----------------------------Original message---------------------------- 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