Best War Movies?

[Moderator Sinister]

What's your favorite war movies?

[maelic001]

Army of Darkness :D

[holywolfman]

Nice one!!!- ;)

[RuHurt]

The only war movie I've seen and liked was Patton. And I loved that :D.

[Moderator Sinister]

Army of Darkness staring my buddy Bruce Campbell?

[Zero Pilot]

Nothing beats a game of Pacific while watching Tora! Tora! Tora!

But my favorite war movie is probably Platoon... so well done it's a bit disturbing. ~ZP

[Moderator Gaelin]

I liked Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down. I don't really like the war genre much, but I found both of those very well told stories, a little on the gorey side for me though ;) My husband however didn't think there was enough action.

Army of Darkness however is just one of those movies you can't put in a category with others. It just is! :D

[E-Tool]

Platoon is still the most technically accurate war movie I've ever seen and as such holds the title of best war movie ever made because I'm rabidly intolerant of inaccuracies in a movie featuring the military in any capacity.

Recent contributions such as Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan have some great scenes but aren't able to bump Platoon from the top spot (though I like both of them enough to watch the respective DVDs 2 or 3 times a month).

Das Boot runs a close second (probably only because of my affinity for land combat and the inhuman behavior required therein), also a technically accurate film you can almost smell the crew and feel like you need a shave and a shower when it's all over.

Another good war movie is The Beast (a.k.a. The Beast of War). The focus is a Soviet tank crew in Afghanistan and the Mujahadin trying to kill them.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0094716/

If you like the sprawling epic; Akira Kurasowa's Ran features some great combat across the face of feudal Japan. Like all of Kurasowa's work it's in Japanese with subtitles.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0089881/

Then there are the old standby's that are entertaining though not incredibly accurate:
Patton
Tora, Tora, Tora
Midway
The Longest Day
Battle Cry

I could go on, but I haven't had enough coffee yet.

[Clausewitz]

Zulu is quiet terrifying, especially the bit where they're all standing in lines chanting horribly.

Those Welsh certainly give me the creeps - however did we beat them?

[Krieghund]

Das Boot, Platoon, Ran, Zulu, ...

So many great choices - I can't pick just one favorite. I also enjoyed Glory and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

[RuHurt]

I HATE Bridge on the River Kwai!!! My dad loves it, but I can't stand it. Just FYI.... ;) :D

[series]

Army of Darkness staring my buddy Bruce Campbell?

Is that you in that picture? *Confused*

I saw "We Were Soldiers" last night. That was a good one.

[Y2UAsk]

I have to put in plugs for Battleground and Pork Chop Hill. Up until the new crop of war movies started appearing, they were about the best portrayals of men at war you could find. Also, for fans of Saving Private Ryan, there's a made-for-HBO movie that came out at almost the same time and disappeared in the all the SPR hoopla. It's called When Trumpets Fade, set in the Huertgen Forest. Dips into melodrama in places but it's darn near unequaled in its psychological portrayal of soldiers who find themselves pushed beyond their capacity to endure. A few scenes are downright chilling, like one in which a green point man realizes that he's moved too far ahead of the patrol in the fog and trees and now is lost, not even sure which direction will take him back to friendly lines.

Top 10 favorites, in reverse chronological order (by war):

Blackhawk Down
Pork Chop Hill
When Trumpets Fade
Battleground
Saving Private Ryan
Cross of Iron
Lawrence of Arabia
Zulu
Gettysburg (yes, despite its many faults)
Glory

Of course, as soon as you put things in a list, you think of other deserving things that won't fit:

A Walk In the Sun
To Hell and Back
The Lighthorsemen
Das Boot
12 O'clock High
The Bridges of Toko-Ri
Sahara

Steve

[Moderator Sinister]

Is that you in that picture? *Confused*

I saw "We Were Soldiers" last night. That was a good one.


That's myself and bruce campbell

[Moderator Sinister]

Zulu is a great movie, My favorite line is from micheal cane who says "No, there won't be another disaster, the queen doesn't like it and it upsets people at breakfast."

There is Zulu dawn, which many people haven't seen. At the end of that movie the very few surivors (of Ishawanda) see the fire in the distence at night which is of course Rouke's Drift on fire.

[DocD]

My goodness...good question....great to see some of those ole movies making the charts.

I loved Apocalypse Now and Patton for the legandary sayings...."I love the smell of napalm in the morning". You can't make stuff like that up!

Platoon and Saving Private Ryan for the awesome scenes.

Sahara, Das Boot, Battleground, and Battle of the Bulge for that ole WWII feel.

Glory and Stalag 17 for the morality message.

And how can anyone not like RAMBO I and II!!

[Lobo]

Kelly's Heroes is my all time favorite.

Other favorites include:

Das Boot - the original 6+ hr mini-series is the one the see, if you can find it.
Gettysburg
The Beast
Blackhawk Down
Platoon
We Were Soldiers
Saving Private Ryan

[Yoper]

Das Boot(English subtitles/Widescreen)- You have to hear it in German just to get the proper emotions from the actors.

