The lure of a good war movie

I’m a sucker for a good war movie. This I realised yet again last week when I watched Where Eagles Dare. Again. I suppose it’s one of those really old movies that doesn’t cost a fortune to rebroadcast over and over, but I don’t mind. I watch it every time.

I was born 23 years after WWII ended. But, boy, do I miss that war.

That little conflict was responsible for some of the best movies ever. One of my favourites is The Dirty Dozen. I bet Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland could kick The Expendables’s backsides any day of the week. And twice on a Sunday.

And what about Clint Eastwood. He’s won WWII at least three times as an actor and as a director. What a legend. Then came D-Day.

The other war I also miss terribly, is the Cold War. If it wasn’t for the Iron Curtain, James Bond would probably have been working as a tailor in Newcastle, M would have been chair of the philately club and Q, well, he’d probably have been blowing up ATMs and speeding off on a souped-up scooter.

Eastwood kicked a lot of spy-ass in his day, as did Richard Burton and Gary Oldman. Then the Berlin Wall fell.

Nowadays, every second television series centres around the war on terror. But I have yet to discover who the kick-ass winners of this one will be.

By the looks of things, it’s going to be a woman. Do they really have so many gorgeous, skinny and deadly female operatives with perfect nails in the CIA/Homeland Security/FBI/Marines?

And the enemy is always the same. Some Middle-Eastern (read Muslim) looking dude who either knows how to build a nuclear device or a beautiful young woman with a suicide vest under her burka? Come on.

In real life, it’s been 74 years since WWII, but after Brexit, Germany will lead Europe. If you believe the Democratic rhetoric in the US, the Russians elected the latest US president.

I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for today’s terrorists.

Danie Toerien

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