War Films Analysis

(INTRO HERE) The war film genre is a type of film that you would imagine is concerned with warfare. Warfare that includes all types: air, ground, naval, etc. Regardless of the type of war or war that is being depicted the genre generally focuses on heavy combat scenes that are central to the dramatics of the film. The general themes of the film include combat, survival, escape, sacrifice, effects of the war, and moral and human issues raised by the war. In addition to these, Belton points out four other conventions of the American war film; the suspension of civilian morality, goals of the group takes precedence, rivalry of men and objectification of women, and lastly the “reintegration” into society. Most films of this genre follow these conventions. For example, the 2001, John Moore film Behind Enemy Lines, during the final stages of the Bosnian War in 1995, two naval flight officers discover the mass graves and order to be shot down my the Serbs. One of the men is killed and the other is trying to escape. All the meanwhile their commander is risking his career to organize an extraction mission to have the remaining solider pulled from …show more content…
Although some of the story may be based on truth, majority of the film is told through the perspective of the filmmaker. And as our lecture points out, the film manipulates film form to communicate that interpretation to the viewer. Although Three Kings is the typical war film in that it does not contain epic combat scenes and death everywhere you turn it does contain many of the convictions as pointed out by Belton. There are some instances where these conventions are evident, such as the opening scene where suspension of civilian morality takes place and Walberg’s character shoots an Iraqi soldier waving a white flag. And as the story progresses you continue to see the four soldiers along their journey of moral superiority and