1.
John Woo
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John Woo SBS is a Chinese-born Hong Kong film director, writer, and producer. He is the owner of Lion Rock Productions and he is considered a major influence on the action genre, known for his highly chaotic action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and frequent use of slow motion. Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled and his Hollywood films include the action films Hard Target and Broken Arrow, the sci-fi action thriller Face/Off and the action spy film Mission, Impossible II. He also created the comic series Seven Brothers, published by Virgin Comics, Woo cites his three favorite films as David Leans Lawrence of Arabia, Akira Kurosawas Seven Samurai and Jean-Pierre Melvilles Le Samouraï. Woo was born Wu Yu-Seng in Guangzhou, China, amidst the chaos of the Chinese Civil War at the end of October,1946, because of school age restrictions, his mother changed his birth date to 22 September 1948, which is what remains on his passport. The Christian Woo family, faced persecution during Mao Zedongs early anti-bourgeois purges after the communist revolution in China. Impoverished, the Woo family lived in the slums at Shek Kip Mei and his father was a teacher, though rendered unable to work by tuberculosis, and his mother was a manual laborer on construction sites. The family was rendered homeless by the big Shek Kip Mei fire of 1953, charitable donations from disaster relief efforts enabled the family to relocate, however, violent crime had by then become commonplace in Hong Kong housing projects. At age three he was diagnosed with a medical condition. Following surgery on his spine, he was unable to walk correctly until eight years old and his Christian background shows influences in his films. As a young boy, Woo had wanted to be a Christian minister and he later found a passion for movies influenced by the French New Wave especially Jean-Pierre Melville. Woo has said he was shy and had difficulty speaking, but found making movies a way to explore his feelings and thinking, the local cinema would prove a haven of retreat. Woo found respite in musical films, such as The Wizard of Oz, Woo married Annie Woo Ngau Chun-lung in 1976 and has three children. He has lived in the United States since 1993, in 1969, Woo was hired as a script supervisor at Cathay Studios. In 1971, he became an assistant director at Shaw Studios and his directorial debut in 1974 was the feature film The Young Dragons. In the Kung fu action genre, it was choreographed by Jackie Chan and featured dynamic camera-work, the film was picked up by Golden Harvest Studio where he went on to direct more martial arts films. He later had success as a director with Money Crazy. By the mid-1980s, Woo was experiencing occupational burnout, several of his films were commercial disappointments, and he felt a distinct lack of creative control
2.
Nicolas Cage
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Nicolas Kim Coppola, known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and producer. He has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and he earned his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation. In 2002, he directed the film Sonny, for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival, Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire and The Life of David Gale. He has also appeared in National Treasure, Lord of War, Bad Lieutenant, Port of Call New Orleans, Films such as Ghost Rider and Knowing were box office successes. Cage has been criticized in recent years for his choice of roles. However, he starred in The Croods and Joe, both of which were warmly received by critics. Cage was born in Long Beach, California, to August Coppola, a professor of literature, and Joy Vogelsang and he was raised in a Catholic family. His father was of Italian descent and his mothers ancestry was German and his paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata. Cages two brothers are New York radio personality Marc The Cope Coppola and director Christopher Coppola and he attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an age and also attended UCLA School of Theater, Film. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a production of Golden Boy. He cites James Dean as the key inspiration for his career, saying, I saw him in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden. Nothing affected me—no rock song, no classical music—the way Dean affected me in Eden, I was like, Thats what I want to do. To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his film debut with a role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, opposite Judge Reinhold and Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films. He auditioned for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncles film The Outsiders, hintons novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppolas films Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married, Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles
3.
Adam Beach
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Adam Beach is a Saulteaux actor. He starred in the Canadian 2012-2014 series Arctic Air, and played Slipknot in the 2016 film Suicide Squad, adam Beach was born in Ashern, Manitoba. His ancestry is mainly First Nations but he also has some Icelandic roots through his great-grandmother, as a member of the Saulteaux First Nations, Beach lived in his early years with his parents and two brothers on the Lake Manitoba/Dog Creek First Nation Reserve at Lake Manitoba. When Beach was eight years old, his mother, Sally Beach, eight weeks after his mothers death, the family discovered Adams father, Dennis, drowned near the community. It is unclear whether Denniss death was an accident or if he committed suicide, adam and his two brothers initially lived with their grandmother, he was with her from ages 8 to 12. Five years after their parents deaths, the three brothers were taken to Winnipeg to live with an aunt and paternal uncle, Agnes, adam refers to his Uncle Chris as Dad. Beach attended a class at Gordon Bell High School. He began performing in theatre productions, and eventually dropped out of school to take a lead role at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. At age 18, Beach won a role in the miniseries Lost in the Barrens. In the following years, he continued to work in theatre and guest-starred on television shows like Walker, Texas Ranger. Shortly afterwards, Beach was cast as a regular on the television shows North of 60, after his performance in Dance Me Outside, he starred in Smoke Signals, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He took a role in Disneys Mystery, Alaska in 1999 and in 2000 accepted a role in the thriller. Beach appeared in Helen Lees The Art of Woo and the 2001 hit Joe Dirt as Kickin Wing, the producers of Joe Dirt had originally wanted to hire Evan Adams for the parody of his character in Smoke Signals, but accidentally called Beach instead. In 2002, Windtalkers, starring Beach, was released in theatres, to prepare for this role, Beach spent six months learning the Navajo language. He used this language in his project, Skinwalkers, directed by Chris Eyre. Between large-scale projects, Beach made small appearances on such shows as JAG. Also, in 2003, he returned to the character that he first portrayed in Skinwalkers in the movie Coyote Waits and he also made a guest appearance in the hit show The Dead Zone as a Native shaman. In 2006, Beach portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwoods feature film Flags of Our Fathers, during the filming of this movie, both Beachs grandmother and his best friend died
4.
Peter Stormare
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Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm, known professionally as Peter Stormare, is a Swedish actor, voice actor, theatre director, playwright, and musician. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the 1996 film Fargo, John Abruzzi in the Fox series Prison Break, Stormare was born in Kumla, Sweden and grew up in Arbrå. He changed his surname when he discovered that he shared it with a student at an acting academy. Like storm, stormare is a Swedish word, meaning stormer, before settling on Stormare, he briefly contemplated changing his name to Mrots Retep, which is simply Peter Storm backwards. Stormare began his career with the Royal Dramatic Theatre, to which he belonged for 11 years, in 1990, he took a leading position as Associate Artistic Director at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and made a name for himself through various Shakespeare performances, including Hamlet. Three years later, he moved to New York City and mainly took part there in English language productions and he played Carl Hamilton, a fictional Swedish secret agent. He was discovered by international audiences for his acclaimed role as one of the kidnappers in Fargo. He portrayed Dieter Stark in the 1997 film The Lost World, Jurassic Park and later played sleazy, in 1998, he appeared in The Frogger, a Seinfeld episode where he played a rogue electrician known as Slippery Pete. He portrayed Uli Kunkel in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, as well as playing Lev Andropov, in 1999, he appeared as a villainous producer and director of hardcore porn in the film 8mm. He also portrayed Gunny in the 2002 film Windtalkers and Alexei in the 2003 film Bad Boys II, in 2003, he played Ernst Röhm in Hitler, The Rise of Evil. In the 2005 film Constantine, he played Lucifer and he played the torturer Cavaldi in the 2005 film The Brothers Grimm. His first major character in television was on the Fox series Prison Break in 2005 for the first two seasons, where he played the inmate mob boss John Abruzzi and he was originally cast in Fido, but opted out of the film upon being cast in Prison Break. Stormare voiced Mattias Nilsson in the video games Mercenaries, Playground of Destruction and Mercenaries 2, World in Flames, Isair in the computer game Icewind Dale 2, in February 2006, he starred as Wolfgang in Volkswagens VDub series of television commercials. He played the character in the film Svartvattnet, which was filmed in Sweden. He was offered a role in the ABC television series Lost for a period of one year, in the 2007 film Premonition, he played Dr. Roth. In April 2007, he appeared in the CSI, Crime Scene Investigation episode Ending Happy, in December 2007, Stormare participated in the Swedish reality show Stjärnorna på slottet. He appears in the video game Command & Conquer, Red Alert 3 as Dr. Zelinsky and he starred as Walter in the Canadian independent crime thriller Small Town Murder Songs. He appeared in the video of the song Uprising by the Swedish power metal band Sabaton
5.
Noah Emmerich
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Noah Nicholas Emmerich is an American film actor who first broke out in the film Beautiful Girls. He was later seen in the movies The Truman Show, Cop Land, Frequency, Love & Sex, Windtalkers, Miracle, Super 8 and he currently stars as FBI Agent Stan Beeman on the FX series The Americans. Emmerich was born to a Jewish family, on February 27,1965 in New York City and his mother, Constance, is a concert pianist, and his father, André Emmerich, was a gallery owner and art dealer, who was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He studied the Meisner technique of acting privately under Ron Stetston and he is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in History. He sang in the Yale Spizzwinks an a cappella singing group, Emmerich starred in the film Beautiful Girls, which was his first starring role and earned him positive reviews from audiences and critics. He then went on to have supporting roles in movies as The Truman Show, Life. In the 2000s, Emmerich began to star in dramatic films, such as Julie Johnson, Beyond Borders, Little Children, Pride and Glory. He played the main antagonist, Colonel Nelec, in J. J, abramss film Super 8, which earned positive reviews from critics and was a box office success. In 2016 Emmerich portrayed Bill Hammond in the western Jane Got a Gun, Emmerich started his career doing guest roles in television series such as NYPD Blue and Melrose Place. Beginning in the 2000s Emmerich began to more prominent guest roles on television series such as Monk, White Collar and The Walking Dead. His most notable role in a series, is as FBI Agent Stan Beeman, on the FX series. The series has earned positive reviews critics and Emmerich earned a Critics Choice Award nomination for his performance. The series was renewed for a sixth and final season, Emmerich made his directorial debut on the season 3 episode of the series, entitled Walter Taffet. He again directed episode 5 of season four, Emmerich was married to actress Melissa Fitzgerald from 1998 to 2003. On April 26,2014, Emmerich married actress and producer Mary Regency Boies at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York and he lives in Greenwich Village in New York City. Noah Emmerich at the Internet Movie Database @NoahEmmerich at Twitter
6.
