Tom Cruise is playing a Nazi in his new film

[noobish hat]

No, it was for fun. I checked. I was surprised too, but there it is.

[Dogg Thang]

Well, you can't argue with science.

[Darwock]

Indeed, but there's far too little emphasis on atrocities the allies committed and they're not taught in school. 600,000 German Civilians intentionally killed in Arthur Bomber Harris' campaign, 100,000 civilians died a horribly painful death in the firebombing of Tokyo. It's incredibly rare for anyone to get taught about these in school.

All sides committed atrocities in WW2, it's just the west as a whole seem to like to pretend that we won WW2 with a clean conscience.

The point isn't how we won, it's WHY we won. A slightly more important thing to remember.

[Zaki]

No, it was for fun. I checked. I was surprised too, but there it is.

......

[Richard.John]

I saw this too and thought it was superb. I admit that being Cruise vehicle, I expected it to be a bit ****. No fat at all, just the story and consequence of it all, and a thrill ride too. So tense in parts, even though we know the outcome, and that is a sign of great filmaking as it must be hard to instill a sense of urgency or tension in something that is historical fact. The only part I didn't like was Hilter speaking English. He is such an infamous man, that somehow it seemed odd, hearing his thoughts. Well to me at least. You could say that it is a British film with Cruise in the lead role.

Regarding the Nazi connection in the minds of the Japanese, well I think there isn't one. For the Japanese, WWII started with Pearl Harbour and ended with the atomic bombings. That's what most probably know or feel anyway.

History is his story after all, so we, as a society, selectively forget what we feel is shameful or an atrocity, yet condemn the atrocities carried out by our enemies. It's normal, and all is fair in love and war, as they say.

[noobish hat]

Well, for the civilized world, all is fair in love and war so long as it falls within the Geneva Convention. The japs had other ideas though, so **** 'em.

[abigsmurf]

Regarding the Nazi connection in the minds of the Japanese, well I think there isn't one. For the Japanese, WWII started with Pearl Harbour and ended with the atomic bombings. That's what most probably know or feel anyway.

Sadly that's how the Americans feel too. They joined the allies after the turning point of the war yet see themselves as having won it for us.

[Zaki]

Well, for the civilized world, all is fair in love and war so long as it falls within the Geneva Convention. The japs had other ideas though, so **** 'em.

But they make such great videogames!

[Richard.John]

abigsmurf,

That's Hollywood though. Make enough films glorifying the US involvement, whilst neglecting any other ally, and you will change or form opinions in the minds of your target audience, which is first and foremost the American market. To be fair, the British WWII films of the 60s were hardly any better, to some degree. It's just that the Hollywood 'war machine' is better at getting the message across.

What irks the most is not the general 'You'd be speaking German....' line that they often trot out, but the fact that most informed WWII buffs know how vital the US effort was to the war, and dont discredit it, but the idiots who only know history from watching Saving Private Ryan or other pro American films, tend to bait those who do know the facts. Video games don't help either as apart from the CoD series, most focus on US campaigns during WWII, which is a shame as the target audience for those types of game are young, impressionable, American males who fall for the 'we kicked yo ass' propaganda, hook line and sinker.

The mighty American dollar tells the story. And here is an observation for you. I just checked Wikipedia and it seems that every single CoD game, across all formats, has US soldiers featured as the game cover artwork .