War movies are the ultimate in action cinema. Like most males everywhere, I like them … make that, love them. There isn’t a war movie I haven’t seen … dating way, way back to “All Quiet on the Western Front,” one of the earliest “talking” movies.

With rare exception, war films are packed with exciting action sequences … high drama … good guys and bad guys … lots of explosions … even compelling story lines.

Think back to WWII and American film companies made movies that painted our adversaries – the Nazis, the Italians and the Japanese – in the worst possible way. There was a patriotic fervor evident in every one of these films, many of which starred John Wayne who was then at the very height of his popularity.

My favorite war movie, based on fact and featuring an international all-star cast was “The Longest Day,” a film based on a real event – June 6, 1944, the allied invasion of France at Normandy. A long, but interesting film, it is as much documentary as it is entertainment. And, while I also like “Where Eagles Dare,” a purely fictional war film that starred Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood, it is the film based on fact that I truly appreciate.

That is why I enjoy subscribing to a programming provider service. I get – and enjoy – access to well over 200 channels, including The History Channel and The Military Channel. There are no fictional accounts of any war presented on these networks. What viewers are able to see (and that includes me) is documentary coverage of the actual events as they took place more than sixty years ago.

Tune in and you can see the evil Adolf Hitler standing triumphantly in front of the Eiffel Tower shortly after his army had overrun and defeated the French army.  The humiliation felt by ordinary French citizens is clearly etched in their faces as German troops march triumphantly past them down the city’s main boulevard.

Other recent documentaries have chronicled the remarkable bravery of WWII Medal of Honor winners, as related by the men who won the medals, along with actual film footage from the battles in which they participated.

The fact is that Hollywood does a good job of re-creating actual battles … makes them seem exciting and real – and I enjoy those films – but there is nothing that compares to actual footage of a battle as it occurred, shot by a brave and unarmed photographer, either in Europe or in the Pacific.

Fortunately, my programming provider gives me the access I crave – to networks that feed my passion. I’m grateful for that.

By: Frank Bilotta

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