Battleground (1949)

It’s a war movie with a bunch of characters who were almost cartoonishly drawn -- seemingly just so we could keep them straight by their quirks.

The strength of this movie comes through showing these soldiers as having more than one side. Not only are they brave when called upon to be so, they're also sometimes terrified to the point of desiring a flesh wound so that they'll be sent home. It’s a notch better than most of the ra-ra WWII movies because there's an honesty in showing just how battered the men were in both body and psyche.

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