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        I had just about given up on the American Cinema series
currently airing on many PBS stations nationwide, when I saw the
Combat Films segment last night.
        Most of the information that has been aired during the series
has been, for me, redundant and although interesting, not revelatory.
However, I did come away with some new information and some things
to think about after watching the Combat Films segment.  I think the
difference between this segment and other segments is that this
episode used more soundbites from a film historian than previous
ones, and he was able to analyze the history of American combat
films made in Hollywood, from post WWI through the Vietnam
experience.
        Not the entire segment was truly inspiring... the segments
on John Wayne and the interview soundbites from Oliver Stone were
old news that have already been covered elsewhere many times.  But
I found the segments on different approaches to making films about
American involvement in war to be very stimulating, esp. the
contrasts between Zanuck and the director of "The Big Red ONe" and
"Steel Helmet."  Both directors experienced WWII first hand, but
both came away with different ideas of how warfare should be
presented on film.  Zanuck looked seems to have looked at war
pictures as epics of a grand scale, whereas the other director
(darn it, I can't remember his name now) focussed on how individuals
have to face warfare and killing in their own unique ways.
        I found that the idea that warfare movies haven't
fundamentally changed an interesting idea, that the change of combat
arenas (WWII, to KOrea, to the newer Vietnam films) hasn't
necessarily changed the fundamental themes of such films something
to mentally chew on.  ANd that is more than I can say for any of the
other segments of the series that I have watched.  I haven't had
any compulsion for a discussion of any of the points raised in the
series until I watched the Combat Films segment.
        Doug Simpson