PrintMay 19, 2007
War Films That Get It Right: Two Classics Re-released
It's extremely rare when journalists or national security experts bother to look beyond the main battle areas of Iraq and Afghanistan to the less glamorous, but still critical campaigns necessary for victory in the Global War on Terror. What's even more surprising is when decades-old war movies, now restored and re-released, remind us that we ignore our own southern border and the maelstrom of Africa at our peril. Films so prescient deserve a second look within the context of our present day situation.The Mexico FrontIn 1964, a young director by the name of Sam Peckinpah was given the keys to the equivalent of the cinematic Ferrari. With a then-lavish $4.5 million budget and initial sole creative control over the story, Peckinpah set out to prove his mettle in the movie-making business. Unfortunately, the resulting film Major Dundee was forever known as a "flawed classic;" a movie that appealed to a limited audience of diehard fans...(Read Full Article)
