americanization of Emily and Oh! What a Lovely War. For some reason it seems somewhat unknown in the States.

While it is not a satire on war, exactly, Jean Renior’s Grand Illusion (the inspiration of Stalag 17 both very funny and poignant.

I tried diligently to think of a satire of Vietnam, and the best I could do was The Green Berets. I don't really consider Good Morning, Vietnam a satire.

 

[Lyle_JP]

Can a list like this truly be complete without mentioning South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut? Especially with Wynona Rider's "Ping Pong" trick at the U.S.O. show?

-Lyle J.P.

 

[CaptDS9E]

I second South Park the movie. Ultimate satire of war and its even relavant to current events

capt

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

As 'Oh! What a Lovely War' has gotten two distinct heads up and from what I can tell also meets the criteria of the list, I'll go ahead and add it.

I'll have to admit that I have never seen 'South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut', but reading the reviews and the strong nominations on this thread, I guess at the very least it should go near the top of the honorable mentions list?

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Any other nominations before we start voting for our favorites?

 

[Eric Berger]

La Grande Vadrouille

Aka: Don't Look Now - We're Being Shot at; Don't Look Now, We've Been Shot at; The Big Runaround

Perhaps the most widely publicly acclaimed movie ever by French audiences. It certainly belongs on your list.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Come on guys. Am I the only one who thinks that 'Blimp' is a comedy and satirical? And very, very funny?

 

[Jim J]

Stripes?

 

[Stephen Heath]

I was just wondering why noone had mentioned Stripes... must be our age group, it's all older or newer movies =p

 

[george kaplan]

I guess I skipped Stripes because it's more of a military satire than a war satire. But it's all fuzzy, and I certainly have no problem including it.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

You guy's disappoint me, a thread like this and not one mention of only the single greatest war satire ever made! I'm speaking of course of Top Secret!

 

[Eric F]

The Man Who Would be King. Brilliant movie making here.

You could say this is an adventure film, but the social commentary isn't hard to miss. Pretty close to the book.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

King Rat

I have only caught this a couple of times on TV, but it is a powerful if not obscure entry into the war satire venue.

Probably the best performance by George Segal who got lost in a lot of light comedy roles during his careet.

A thought provoking story by James Clavell deserves a wider viewing.

British and Americans are in a Japanese POW camp. The British (social and military) and American military class sturcture is turned upside down by Segal's character Corporal King (King Rat) who thrives with his free enterprise hustler survival strategy.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Stripes belongs to a long and honorable line of service comedies, but it isn't a satire per se, much less a satire about war. Duck Soup, which isn't a service comedy, is a satire about war.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'll try and update the list on Monday.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Sorry for the long delay in updating the list.

Let me know if the ranks need adjusting, or if there are some that need to be added or removed.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

I just saw a promo for this film on Bravo:

Link Removed[/url]
Link Removed

From what I could tell it looks very much like it should be added to the Honorable Mentions List. Anyone here ever seen this film?

 

[Greg_M]

OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR - never released on Home Video - ever!

Mister Roberts
Stripes
Private Benjamin
Opperation Petticoat (submarine)
Kelly's Heros
Catch 22
To Be or Not to Be
and of course the very best of the bunch: Dr. Stranglelove

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Exciting news folks! Columbia/TriStar just announced that they will be releasing Link Removed on DVD this July!




No word yet on what, if any, special features it might have.