Making a sequel for awar movieis a difficult thing to do, as has been proven by the countless amounts of strange ideas for follow-ups to classic militaristic films over the years. Thebest war moviesgive in-depth glimpses on the true horrors of war while also featuring exciting action. Historical accuracy doesn’t hurt either, though it isn’t strictly required to generate a powerful story depicting the terrors of combat. However, it can be difficult to capitalize on the success of a war movie for various reasons.
A big part of the difficulty that comes with generating ideas for a war movie sequel is the adherence to real-life conflicts, which already have predetermined endings.It can be hard to find excuses to revive a recognizable war movie IP while staying faithful to actual history, putting follow-ups to war films in a difficult place. While the oddbox office success likeTop Gun: Maverickleaves plenty of room for exceptions, by and large, sequels to war movies have a difficult time working.
The originalJarheadwas a stunning interpretation of war as filtered through a modern lens, based off the memoir of a real-life U.S. marine as portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal.Describing the harrowing events of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield,Jarheadtook an interesting approach to its realistic depiction of combat, as Marines fight off border just as much as enemy insurgents. One ofJake Gyllenhaal’s best movies,Jarheadwas a thoughtful and truthful look at the perils of soldiery.
The handful of sequels, particularlyJarhead 2: Field of FireandJarhead 3: The Siege,succumbed to the temptation to transform the realistic war drama into a brainless action fire fest.Jarhead 2: Field of Fireat least made some halfhearted attempts to maintain the original themes through its noticeably worse writing.
10 Best Squads In War Movies
A good squad of soldiers often elevates a war movie to even more impressive heights, making the film memorable, and the characters revered.
But by the time ofJarhead 3: The Siege,the series had gone full Rambo,with the third entry being an almost one-to-one ripoff of Micheal Bay’s13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.
Behind Enemy Linesdoesn’t seem like a story that could ever lend itself to a sequel, and those that did eventually manifest definitively proved why.The original film starred the talents of Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson as they (true to the title) survived behind enemy lines after their plane was shot down. Loosely based off the real-life 1995 Mrkonjić Grad incident, the harrowing tale of lonesome survival in enemy territory very much felt like a recreation of a genuine military operation.
Sadly, the direct-to-video sequels that would follow threw away any pretense of realism or commitment to historical accuracy.Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil, despite its title being evocative of World War II, detailed a fictional Navy SEAL expedition into North Korea to sabotage a nuclear missile launch site.Behind Enemy Lines: Colombiabrought the SEALS back once more to do battle with Colombian special forces (rather than actual U.S. enemies), andBehind Enemy Lines: SEAL Team 8sent them on a rote hunt for Uranium in the jungles of the Congo.
Sniper
The originalSnipermight not have been one of the most realistic movie depictions of combat, but nonetheless worked as an exciting action film with an emphasis on realistic marksmanship.The odd-couple buddy war movie saw a grizzled Marine sniper pair up with an untested, but talented civilian sharpshooter on a two-man assassination mission deep within the hostile Panamanian wilderness. The film inspired a whole litany of direct-to-video sequels, which gradually lost more and more of the first film’s influence until the concept of sniping was all that was left.
The dizzyingwatch order of theSnipersequelsis utterly impenetrable to the outside observer, with an intimidating ten total films squeezing every last drop of potential out of the premise of a sniper-spotter team. The frequently rotating casts of characters saw the exit, return, and spiritual succession of Tom Berenger’s Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett, making for a confusing overarching narrative.The most confusing of the horde of follow-ups isSniper: Rogue Mission,which officially passed the torch from the old cast while introducing an unwelcome tonal shift to action comedy.
It’s important to include ancient history war movies within the larger umbrella of military action, with the more historical epics being some of the best entries within the genre.Zack Snyder’s300was an especially beloved tale of camaraderie in the face of insurmountable odds, albeit with a supernatural twist on the very real battle of antiquity it takes precedent from. However, as if the film being parodied in the spoof movieMeet the Spartanswasn’t enough, its own official sequel further eroded the franchise’s goodwill.
If the original300merely played with historical events,300: Rise of an Empirehad an outward disdain for them, erroneously depicting the Second Persian Invasion.Warping real events to conform to the series' necessity to pit the Spartans as Greece’s saviors against the hostile invading force, the sequel’s fictionalized presence of Xerxes at the Battle of Marathon and the exaggerated power of Sparta’s naval fleet warped Sparta’s actual significance in the war even more profoundly. Worse than the historical revisionism was the lack of Snyder’s signature style, with action scenes that could only muster a pale imitation.
Rambo III
Cast
Rambo III, directed by Peter MacDonald, follows John Rambo, played by Sylvester Stallone, as he leaves his peaceful monastery life to rescue his mentor, Col. Trautman, from Soviet forces in Afghanistan after Trautman is captured during a top-secret mission.