Mark Ruffalo
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Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, humanitarian, social activist and film producer. He made his debut in an episode of CBS Summer Playhouse. He was part of the original cast of This Is Our Youth, following were his roles in 13 Going on 30, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, and What Doesnt Kill You. In 2010, he starred in the psychological thriller Shutter Island, for the latter, he received nominations for the SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also co-starred in the mystery films Now You See Me, Ruffalo gained international prominence by portraying the Marvel Comics character the Hulk in The Avengers and Avengers, Age of Ultron. The same year, he portrayed Dave Schultz in Foxcatcher, for which he was nominated for awards, including a Golden Globe, Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. His mother, Marie Rose, is a hairdresser and stylist and he has two sisters, Tania and Nicole, and a brother, Scott. His father is of Italian descent, from Girifalco, and his mother is of half French Canadian, Ruffalo attended both Catholic school and progressive schools. Ruffalo has described himself as having been a kid, although he struggled from undiagnosed dyslexia and ADD as a child. Ruffalo spent his teen years in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where his father worked and he competed in wrestling in junior high and high school in Wisconsin and Virginia. With the Orpheus Theatre Company, he wrote, directed, and starred in a number of plays, Ruffalo had minor roles in films like The Dentist, the low-key crime comedy Safe Men and Ang Lees Civil War Western Ride with the Devil. He appeared opposite Tom Cruise as a detective in Michael Manns crime-thriller Collateral. In the mid 2000s, Ruffalo appeared as a lead in View From the Top,13 Going on 30, Just Like Heaven. In 2006, Ruffalo starred in Clifford Odets Awake and Sing. at the Belasco Theatre in New York, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In March 2007, he appeared in Zodiac as SFPD homicide inspector Dave Toschi, in 2007, Ruffalo played divorced lawyer Dwight Arno, who accidentally kills a child and speeds away, in Terry Georges film Reservation Road, based on the novel by John Burnham Schwartz. In 2008, Ruffalo starred as a con man in The Brothers Bloom with Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz,2008 also saw Ruffalo in Brian Goodmans What Doesnt Kill You with Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet, which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. In 2009, he played a role in the film Where The Wild Things Are as Maxs mothers boyfriend. In 2010, he co-starred in the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island as U. S, marshal Chuck Aule, the partner of Leonardo DiCaprios character Teddy Daniels
7.
Christian Slater
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Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor and producer. He made his debut with a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean. He played an apprentice alongside Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose. In the 1990s, Slater starred in big budget films, including Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Interview with the Vampire, FernGully, The Last Rainforest, Broken Arrow. He was also featured in the cult film True Romance, since 2000, Slater has combined work in the film business with television, including appearances in The West Wing and Alias and starring in Breaking In and Mind Games. Slater was born in New York City, the son of Michael Hawkins, an actor known as Michael Gainsborough, and Mary Jo Slater. Slater has a maternal half-brother, Ryan Slater, who is also an actor and his great-uncle was radio personality Bill Slater. Although he played her characters brother in the movie The Legend of Billie Jean. He attended the Dalton School, the Professional Childrens School and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, Slaters first television role was on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live when he was 8 years old. Following a run on Ryans Hope, he made his Broadway debut as the lisping Winthrop Paroo opposite Dick Van Dyke in the 1980 revival of The Music Man, additional Broadway credits include Copperfield, Merlin, Macbeth, Side Man, and The Glass Menagerie. In addition he has performed in Londons West End in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Slater made his big screen debut in 1985s The Legend of Billie Jean playing Billie Jean’s brother Binx. Though expected to be a big hit, the film fell short at the box office and his career improved with his role in The Name of the Rose alongside Sean Connery. Slater played Connerys apprentice monk while they investigated a series of murders at a Benedictine abbey, Slater followed this by playing Junior Tucker in Francis Ford Coppolas Tucker, The Man and His Dream, Gleaming the Cube and Beyond the Stars. Slaters career rose to new heights when he played the dark character J. D. in the 1989 film Heathers alongside Winona Ryder, Heathers was billed as the teen film of the late 1980s. Slater beat out other actors such as Brad Pitt for the part. In 1991, Slater was cast as Will Scarlett in the Hollywood big budget production of Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves alongside Kevin Costner, the film was a commercial success, taking US$390 million worldwide, and Slater became one of the major A-list stars of the 1990s. With Slater being a big Star Trek fan, he accepted a role in Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country. The following year he starred in Kuffs, in his review of True Romance Roger Ebert awarded the movie 3 stars out of 4 and commented, the energy and style of the movie are exhilarating
8.
James Horner
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James Roy Horner was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator of film scores. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. His first major film score was for the 1979 film The Lady in Red, but did not establish himself as a mainstream composer until he worked on the 1982 film Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan. Horner composed music for over 100 films, he won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, three Satellite Awards, and three Saturn Awards, and was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. Horner was killed in a single-fatality crash of his Short Tucano turboprop aircraft at the age of 61, Horner was born in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, to Jewish immigrants. His father, Harry Horner, was born in Holíč, then a part of Austria-Hungary and he immigrated to the United States in 1935 and worked as a set designer and art director. His mother, Joan Ruth, was born into a prominent Canadian family, Horners brother Christopher is a writer and documentary filmmaker. James Horner started playing piano at the age of five and his early years were spent in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music. He returned to America, where he attended Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona, after he earned a masters degree, he started work on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1970s, he finished teaching a course in theory at UCLA. Horner was also a pilot, and owned several small airplanes. Horner began his career scoring films by working for B film director, Horners first composer credit was for Cormans Battle Beyond the Stars. From there, his works gained notice in Hollywood, which enabled him to take on larger projects, One of his first major film scores was for the 1979 film The Lady in Red. Horners major breakthrough came in 1982, when he had the chance to score the music to Star Trek II, The Wrath of Khan, Horner continued composing music for high-profile releases during the 1980s, including 48 Hrs. Krull, Star Trek III, The Search for Spock, Commando, Cocoon, Aliens, *batteries not included, Willow, Glory and he frequently collaborated with film director Ron Howard, a partnership that began with Cocoon in 1985. Aliens earned Horner his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score in 1987, somewhere Out There, which he co-composed and co-wrote with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for An American Tail, was also nominated that year for Best Original Song. A Dinosaurs Story, The Pagemaster, and Casper, Jumanji, and Balto, Mighty Joe Young, Horners biggest financial and critical success would come with the score to the 1997 film Titanic. The album became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack in history, selling over 27 million copies worldwide, at the 70th Academy Awards, Horner won Oscars for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for My Heart Will Go On
9.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
10.
War film
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War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war films often end with them, themes explored include combat, survival and escape, sacrifice, the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and the moral and human issues raised by war. War films are categorized by their milieu, such as the Korean War. The stories told may be fiction, historical drama, or biographical, critics have noted similarities between the Western and the war film. Subgenres, not necessarily distinct, include anti-war, comedy, animated, propaganda, the war film genre is not necessarily tightly defined, the American Film Institute, for example, speaks of films to grapple with the Great War without attempting to classify these. However, some directors and critics have offered at least tentative definitions, the director Sam Fuller defined the genre by saying that a war film’s objective, no matter how personal or emotional, is to make a viewer feel war. However, Neale notes, films set in the American Civil War or the American Indian Wars of the 19th century were called war films in the time before the First World War, the film scholar Kathryn Kane points out some similarities between the war film genre and the Western. Both genres use opposing concepts like war and peace, civilization, james Clarke notes the similarity between a Western like Sam Peckinpahs The Wild Bunch and war-movie escapades like The Dirty Dozen. They take place in the combat zones of World War II, against the established enemies, on the ground. They contain many repeated events, such as mail call, all presented visually with appropriate uniforms, equipment and she argues that the combat film is not a subgenre but the only genuine kind of war film. This in turn pushes combat scenes to the ends of war films. Not all critics agree, either, that war films must be about 20th century wars, the costliest war in U. S. history in terms of American life, this war has been the subject of, or the backdrop to, numerous films, documentaries and mini-series. One of the earliest films using the Civil War as its subject was D. W. Griffiths 1910 silent picture, The Fugitive. Some films such as Gettysburg focused on a battle during the war, or even on a single incident, like the French short film. Others like the 1993 miniseries North and South spanned the entire breadth of the war, some films deal with the human aspects of the war, such as The Red Badge of Courage, or Shenandoah, on the tragedy that the war inflicted on the civilian population. Ken Burnss The Civil War is the most watched documentary in the history of PBS, the first war films come from the Spanish–American War of 1898. Short actualities – documentary film-clips – included Burial of the Maine Victims, Blanket-Tossing of a New Recruit and these non-combat films were accompanied by reenactments of fighting, such as of Theodore Roosevelts Rough Riders in action against the Spanish, staged in the United States
11.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
12.
