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Kellys Heroes (1970)
The Soldier: Private Kelly
Up Against: Germans... and gold.
The Awesome: Kelly may be at war, but he’s so tough that he’ll divert his attentions to a bit of bank robbery if it means he comes out a few gold bars heavier at the end of it all. Tough as nails and strictly no-nonsense, Kelly’s a slippery, cunning opportunist. Oh, and it helps that he was played by Clint Eastwood.
The Great Escape (1963)
The Soldier: Captain Virgil Hilts
Up Against: The Germans, under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel von Luge.
The Awesome: Also known as ‘The Cooler King’, Hilts is a genius when it comes to dreaming up escape strategies. Which is handy, considering he’s been banged up in a prisoner of war camp. Hilts is nothing if not determined, and masterminds a stream of genius jail break attempts.
The Messenger (2009)
The Soldier: Captain Tony Stone
Up Against: Small town prejudice and his own demons.
The Awesome: On the surface, Tony’s exactly what we expect/want a soldier to be. Hardened exterior, sharp talker, no frills. Which makes him perfect for the job of telling family members that their loved ones have died in Afghanistan. But chip under the surface, and Tony’s really a seething mass of anxiety, self-hatred and regret.
The Hurt Locker (2008)
The Soldier: Sergeant First Class William James
Up Against: Inhabitants of Iraq.
The Awesome: James has seen war. He’s lived through it, and he’s still going. Which takes a certain strength of character. He may be considered reckless by some for his maverick approach to battle tactics, but James knows that’s exactly what it takes to get the job done. Cheers to that.
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Soldiers: All 12 of the death row soldiers.
Up Against: Wehrmacht officers who are stationed in Brittany.
The Awesome: They’re basically The A-Team before The A-Team existed. All on death row for various offences, these guys head off to Brittany for a top secret mission that could result in their deaths. Instead, they kick ass. Majorly.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The Soldier: Lt. Aldo Raine
Up Against: Filthy Nazis.
The Awesome: Lt. Raine has the dubious honour of heading up an elite team of Jewish-American ‘Basterds’ whose job it is to take down the Nazis one scalp at a time. A drawling, mischievous, macho Yank, Raine is as gung-ho as they come, and not without his own brand of humour. Also, we love his neck scar.
The Four Feathers (1939)
The Soldier: Harry Faversham
Up Against: The Sudanese, as well as his former comrades.
The Awesome: After refusing to participate in a revenge assault for a fallen comrade, Faversham decides to make amends by heading to Egypt and posing as a mute native. There, he secretly helps his comrades when they get into tight spots, and emerges a hero.
Atonement (2007)
The Soldier: Robbie Turner
Up Against: The Nazis... again.
The Awesome: It all comes down to that one scene on the beaches of Dunkirk, where Turner wanders through the supposed safe haven where soldiers are dying, horses are being shot and the place has all the charm of a morgue. A truly tragic figure, Turner’s a good guy trying to do right, but caught up in horrible circumstances.
The Hill (1965)
The Soldier: Joe Roberts
Up Against: The purveyors of a British Army ‘glasshouse’, where insubordinate soldiers are sent for punishment.
The Awesome: Despite enduring ridiculous levels of physical torture (running up and down a hill with a sandbag being the main one), Roberts retains his humour. Fiery, angry and very vocal, Roberts is a man’s man, no two ways about it.
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The Soldier: General Clive Candy
Up Against: Residents of Boer in the Boer War, and the Germans in World Wars I and II.
The Awesome: As an older man, Candy is bit of an old fart, but when he was younger he was an idealistic dreamer who struggled to reconcile his military duty with the idea of destructive war. An intriguing portrait of how a man becomes who he’s going to end up being.
