Greatest War Movie of All Time?

[Bubba Wheels]

Interesting poll at wargamer. Here's link if you want to add your two cents. http://www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.asp?m=201018&go=last

[Mustang]

My short list would contain Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot, Patton, Platoon, The Bridge On The River Kwai and Black Hawk Down.

[cougarfreak]

How about The Longest Day? Had some big time stars in it for it's day. Mammoth undertaking for it's time as well.

[JeeberD]

http://www.bullwinkleblog.com/wp-content/photos/sadr.jpg

Full. Metal. Jacket.

[Raiders Army]

I've always been partial to Glory. I have no idea how The Patriot made it onto that list.

[cartman]

I have no idea how The Patriot made it onto that list.

Probably the decapitation by cannonball scene.

[JPhillips]

The scene where he kills all the Jews to free his son is pretty gruesome too.

[rowech]

Saving Private Ryan. I think this movie, more than any other war movie, portrays every emotion involved in such a conflict.

[Nwobhm]

If I had to choose one, it would be Das Boot. Mustang's list above covers most of my other favorites, but I'll add Apocalypse Now, Paths Of Glory, Enemy At The Gates and The Enemy Below to it.

[14ers]

Kelly's Heroes.
http://www.amachron.com/KH2.jpg

[Flasch186]

saints and sinners was pretty good, but not in the same league as some of those already listed but simply wanted to throw it out there

[Bad-example]

A few that deserve mention.

Run Silent, Run Deep
Sergeant York
Hell in the Pacific

[Greyroofoo]

Gettysburg would be my favorite if it weren't for the sanitized battle scenes and the out of shape re-enactors.

Right now in my drunken state I would have to say Lawrence of Arabia.

[Flasch186]

Casablanca?

[saldana]

mine would have to be (in no particular order)

patton
the last samurai
saving private ryan
we were soldiers
enemy at the gates


however, none of them comes close to Band of Brothers, which i guess doesnt count since it was a miniseries...IMO, that is easily the best piece for this genre

[pennywisesb]

My list would be:
1. Platoon
2. Full Metal Jacket
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. We Were Soldiers
5. Pearl Harbor (just kidding)

I agree with Saldana, BoB is my favorite in this genre as well, but since it was a mini-series I won't include it either...

[JeffW]

Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa

[biological warrior]

Gettysburg would be my favorite if it weren't for the sanitized battle scenes and the out of shape re-enactors.

Right now in my drunken state I would have to say Lawrence of Arabia.

Gettysburg would have my vote if it included the fights for Culp's and Cemetery Hill.

[Grammaticus]

Apocalypse Now about tops the list.

A good one not mentioned is Big Red One. As well as the Deer Hunter.

If you count stuff like the Last Samurai and Casablanca, then you might as well throw in the 13th Warrior and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

[willem]

1. Shadow Army
2. Cross of Iron
3. Ran
4. Gallipoli
5. Soldaat van Oranje

[Honolulu_Blue]

If I had to choose one, it would be Das Boot. Mustang's list above covers most of my other favorites, but I'll add Apocalypse Now, Paths Of Glory, Enemy At The Gates and The Enemy Below to it.

Yes. Das Boot is the answer. Paths of Glory is also great as is Gallipoli.

[mauchow]

In the Army Now

[vex]

Red Dawn.

[EagleFan]

however, none of them comes close to Band of Brothers, which i guess doesnt count since it was a miniseries...IMO, that is easily the best piece for this genre

I agree whole-heartedly with this statement. Very Good indeed. My wife got me the DVD box set for our anniversary, have watched it many times since.

[sachmo71]

The one movie that stands out in my mind as an illustration of what I think the horror of war must be like is Black Hawk Down. It was insane.

[PraetorianX]

1. Saving Private Ryan
2. We Were Soldiers
3. Glory
4. Master and Commander: Far Side of the World (Should have won Best Picture...)
5. Black Hawk Down (for some Modern warfare)
6. Kingdom of Heaven (for some pre-19th Century warfare...a sad lack of good choices there)

Of course, Band of Brothers deserves to be mentioned even though it's not actually a movie.

[PraetorianX]

http://www.bullwinkleblog.com/wp-content/photos/sadr.jpg

Full. Metal. Jacket.

Going by the Movie vs. Movie that the site had, Full Metal Jacket gets absolutely positively pwned by We Were Soldiers...and the margin would be even higher if it didn't have Mel Gibson in it.

[Coder]

My top two war movies are easily "A bridge too far" and "The Longest Day".. both depicting major offensives by the allies.. one successful and one unsuccessful.. Both casts are awesome as well. Sean Connery is in both..

Bridge too far sports cast members such as Anthony Hopkins, Connery, Robert Redford, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, James Caan, Elliot Gould, Gene Hackman, Laurence Olivier and a whole bunch others. Great epic movie!

[Bubba Wheels]

Hope he realigns the winners into new brackets in fairly quick fashion.

Of course, not sure how 'Stripes' got left off!

[Groundhog]

6. Kingdom of Heaven (for some pre-19th Century warfare...a sad lack of good choices there)


Yeah, what's with that, anyway? I finished reading some Bernard Cornwell novels set in 14th century Europe and it had me in the mood to watch some medieval war movies, but I soon discovered that there just aren't many good ones.

Kingdom of Heaven was OK and had some great visuals, but it suffers from a bad case of Good-Guy-itis, where Orlando Bloom is just a little too perfect and virtuos. The scene where they were defending the castle and Orlando decides to ride out against impossible numbers of baddies in order to protect the peasants made me groan...

[ISiddiqui]

I never really thought of "Master & Commander" as a war movie, but I guess it makes sense. And in that case, I'd put it at the top. I really like that period of history and the naval warfare of the period. Great books as well.