Solomon Islands campaign
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The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea. In a campaign of attrition fought on land, on sea, and in the air, the Allies retook some of the Solomon Islands, and they also isolated and neutralized some Japanese positions, which were then bypassed. The Solomon Islands campaign then converged with the New Guinea campaign, on December 7,1941, after failing to resolve a dispute with the United States over Japans actions in China and French Indochina, the Japanese attacked the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack crippled most of the U. S, Pacific Fleets battleships and started a formal state of war between the two nations. In launching this war, Japanese leaders sought to neutralize the U. S. fleet, seize possessions rich in natural resources, and obtain strategic military bases to defend their far-flung empire. Anchoring its defensive positions in the South Pacific was the major Japanese army and navy base at Rabaul, New Britain, which had been captured from the Australians in January 1942. In March and April, Japanese forces occupied and began constructing an airfield at Buka in northern Bougainville, as well as an airfield, in April 1942, the Japanese army and navy together initiated Operation Mo, a joint plan to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea. Also part of the plan was an operation to capture Tulagi in the southern Solomons. The Japanese Navy also proposed an invasion of Australia. Japanese naval forces successfully captured Tulagi but its invasion of Port Moresby was repulsed at the Battle of the Coral Sea, shortly thereafter, the Japanese navy established small garrisons on the other northern and central Solomon Islands. One month later, the Japanese Combined Fleet lost four of its aircraft carriers at the Battle of Midway. The Allies countered the threats to Australia by a build-up of troops and aircraft, with the aim of implementing plans to approach and reconquer the Philippines. In March 1942 Admiral Ernest King, then Commander-in Chief of the U. S. Fleet, had advocated an offense from New Hebrides through the Solomon Islands to the Bismarck Archipelago. The United States Navy advocated a gradual approach from New Guinea. These competing proposals were resolved by Admiral King and U. S. Army Chief of Staff General George C, Marshall, who adopted a three-task plan. Task One was the capture of the island of Tulagi in the Solomons, task Two was an advance along the New Guinea coast. Task Three was the capture of Rabaul, task One, implemented by a directive of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 2 July 1942 and named the initial attacks Operation Watchtower, became the Solomon Islands campaign
13.
Navajo
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The Navajo are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. After the Cherokee, they are the second-largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, the Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, with most Navajos speaking English, as well. The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona and New Mexico, over three-quarters of the Navajo population reside in these two states. The Navajos are speakers of a Na-Dené Southern Athabaskan language known within the language as Diné bizaad, the language comprises two geographic, mutually intelligible dialects. It is closely related to the Apache language, as the Navajos and Apaches are believed to have migrated from northwestern Canada and eastern Alaska, speakers of various other Athabaskan languages located in Canada may still comprehend the Navajo language despite the geographic and linguistic deviation of the languages. Additionally, some Navajos speak Navajo Sign Language, which is either a dialect or daughter of Plains Sign Talk, archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches entered the Southwest around 1400 CE. The Navajo oral tradition is said to retain references of this migration, until contact with Pueblos and the Spanish, the Navajos were largely hunters and gatherers. The tribe adopted crop-farming techniques from the Pueblo peoples, growing corn, beans. When the Spanish arrived, the Navajos began herding sheep and goats as a source of trade and food. Sheep also became a form of currency and status symbols among the Navajos based on the quantity of herds a family maintained. In addition, the practice of spinning and weaving wool into blankets and clothing became common, in the 18th century, the Spanish reported the Navajos maintaining large herds of livestock and cultivating large crop areas. Navahu comes from the Tewa, meaning area of cultivated lands. By the 1640s, the Spanish began using the term Navajo to refer to the Diné, during the 1670s, the Spanish wrote that the Diné lived in a region known as Dinétah, about 60 miles west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1780s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajos in the Mount Taylor, the Navajos came into contact with the United States Army in 1846, when General Stephen W. Kearny invaded Santa Fe with 1,600 men during the Mexican–American War. The treaty was not honored by many young Navajo raiders, who continued to steal livestock from New Mexican villages, New Mexicans, on their part, together with Utes, continued to raid Navajo country, stealing livestock and taking women and children for sale as slaves. In 1849, the governor of New Mexico, Colonel John MacRae Washington—accompanied by John S. The treaty acknowledged the jurisdiction of the United States and allowed forts, the United States, on its part, promised such donations such other liberal and humane measures, as may deem meet and proper. While en route to this treaty signing, Narbona, a prominent Navajo peace leader, was killed, during the next 10 years, the U. S. established forts on traditional Navajo territory
14.
Code talker
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Code talkers are people in the 20th century who used obscure languages as a means of secret communication during wartime. The term is now associated with the United States soldiers during the world wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. In particular, there were approximately 400–500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages, Code talkers transmitted these messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formal or informally developed codes built upon their native languages. Their service improved the speed of encryption of communications at both ends in front line operations during World War II, Code talking, however, was pioneered by Cherokee and Choctaw Indians during World War I. Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Lakota, Meskwaki, soldiers of Basque ancestry were also used for code talking by the U. S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating, members of the Assiniboine served as code talkers during World War II, utilizing the Assiniboine language to encrypt communications. The code talkers included Gilbert Horn Sr. who grew up in the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation of Montana and later became a tribal judge, according to the Division Signal Officer, this took place in September 1918. Their unit was under British command at the time, during World War I, company commander Captain Lawrence of the U. S. Army overheard Solomon Louis and Mitchell Bobb conversing in the Choctaw language. He found eight Choctaw men in the battalion, eventually, fourteen Choctaw men in the Armys 36th Infantry Division trained to use their language in code. They helped the American Expeditionary Forces win several key battles in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, within 24 hours of the Choctaw language being pressed into service, the tide of the battle had turned. In less than 72 hours, the Germans were retreating and the Allies were in full attack and these soldiers are now known as the Choctaw code talkers. Adolf Hitler knew about the use of code talkers during World War I. He sent a team of some thirty anthropologists to the United States to learn Native American languages before the outbreak of World War II and it proved too difficult for them to learn the many languages and dialects that existed. Because of Nazi German anthropologists efforts to learn the languages, the U. S. Army did not implement a code talker program in the European Theater of the war. Fourteen Comanche code talkers did take part in the Invasion of Normandy, Comanche of the 4th Signal Company compiled a vocabulary of over 100 code terms using words or phrases in their own language. Two Comanche code-talkers were assigned to each regiment, the rest to 4th Infantry Division headquarters, shortly after landing on Utah Beach on June 6,1944, the Comanche began transmitting messages. Some were wounded but none killed, in 1989, the French government awarded the Comanche code-talkers the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit. On November 30,1999, the United States Department of Defense presented Charles Chibitty with the Knowlton Award, Meskwaki men used their language against the Germans while fighting in the US Army in North Africa
15.
Battle of Saipan
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The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, in the campaigns of 1943 and the first half of 1944, the Allies had captured the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea. This left the Japanese holding the Philippines, the Caroline Islands, Palau Islands and it had always been the intention of the American planners to bypass the Carolines and Palauan islands and to seize the Marianas and Taiwan. From these latter bases, communications between the Japanese archipelago and Japanese forces to the south and west could be cut. From the Marianas, Japan would be well within the range of an air offensive relying on the new Boeing B-29 Superfortress long-range bomber with its radius of 1,500 mi. The Japanese, expecting an attack somewhere on their perimeter, thought an attack on the Caroline Islands most likely, to reinforce and supply their garrisons, they needed naval and air superiority, so Operation A-Go, a major carrier attack, was prepared for June 1944. Smith XXIV Corps Artillery — Brigadier General Arthur M. Harper 1st Provisional Gun Group 225th Field Artillery Howitzer Group 2nd Marine Division — Major General Thomas E, fifteen battleships were involved, and 165,000 shells were fired. Seven modern fast battleships delivered 2,40016 in shells, but to avoid potential minefields, fire was from a distance of 10,000 yd or more, the following day the eight older battleships and 11 cruisers under Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf replaced the fast battleships but were lacking in time and ammunition, the landings began at 07,00 on 15 June 1944. More than 300 LVTs landed 8,000 Marines on the west coast of Saipan by about 09,00, eleven fire support ships covered the Marine landings. However, by nightfall, the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions had a beachhead about 6 mi wide and 0.5 mi deep, the Japanese counter-attacked at night but were repulsed with heavy losses. On 16 June, units of the U. S. Armys 27th Infantry Division landed and advanced on the airfield at Ås Lito, again the Japanese counter-attacked at night. On 18 June, Saito abandoned the airfield, the invasion surprised the Japanese high command, which had been expecting an attack further south. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Navy, saw an opportunity to use the A-Go force to attack the U. S. Navy forces around Saipan, on 15 June, he gave the order to attack. But the resulting battle of the Philippine Sea was a disaster for the Imperial Japanese Navy, the garrisons of the Marianas would have no hope of resupply or reinforcement. Without resupply, the battle on Saipan was hopeless for the defenders, Saito organized his troops into a line anchored on Mount Tapotchau in the defensible mountainous terrain of central Saipan. The nicknames given by the Americans to the features of the battle — Hells Pocket, Purple Heart Ridge, the Japanese used the many caves in the volcanic landscape to delay the attackers, by hiding during the day and making sorties at night. The Americans gradually developed tactics for clearing the caves by using flamethrower teams supported by artillery, however, General Holland Smith had not inspected the terrain over which the 27th was to advance
16.