Long beforeJarheaddid the same thing,the Rambo series struck audiences with tonal whiplash, going from thoughtful dissection of PTSD and criticism of the Vietnam War inFirst Bloodto flagrant revisionism and machismo fantasy inRambo: First Blood Part II.While the second film at least created much of the iconic imagery Rambo is known for, the third installment descended further into awkward hyper-nationalism without the stylish charm
Infamously,Rambo IIImodernized John Rambo’s heroics by casting him into the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, in which he helped the real-life Mujahideen rebels take on the imposing army of the U.S.S.R.The Mujahideen would go on to become the Taliban, one of the U.S. military’s most bitter modern enemies, making the film’s glorification of their resistance all the more painful in hindsight. Because of its literal dedication to the future terrorist force in the credits,Rambo IIIis easily one of the most poorly-aged 80s action movies.
Robert the Bruce
Robert the Bruce follows the Scottish king as he becomes an outlaw after his country’s invasion in 1306. The film portrays his struggle to rekindle his fighting spirit while evading those who seek English bounty for his capture and defending his homeland.
A highly-venerated war movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture the year of its release, Mel Gibson’sBraveheartis still fondly remembered to this day. Depicting the real-life story of the Scottish Independence leader and warrior,Braveheartwas at once disturbingly violent and hopefully romantic, crafting a unique modern take on the classic Hollywood historical epic.With such a high profile, it’s a shock the legacy sequelRobert the Bruceisn’t more talked about.
The relative obscurity ofRobert the Brucecan be chalked up to its much tighter scope of drama.Rather than being a sweeping tale of valor on the battlefield and bravery in the face of tyranny, the film was a far more personal story that depicted Robert’s relationship with a single peasant family, and how his interactions with them helped shape his psyche going into his reign of Scotland. Because of this dramatic shift in focus, change in protagonist, boring story and slow pace,Robert the Bruceflew under the radar.
Even if the originalUnder Siegeisn’t based on true events, it still managed to craft a tight and engaging war story.Taking place within the claustrophobic confines of a boat, the film centered on a demoted Navy SEAL, played by Steven Seagal, working as a cook in the galley of a nuclear-armed battleship. Seagal’s Casey Ryback springs into action when the vessel is taken hostage by terrorists, who attempt to auction its nuclear arsenal off to North Korea.
If the firstUnder Siegeflirted with the idea of being more-or-less a rip-off ofDie Hard, Under Siege 2: Dark Territoryleaned fully into its obvious cinematic influences.This time around, Ryback was essentially put into the exact same situation, only with the vehicle in peril being a train instead of a boat.Under Siege 2: Dark Territorymanaged to still crack the top ten ofSeagal’s best critically-received films, but became far too obvious with its inspiration, even including a Hans Gruber-esque mastermind villain.
An incredibly inspirational action film that can be cited among the influences for countless ensemble movies since, 1967’sThe Dirty Dozenwas a revolutionary take on a fun military flick.Taking place in World War II, the film described a motley crew of 12 convict soldiers being tasked with an impossible mission that they aren’t expected to survive. Loosely based off the escapades of a real United States Army assault unit in World War II, the “Screaming Eagles,“The Dirty Dozencombined historical precedence with ostentatious action fantasies.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the coterie of direct-to-TV sequels that followed couldn’t garner the same mythical reputation as their predecessor film.Because of the stricter censorship policies for TV, the sequels could never descend to the same maddening depths of violence that the original could, taking away a large portion of the series' appeal.By the third film, the titular Dirty Dozen had been completely replaced with a new team, decidedly devoid of the same endearing personalities that made the first film so enjoyable.
The originalStrike Commandowas assuredly derivative of the Rambo movies, but nevertheless managed to interject its own low-budget charm into the expected premise of jungle-bound action spectacle set amid the Vietnam war.Directed by Italian filmmaker Brune Mattei, also known forripping offJawswith the movieCruel Jaws,the film centered around a Rambo look-alike, Sergeant Michael Ransom, who must survive deep behind enemy lines with no support after a mission gone wrong. Despite its clear imitation,Strike Commandooffered its own creativity when it came to explosive setpieces.
Unfortunately,the same can’t be said for the sequel,Strike Commando 2.With the original already being plenty obscure, the follow-up is even lesser known. This is perhaps for the best, considering thatStrike Commando 2rips off Rambo even more blatantly while also featuring sequences lifted straight out ofPredatorandLethal Weapon.Confusingly, the film was able to somehow to procure the talents of Richard Harris in the cast, making for an even more bizarre experience.
One of the great Chuck Norris' more militaristic outings in lieu of his typical martial arts tendencies,The Delta Forcewas one of the star’s more recognizable films.The film posited Norris as Major Scott McCoy, the leader of the real-life Delta Force special ops unit, who is tasked with stopping a commercial flight hijacked by two dangerous terrorists. Bleeding patriotism and American zealotry, the film is still a fun watch for its creative shootouts and tense moments.
The same can’t be said for the two officialDelta Forcesequels,Delta Force 2: The Colombian ConnectionandDelta Force 3: The Killing Game.Whereas the former confusingly pivoted to the war on drugs while lifting large segments from previous Norris flickMissing in Action,the latter attempted to pass the torch to Chuck’s son, Mike Norris, to underwhelming results. Letting down fans of the original twice, it’s no wonder theDelta Forcesequels continue to languish inwar movieobscurity.
