War films based on the present day!
When I was growing up, one of the features that introduced me to Modern War films was actually the Call of Duty Modern Warfare series. Now, as much I understand the fact that people today are growing off Call of Duty than they used to be, I've taken note of the number of films that have been reflected by Call of Duty and Battlefield. The point of these popular products is that there meant to be based on activities that actually happen, even to this day.
I personally think that the films I've watched are almost like the popular game franchises that I've played. Their setting, storyline, timeline, and conditions are meant to show the game player/film viewer a feeling of combat. About a group of soldiers that are assigned to a mission in what looks like an alien world that exists on the same planet, they all correspond together like a band of brothers, and soldiers are only human like all of us.
War films have been around since the start of Cinema. For years, classic war films have been the most memorable and remarkable on the screen. Many are so fantastic that they've even been nominated or won Oscars. Others are probably not as remarkable but they're still great because of their entertainment and thrilling. And some are a mixture of being cheesy, corny, and jingoistic that they haven't been everyone's favourite.
Why today?
The real aim of this blog is about Modern War films that have been released, some that are in development, and ideas for how filmmakers could make more.
For this blog, we're going to talk about war films that take place from the 1990s to the present day. I believe that Modern Warfare is an interesting subject to watch on the big screen because most of the films I've seen recently have been based on true events. Several fictional films have caught my attention to entertain me. Also, Modern Warfare films can be based on the experiences of Veterans, Special Forces, or even Mercenaries.
I personally find Modern Warfare more than other settings of previous wars that happened many years ago.
Warfare is changing even as we speak, so I have an interest in how nations tend to counter it as well as talking about the key roles of specific armed forces and their involvement in popular culture. Revolutionary technology like unmanned drones, stealth bombers, cruise missiles, and precision-guided bombs is interesting to know how each of those works, and they would make a battle worth showing on the places like the big screen.
There is also the challenge of resolving issues with Counter-Insurgency, gathering Intelligence, moral beliefs, and ruthless political calculation.
As much as I understand World War 2 as just an interesting topic to make films about. Films like Hacksaw Ridge, Fury, Dunkirk, and Saving Private Ryan I really liked watching the first time, but I'm sure by now that everyone already knows how it's going to end. Most people know about the Second World War already. I grew up hearing about it before I started learning about it when I was in Primary School. I had an idea of what it was about and what films reference it.
And with the Vietnam War... As much I understand that there have been plenty of remarkable films that have been made based on the events. Films like We Were Soldiers, Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, The Dear Hunter, and Apocalypse Now are fantastic. It's just they're based on an event that was a political and social disaster that brought public opinion against warfare and a change in government policy.Some people could find it rather unsettling to see warfare neat & tidy (clean with only a few civilian casualties or none) or the fact that combat changes all of the time with armies taking different strategies. A movie viewer could imagine wars where two opposing armies clash with each other for days on end, but from the 20th century onwards, modern warfare has had a form of combat that's divided into two methods.
1. Asymmetric Warfare: Where a military is involved to make police tactics mixed in with guerilla combat and counter-insurgency. In this engagement, you have a professional standing army fighting against a resistance movement and the military power, strategy and tactics all differ significantly and are involved unconventionally.
2. Conventional Warfare: Where the forces from both sides are well defined and prepare to make a strong defence or scout an enemy's weak spot before a battle. When the fighting starts, there is no use of chemicals, biological or nuclear weapons. Only the use of conventional weapons and battlefield tactics to strike down the opponent's weakness.
In recent days with Ukraine under Russian invasion, it seems that the attention has turned to the western world with Russia and the Kremlin tuning to be the main source of an enemy. I haven't heard anyone give this a title, but I believe that this is turning into a New Cold War. I'm sure most people who read this would believe I'm right on this.
Topics
- Action
- Dramatic
- Political
Films like Green Zone, Body of Lies, and Zero Dark Thirty involve covert operations that are supported by politics. Subjects like politics are particular the main reason why people want to go to war, sometimes even the wrong reason. If a movie director was to write a fictional war film, I think it would be clever if it involved the background which involved the reason of e.g. "taking of finding or killing this target", or "why this presence is an enemy or a friend".
Options for more Modern War films
- Books and Accounts
I think the main resource for finding ideas for writing war films is from published books and biographies. Have you ever looked on the internet and found many war stories that have been written by a journalist or even by people who were in those events.
For example, there's a book that's based on the final mission of a Chinook helicopter "Extortion 17" in Afghanistan. Non-fiction called "Operation Mayhem" which tells the story of 26 elite British Soldiers against 2000 rebels in Sierra Leone in 2000, and book called "Not a Good Day to Die" which is based on the events of Operation Anaconda which is from an Award-winning journalist named Sean Taylor. I would very much want to see a Modern War film based on a SAS operation or one which included Mercenaries.
A new war film doesn't always have to be about uneven odds, it can also be about Covert Operations behind enemy lines or Historical Battles that happened somewhere in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other dangerous foreign countries where NATO countries were involved.
If a true event that a war film is based on is too upsetting for the actual people who were involved or their families, I understand. They probably don't want that to happen because of it. I'm just thinking about a high-budget movie production like Hollywood. If they find the right war story to illustrate, they could make a lot of money for more.
- Fiction
If a director found the idea for a fictional war film and depending on how many people like the sound of it, then it wouldn't be as upsetting or heartbreaking as events that really happened. They could be as dramatic and eventful as they would be in reality, but they could also have a mixture of espionage and faced-paced action together.
Novelization, biography, and journalism guide every stage of creating a dramatic war film. Production gets supported by some successful films.
Great Modern War films...
Comments
Post a Comment