Beachhead
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The term is sometimes used interchangeably with bridgehead and lodgement. Beachheads were very important in such as Operation Neptune during World War II, the Korean War. Neptune was the first part of Overlord, according to the D-Day Museum, The armed forces use codenames to refer to the planning and execution of specific military operations. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of north-west Europe, the assault phase of Operation Overlord was known as Operation Neptune. Operation Neptune began on D-Day and ended on 30 June 1944, by this time, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and continued until Allied forces crossed the River Seine on 19 August 1944, once an amphibious assault starts, victory tends to go to the side which can reinforce the beachhead most quickly. There are exceptions to this rule where the forces have not expanded from their beachheads quickly enough to create a lodgement area before the defenders can reinforce their positions
17.
Euthanasia
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Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. There are different euthanasia laws in each country, the British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering. In the Netherlands and Flanders, euthanasia is understood as termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient, Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is legal in some countries, non-voluntary euthanasia is illegal in all countries. Involuntary euthanasia is illegal in all countries and is usually considered murder. As of 2006, euthanasia is the most active area of research in contemporary bioethics, in some countries there is a divisive public controversy over the moral, ethical, and legal issues of euthanasia. Jurisdictions where euthanasia is legal include the Netherlands, Canada, Colombia, Belgium, like other terms borrowed from history, euthanasia has had different meanings depending on usage. Bacon referred to an outward euthanasia—the term outward he used to distinguish from a spiritual concept—the euthanasia which regards the preparation of the soul, in current usage, euthanasia has been defined as the painless inducement of a quick death. Another approach incorporates the notion of suffering into the definition, the third element incorporated into many definitions is that of intentionality – the death must be intended, rather than being accidental, and the intent of the action must be a merciful death. Beauchamp and Davidson also highlight Baruch Brodys an act of euthanasia is one in one person. Kills another person for the benefit of the person, who actually does benefit from being killed. Prior to Draper, Beauchamp and Davidson had also offered a definition that includes these elements and their definition specifically discounts fetuses in order to distinguish between abortions and euthanasia, In summary, we have argued. In discussing his definition, Wreen noted the difficulty of justifying euthanasia when faced with the notion of the right to life. In response, Wreen argued that euthanasia has to be voluntary, and that euthanasia is, as such. Other commentators incorporate consent more directly into their definitions, hence, euthanasia can be voluntary only. Euthanasia may be classified according to whether a person gives informed consent into three types, voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary, however, others see consent as essential. Euthanasia conducted with the consent of the patient is termed voluntary euthanasia, active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Passive voluntary euthanasia is legal throughout the U. S. per Cruzan v. Director, when the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead
18.
Mount Tapochau
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Mount Tapochau is the highest point on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located in the center of the island, north of San Vicente village and northwest of Magicienne Bay, the mountain offers a 360 degree view of the island. Mount Tapochau was vital in World War II as a result of this, as of 2016, the only road up to Mount Tapochau is a long, winding, uphill climb over endless loose rocks and massive potholes. The road looks as though it has been eroded by heavy rain over many years. This path would be dangerous to traverse in wet weather and should only be approached in a heavy duty vehicle in dry weather, the base of Mount Tapochau is covered with phosphate, manganese ore, sulphur, and coral limestone. The peak is also a limestone formation, history of Mount Taptochau Geology of Mount Tapochau Geological sections across Saipan
19.
Monument Valley
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Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft above the valley floor. It is located on the Arizona–Utah border, near the Four Corners area, the valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation and is accessible from U. S. Highway 163. Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s, the area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The elevation of the valley ranges from 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, the valleys vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide, the buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is the Organ Rock Shale, the middle is de Chelly Sandstone, the valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun. Monument Valley is officially a large area includes much of the area surrounding Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Oljato, for example, is also within the designated as Monument Valley. Visitors may pay a fee and drive through the park on a 17-mile dirt road. Parts of Monument Valley, such as Mystery Valley and Hunts Mesa, are only by guided tour. Monument Valley experiences a climate with cold winters and hot summers. While the summers may be hot, the heat is tempered by the high altitude. Although the valley experiences an average of 54 days above 90 °F annually, summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing, even in the winter, temperatures below 0 °F are uncommon, though possible. Monument Valley receives a light snowfall in the winter, however. Monument Valley has been featured in computer games, films. Valley of the Gods Thomas J
20.
M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle
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The Browning Automatic Rifle is a family of United States automatic rifles and light machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The BAR was designed to be carried by infantrymen during an assault or advance while supported by the sling over the shoulder or fired from the hip and this is a concept called walking fire — thought to be necessary for the individual soldier during trench warfare. The BAR never entirely lived up to the hopes of the War Department. The US Army, in practice, used the BAR as a machine gun. Although the weapon did see action in World War I, the BAR did not become standard issue in the U. S. Army until 1938. The BAR saw extensive service in both World War II and the Korean War and saw limited service in the Vietnam War. After much debate, it was agreed that a rapid rearmament with domestic weapons would be required. In 1917, prior to Americas entry to the war, John Browning personally brought to Washington, Browning had arranged for a public demonstration of both weapons at a location in southern Washington, D. C. known as Congress Heights. Additional tests were conducted for U. S. Army Ordnance officials at Springfield Armory in May 1917 and both weapons were unanimously recommended for immediate adoption. In order to avoid confusion with the belt-fed M1917 machine gun, on 16 July 1917,12,000 BARs were ordered from Colts Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company who had secured an exclusive concession to manufacture the BAR under Brownings patents. However Colt was already producing at peak capacity and requested a delay in production while they expanded their output with a new facility in Meriden. Due to the urgent need for the weapon, the request was denied, Winchester gave valuable assistance in refining the BARs final design, correcting the drawings in preparation for mass production. Among the changes made, the pattern was modified. The initial contract with Winchester called for 25,000 BARs and they were in full production by June 1918, delivering 4,000 guns—and starting in July—were turning out 9,000 units per month. Colt and Marlin-Rockwell Corp. also began shortly after Winchester got into full production. Marlin-Rockwell, burdened by a contract to make rifles for the Belgian government, acquired the Mayo Radiator Co. s factory, the first unit from this source was delivered on 11 June 1918 and the companys peak output reached 200 automatic rifles per day. Colt had produced only 9,000 BARs by the time of the due to the heavy demands of previous orders. These three companies produced a daily output of 706 rifles and a total of approximately 52,000 BARs were delivered by all sources by the end of the war
21.
Brian Van Holt
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Brian Van Holt is an American actor. He is known for playing Bobby Cobb on the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, Van Holt was born in Waukegan, Illinois, and raised in Huntington Beach, California. He is of Dutch and Irish descent and he earned a degree in sociology from UCLA. He then hit his stride in a string of martial-themed, A-list films beginning with Black Hawk Down and Windtalkers, interspersed with Confidence and he also appeared in an episode of Beyond Belief, Fact or Fiction. He has since appeared in Man of the House, House of Wax, Van Holt revisited his surfer roots when he was cast in David Milchs HBO series John from Cincinnati as Butchie Yost, son of surfing legend Mitch Yost. He also played Kyle Hobart in the TV series Sons of Anarchy and he guest-starred in the hit show CSI, Miami. In 2008, he had a role as himself playing a firefighter in two fifth-season episodes of Entourage. From 2009 to 2015, Van Holt appeared as one of the seven characters on Cougar Town as Bobby Cobb. He appeared in six seasons of Cougar Town, exiting the show at the beginning of the sixth and he also directed the second episode of the fifth season, Like a Diamond, which aired on January 14,2014. Brian Van Holt at the Internet Movie Database
22.
Martin Henderson
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He attended Birkenhead Primary and Westlake Boys High schools. Henderson starred in the soap opera Shortland Street, where he played the character of Stuart Neilson from 1992 to 1995. Henderson spent more than a year auditioning for film roles in Los Angeles. In 2001, he was finally cast in a role in the John Woo-directed war film Windtalkers. In 1999, he appeared in Kick, for which he was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, in 2002, he starred opposite actress Naomi Watts in the horror film The Ring. In 2004, he starred opposite Indian actress Aishwarya Rai in the romantic film Bride and Prejudice, in 2005 he appeared in the award-winning Little Fish starring Cate Blanchett. In 2006, Henderson received rave reviews in Londons West End in a production of Fool for Love with Juliette Lewis. He was set to star alongside Jordana Brewster in the series adapted from the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. However, the series was not picked up by any network,2006 movie FlyboysHenderson appeared in a commercial for the 2008 Cadillac CTS, and the House episode Painless. In 2010, Henderson was cast in Greys Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes short-lived television series Off the Map, in 2014, Henderson starred in the multi-platform Australian drama television series Secrets & Lies, and began starring in the SundanceTV drama series The Red Road. In June 2015, Henderson was promoted as a regular of the high ranking television drama Greys Anatomy. Also that year, he appeared in Everest, with Jake Gyllenhaal, Henderson is both a New Zealand and American citizen. Martin Henderson at the Internet Movie Database
23.
