War Films Research & Target Audience

War Films 

Title: Saving Private Ryan 

Director: Steven Spielberg 

Starring: Tom Hanks, Edwards Burns, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore

Music by: John Williams 

Release Date: July 24 1998 

Budget $70 million 

Box Office: $481,840,909

Saving Private Ryan was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 5 including best director Steven Spielberg. The film is set in WW2 and is set on June 6 1944 D-day. Personally I enjoyed the film, you cant go wrong with Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan was the film that gave life back to the genre, there was another film in 1998 about American Marines in the Pacific during WW2 called The Thin Red Line however it was overshadowed by Saving Private Ryan.  It is a good film and is one i would recomend not only to people that enjoy the genre but also to someone who perhaps doesnt watch the genre or even doesnt like it. The plot of the story is good and there is a lot of action.

Title: A Bridge Too Far

Director: Richard Attenborough

Starring: Dirk Bograde, James Cann, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Hardy Kruger, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell

Music by: John Addison

Release Date: June 15 1977

Budget: $22 million

Box Office: $50, 750,000

The film tells the story of the failure of Operation Market Garden during World War II, the Allied attempt to break through German lines and seize several bridges in the occupied Netherlands, including one at Arnhem, with the main objective of outflanking German defences. Personally this is my favourite Epic War Film of all time because it is evenly balances outs the stories of the allied forces and it is a classic film. It was executed brilliantly and actors such as Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Anthony Hopkins really make the film. Great acting and my favourite war film of all time. The film is slow to start with and I feel that you have to already appreciate and like the genre if you were to watch it.

Title: Letters from Iwo Jima
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Nakamura Shido
Music: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens, Clint Eastwood
Release Date: December 9 2006
Budget: $19 million
Box Office: $68,673,228

The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint; the two films were shot back to back. This film was a lot better than Flags of our fathers, Flags of our Fathers focuses too much about the photo of the marines lifting the flag on Iwo Jima and it didn't keep me interested, it got very boring however it was interesting to learn about the iconic photograph of the marines lifting the flag. Letters from Iwo Jima was a very good film. It was interesting to see the war from a Japanese perspective rather than a American. 

Title: Defiance 

Director: Edward Zwick 

Starring: Daniel Craig 

Music: James Newton Howard 

Release Date: December 31 2008

Budget: $50 million 

Box Office: $55,462,926

I only just recently got round to watching this film, I had alredy watched a documentry about the event its portraying a few years ago so I had a idea of the histroy behide it and i enjoyed it i would rate this film i enjoyed Daniel Craigs performance. It tells the story of Germans and Jewish Germans that have gone against the reginme and have created their own life in a forest in Germany

Title: The Great Escape 

Director: John Sturges  
Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson 
Music: Elmer Bernstein 
Release Date: July 4 1963
Budget: $4 million 
Box Office: $5.5 million

Directed by Joe Wright 
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster
Starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley
Studio Studio Canal, Relativity Media, Working Title Films
Distributed by Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Focus Features
Budget $30 million
Box Office $129,266,061

This is a British romantic drama war film about two lovers that got seperated because of the war. Brilliant performance by James McAvoy one of my favourite actors of all time. Atonement is the film which i would compare and would use as a template for my own in terms of studios, distrubutors and marketing campaigne

Target Audience for War Genre

The primary audience for the war genre is 15 onwards; depending on when the story is set it could go up to the elder audiences that may have an interest in it. The audience for war films most commonly tends to be male because of the either history or just the style of story only interests the male audience.

The age rating for my own film will be a 15. This is most common age rating for the war genre. The opening shots will fit in to the criteria of a 15 classification. The section below shows the age classification for a 15 film. This information is from the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) it is a guideline of what can go into my film.

Age Classification 

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language.There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be

acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

  
The highlighted areas is what is the content that is in my opening, this applies to my opening because that is elements it processes and I will need to make sure I keep to the criteria.