Camouflage in Film and Television

Camouflage In Film and Television

The purpose of this section is to illustrate some of the different camouflage patterns that have been invented, created, or appropriated for a specific film or television series. Some patterns have been inspired by existing or historical designs, whilst others were created specifically for the film or series.

• Where Eagles Dare (1968)

A 1968 movie starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood. It was believed for a long time that the splinter pattern worn by some of the actors in the movie was in fact a special variation of the WW2 German splinter pattern never issued during the war - but they were in fact specially made for the film. Wehrmacht-Awards Forum discussion of this pattern

Thanks to Remy Spezzano for the permission to use these photos

According to a source the above photos was in fact a pre-production jacket with colours differing from those used in the movie. Below is a photo of a copy of those used in the movie showing the colours:

• Patton (1970)

A scene in the film depicting German troops in North Africa shows an interesting camouflage design being used for tents. The design resembles no German wartime camouflage, and was either produced specifically for the film or may have some from Spain where much of the film was shot. Colors resemble those of the Belgian jigsaw pattern.

• The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

A 1976 movie starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, and Robert Duvall. The splinter pattern worn by the German paratroopers should be the same as that used in Where Eagles Dare.

• A Bridge Too Far (1977)

For some reason, the makers of A Bridge Too Far chose to have German SS camouflage uniforms made out of legitimate 1950s era German Army reversible "amoeba" pattern camouflage shelter material. The pattern has little relationship with any German wartime camouflage, but was perhaps cheaper or more easier to obtain at the time than reprinted fabric in an authentic pattern.

• Escape from New York (1981)

Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken character wears a pair of three-color diagonally striped camouflage pants in John Carpenter's Escape From New York.

• Ответный ход (Russia - 1981)

The Russian film Otvetnyy khod (Return Move) incorporated both original Soviet-designed camouflage uniforms, as well as what appears to be a pattern created specifically for the film. The pattern has brown tones, but does not correspond to the TTsKO design introduced to the Soviet system during that year.

• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Two camouflage patterns were seen towards the end of the movie during the Battle of Endor:

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) as well as members of the Rebel strike team sent to the Forest moon wear a distinct woodland based camouflage. This pattern was applied by the production team using four colors onto items such as ponchos, dusters, trousers and windbreaker style jackets.

Meanwhile Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) are seen with a similar pattern that is more brown dominant in color.

• Red Dawn (1984), Rambo III (1988), and The 4th War (1990)

First appearing in the 1984 film starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, where Soviet troops invade the USA, this camouflage design was worn by the Soviet paratroopers in the movie. It is believed the pattern was modeled on what few photographs of Soviet troops had emerged from the USSR at that time, most likely the KLMK "stair step" pattern. The same camouflage pattern was later used in the third installment of the Sylvester Stallone "Rambo" franchise, again for Soviet troops, and reputedly has made sporadic appearances in other films over the years as well, including "The 4th War" with Jurgen Prochnow. Even in 2014, this design was recycled and utilized in the Hungarian WW2 film Drága Elza.

Photo from www.wargearweb.org

Apparently several copies of this pattern was made, one reversing to white with a pattern of green pine leaves (see below)

• Red Dawn (1984)

Many of the Cuban troops in this film are shown wearing what appears to be either original Portuguese m63 "vertical lizard" pattern camouflage uniforms, or a very close commercial copy. The pattern can be seen in particular detail on the character Colonel Ernesto Bella.

Also appearing in the 1984 film was this unique snow camouflage design of undetermined origins. Featuring elements of the West German schneetarn design as well as off-white colored amoebic shapes, the pattern is worn by Soviet spetznaz or special operations personnel, and later by some of the story's protagonists.

• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

A duck hunter style camouflage was used to outfit actors playing Soviet military personnel in this film. The costuming on these characters was quite inaccurate, so it is difficult to say where the idea for using this particular camouflage design came from.

• Aliens (1986)

Created for the James Cameron film "Aliens" (starring Sigourney Weaver), the camouflage pattern below was worn by the Colonial Marines. It is very reminiscent of ERDL pattern and may have been created using the same drawings.

• Child's Play 3 (1991)

The USA Desert Night Camouflage worn on a BDU style cut rather than the issued overparkas.

• Street Fighter (1994)

Two distinct patterns were made specifically for this movie.

The first being a blue dominant woodland style camouflage worn by Colonel Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme), Sergeant Cammy (Kylie Montague) and most other AN or Allied Nation forces.

The second is a red dominant lizard pattern which is worn by Bison Troopers and other members of M. Bison’s (Raul Julia) organization.

• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Members of MACO or the Military Assault Command Operations wear blue and gray dominant pattern.

• Die Another Day (2002)

North Korean adversaries in this film are seen wearing specially-made costumes in this blotch pattern camouflage design. The pattern appears to be based on an original North Korean camouflage design.

• Children of Men (2006)

A digital camouflage design was created specifically for this film.

• Fringe (TV series - 2008-2013)

The Fox TV series "Fringe" occasionally featured a commercially available "urban digital" camouflage pattern in its episodes.

• Avatar (2009)

Made specifically for the film is a digital pattern known as the RDA (Resources Development Administration) Pattern. It is worn by most members of the security branch known as SecOps.

• G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (2009)

Worn by various Joes such as Sergeant Stone (Brendan Fraser) this unique pattern blends a wide variety of shapes and incorporates the GI Joe logo.

The pattern had three variants: a woodland, a desert and an urban.

• Primeval: New World (2012-2013)

Members of a Canadian Special Forces team utilized Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corporation’s CUEPAT I trial camouflage pattern as their field uniforms during several episodes.

• Suicide Squad (2016)

US Navy SEAL units who accompany Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and the rest of Task Force X into Midway City wear a camouflage known as "Bravoflage" designed by Owen Thornton with the help of Hyperstealth that incorporates three USA camouflage patterns: Urban-T, six-color desert and the experimental All Over Brush as well as hidden objects such as the Anarchy Symbol and Anubis.

• Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

A handful of resistance members stationed on the jungle moon Ajan Kloss were seen wearing camouflaged ponchos and hats. The pattern was very reminiscent of (and likely inspired by) the one seen in Return of The Jedi, however its shapes appeared smaller, browner and more solid in color.

• Ad Astra (2019)

Protagonist Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) wears a grayscale camouflage pattern based on the German Splittermuster pattern.

US Army soldiers stationed at the SpaceCom facility on Mars wear a reddish pattern similar to German Eichenlaubmuster.

• Space Force (2020)

In the Netflix TV series "Space Force," members of the force wear a unique moon crater camouflage uniform.

• The Netflix science fiction film "The Tomorrow War" features this fractal camouflage design, utilizing a color scheme very similar to German flecktarn.