Amazon’s currently (as of 5/24/16) running a Memorial Day sale on military films. From the bloody battle for Iwo Jima to the ‘Nam, these films bring the heroism and sacrifice of the men and women in uniform to vivid life.
Flags of Our Fathers (R, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD, $7.99 to own in SD; not available in HD)
In 1945, the Marines attack twelve thousand Japanese protecting the twenty square kilometers of the sacred Iwo Jima island in a very violent battle.
When they reach the Mount Suribachi and six Marines raise their flag on the top, the picture becomes a symbol in a post- Great Depression America.
The government brings the three survivors to America to raise funds for war, bringing hope to desolate people, and making the three men heroes of the war.
However, the traumatized trio has difficulty dealing with the image built by their superiors, sharing the heroism with their mates.
– Written by Claudio Carvalho
We Were Soldiers (R, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to own in SD / $9.99 in HD)
A telling of the 1st Battalion, 7 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Calvary Division’s battle against overwhelming odds in the La Drang valley of Vietnam in 1965.
Seen through the eyes of the battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Hal Moore (played by Mel Gibson), we see him take command of the battalion and its preparations to go into Vietnam.
We also see how the French had, years earlier, been defeated in the same area.
The battle was to be the first major engagement between US and NVA forces in Vietnam and showed the use of helicopters as mobility providers and assault support aircraft.
– Written by grantss
The Last Castle (R, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to own in SD / $9.99 in HD)
When three star General Irwin is transferred to a maximum security military prison, its warden, Colonel Winter, can’t hide his admiration towards the highly decorated and experienced soldier.
Irwin has been stripped of his rank for disobedience in a mission, but not of fame. Colonel Winter, who runs the prison with an iron fist, deeply admires the General, but works with completely different methods in order to keep up discipline.
After a short while, Irwin can feel Winter’s unjust treatment of the inmates. He decides to teach Winter a lesson by taking over command of the facility and thus depriving him of his smug attitude.
When Winter decides to participate in what he still thinks of as a game, it may already be too late to win.
– Written by Julian Reischl
Rules of Engagement (R, 4/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to own in SD / $9.99 in HD)
Colonel Terry Childers is a 30-year Marine veteran: a decorated officer with combat experience in Vietnam, Beirut and Desert Storm. But now, the country he served so well has put him on trial for a rescue mission that went terribly wrong.
For his attorney, he has chosen Marine Colonel Hayes Hodges, a comrade-in-arms who owes his life to Childers. Hodges is not the best lawyer in the service, but Childers trusts him as a brother Marine who knows what it’s like to risk death under fire.
Bound by duty and friendship, Hodges reluctantly takes the case, even as he begins to doubt the man who saved his life in Vietnam three decades ago.
– Written by Anonymous
Hell Is For Heroes (Unrated, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to own in SD / $9.99 in HD)
World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area.
While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position.
Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.
– Written by alfiehitchie
Uncommon Valor (R, 4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $2.99 to rent in SD / $3.99 in HD, $7.99 to own in SD / $9.99 in HD)
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
Led by his father (a retired Marine Colonel) and supported by a rich businessman whose son is also a POW, the group engages in a dangerous and violent adventure trying to rescue the POWs and at the same time re-direct their lives.
– Written by Luis Alvarez
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