War Cinema: Hollywood on the Front Line

by Guy Westwell

An introduction to and overview of the Hollywood war movie, a linchpin in American cultural imagination. The book considers the history of this genre, one of continuing significance, from All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) to We Were Soldiers (2002). Guy Westwell focuses in particular on representations of the Vietnam War ( Apocalypse Now [1979], Rambo [1985] and Platoon [1986]) and the more recent return to and reexamination of the Second World War ( Saving Private Ryan [1998]).

Genres: Film

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2005

Reviews

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a great exploration on war films throughout the times. Westwell describes film theories and constructs of the war film genre really fluently and a wide range of films are explored. It really makes you think about how historical films can interpret different perspectives and impact your thoughts on an event. I read this for a film & genre course in college and found it pretty helpful.

[Nat]

This does a very good job tracking the changing relationship of war movies to attitudes about American wars: WWII movies made during the war vs during Vietnam (Patton, The Dirty Dozen, Devil's Brigade) and then in the late 90s (Saving Private Ryan), Vietnam movies made during the war (almost none except The Green Berets, which is more of a WWII special mission movie), vs. those in the late 70s (Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now), the Reaganite 80s (Rambo II and other rescue movies, Platoon), and post 9/11 (We Were Soldiers). The overall argument is roughly that American war movies do important ideological work either redescribing previous failures in acceptable terms or picturing WWII righteousness as the model of all combat.