12 O'Clock High- B&W and a bit Fifties cheesy, but the pressure that the commander has to deal with to bring the unit together, it is well done..

[Molotov Cocktail]

I think all the movies that have been said to date (Patton, Saving Private Ryan etc) are all great movies.

One that I do not believe that has been mentioned is a movie called "Stalingrad". An excellent movie that follows a group of German soldiers in their battle in ... you guessed it Stalingrad. I think it did an effective portrayal of that battle with respect to elements and the conditions of the soldiers. On scene shows german soldier stealing the boots of a fallen soldier because they were not supplied with any.

And although not a WW2 movie I thought Glory was pretty good too.

So my top 3

1) Patton
2) Stalingrad
3) Saving Private Ryan

Has anyone bothered watching "Ike" with Tom Sellick? I keep seeing it at the movie store and debate whether or not it is worth the 6$.

[DXfoxman]

Screw modern war movies.

Braveheart... now thats a war movie. :D

[Lobo]

Has anyone bothered watching "Ike" with Tom Sellick? I keep seeing it at the movie store and debate whether or not it is worth the 6$.

$6 Canadian or US? It depends on what you are looking for. If you want action then no. It is an artistic portrayal of the issues Ike had to deal with as leader of a coalition army preparing for a major assault. It feels as if it was originally written for the stage. It was an A&E made-for-TV production. If you get A&E or the History Channel you could just wait for them to re-run it.

I liked it but would not pay to see it. A good rainy Sunday afternoon film.

[Clausewitz]

Nobody has mentioned WWI films much. Strange because there are some very good ones.

Paths of Glory and All Quiet on the Western Front are the best known, but check out Sergeant Yorke with Gary Cooper for some great battle scenes.
Incidentally, Cooper was also in Lives of a Bengal Lancer, which was Hitler's favourite movie.

Oh, and Braveheart is a pile of pooh. Talk about historical inaccuracies. It even has William Wallace as father of Edward III - who was born TWO YEARS after Wallace was executed!

[Molotov Cocktail]

$6 Canadian or US? It depends on what you are looking for. If you want action then no. It is an artistic portrayal of the issues Ike had to deal with as leader of a coalition army preparing for a major assault. It feels as if it was originally written for the stage. It was an A&E made-for-TV production. If you get A&E or the History Channel you could just wait for them to re-run it.

I liked it but would not pay to see it. A good rainy Sunday afternoon film.Thanks for the info Lobo. It's 6$ Canadian, which granted is not much but hey 6$ is 6$. I will probably just keep an eye open for it on AandE.

On a different note ... this rec room is a mess ... and hey who spilled beer all over the couch. :)

[RuHurt]

Beer? Not me..... :D

[series]

On a different note ... this rec room is a mess ... and hey who spilled beer all over the couch. :)

That was me

[Moderator Sinister]

Oh, and Braveheart is a pile of pooh. Talk about historical inaccuracies. It even has William Wallace as father of Edward III - who was born TWO YEARS after Wallace was executed!

Yes as a kid I read everything on robert the bruce. I couldn't stand watching braveheart. What sucked even more is once I ran into a decendant of the "black" douglas, one of roberts trusted knights and that idiot sided with the braveheart movie. Talk about kicking your ancestors when their dead...

[Carlo]

Favourite war-movies? "The cannons of Navarone"(at least I think that's the title), "The Dirty Dozen", and Platoon.The best one is "Un anno sull'altopiano", a movie inspired from the omonymous Emilio Lussu's book, wich is set in WW1. In my favourite scene, the italian soldiers(slayed by their own artillery) charge the austrian trench, and they continue even if they're running on two metres of corpses. the carnage continues until the austrian soldiers throw their rifles on the ground, and begin to cry in italian-stop, stop, please!-while tears run on their faces. Every time I see it I feel sick.

[V-Disc]

Great thread...and an impressive list of films.

My favorites include {in no order} : "Platoon", "Glory", "Hamburger Hill", "The Dirty Dozen", "Breaker Morant", "A Bridge Too Far" and "Band Of Brothers".

A few folks mentioned Sci-fi/Fantasy films. My "off-topic" pick would be the Sam Peckinpah classic "The Wild Bunch"; one of the handful of Westerns that made the AFI "100 Greatest Films" list. The shoot-out finale in this film is unbelievable!

[Molotov Cocktail]

That was me

I should have known. :rolleyes:

Maybe we should get some coasters in here. And a juke box too ... and an AAR game with TEN Japanese tanks.

I forgot to mention Gallipoli. "How fast are you gonna run? As fast as a leopard."

[Sinister]

Westerns...gotta be the outlaw josey wales

[Molotov Cocktail]

I forgot about Full Metal Jacket. That's gotta be my favorite.