Jason Isaacs
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Jason Isaacs is an English actor. He is known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, Colonel William Tavington in The Patriot, in December 2016, he played the lead antagonist in the Netflix supernatural hit series The OA. He starred in the NBC drama Awake as Detective Michael Britten from March to May 2012, Jason Isaacs was born in Liverpool to Jewish parents. The third of four sons, Isaacs attended a Jewish school, known then as King David High school and he describes the bullying and intolerance he observed during his childhood as preparation for portraying the unattractive, villainous characters whom he has most often played. After graduating from Bristol he went immediately to train at Londons Central School of Speech, Isaacs parents eventually emigrated to Israel. After completing his training as an actor, Isaacs almost immediately began appearing on the stage and on television and he also played Michael Ryan in ITVs adaptation of Martina Coles novel Dangerous Lady, directed by Jack Woods and produced by Lavinia Warner in 1995. When auditioning for that role, he told the producers, Look, I play all these guys and thugs and strong. In real life, I am a cringing, neurotic Jewish mess, cant I for once play that on stage. Subsequently, he appeared in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Armageddon and he then shone as memorable villain, Colonel William Tavington, in Roland Emmerichs American Revolutionary War fictional film epic The Patriot. Starring opposite Mel Gibson as the hero, and Heath Ledger as Gibsons screen son, Isaacs portrays a sadistic British Army officer who kills Ledgers character. Isaacs has appeared in other films, most notably as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series of films. Regarding the Harry Potter books by J. K, I suddenly understood why my friends, who Id thought were slightly backward, had been so addicted to these childrens books. Prior to the making of the film, when asked whether or not he would be in Harry Potter, I cant bear the idea that somebody else would get to wear my Paris Hilton wig, but you never know. I fell to my knees and begged, Im sure she doesnt need plot ideas from me. Like everybody else, Im holding my breath to July to see whats in there, I just want to bust out of prison, thats all. I dont want to stay in Azkaban most of my life, ultimately Isaacs did reprise the role of Malfoy as a cameo appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where he is seen in a moving portrait. Afterwards, Isaacs reprised the role again in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, on British television, he also portrayed actor Harry H. On American television, Isaacs appeared in three episodes of The West Wing in 2004, prior to developing his most notable TV serial role, Isaacs appeared in one episode of the TV show Entourage in the autumn of 2008 as Fredrick Line
24.
Hawaii
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Hawaii is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America, having received statehood on August 21,1959. Hawaii is the only U. S. state located in Oceania and it is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. Hawaii is the only U. S. state not located in the Americas, the state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight main islands are—in order from northwest to southeast, Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi. The last is the largest island in the group, it is called the Big Island or Hawaiʻi Island to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania, Hawaii has over a million permanent residents, along with many visitors and U. S. military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous, but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U. S. states. It is the state with an Asian plurality. The states coastline is about 750 miles long, the fourth longest in the U. S. after the coastlines of Alaska, Florida, the state of Hawaii derives its name from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. A common Hawaiian explanation of the name of Hawaiʻi is that was named for Hawaiʻiloa and he is said to have discovered the islands when they were first settled. The Hawaiian language word Hawaiʻi is very similar to Proto-Polynesian *Sawaiki, cognates of Hawaiʻi are found in other Polynesian languages, including Māori, Rarotongan and Samoan. According to linguists Pukui and Elbert, lsewhere in Polynesia, Hawaiʻi or a cognate is the name of the underworld or of the home, but in Hawaii. A somewhat divisive political issue arose in 1978 when the Constitution of the State of Hawaii added Hawaiian as an official state language. The title of the constitution is The Constitution of the State of Hawaii. Article XV, Section 1 of the Constitution uses The State of Hawaii, diacritics were not used because the document, drafted in 1949, predates the use of the okina and the kahakō in modern Hawaiian orthography. The exact spelling of the name in the Hawaiian language is Hawaiʻi. In the Hawaii Admission Act that granted Hawaiian statehood, the government recognized Hawaii as the official state name. Official government publications, department and office titles, and the Seal of Hawaii use the spelling with no symbols for glottal stops or vowel length
25.
Kualoa Ranch
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Kualoa is a 4000-acre private nature reserve and working cattle ranch, as well as a popular tourist attraction and filming location on the windward coast of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. It is located about 24 miles from Honolulu, and 32 miles from Haleiwa, the ranch consists of 3 valleys, Kaʻaʻawa Valley, Kualoa Valley, and Hakipuu Valley. The ranch is located on Hawaii State Route 83 between Kaaawa and Waikane, the main street address is 49-560 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744. The valley was sacred to ancient Hawaiians from the 13th to the 18th century and it was also the site of the sacred drums of Kapahuʻula and Kaʻahuʻulapunawai as well as the sacred Hill of Kauakahiakahoʻowaha, the key to the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Oahu. As written in the Kumulipo, an ancient Hawaiian genealogical chant, Kualoa is where Papa and Wakea buried their first still born child and it is said that the first kalo plant grew up from where Haloa was buried at Kualoa. In 1850 an American doctor, Dr. Gerrit P. Judd purchased 622 acres of land at Kualoa for $1300. Dr. Judd was the first person to translate medical journals into the Hawaiian language for King Kamehameha, in 1860 Dr. Judd bought a further 2200 acres. Then in 1880 Dr. Judds son Charles bought another 1188 acres, today there are about 4000 acres of land. In 1863 Charles Judd and his brother-in-law Samuel Garner Wilder started a sugarcane plantation, several years of low rainfall brought sugar farming to a close, and the mill closed in 1870. The ruins of the old sugar mill can still be seen along Kamehameha Highway, in 1941 during World War II, the U. S. military occupied the land, which became the site of Kualoa Airfield. After the war the ranch was returned to the Morgan family, the entire ahupuaʻa was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu as the Kualoa Ahupuaʻa Historical District, site 74000718 on October 16,1974. From 1993 to 1998, the ranch hosted Hawaiis first major rock festival, Kualoa is open for guided tours. Kaʻaʻawa, Hawaiʻi Hawaiʻi Film Office Hawaii Film Office interview article with Terence Chang, producer of Windtalkers Kualoa Ranch Official website
26.
Lost (TV series)
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Lost is an American television drama series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company from September 22,2004, to May 23,2010, over six seasons, comprising a total of 121 episodes. Lost is a series containing elements of science fiction and the supernatural. It follows the survivors of the crash of a passenger jet. The story is told in a serialized manner. Episodes typically feature a storyline set on the island, augmented by flashback or flashforward sequences which provide additional insight into the involved character. Lost was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, who share story-writing credits for the pilot episode, which Abrams directed. Throughout the shows run, Lindelof and Carlton Cuse served as showrunners and head writers, working together with a large number of other executive producers and writers. Due to its ensemble cast and the cost of filming primarily on location in Oahu, Hawaii. Having achieved both wide acclaim and commercial success throughout its run, Lost has been consistently ranked by critics as one of the greatest television dramas of all time. The first season garnered an average of 16 million viewers per episode on ABC. During its sixth and final season, the show averaged over 11 million U. S. viewers per episode, users of IMDb. com Pro gave Lost the highest average ranking for any television series during the first ten years of that websites operation. Season 1 begins with the aftermath of a crash, which leaves the surviving passengers of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 on what seems to be an uninhabited tropical island. Jack Shephard, a doctor, becomes their leader and their survival is threatened by a number of mysterious entities, including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle, and the islands malevolent inhabitants known as The Others. They encounter a French woman named Danielle Rousseau, who was shipwrecked on the island 16 years before the story and is desperate for news of a daughter named Alex. They also find a metal hatch buried in the ground. While two survivors, Locke and Boone, try to force the hatch open, four others, Michael, Jin, Walt, meanwhile, flashbacks centered on individual survivors detail their lives prior to the plane crash. Season 2 follows the conflict between the survivors and the Others and continues the theme of the clash between faith and science, while resolving old mysteries and posing new ones. The four survivors in the raft are ambushed by the Others, the survivors are forced to return to the island, where they find the tail-section survivors
27.
Jurassic Park (film)
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Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen. The first installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, it is based on the 1990 novel of the name by Michael Crichton, with a screenplay written by Crichton. Before Crichtons novel was published, four put in bids for the film rights. With the backing of Universal Studios, Spielberg acquired the rights for $1.5 million before publication in 1990, Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novels exposition and violence and made numerous changes to the characters. Filming took place in California and Hawaii between August and November 1992, and post-production rolled until May 1993, supervised by Spielberg in Poland as he filmed Schindlers List. The dinosaurs were created with groundbreaking computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic and it was well received by critics, who praised its special effects, John Williams musical score, and Spielbergs direction. The film won more than twenty awards, including three Academy Awards for its achievements in visual effects and sound design. A fifth installment is scheduled for a 2018 release, industrialist John Hammond and his bioengineering company, InGen, have created a theme park called Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar, a Costa Rican island, populated with cloned dinosaurs. After one of the dinosaur handlers is killed by a Velociraptor, Gennaro invites mathematician Ian Malcolm, while Hammond invites paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler. Upon arrival, the group is stunned to see a live Brachiosaurus, at the parks visitor center, the group learns that the cloning was accomplished by extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes that had been preserved in amber. DNA from frogs was used to fill in gaps in the dinosaur genomes, to prevent breeding, all the dinosaurs were made female. Malcolm scoffs at the idea of controlled breeding, declaring it impossible. The crew witness the birth of a raptor and visit the raptor enclosure. During a luncheon, the debates the ethics of cloning. The group is joined by Hammonds grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy, for a tour of the park. The tour does not go as planned, with most of the failing to appear. The tour is cut short as a storm approaches Isla Nublar. Most of the park employees depart on a boat for the mainland and the return to their electric tour vehicles, except Ellie
28.
