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How Do I Make a Good and Realistic War Movie?

© John Lovett

This question was posted at The Hollywood Military Advisor Chat Board [ http://hollywoodnetwork.com/Lovett/chat/... ], Ref 1336: How do I make a good and realistic war movie?

My answer was Ref 1337: Ref 1336--Well, you have asked the $64,000 question. Part of your answer can be found in the articles I have written for Suite101--Military Movies [ http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/mili... ]. Another part of your answer is to read the scripts for and watch war movies of good reputation. A further part of the answer is to read novels written about war. At the core, to make a good and realistic movie, any kind of movie, you need to be honest and have integrity towards the story and characters. Good luck on your movie. JL.

Yeh, I fudged. I admit it. I was tempted to suggest to the questioner that the two issues, good and realistic, were mutually exclusive. One can make a good war film and not have it realistic. Or, one can make a realistic war film and not have it good. Maybe that was just the cynic in me?

Interestingly, this person asked the core question that makes both the chat board and this e-magazine site exist. More specifically, can Hollywood make war films that are good and realistic? The answer to that question can be found by answering these two separate questions "How realistic?" and "How good?"

While watching History and Hollywood on the History Channel over the weekend regarding U-571, one the commentators mentioned that the American submarine used for the movie was a S-Boat manufactured prior to the war. Win one for the good guys. Not having seen the film, I cannot comment on the rest of the historical accuracy's or inaccuracies but with that one big effort the producers did well.

When two ex-submariners, one German the other American, were asked specific historical questions about the movie, they said that this or that could not have been done. Yeh, I guess. However, without this or that being done, you don't have a movie.

A movie such as Saving Private Ryan certainly has its historical and continuity mistakes, but the film can be said to be both well done and realistic. Other war movies, such as 84 CHARLIE MOPIC, could be said to be realistic, but lacked production values.

How good is good? How realistic is realistic? I guess I go back to what I gave as my answer. As a writer/director/producer, you have to be honest to your story and give the viewer something that as real as you can make without compromising the story you want to tell. If the swivel bail hooks on the helmets are not the right design for the period, don't let that stop you from creating a good story.

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