This Annoys me...

[Punkrocker]

Yes, Annoy with a capital 'A'.

I'm watching a 70's era war movie and all the germans speak with an English accent. What kind of pseudo-logic makes that anything remotely close to being ok? And why did so many movies of that era do that?

[Brubaker]

It's funny that you say that. Quentin Tarantino was on npr earlier this morning talking about Inglourious Basterds and he complained about the same thing (don't ask me about the spelling - I don't know why it's that way).

[Punkrocker]

I saw Valkyrie a couple of months ago and it was exactly the same. Does Hollywood really think we are that stupid?

"Der, he got a furin accent! He gotta be a Nazi!"

Or maybe THEY are that stupid?:uhrrr:

[Malefic]

You must be watching the bad old war movies. The good ones have the Germans speaking actual German or at least that's what I remember of movies like The Longest Day, A Bridge too Far or the Guns of Navarone.

[Punkrocker]

I actually watched A Bridge Too Far the other day and I'm almost certain there were one or two Germans that spoke with an English accent. I might be wrong, I've been on a war movie kick lately and might be confusing it with another one. The movie I was watching when I made this post is "The Eagle Has Landed". The story of an attempted kidnapping of Winston Churchill during WWII. Robert Duvall and a couple of other actors spoke with German or Polish accents, but there were several other Germans that did not.

It's funny, but when I was a kid (when these movies were only five to 10 years old) I remember thinking the same thing and it bothering me even then. I think it stems from my father's love of spotting bloopers or inaccuracies in movies and shows and the enjoyment he got out of pointing out "artistic license" that would never work in the real world.

Then again, one of my father's favorite shows in the early 80s was The A-Team. Where 5,000 rounds of ammo is expended in the last 4 minutes of the show. Nobody ever gets shot, but the "good guys" always pull it out at the last minute. :confused:

[Talv]

TORA TORA TORA, and Midway are my favorite.

[Kyth]

I always love the other thing that shows up:


Anyone evil is going to be speaking in a german or russian accent -- regardless of their actual nationality.

Anyone evil and sneaky OR some famous lover will have a french accent.

Anyone cultured (but possibly evil) will have a british accent.

Anyone dumb will have a southern accent.

[Jarlyn]

Posting for effect.

Very briefly NWS: http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/6153/sookeh.gif