Grumman F6F Hellcat
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The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Hellcat competed with the faster Vought F4U Corsair for that role and prevailed, as the Corsair had significant issues with carrier landings. The Corsair instead was primarily deployed to great effect in land-based use by the U. S. Marine Corps, some military observers tagged the Hellcat as the Wildcats big brother. 12,275 were built in just over two years, Hellcats were credited with destroying a total of 5,223 enemy aircraft while in service with the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. This was more than any other Allied naval aircraft, postwar, the Hellcat was phased out of front line service but remained in service as late as 1954 as a night fighter. Grumman had been working on a successor to the F4F Wildcat since 1938, the aircraft was originally designed to use the Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine of 1,700 hp driving a three-bladed Curtiss Electric propeller. In addition, the forward fuselage sloped down slightly to the cowling, affording the Hellcats pilot good visibility. Grumman complied by redesigning and strengthening the F6F airframe to incorporate the 2,000 hp R-2800-10, with this combination Grumman estimated the XF6F-3s performance would increase by 25% over that of the XF6F-1. The Cyclone-powered XF6F-1 first flew on 26 June 1942, followed by the first Double Wasp-equipped aircraft, the XF6F-3, the first production F6F-3, powered by an R-2800-10, flew on 3 October 1942, with the type reaching operational readiness with VF-9 on USS Essex in February 1943. The F6F series were designed to damage and get the pilot safely back to base. A bullet-resistant windshield and a total of 212 lb of armor was fitted, along with armor around the oil tank. A250 gal self-sealing fuel tank was fitted in the fuselage, Standard armament on the F6F-3 consisted of six.50 in M2/AN Browning air-cooled machine guns with 400 rounds per gun. Six 5 in HVARs could be carried, three under each wing on zero-length launchers, Hellcat night fighters claimed their first victories in November 1943. A total of 4,402 F6F-3s were built through until April 1944, in addition, the rear fuselage and tail units were strengthened, and, apart from some early production aircraft, the majority of the F6F-5s built were painted in an overall gloss sea blue finish. After the first few F6F-5s were built, the windows behind the main canopy were deleted. The F6F-5N night fighter variant was fitted with an AN/APS-6 radar in a fairing on the outer-starboard wing, a small number of standard F6F-5s were also fitted with camera equipment for reconnaissance duties as the F6F-5P. The F6F-5 was the most common F6F variant, with 7,870 being built, other prototypes in the F6F series included the XF6F-4 which first flew on 3 October 1942 as the prototype for the projected F6F-4. This version never entered production and 02981 was converted to an F6F-3 production aircraft, the turbochargers proved to be unreliable on both engines, while performance improvements were marginal
29.
Rotten Tomatoes
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Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by Senh Duong and since January 2010 has been owned by Flixster, in February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcasts Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, since 2007, the websites editor-in-chief has been Matt Atchity. The name, Rotten Tomatoes, derives from the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes when disapproving of a stage performance. From early 2008 to September 2010, Current Television aired the weekly The Rotten Tomatoes Show, featuring hosts, a shorter segment was incorporated into the weekly show, InfoMania, which ended in 2011. In September 2013, the website introduced TV Zone, a section for reviewing scripted TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12,1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His goal in creating Rotten Tomatoes was to create a site where people can get access to reviews from a variety of critics in the U. S. As a fan of Jackie Chans, Duong was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chans movies as they were being published in the United States, the first movie whose reviews were featured on Rotten Tomatoes was Your Friends & Neighbors. The website was an success, receiving mentions by Netscape, Yahoo. and USA Today within the first week of its launch. They officially launched it on April 1,2000, in June 2004, IGN Entertainment acquired rottentomatoes. com for an undisclosed sum. In September 2005, IGN was bought by News Corps Fox Interactive Media, in January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster. The combined reach of both companies is 30 million unique visitors a month across all different platforms, according to the companies, in May 2011, Flixster was acquired by Warner Bros. In early 2009, Current Television launched the version of the web review site. It was hosted by Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox and written by Mark Ganek, the show aired every Thursday at 10,30 EST on the Current TV network. The last episode aired on September 16,2010 and it returned as a much shorter segment of InfoMania, a satirical news show that ended in 2011. By late 2009, the website was designed to enable Rotten Tomatoes users to create, one group, The Golden Oyster Awards, accepted votes of members for different awards, as if in parallel to the better-known Oscars or Golden Globes. When Flixster bought the company, they disbanded the groups, announcing, in the meantime, please use the Forums to continue your conversations about your favorite movie topics. As of February 2011, new community features have been added, for example, users can no longer sort films by fresh ratings from rotten ratings, and vice versa
30.
Roger Ebert
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Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic and historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, the two verbally sparred and traded humorous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase Two Thumbs Up, used when both hosts gave the film a positive review. After Siskel died in 1999, Ebert continued hosting the show with various co-hosts and then, starting in 2000, Ebert lived with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands from 2002. This required treatments necessitating the removal of his jaw, which cost him the ability to speak or eat normally. His ability to write remained unimpaired, however, and he continued to publish frequently both online and in print until his death on April 4,2013. Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the child of Annabel, a bookkeeper, and Walter Harry Ebert. He was raised Roman Catholic, attending St. Marys elementary school and his paternal grandparents were German immigrants and his maternal ancestry was Irish and Dutch. In his senior year, he was president and editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper. In 1958, he won the Illinois High School Association state speech championship in radio speaking, regarding his early influences in film criticism, Ebert wrote in the 1998 parody collection Mad About the Movies, I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine. Mads parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin – of the way a movie might look original on the outside, I did not read the magazine, I plundered it for clues to the universe. Pauline Kael lost it at the movies, I lost it at Mad magazine, Ebert began taking classes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an early-entrance student, completing his high-school courses while also taking his first university class. After graduating from Urbana High School in 1960, Ebert then attended and received his degree in 1964. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, One of the first movie reviews he ever wrote was a review of La Dolce Vita, published in The Daily Illini in October 1961. Ebert spent a semester as a student in the department of English there before attending the University of Cape Town on a Rotary fellowship for a year. He returned from Cape Town to his studies at Illinois for two more semesters and then, after being accepted as a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago. Instead Kogan referred Ebert to the city editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim Hoge and he attended doctoral classes at the University of Chicago while working as a general reporter at the Sun-Times for a year
31.
The Patriot (2000 film)
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The Patriot is a 2000 epic historical fiction war film directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Robert Rodat, and starring Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, Heath Ledger, and Jason Isaacs. It was produced by the Mutual Film Company and Centropolis Entertainment and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film mainly takes place in rural York County, South Carolina, and depicts the story of an American swept into the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened. Benjamin Martin is a figure the scriptwriter claims is based on four factual figures from the American Revolutionary War, Andrew Pickens, Francis Marion, Daniel Morgan. While, as critic Roger Ebert states, None of it has much to do with the reality of the Revolutionary War. Fearing war against Great Britain, Benjamin abstains, the vote is nonetheless passed and, against his fathers wishes, two years later Charleston falls to the British and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying dispatches. When Benjamins second son Thomas tries to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Tavington, who orders the Martins house burned. After the British leave, Benjamin gives his next two eldest sons rifles, and they ambush the British unit escorting a tied Gabriel, Benjamin skillfully, yet brutally, kills many soldiers with his tomahawk. A British survivor tells Tavington of the attack, earning Benjamin the moniker of the Ghost, Benjamin and Gabriel resolve to fight the British, leaving the younger children in the care of Benjamins sister-in-law, Charlotte. On their way to the Continental Armys camp, they witness the southern Continental Army under General Horatio Gates engaging the British Army, Benjamin recognizes the foolishness of the action, sure enough, the Continentals are decisively routed. Benjamin meets his former commanding officer, Colonel Harry Burwell, who makes him colonel of the colonial militia due to his combat experience. Benjamin is tasked with keeping Lord Cornwalliss regiments pinned south through guerrilla warfare, French Major Jean Villeneuve helps train the militia and promises more French aid. Gabriel asks why Villeneuve and others mention Benjamins role in something called Fort Wilderness, Benjamins militia harass British supply lines, even capturing some of Cornwallis personal effects and his two Great Danes, and burn half the bridges and ferries leading to Charleston. Lord Cornwallis blames Tavington for creating this reaction with his brutal tactics, with the reluctant aid of the Loyalist Captain Wilkins, Tavington learns the identities of some militia members and proceeds to attack their families and burn their homes. Benjamins family flees Charlottes plantation as it is burned to live in a Gullah settlement with black slaves. There, Gabriel marries his betrothed Anne, Tavingtons brigade rides into the town that supplies the militia. He assembles all the townspeople, including Anne, into the church promising freedom in exchange for the whereabouts of the rebels, however, after the location is given the doors are barricaded, trapping the people as Tavington orders the church burned. After discovering the tragedy, Gabriel races to attack Tavingtons encampment, in the ensuing fight, Tavington mortally wounds Gabriel before fleeing. Benjamin arrives soon after, only to have another of his sons die in his arms, Benjamin mourns and wavers in his commitment to continue fighting, but is resolved when reminded of his sons dedication to the cause by finding an American flag he repaired personally
32.
The Hurt Locker
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The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, the film shows soldiers varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others. The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and his comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks. Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide a background for the production. The Hurt Locker received widespread acclaim and won six Academy Awards. Bigelow won the award for Best Director, as of 2017 and his team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. His maverick disposal methods and attitude lead to Sanborn and Eldridge considering him reckless, meanwhile, James is often approached by an Iraqi youth named Beckham attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of soccer and takes a liking to him, when they are assigned to destroy some explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by accidentally triggering the explosion, making Eldridge somewhat uncomfortable, returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James team has an encounter with their leader, who then reveals they are private military contractors. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, the entire group suddenly comes under fire, and when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries remembers the bounty for them is dead or alive and shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader, Sanborn and James borrow a Barrett.50 cal to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth. During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers the body of a young boy, during evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camps psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridges, is killed in an explosion, Eldridge blames himself for his death. Later, James breaks into the house of an Iraqi professor, seeking revenge for Beckham, called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James heads out, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow, after they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but accidentally shoot him in the leg, the following morning, James is approached by Beckham, who he believed was dead, and walks by without saying a word. Before being airlifted for surgery elsewhere, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury, James and Sanborns unit is called to another mission in their last two days of their rotation. An innocent Iraqi civilian man has had a bomb vest strapped to his chest, James tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest, but there are too many of them
33.
