I just finished watching "Hell is for Heroes" on AMC and I gotta say that it is the grittiest war movie I've ever seen.

***   SPOILERS  ***




Things that make it gritty:

Steve McQueen's character, the "hero", is a [b]bad[/b] soldier - he is insubordinate, which ends up costing lives.

The climactic battle is a crude frontal assault on a pillbox...guys are getting mowed down at a horrendous rate.

The movie ends DURING THE FINAL BATTLE.  Once McQueen's character rolls in to the pillbox with the satchel charge, the battle goes on, but the credits roll.

Extensive use of flame throwers.

What other war movie rivals "Hell is for Heroes" for grittiness?

-kill-9

My vote goes for Cross of Iron.

I've never seen this flick on TV.  It is available in some video stores in the foreign films section.  You'll have to rent it or buy it.  But trust me, you'll be entranced.

The film follows a German Army infantry NCO (played by James Coburn) in Russia 1943.  His character, Steiner, is a bitter, cynical old soldier with an almost pathalogical hatred of officers (save one, his new platoon leader).

Steiner fights the Russians, his own commanding officer, and his own demons to a bizzare but apppropriate climax.

Director:  Sam Peckinpaugh (he directed "The Wild Bunch" which should give you an idea of the action sequences).

Other actors:

Maximilian Schell - played General Bittrich in A Bridge Too Far, and also played Tea Leone's father in Deep Impact.  He plays the pompous, self-serving commander of Steiner's company.  He is only concerned with his own glory.

James Mason - screen legend, too many films to list.  He plays Steiner's Regimental Commander.  He tries to keep Steiner out of trouble, but is pushed too far.

David Warner - another screen heavy.  He plays the cynical, disolussioned adjutant for James Mason.  Warner has some of the best lines of the movie.

Spoilers:

Steiner sends a preteen boy to flush out the Russians before they can assault his platoon.

The scene at the bridge when they encounter the Russian Army females.  Hold onto your nuts!

Steiner's platoon is shot up by other Germans, on the orders of his commanding officer.

Real T-34 tanks (the film was shot in Yugoslavia).

The general atmosphere of hopelessness that pervades the Germans.

No holds barred gore.  For a 1970's movie they didn't pull any punches.

Get this movie folks, you won't be disappointed.

Agree that "Cross of Iron" is pretty gritty.  Have owned a copy for years, but the story line is a bit too fantasy like to be real.

"Hamburger Hill" is to my mind just about the "realist" war flick I know. Even more so, I think, than "Saving Private Ryan". Initially panned by almost all the politically correct, anti Viet Nam war, critics, as the years have gone by you're seeing more and more re-reviews beginning to appreciate the reality of this story of a fight during the Viet Nam War by a unit of the 101st Airborne.  I'm told that guys who were there come out of viewing the film in tears.

Haven't seen the new Mel Gibson film on Viet Nam but hear that's a good one too.

You want gritty?  Try "The Siege of Firebase Gloria"  The scene with R. Lee Ermey walking around yelling at the guys while holding up the heads of 2 Marines is pretty far out.  If you're a R. Lee Ermey fan this is a must-have.

Band of Brothers

"When Trumpets Fade"

Thanks SS109!

Cross of Iron.

Or, if you want something with broader scope;

Stalingrad.

Glory.

I can't shake the opening scene, where the soldiers are charging valiantly.  It was like something out of a childhood game, until the lead guy's head exploded from a direct cannonball hit.  Combine that with the misery, disease, and the startling loss of life in the final battle, and Glory get's my nomination.  BTW, it easily ranks among one of the best "war" movies every made.  If you haven't seen it, you're missing a lot.

Oh FUCK!
I just wasted my 1000th post on that.  I was saving it for something [i]really[/i] special, like nude pictures of me and my CAR-15.

I 2nd the vote for Hell is for Heroes. Best Steve McQueen move I've seen. Dark and dirty.

Paths of Glory

I vote for Cross of Iron.  Seeing that movie is one of the earliest, vivd memories I have.  I seem to remember a scene of a dead (or dying) soldier with guts hanging out and the whole nine.  It has stuck with me for over 20 years.  After that I remember breaking one of my mom's teeth with my head when the monster jumped up at the end of Prophecy (the one about mutant bears).

Try this oldy:
"Bataan" 1943......Grim

A group of American's are left behind at a key point on Batann during the retreat to Corrigador.  
Ordered to delay the Japanese as long as possible, they know they have been written off.  They are out of food, ammo, and hope.
EVERYBODY gets killed.

Starring:
Robert Taylor
George Murphy
Thomas Mitchell
Lloyd Nolan
Desi Arnaz

ALSO:

"The Lost Patrol" 1934  Very grim.
 
A dozen British soldiers, lost in a Mesopotamian desert during world war I, are menaced by Arab enemies. One by one, they are picked off by the unseen Arabs.

Victor McLaglen
Boris Karloff

 

Don"t you mean "When Trumpets Fade"?

I love when the cynical coward finds himself in charge.

The dogtags at the end were heartbreaking.

The "Bloody Buckets"

I have the DVD and I may have to watch it tonight.

I think "Das Boot" is very gritty and realistic, while my infantry choice is "Cross Of Iron".

I have heard that nearly all of the actors in Hell is for Heros were World War II vets.  Was  Bob Newhart a WWII vet?

GunLvr

I am suprised to hear so many like Hamburger Hill. I didn't. I had read Safiri's book before I had seen the movie and the movie was just too Hollywood.

Don't they know it doesn't cost anything more to do it right?

Another vote for "Hamburger Hill".


No big budget, no big name actors, no "super realistic" special effects"... just... War...

Im going to say "The Big Red One."  

And "Das Boot"  in the original german with American subtitles.

No joke. Had it not come out right before Saving Private Ryan, it would have freaked everyone out.

The minefield scene alone.

The Director's cut of Apocalypse Now!

Gritty in a dark way...for me anyway.

NOTHING is grittier than "Band of Brothers"!

I hated "Cross of Iron"...Pekinpah loves his slow-motion scenes but to me that slo-mo stuff is just annoying...

I, like faris, LOVE those movies where everyone dies at the end...like "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "The Sand Pebbles"...