Historical events that could be made into movies...

[Kevin]

Here are some WW2 themed events (these are not the names of the possible movies):

-Life and the Death of The Bismarck

Great German battleship that was supposed to be the biggest and best that the Germans could offered in the naval war against the British.

-The Sinking of the U.S.S Indianapolis and its aftermath (horribly depressing though)

This was the ship that delivered Little Boy (the first atomic bomb) to the airfield in the Pacific Ocean, before it was dropped on Japan. After that, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, and its crew were not rescued for five days (due to the U.S Navy messing up), a lot of the crew were eaten by sharks.

[HGervais]

Here are some WW2 themed events (these are not the names of the possible movies):

-Life and the Death of The Bismarck

Great German battleship that was supposed to be the biggest and best that the Germans could offered in the naval war against the British.

Sink The Bismark It's actually a rather good film.

-The Sinking of the U.S.S Indianapolis and its aftermath (horribly depressing though)

This was the ship that delivered Little Boy (the first atomic bomb) to the airfield in the Pacific Ocean, before it was dropped on Japan. After that, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, and its crew were not rescued for five days (due to the U.S Navy messing up), a lot of the crew were eaten by sharks.

I don't know. Robert Shaw's monolouge in Jaws is just about a movie to itself but there was a TV movie, Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the USS Indianapolis.

[Kevin]

I forgot about Sink The Bismarck, I meant a more modern version.

[hoytereden]

The Battle of the Bulge and Midway were both poor excuses about these two important events of WWII. At least the Bulge was addressed pretty well in Battleground and touched on in Band of Brothers but a new film devoted to it would be welcome. Midway would be fascinating with the cracking of the Japanese code, the U.S.N. facing overwhelming odds......

[hoytereden]

Also, the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger would make for an interesting film.

[Andrew Forbes]

Also, the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger would make for an interesting film.

Frankly, I find the synopsis confusing.

[Paul Kile]

Here's some of my ideas:

-The loss of the DeHavilland Comet jet airliners due to explosive decompression, and the subsequent investigation that solved the problem. Because of this, Britain lost the lead in jet passenger aircraft, and Boeing's 707 became the dominant early jetliner. Sam Howe Verhovek"s book "Jet Age" could serve as an initial reference for this film.

-Operation Ivy Bells, the underwater "wire tapping" operation by the US Navy in the 1970s. US subs planted tape recording devices on the Soviet Naval underwater communication lines between Petropavlosk and Vladivostok, sent subs with divers in regularly to recover and replace the tapes, effort lasted until 1981 when the Soviets discovered the recorders.

-Project Azorian, the CIA operation to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, using the grappling ship Glomar Explorer. They managed to recover a section of the sub, complete with the bodies of Soviet crewmen, who were later buried at sea.

[HGervais]

I've always been amazed that we have never had a movie based on the life of Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery and the capture of the German vessel, the U-505. It's one of the great adventures of the second world war and would make a really good film. There are several very good texts out there which could form the basis for the film but the one I always reach for is Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the Pacific edited by Theodore Savas.

[Paul Kile]

I've always been amazed that we have never had a movie based on the life of Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery and the capture of the German vessel, the U-505. It's one of the great adventures of the second world war and would make a really good film. There are several very good texts out there which could form the basis for the film but the one I always reach for is Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the Pacific edited by Theodore Savas.

Harold,
Good One! I was enthralled with that story when I was a kid, and also read a series of humorous novels by DV Gallery as well. I believe the titles were "Now Hear This" and "Clear the Decks", featuring a not quite by-the-book sailor named Fatso Giannini.

[Steve T Power]

The story of the Newfoundland Regiment at the battle of the Somme during World War I.

It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further.
Major-General Sir Beauvoir De Lisle referring to the Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel

At 8:45 a.m, on July 1st, 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment sounded the charge and went over the top. The Newfoundland Regiment was situated at St. John's Road, a support trench 250 yards (230 m) behind the British forward line and out of sight of the enemy. Movement forward through the communication trenches was not possible because they were congested with dead and wounded men and under shell fire. Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Lovell Hadow, the battalion commander, decided to move immediately into attack formation and advance across the surface, which involved first navigating through the British barbed wire defences. As they breasted the skyline behind the British first line, they were effectively the only troops moving on the battlefield and clearly visible to the German defenders. Subjected to the full force of the 119th (Reserve) Infantry Regiment, most of the Newfoundland Regiment who had started forward were dead, dying or wounded within 15 to 20 minutes of leaving St. John's Road trench. Most reached no further than the Danger Tree, a skeleton of a tree that lay in No Man's Land that was being utilized as a landmark.[24] So far as can be ascertained, 22 officers and 758 other ranks were directly involved in the advance. Of these, all the officers and slightly under 658 other ranks became casualties. Of the 780 men who went forward only about 110 survived unscathed, of whom only 68 were available for roll call the following day.

There was a novel written by local author Kevin Major entitled No Man's Land, which did a fantastic job of presenting the events in dramatic fashion, it was also adapted into an incredible stage production. The novel resembles Peter Wier's Gallipoli in how it is structured, and the charge scene in the second to final chapter would easily be every bit as intense as any war scene laid to celluloid. There's also a ton of comedy that plays on the strength of character of your average Newfoundlanders, there's the social commentary on how the British looked down their noses at their colonials, treating both the Newfoundlanders and Australian regiments as little more than cannon fodder. To this day, July 1st remains a sombre and important day in our island's history.

[hoytereden]

Also, the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger would make for an interesting film.

Frankly, I find the synopsis confusing.

Actually, I saw it more as a Oliver Stone film with Reagan yelling in the phone to the NASA launch managers "I don't care how cold it is, I've got a speech tonight and this mission is going to be part of it!" I also see it starring Kevin Costner appearing before the Roger's Commission with a pointer watching the tape of the breakup of the vehicle and saying "Go....at throttle-up," "Go....at throttle-up," "Go....at throttle-up," "Go........

[Dunnyman]

I think the Anglo/Zanzibar War would be fascinating, the fact that the war lasted less time than a one hour TV show would be a challenge for a talented director.
Seriously, the Boer Wars have never really been covered in film that I know of, and while they did a TV movie, I'd love to see a big budget flick about the Falklands.

[jcankerhuxley]

As I have listed this before, I am amazed that no one has ever, to my recollection, made a movie of the Taffy 3 task unit in the Battle off Samar on October 25, 1944 (although the History Channel had two great TV episodes on the matter). This small group of the 3rd fleet took on the pride of the Japanese Navy, which included the four battleships lead by the mighty Yamato. At the heart of the story is t Lt. Com. Earnest E. Evans, commander of the Fletcher-class destroyer, USS Johnston, a Native-American hero whose bravery resulted in routing the Japanese Navy from preventing the landing of 200,000 troops lead by Gen. Douglas McArthur. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

I would also love to see a epic movie made on "A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier" by Joseph Plumb Martin. Although historians do debate some of the remarks regarding certain events, a majority agree that it for the most part an accurate depiction of the revolutionary war.

[Andrew Forbes]

I think the Anglo/Zanzibar War would be fascinating, the fact that the war lasted less time than a one hour TV show would be a challenge for a talented director.
Seriously, the Boer Wars have never really been covered in film that I know of, and while they did a TV movie, I'd love to see a big budget flick about the Falklands.

Breaker Morant dealt with the Boer War, but that's the only one I can think of.

[Attrage]

My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war. Several movies (most notably Platoon) had scenes that were based on that incident. But I'd like to see one that focused on that astoundingly brave helicopter pilot (his name escapes me) that helped put a stop to that atrocious act of mass murder. I think it could make a really compelling movie.