Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies

Knecht, James R.
War in Film, Television, and History: Introduction
Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies - Volume 36.1 (2006), pp. 12-13

Center for the Study of Film and History

War in Film, Television, and History: Introduction - Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies 36:1 Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies 36.1 (2006) 12-13 War in Film, Television, and History: Introduction James R. Knecht Oklahoma State University The war film -- a genre nearly as old as the business itself. Just what is it about seeing images of soldiers and other combatants on the big screen (or, for that matter, on the small screen) that continually seems to fascinate the movie-going (and television-watching) public? From the earliest days with films like D.W. Griffith's Civil War epic The Birth of a Nation (1915), Hollywood has been attracting audiences by telling war stories and recreating famous battles, a process that still continues as films like Saving Private Ryan (1998), We Were Soldiers (2002), and Jarhead (2005) score big at the box office. Television, too, has tapped into this lucrative market, as evidenced by the success of HBO's Band of Brothers (2001) and the countless hours of footage the major news outlets have shown of conflicts ranging from Vietnam (the first "television war") to events occurring today in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Film and television are both intimately connected to war and history, and in response to this fact we here at Film & History have dedicated much of our recent time, energy, and this year's issues to examining the ...