Favorite war movie?

[Augustus Maximus]

"The Blue Max" and "El Cid" are neck and neck in my book with "Apocolypse Now" in third.

[nagerous]

My favourite war movies are all Vietnam War focused. I wrote my dissertation on films of the Vietnam War and how they portray the psychological impact that the war had on veterans so this is a particular niche area of mine but I would say the best ones that are well worth watching are:


The Deer Hunter
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
Born on the 4th July

I didn't think much of We Were Soldiers, thought it was just jingoistic patriotic crap rife with historical inaccuracies, but hey that is my opinion .

[lascheves]

Joyeux Noel (2005) is a very good movie and would be worth two hours of your time.

[aad0906]

Letters from Iwo Jima
All quiet on the western front
The big red one
Schindlers list
Soldier of Orange

[Tripitaka]

The Deer Hunter
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Das Boot
The Great Escape
Schindler's List
Gallipoli

[BigBallinStalin]

What are some less glorified and more "real" war movies?

[thegreekdog]

My favorite is probably The Great Escape. Any movie that comes in with two VHS tapes is okay in my book. Plus, you know, it's awesome.

I also liked most of the others mentioned, except for Bridge over the River Kwai. I couldn't tell you why, but I did not like it at all.

[neanderpaul14]

Stalag 17 was an excellent movie

[Phatscotty]

Coolest Scene?

America wins the Vietnam war Directors cut with easter egg Zack Snyder mowin em down from the chopper.

[The Bison King]

Does Apocalypse Now count? If not then Patton.

[jefjef]

Private Ryan
Where eagles dare
Patriot
Platoon
Patton
Green berets

[Phatscotty]

If we have to give these bastards our lives, we give em hell before we do!


War against the Machines Matrix

Part 2

part 3

Neo saves us

The best thing I like about how the Matrix ended is that nobody alive can prove Neo did what he did. Soon after Zion is saved I'm sure there would be some people arguing the Neo wasn't shit and after a couple generations more people will believe that Neo was a myth and never existed.

People could only use faith and believe blindly that Neo saved them. To me the matrix was all about humanity; Love and Faith.

[tkr4lf]

Braveheart was pretty badass...
also The Patriot, Saving Private Ryan, Troy, Full Metal Jacket, Glory, Black Hawk Down, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwa Jima, Das Boot. Not strictly war movies, but with some war scenes, Rules of Engagement and Basic.

I could also get on board with LotR movies, for the epic battles. I'm a big fan of midieval warfare and world war 2 warfare movies.

[Pope Joan]

enemy at the gates

It is one of the worst movies I ever saw. Are you serious?

Let us set up some criteria. Some of the great movies mentioned here should be disqualified:
Escape to Victory - no real battle action
Full Metal Jacket - full of arthistic BS, no real feel of the war
Deer Hunter, Platoon - mostly psychodelic, occasional execution of civilians but no real battle action
Somehow a war movie should be really about the war and have an authentic feel to it, too much "happy ending" spoil it for me (Saving Private Ryan - what a great movie would it be if all the main heroes died at the end and not BS-ed through blockbuster style).

Separating various wars (I cannot think of anything exceptional between Napoleon and WW1), my favourites then are:

Modern Wars
Apocalypse Now
9th Company (Russia)

WW2
Das Boot (Germany)
Star (Russia)

Ancient and Medieval Wars
Braveheart
Alexander Nevsky (Russia)

Sci-Fi or Fantasy
Lord of the Rings
Starship Troopers

[Sniper08]

(Saving Private Ryan - what a great movie would it be if all the main heroes died at the end and not BS-ed through blockbuster style).

almost all of them did die only ryan,upham and Reiburn survived.they couldnt kill ryan cause he was the whole point of the story,upham killed 1 guy and became a man from there ,so they could of killed Reiburn but he was an orginal of millers company so i guess one of the orginals had to survive.

my personal fav war movie is Troy(not best war movie but my favourite)

the best war movie imo is Saving Private Ryan then followed by LOTR

[Pope Joan]

(Saving Private Ryan - what a great movie would it be if all the main heroes died at the end and not BS-ed through blockbuster style).

almost all of them did die only ryan,upham and Reiburn survived.they couldnt kill ryan cause he was the whole point of the story,upham killed 1 guy and became a man from there ,so they could of killed Reiburn but he was an orginal of millers company so i guess one of the orginals had to survive.

my personal fav war movie is Troy(not best war movie but my favourite)

the best war movie imo is Saving Private Ryan then followed by LOTR

I did not see Troy - so, no comment. What you say about Saving Private Ryan is exactly my point - main heroes survive against overwhelming odds and any common sense. The fact that secondary characters die only emphasizes the blockbusterness of the situation. Otherwise, I really really like the movie - great action, great actors play and great story. Pity they did not think of two endings, one "happy ending" for USofA, and one authentic one for the rest of the world... Cf. Star with equally good features and everyone dying...

[daddy1gringo]

The one I can't believe nobody mentioned is Windtalkers. Great battle-action, realism, and a deeper story.

Some other classics either not mentioned or rarely mentioned: The Guns of Navarone, In Harm's Way, Anzio, Operation Pacific.

[AndyDufresne]

My favorite is probably The Great Escape. Any movie that comes in with two VHS tapes is okay in my book. Plus, you know, it's awesome.

I also liked most of the others mentioned, except for Bridge over the River Kwai. I couldn't tell you why, but I did not like it at all.