I'll also pick "Blackhawk Down" for post WW2, "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Das Boot" for WW2, "Gallipoli" for WW1, probably "Sparticus" for Ancient Times war movies, and "Apocalypse Now" for Vietnam.

I consider "Dr. Strangelove" to be more of a political movie than a war movie, and probably better than all of the other war movies listed.

[sachmo71]

I consider "Dr. Strangelove" to be more of a political movie than a war movie, and probably better than all of the other war movies listed.

At the very least, the funniest...

[JeffNights]

Blackhawk Down
FULL. METAL. JACKET.
and The Dirty Dozen

[JeffNights]

"Did your parents have any children that lived?"
Sir! Yes Sir!"
"Well, I bet they regret that!"

[Groundhog]

Medieval war is my favourite and no one has filmed it as well as the Japanese (Kurosawa in particular), so Ran and Kagemusha rank at #1 and #2 for me. There are many good "modern" war movies (Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, et al) and I like all of these films, but I can only watch them so many times as they all concentrate on the same themes.

[JW]

Zulu

[Mr. Wednesday]

Braveheart?

[Izulde]

Medieval war is my favourite and no one has filmed it as well as the Japanese (Kurosawa in particular), so Ran and Kagemusha rank at #1 and #2 for me. There are many good "modern" war movies (Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, et al) and I like all of these films, but I can only watch them so many times as they all concentrate on the same themes.

Ran as a war movie?

Interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way, though I do think it's a better adaptation of King Lear than the original play.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

A good one not mentioned is Big Red One.

Ditto. Very, very, good movie. Should have been in contention but got blanked.

[Groundhog]

Ran as a war movie?

Interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way, though I do think it's a better adaptation of King Lear than the original play.

Well, I wouldn't classify it as an all-out war movie, more of a period drama that features some excellent battle scenes. War and its destruction are a theme of the film, just not the major theme, which is a nice break from the majority of modern war films.

I also prefer it to the original King Lear. Even though my bias is towards Japanese history over European I just think that the particular time period suits the plot so well, and Kurosawa is every bit the artist that Shakespeare was IMO.

[Oilers9911]

The Longest Day
Das Boot
Battle of Britain
The Great Escape

[Klinglerware]

All Quiet on the Western Front
The Bridge on the River Kwai

[MIJB#19]

5. Soldaat van OranjeYou have to be Dutch to know that movie (or be named Willem!) :)

[PraetorianX]

Yeah, what's with that, anyway? I finished reading some Bernard Cornwell novels set in 14th century Europe and it had me in the mood to watch some medieval war movies, but I soon discovered that there just aren't many good ones.

Kingdom of Heaven was OK and had some great visuals, but it suffers from a bad case of Good-Guy-itis, where Orlando Bloom is just a little too perfect and virtuos. The scene where they were defending the castle and Orlando decides to ride out against impossible numbers of baddies in order to protect the peasants made me groan...

I don't know, but I wish they had more movies dealing with wars before the ACW. It's not like there aren't enough wars/battles to choose from with the Crusades, Hundred Years War, War of the Roses, Thirty Years War, etc.

Kingdom of Heaven was an alright movie, even if it's more historically inaccurate than Braveheart. And the 'Mr. Perfect' Bloom was annoying...but oh well.

I never really thought of "Master & Commander" as a war movie, but I guess it makes sense. And in that case, I'd put it at the top. I really like that period of history and the naval warfare of the period. Great books as well.

I'd love it if they did maybe one or two more movies from the Aubrey-Maturin series, as the first one was great. Though I think they could only do one or two more max from that series, as I don't know that any one book could make it as most moviegoers could care less for the non battle bits.

[AENeuman]

IMO Saving Private Ryan is one of the most overrated movies. It seemed to just steal elements of A Bridge too Far and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

Besides the first scene, which is good but also what all of Band of Brothers is like, the rest of the movie is Spielberg mush, granted very beautiful mush.

On the other hand, I guess given the absurd nature of war it makes just as much sense to make a "war is hell" movie as it does a "feel good war movie"

[ISiddiqui]

I'd love it if they did maybe one or two more movies from the Aubrey-Maturin series, as the first one was great. Though I think they could only do one or two more max from that series, as I don't know that any one book could make it as most moviegoers could care less for the non battle bits.

Post Captain is my pick. Lots of cool stuff going on in that one and isn't necessarily on the water.

[Leonidas]

I know it was a mini-series, but I don't think any of these even come close to Band of Brothers.

[Coder]

I don't know, but I wish they had more movies dealing with wars before the ACW.

This is also a post to Groundhog, since he's familiar with Bernard Cornwell (I'm guessing you read the Vagabond series).. but if you're interested in pre-ACW stuff, you can take just a few steps back to early 19th century (and late 18th) and check out the Sharpe-series. Written by Bernard Cornwell, the books have been dramatized with Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe.

http://www.southessex.co.uk/images/chosenmen_lge.jpg

[Schmidty]

My favorites:

Sergeant York (Just saw this on TCM last week)
Platoon
Glory
Gone with the Wind
Patton (My grandpa was in his color guard in North Africa)
Braveheart
Apocolypse Now
Saving Private Ryan (Obligatory)

[PraetorianX]

Post Captain is my pick. Lots of cool stuff going on in that one and isn't necessarily on the water.

Of course Post Captain would be a good choice, though any movie would have to be mostly the second half of the book. But yes, I'm sure it'd make a great movie especially with the capture of the treasure fleet. But still the majority would have to be the naval stuff...as I doubt they'd spend too much time on his courting and the loss of all his money.

[ISiddiqui]

I dunno, I think the part with the bear costume could be quite fun. It was my favorite part :D.