U-571 (film)
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U-571 is a 2000 war film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes and Tom Guiry. In the film, a World War II German submarine is boarded in 1942 by disguised United States Navy submariners seeking to capture her Enigma cipher machine, the film was financially successful and generally well-received by critics in the United States and won an Academy Award for sound editing. The anger over the inaccuracies even reached the British Parliament, where Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that the film was an affront to British sailors, the film was also criticized for German U-boat crews were portrayed in a negative light. U-571 was filmed in the Mediterranean, near Rome and Malta, footage, sets and models from the movie have been reused for other productions, including Submerged, depicting the loss of USS Sailfish, and the fictional Ghostboat. A non-diving replica of the US submarine S-33 is located in Grand Harbour, after sinking a merchant ship from an Allied convoy, German U-boat U-571 has her engines badly damaged by depth charges from a British destroyer. As the crew of S-33 receive their assignment, the executive officer Lieutenant Tyler is unhappy about his promotion being blocked by commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren. During a storm, S-33s boarding party surprises and overwhelms the crew of U-571, after securing U-571, the American S-33 is torpedoed by the German resupply sub that was sent to aid U-571. Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren is blown off the deck of S-33 and seriously wounded, while struggling to stay afloat he refuses rescue, Lieutenant Tyler takes command of U-571 and dives below the surface where they engage and sink the resupply sub in an underwater battle. After making repairs and restoring power Tyler decides to route the disabled submarine to Lands End in Cornwall, the sub dives underneath the German destroyer, which then begins to drop depth charges to sink U-571. U-571s original master Kapitänleutnant Wassner escapes captivity and kills one of Tylers crew, the crew then realizes that Kapitänleutnant Wassner, despite being shackled, is using Morse Code tapping to signal to the destroyer that the submarine was captured and knock him out. U-571, hiding at below 600 feet, is damaged by the water pressure. Control of the main ballast tanks is lost and the ship ascends uncontrollably, Tyler orders crewman Trigger to submerse himself in the bilge underwater to repressurize the torpedo tubes. Trigger uses an air hose to enter the flooded compartment and he closes the air valve to the torpedo tubes, but a second leak and broken valve are found, which Trigger cant reach. U-571 surfaces heavily damaged and begins to flood, unable to fire its last torpedo from its stern tubes. The destroyer gives chase and fires upon U-571 with its main guns, unable to turn back, he reaches for the valve and closes it before he dies. The second the pressure is available, Tyler orders Tank to fire the final torpedo, the German destroyer is unable to take evasive action and is sunk. As the crew sigh in relief, Tank reports Triggers death, U-571 has taken severe damage and will not remain afloat for long. The crew abandons the submarine with the Enigma in their possession, the crew watch U-571 as she slips beneath the waves
34.
The Green Berets (film)
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The Green Berets is a 1968 American war film set in Vietnam, featuring John Wayne, Jim Hutton, David Janssen, Aldo Ray, Patrick Wayne, and Jack Soo, based on the 1965 book by Robin Moore. Parts of the screenplay bear little relation to the novel, although the portion in which a woman seduces a Vietnamese communist leader, much of the film was shot in the summer of 1967. Thematically, The Green Berets is strongly anti-communist and pro-Saigon and it was released at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam War, the same year as the Tet offensive against the largest cities in South Vietnam. John Wayne, concerned by the atmosphere in the United States. He requested and obtained full military cooperation and materiel from President Johnson, to please the Pentagon, who were attempting to prosecute Robin Moore for revealing classified information, Wayne bought Moore out for $35,000 and 5% of undefined profits of the film. The film was a failure, but succeeded financially. At Fort Bragg, cynical newspaper reporter George Beckworth is at a Special Forces briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam, the briefing at Gabriel Demonstration Area, includes a demonstration and explanation of the whys and wherefores of participating in the Vietnam War. Skeptical civilians and journalists are told that international Communism is what the U. S. is fighting in Vietnam, proof, weapons and equipment, captured from North Vietnamese soldiers and Vietcong guerrillas, manufactured in the Soviet Union, Communist Czechoslovakia, and Communist China. Despite that, Beckworth remains skeptical about the value of intervening in Vietnams civil war, when asked by Green Beret Colonel Mike Kirby if he had ever been to Southeast Asia, reporter Beckworth replies that he had not, prompting a discourteous acknowledgement of his opinion. Realizing his ignorance, Beckworth decides to go in-country to report on what he finds there so he may better his argument that America needs to stop participating in this unwinnable war, Colonel Kirby is posted to South Vietnam with two handpicked A-Teams of Special Forces troopers. One A-Team is to replace a team at a working with South Vietnamese. While selecting his teams, Kirby intercepts a Spc. Petersen from another unit who is scrounging supplies from Kirbys supply depot, realizing Petersens skills, Kirby promotes him and brings him onto his SF team. Arriving in South Vietnam, they meet Beckworth whom Kirby allows to them at the base camp where he witnesses the humanitarian aspect of the Special Forces mission. Still, he remains skeptical of the U. S. s need to be there, during this period, Petersen befriends a young native boy named Ham Chuck, a war orphan who has no family other than his pet dog and the soldiers at the base camp. Hes obsessed with having to kill all the stinking Viet Cong to win this war and he also claims that there is a spy network within the camp and ARVN strike force. During Captain Colemans ) final night of his tour, he spends time in the Team House writing a letter announcing his return. Beckworth, and several of the A detachments, Sergeants Provo, Watson, one member, Parks, cannot play in the game as his reputation for cons and luck-playing was well known, Coleman instructs the men to check their guard duty rosters before they turn in to rest. He bids everyone good night and Coleman returns to his own sleeping quarters, not long afterwards, the camp begins to get hit with Viet Cong mortars in a harassment action
35.
Pearl Harbor (film)
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Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American epic historical romantic war film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Randall Wallace. It stars Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr. Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, the film is a dramatic retelling of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the Doolittle Raid. Despite receiving generally negative reviews critics, the film was a major box office success, earning $59 million in its opening weekend and, in the end. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning in the category of Best Sound Editing, however, it was also nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture. This marked the first occurrence of a Worst-Picture-nominated film winning an Academy Award, in 1923 Tennessee, two young boys, Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker, play together in the back of an old biplane, pretending to be soldiers fighting the Germans in World War I. After Rafes father lands his biplane and leaves, Rafe and Danny climb into the plane and Rafe accidentally starts it, Rafe manages to stop the plane at the end of the runway, but Dannys father beats Rafe and Danny for climbing into the plane. Rafe stands up to Dannys father calling him a dirty German, however, Dannys father then reveals that he fought the Germans in World War I, and that he prays no one will ever have to experience what he experienced. Eighteen years later, in January 1941, Danny and Rafe are both first lieutenants under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle, Doolittle informs Rafe that he has been accepted into the Eagle Squadron. A nurse named Evelyn meets Rafe and passes his medical exam despite his dyslexia and that night, Rafe and Evelyn enjoy an evening of dancing at a nightclub and later a jaunt in New York harbor in a borrowed police boat. Rafe shocks Evelyn by saying that he has joined the Eagle Squadron and is leaving the next day, Danny, Evelyn and their fellow pilots and nurses are transferred to Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, Rafe flies in numerous dogfights with the RAF against the Luftwaffe, becoming a flying ace, Danny gives Evelyn the news and she is devastated. Three months later, Evelyn and Danny begin to develop feelings for each other, Danny takes Evelyn on a sunset flight over the harbor and the two begin a relationship. On the night of December 6, Evelyn is shocked to discover Rafe standing outside her door and he goes to the Hula bar where he is welcomed back by his overjoyed fellow pilots. Danny finds Rafe in the bar with the intention of making things right and they drive away, avoiding being put in the brig when the authorities arrive at the bar. The two later fall asleep in Dannys car, early the next morning, on December 7,1941, the Japanese navy begins its attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona is obliterated with when a bomb detonates the ships forward ammunition magazine. The USS Oklahoma capsizes after several torpedoes strikes her, trapping hundreds of men inside, on the USS West Virginia suffers severe damage. One bomb mortally wounds Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, cook Dorie Miller, with no training with firearms, mans a.50 caliber machine gun and shoots down a Japanese plane
36.
