10 War Films That Broke All The Rules

When it comes to breaking the pre-ordained cardinal rules of cinema, there's no better man than serial subvert-er Quentin Tarantino to pull the rug out from under viewers.

Well sure, there's always Jean Luc Godard, but you only heard of him through Tarantino anyway, right?

Film fans the world over were aware that the Pulp Fiction director's announcement that he was helming a war film meant it would be somehow subversive, but few viewers were prepared for just how playful and daring the helmer's approach would be.

For one thing, it's a war movie where long talky sit-downs dominate the onscreen action, with the lengthy film largely eschewing depictions of large scale conflict. Not only that, but rather than centre a single protagonist, the film flits between countless characters and focuses on the intersections between their lives. It's an unusual, daring approach, as is the film's use of modern pop throughout its soundtrack, its goofy humour...

Oh yeah! And the fact that the flick wholesale rewrites the reality of World War II's actual ending, with the characters shooting Hitler himself to ribbons.

Big bit of rule breaking, that.