10 War Movie Cliches That Annoy EVERYONE

10. Polite And Bumbling British Soldiers

A war movie cliche that Hollywood refuses to let go of is the preconceived image of a British soldier. A polite individual who never forgets their manners, this stereotypical rendition speaks exclusively in either clipped upper-class tones or a near incomprehensible Cockney accent. However, this caricature's most irritating feature is an insistence on bumbling incompetence in contrast to their savvy American counterparts, willing to follow misjudged orders to the letter even if it means their own demise.

Depicting the events of Operation Market Garden, Band of Brothers' "Replacements' episode is a prevalent example of this cliche in action. A notable sequence sees a pig-headed British tank commander refuse to destroy a Dutch house to expose a German Tiger due to a British-Dutch agreement to avoid unnecessary property damage. The clueless officer then proceeds to order the Allied tanks to drive directly into the enemy's line of fire.

In reality, British troops were just as competent and adaptable as their American counterparts and also just as diverse in terms of background, and yet depictions like this continue to linger in the genre.