Battle of the Bulge (film)
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The feature was filmed in Ultra Panavision 70 and exhibited in 70 mm Cinerama. Battle of the Bulge had its premiere on December 16,1965. They also shot parts of the film on terrain that did not resemble actual battle locations and this left them open to criticism for lack of historical accuracy, but they claimed in the end credits that they had re-organized the chronological order of events to maximize the dramatic story. Unlike most World War II epics, Battle of the Bulge contains virtually no portrayals of actual senior Allied leaders and this is presumably because of controversies surrounding the battle, both during the war and after. Though Allied forces ultimately won the battle, the initial German counteroffensive caught them by surprise, military Intelligence officer and former policeman Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley and his pilot, Joe, are flying a reconnaissance mission over the Ardennes forest, spotting a German staff car. Under the ground in a lair, German Col. Martin Hessler. Kohler points out a clock with a 50-hour countdown, which is the time allotted for the operation, at the same time German soldiers disguised as American troops, led by Lt. Schumacher, are tasked with seizing vital bridges and sowing confusion behind the Allied lines. Meanwhile, Kiley returns to headquarters where he warns that the Germans are planning one more all-out offensive. His superiors, Gen. Grey and Col. Pritchard, dismiss it out of hand, all available intelligence points to Germany not having the resources, hoping to uncover more proof, Kiley visits a US infantry position on the Siegfried Line under command of Maj. Wolenski. A patrol led by Lt. Weaver and Sgt, Duquesne capture some young and obviously inexperienced German soldiers. Kiley concludes that experienced German troops have been replaced by men and withdrawn for an offensive. Hessler launches his attack the next day, awakened by the noise of German tanks, Wolenski leads his men into the wooded area of the Schnee Eifel, where they try to fight them off but are overrun. A group of Allied tanks led by Sgt, guffy also attempts to slow the Panzers, but their tanks weak guns and thin armor make them ineffective, forcing him and his crew to retreat. Lt. Schumacher and his troops capture the only bridge over the Our River capable of carrying heavy tanks. Hessler continues his spearhead toward Ambleve, while being observed by Kiley, Schumacher later takes control of a vital intersection of three roads connecting Ambleve, Malmedy and the Siegfried Line. He sabotages the road signs, and the rear echelon of Wolenskis troops take the road to Malmedy. Lt. Weaver manages to escape, but Duquesne is killed, US soldiers become suspicious when they witness Schumachers military police lay explosives incorrectly on the Our bridge, and his masquerade is revealed. Hesslers tanks and infantry storm Ambleve, finally taking the town, although many Americans, including Wolenski, are captured, Grey, Pritchard, Kiley and others escape to the River Meuse
37.
Red Tails
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Red Tails is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States Army Air Forces servicemen during World War II, the characters in the film are fictional, although based on real individuals. The film was produced by Lucasfilm and released by 20th Century Fox, John Ridley wrote the screenplay, based on a story created by him in collaboration with George Lucas. Additional material was shot the year with executive producer George Lucas as director. It was filmed in March and July 2009, Red Tails was a personal project for Lucas, one that he had originally conceived in 1988. It is the first Lucasfilm production since the 1994 film Radioland Murders that is not associated with the Indiana Jones or Star Wars franchises, although flying worn-out Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft and chafing at their ground attack missions, the Tuskegee Airmen recognize they may never fight the Luftwaffe. Bullard, face a white military bureaucracy still resistant to accepting black flyers as equals, strife develops between friends Easy and Lightning, each of whom battle their own inner demons, Lightning is a hotheaded and reckless pilot, while Easy is an alcoholic prone to self-doubt. After returning to base, Lightning becomes infatuated with Sofia, an Italian girl, when Lightning punches a white man who uses a racial slur at a whites only officers club, he is sent to the brig and reprimanded by Colonel Bullard. Meanwhile, Bullard secures a chance to light up the board when the Tuskegee Airmen are chosen to support the Allied landings at Anzio, Italy known as Operation Shingle. There, they battle Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters led by a German ace pilot they nickname Pretty Boy, Pretty Boy is stunned to see the pilots who damaged his plane and razed his base were African-Americans. During their first victory, Ray Gun is injured by anti-aircraft fire, Easy reluctantly allows Ray Gun to continue flying. Bullard accepts on the condition his unit be supplied with the new North American P-51 Mustang, the tails of the aircraft are painted bright red and become the unofficial name of the outfit. Noting the reckless aggression of previous fights, Bullard orders his pilots to stay with the bombers at all costs. Their first escort mission is a success, and the 332nd downs multiple Luftwaffe aircraft without the loss of a single bomber, Lightning even takes his chances to attack a Kriegsmarine destroyer before returning to base. However, Ray Gun is shot down and captured by a Wehrmacht patrol, while Deke crash lands and nearly dies, as a result of his injuries, Deke is discharged, and Ray Gun is taken to Stalag 18, a German POW camp. A group of POWs recruit him, as they believe he could not be a German spy, Easy blames himself for Ray Guns death and spirals deeper into alcoholism. Worried, Lightning makes a deal with Easy, he will fly less recklessly as long as Easy remains sober, meanwhile, attitudes against the Tuskegee Airmen begin to change as they earn the bomber crews respect. Lightning proposes to Sofia, who accepts as long as he stays in Italy, Ray Gun and his group of POWs escape, but German guards spot several POWs, Ray Gun draws the Germans attention while the others escape
38.
Enemy at the Gates
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Enemy at the Gates is a 2001 American-French war film written and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The films title is taken from William Craigs nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates, The Battle for Stalingrad, the films main character is a fictionalized version of sniper Vasily Zaytsev, a Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. It includes a snipers duel between Zaytsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin König, nikita Khrushchev arrives in Stalingrad to coordinate the citys defences and demands ideas to improve morale. Vasily is transferred to the division, and he and Danilov become friends. They also both become interested in Tania Chernova, a citizen of Stalingrad who has become a private in the local militia. Danilov has her transferred to an intelligence unit away from the battlefield, with the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König is deployed to Stalingrad to take out Vasily and thus crush Soviet morale. A renowned marksman and head of the German Army sniper school at Zossen, he lures Vasily into a trap, when the Red Army command learns of Königs mission, they dispatch Königs former student Koulikov to help Vasily kill him. König, however, outmaneuvers Koulikov and kills him with a very skillful shot, Khrushchev pressures Danilov to bring the sniper standoff to a conclusion. Sacha, a young Soviet boy, volunteers to act as an agent by passing König false information about Vasilys whereabouts. Vasily sets a trap for König and manages to wound him, the German command takes the log as evidence of Vasilys death and plans to send König home, but König does not believe Vasily is dead. The commanding German general takes Königs dog tags to prevent Russian propaganda from profiting if König is killed, König tells Sasha where König will be next, suspecting that the boy will tell Vasily. Tania and Vasily have meanwhile fallen in love and have sex in the Russian barracks at night, the jealous Danilov disparages Vasily in a letter to his superiors. König spots Tania and Vasily waiting for him at his next ambush spot and he then kills the boy and hangs his body off a pole to bait Vasily. Vasily vows to kill König, and sends Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sashas mother from the city, thinking she is dead, Danilov regrets his jealousy of Vasily and expresses disenchantment for his previous ardency of the Communist cause. Finding Vasily waiting to ambush König, Danilov intentionally exposes himself in order to provoke König into shooting him, thinking that he has killed Vasily, König goes to inspect the body, but realizes too late that he has fallen into a trap and is in Vasilys sights. He turns to face Vasily and takes off his hat, after which Vasily kills him, two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and the German forces have surrendered, Vasily finds Tania recovering in a field hospital. Vasily Zaitsev was a sergeant of the 2nd Battalion, 1047th Rifle Regiment. Historian Antony Beevor suggests in his non-fiction book Stalingrad that, while Zaitsev was a real person, although William Craigs book Enemy at the Gates, The Battle for Stalingrad includes a snipers duel between Zaitsev and König, the sequence of events in the film is fictional
39.
Flyboys (film)
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It was directed by Tony Bill, a pilot and aviation enthusiast. The screenplay about men in combat was written by Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans. Themes of friendship, racial prejudice, revenge and love are also explored in the film, the squadron consisted of five French officers and 38 American volunteers who wanted to fly and fight in World War I before the United States entry into the war in 1917. The film ends with an epilogue that relates the fate of each American pilot to the real-life Lafayette Escadrille pilot upon whom his character was based. In 1916, during World War I, a group of young Americans go to France, for different personal reasons, to fight in the French Air Service, LAéronautique militaire. These American recruits are under the command of French Captain Georges Thenault, during their training, each pilot struggles with the demanding flying, later, they have to face the aerial dogfights that dominate the front line missions. One of them, Blaine Rawlings meets a woman named Lucienne whom he courts despite her hesitations about his risky profession. While on the ground he is killed by a ruthless German pilot identified as The Black Falcon, Rawlings kills Wolferd when Wolferd dives after another American. After this, Rawlings is alarmed to learn that German forces are going to invade Luciennes village, despite others disapproving of his conduct, they let him go. He single-handedly rescues Lucienne and her two nephews and niece and he returns to base, and instead of being arrested for his misconduct, he is praised by their commander and awarded with the Croix de Guerre medal for bravery due to his courage. During an attack on a German Zeppelin, Reed Cassidy is mortally wounded by the Black Falcon but, as his final act, Rawlings reunites with Lucienne before she leaves for Paris. Before Rawlings leaves for battle, his plane is presented with an eagle, Cassidys former insignia. Their next mission is to escort four bombers which are being sent to bomb the same supply depot from the first mission, upon returning from the bombing mission, Rawlings takes off again to exact revenge on the Black Falcon. He is followed soon after by Jensen, who has recovered from his shock, during the final battle, despite having jammed guns and being wounded, Rawlings evades his enemy and fatally shoots the Black Falcon with his pistol. Rawlings and three other pilots survive the encounter and return to base, Jensen flies for the rest of the war and returns to Nebraska and receives a heros welcome. Skinner enlists in the US Army but is kept from flying due to his race, beagle marries an Italian woman and starts a flying circus. Rawlings goes to Paris but doesnt find Lucienne and he built one of the largest ranches in Texas, he never flies again. James Franco as Blaine Rawlings, A Texan faced with the foreclosure of his ranch in Texas