The Great Escape is probably right up there in my top as well. Saving Private Ryan is also probably near the top.

I'd also like to reach a little, and say The Seven Samurai--technically it just had a battle in it, but the build-up to the scene and the scene I've always enjoyed, even if it is 3 hours long. And Casablanca, which was only set/filmed during the war, but I'm a Bogart fan.


--Andy

[BigBallinStalin]

enemy at the gates

It is one of the worst movies I ever saw. Are you serious?

Let us set up some criteria. Some of the great movies mentioned here should be disqualified:
Escape to Victory - no real battle action
Full Metal Jacket - full of arthistic BS, no real feel of the war
Deer Hunter, Platoon - mostly psychodelic, occasional execution of civilians but no real battle action
Somehow a war movie should be really about the war and have an authentic feel to it, too much "happy ending" spoil it for me (Saving Private Ryan - what a great movie would it be if all the main heroes died at the end and not BS-ed through blockbuster style).

Separating various wars (I cannot think of anything exceptional between Napoleon and WW1), my favourites then are:

Modern Wars
Apocalypse Now
9th Company (Russia)

WW2
Das Boot (Germany)
Star (Russia)

Ancient and Medieval Wars
Braveheart
Alexander Nevsky (Russia)

Sci-Fi or Fantasy
Lord of the Rings
Starship Troopers

I would feel ashamed to laugh at Enemy at the Gates, and then throw up a "better" film like 9th Company.

I mean, 9th Company? Really? The acting was hilarious, and the battles didn't make sense. Recall the scene where the Afghanis just walk toward them like zombies, and then suddenly they moved 50 feet and are on top of them. That film was a joke. At least Enemy at the Gates had better acting, much better cinematography, and characters which were at least memorable.

[daddy1gringo]

I'd also like to reach a little, and say The Seven Samurai--technically it just had a battle in it, but the build-up to the scene and the scene I've always enjoyed, even if it is 3 hours long.

Ack! can't believe we all missed that one.

And Casablanca, which was only set/filmed during the war, but I'm a Bogart fan.


--Andy

Interesting choice. It's hard to classify it as a "war movie" since there's almost no action of any sort in it; it's all about the characters, the relationships, the decisions and the incredibly witty dialogue. But you're right, it's also all about the war that was going on, even though the closest you get to seeing it is a few soldiers in uniform. If it qualifies, I vote for it: quite possibly the greatest movie ever made, and certainly one of the top 3.

So that reminds me of my personal favorite, Shenandoah with James Stewart. It's set during the (American) Civil War and there are several battle scenes, but it's also about a lot more. if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

[pancakemix]

The Seven Samurai

Yeah, I wasn't sure whether or not to include that one, but it's certainly Kurosawa's best. Which reminds me of another gem of his, The Hidden Fortress (best known as a precursor to Star Wars). Not exactly a war film, but it still qualifies.

For a more light-hearted look at war, Buster Keaton's The General is a fantastic silent comedy.

[Pope Joan]

I would feel ashamed to laugh at Enemy at the Gates, and then throw up a "better" film like 9th Company.

I mean, 9th Company? Really? The acting was hilarious, and the battles didn't make sense. Recall the scene where the Afghanis just walk toward them like zombies, and then suddenly they moved 50 feet and are on top of them. That film was a joke. At least Enemy at the Gates had better acting, much better cinematography, and characters which were at least memorable.

Sorry, I disagree and it is 69:54 to me on rotten tomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enemy_at_the_gates/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-9th-company/
To be fair, Ed Harris was so good at the Enemy that I was cheering nazis all the film. Otherwise I have not noticed any good acting, cinematography or believable characters there. Obviously, you find the attack scene when half of the Russkies get only ammunition and are told to get rifles off dead comrades believable and good cinematography. How about thejewish commissar drinking with comrade Kruschev ?

9th company, IMHO, is indeed slightly zombi-like on Mojahedeen but otherwise is an excellent movie. I am sure there are bloopers but it is beyond the point. Its main merit is that it follows the general plot/idea of Full-Metal-Jacket but with the idea of making a good war movie instead of antiwar pacificist pamphlet...

[BigBallinStalin]

I would feel ashamed to laugh at Enemy at the Gates, and then throw up a "better" film like 9th Company.

I mean, 9th Company? Really? The acting was hilarious, and the battles didn't make sense. Recall the scene where the Afghanis just walk toward them like zombies, and then suddenly they moved 50 feet and are on top of them. That film was a joke. At least Enemy at the Gates had better acting, much better cinematography, and characters which were at least memorable.

Sorry, I disagree and it is 69:54 to me on rotten tomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/enemy_at_the_gates/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-9th-company/
To be fair, Ed Harris was so good at the Enemy that I was cheering nazis all the film. Otherwise I have not noticed any good acting, cinematography or believable characters there. Obviously, you find the attack scene when half of the Russkies get only ammunition and are told to get rifles off dead comrades believable and good cinematography. How about thejewish commissar drinking with comrade Kruschev ?

9th company, IMHO, is indeed slightly zombi-like on Mojahedeen but otherwise is an excellent movie. I am sure there are bloopers but it is beyond the point. Its main merit is that it follows the general plot/idea of Full-Metal-Jacket but with the idea of making a good war movie instead of antiwar pacificist pamphlet...

I still say Apples are superior in every way and in every possible universe.