[Lt M Cotten]

Has anyone bothered watching "Ike" with Tom Sellick? I keep seeing it at the movie store and debate whether or not it is worth the 6$.

I liked "Ike" enough to get a copy. It isn't in my Top 5 but it was good. I liked the discussions between the Allies about the invasion plans, that is why I also liked Tora, Tora, Tora.

I bought "Ike", of course I got it really really cheap....(I work in Video)

Top 10+ (in no order)
Gettysburg
Gods & Generals
Tora, Tora, Tora
Braveheart (maybe not accurate, but still moving)
Patton
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers ( I know, not a movie)
Imperial Navy (Japanese POV)
The Patriot (not very historical, but..)
Ike
Midway (except for all that love crap)
Platoon
Hamburger Hill
We Were Soldiers (my wife's uncle was there!)

[DocD]

Top 10+ (in no order)
Gettysburg
Gods & Generals
Tora, Tora, Tora
Braveheart (maybe not accurate, but still moving)
Patton
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers ( I know, not a movie)
Imperial Navy (Japanese POV)
The Patriot (not very historical, but..)
Ike
Midway (except for all that love crap)
Platoon
Hamburger Hill
We Were Soldiers (my wife's uncle was there!)
GODS AND GENERALS!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN!!!! ARE YOU INSANE???!!!!!

[Krieghund]

Westerns...gotta be the outlaw josey wales

The Outlaw Josey Wales was my favorite, until Unforgiven.


How could I have forgotten Breaker Morant??? "Shoot straight, you bastards!"

[Zero Pilot]

Westerns...gotta be the outlaw josey wales
I'm with you on that one Sinister!

And Little Big Man is right up there too, actually one of my very favorite movies of any genre.

Hmm... we oughta spin off a "favorite move quotes" thread. ~ZP

[sking500]

Band of Brothers (technically not a movie, but, IMHO, the absolute best WWII series ever done).
Gettysburg
Patton
Schindler's List (yeah, yeah, technically not a war movie, but there was a war going on around them)
Braveheart
Glory
The Longest Day
We Were Soldiers
Tora! Tora! Tora!
A Bridge Too Far
The Great Escape
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
Hamburger Hill
Red Dawn
Saving Private Ryan

[nerdx]

The Axis and Allies movie is the best

[Molotov Cocktail]

I thought about one movie that deserves an honourable mention. "Heartbreak Ridge" with Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood rocks! It has one of my favorite movie lines in it ... "Why don't you sit there and bleed for a while before you taste some real pain."

You the man Clint!

[Moderator Sinister]

yes that was a great movie.

[Lt M Cotten]

GODS AND GENERALS!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN!!!! ARE YOU INSANE???!!!!!

My sanity has been in question for years, and yes I liked the movie. The book was better but still it was good. You will not change my mind on ths one, no way, no how!

[DocD]

My sanity has been in question for years, and yes I liked the movie. The book was better but still it was good. You will not change my mind on ths one, no way, no how!
Ok cotten...I hereby officially declare you insane.....

"OK nurse....inform the family...there is nothing we can do for this one."

"But Doctor!....are you just going to give up...aren't you even going to try!! sob, sob..."

"God D*@% it, woman!!! I'm a Doctor...not a miracle worker!!! It's over for him, and nobody can do a d*@% thing about it!!"

[series]

You will not change my mind on ths one, no way, no how!
You can't handle the truth!

[Lt M Cotten]

Ok cotten...I hereby officially declare you insane.....

"OK nurse....inform the family...there is nothing we can do for this one."

"But Doctor!....are you just going to give up...aren't you even going to try!! sob, sob..."

"God D*@% it, woman!!! I'm a Doctor...not a miracle worker!!! It's over for him, and nobody can do a d*@% thing about it!!"

Funny, Doc. Regretably I will not renounce my position, as I am old and set in my ways. :D

[Beast1313131]

I would say Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers, Patton and Black Hawk Down

[elbowmaster]

battle of waterloo...european version is one of my all time favorite movies...

[Da Black Gobo]

First off, I have a hard time watching modern movies no matter how well made. A really good example is Saving Private Ryan. It gave me really bad memories of my firefights while in the service for this country. Damn realistic!

My favorites are...
Zulu. "damn you Chard, damn all you butchers!"
Gettysburg. "There's the devil to pay!"
300 Spartans "come back carrying your shield in victory, or come back upon it!"
The Alamo (2004) Best Crockett ever! "He likes to be called David!"

other mentions, not because they are great films but because I like the main characters and story...
The Vikings. "Hail Ragnar's beard!"
The Warlord. "I have spent twenty years in this damn dirty armor!"
Captain Blood. "over and at em"

[Beast1313131]

I would also say battle of the bulge, Das Boot (German language), and A bridge too far

[Da Black Gobo]

What is the difference between the European version and the US version of Waterloo??

Sean