Top ten war movies

[skypilot]

Seems like I have always enjoyed watching war movies since I was a young kid. Now don't get me wrong I'm not a war hawk or anything, but a good war flick stirs something inside of me...here are my picks, feel free to comment.

1.) Saving Private Ryan (1998)...should be shown uncut on tv every Veterans Day.
2.) Das Boot (1981)....get the directors cut, my favorite foreign war movie.
3.) Twelve O'Clock High (1949)...actual war footage ties in..Peck at his best.
4.) They Were Expendable (1945)...John Fords underrated classic.
5.) Patton (1970)...George C. Scott's role of a lifetime..better on the big screen.
6.) Stalingrad (1993)...gritty, one of the best about the Eastern Front.
7.) Mr. Roberts (1955)..a great study of human character and endurance.
8.) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)...the war to end all wars..classic to watch.
9.) Gettysburg (1993)...best Civil War movie period..part one of a trilogy.
10.)The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)...the Marines and John Wayne a natural fit.

few honorable mentionables...Cross of Iron, Gallopli, Stalag 17 and the Blue Max.

[Shwamdoo]

few honorable mentionables...Cross of Iron, Gallopli, Stalag 17 and the Blue Max.

Did you mean Gallipoli? If so, yeah your right. It wasn't a great war movie. To its credit, it was fairly historically accurate.

Patton was a great movie, the American flag sceen is amazing on a big screen.

Saving Private Ryan is simply in a league of its own.

All Quiet On The Western Front is timeless. It is not as entertaining as many war films but it provides insight and much of the footage is real.

The Lost Battalion was a made for TV movie that aired on A&E in 2001. It is one of my favorite war movies and it is extremly factual.

[eisforelectronic]

Blackhawk Down, Full Metal Jacket

[Wireworm5]

My ten in no particularr order. Some have lost their appeal cause I seen them too many times but still worthy of mention.
1. Saving Private Ryan
2. The Lost Battlelion
3. Cross of Iron
4. Stalingrad
5.The Battle of Britain
6. A Bridge too Far
7.The Bridge at Remagen
8.Raid on Rommel
9. Battle of Neretva
10. Pork Chop Hill

[topspeed]

Man, you guys are serious about your war movies! I dunno, I think a "war" flick doesn't necessarily have to be about the war itself but can be set with a war as the backdrop. With that in mind, in no particular order:

1) Band of Brothers (mini-series yes, but still the best war movie ever made, IMO)
2) Saving Private Ryan
3) Shindler's List
4) The Dirty Dozen
5) Midway
6) Kelly's Heros
7) Mash
8) Platoon (I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet)
9) Das Boot
10) Glory

Honorable mention to Apocalypse Now, Force 10 From Navarone, Good Morning Vietnam, & Memphis Belle.

[20to20K]

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2. Glory
3. Paths of Glory
4. Brave Heart
5. Bridge over the River Kwai
6. Saving Private Ryan
7. Gone With the Wind
8. Courage under fire
9. Deer Hunter
10.Casualties of War

[Worf101]

very leetle!!! Just joking. I used to say that to Smokey every week....

1. "They Were Expendable" - John Ford at his finest in a sensitve and stirring film that shows just how dark the early days were.

2. "Air Force" - Same as above cept Howard Hawks covers the same period from the air. Fake battle at the end sure.. but marvelous anyhow.

3. "Glory" - How often can a film educate (yes we Blacks fought for our own freedom in the Civil War) and move people emotionally with equal aplomb?

4. "Battle of the Bulge" - The end is pure pap but but man what acting. Robert Shaw as Hessler, Bronson as Maj. Wollinski and Fonda.... as Fonda!!!!! Great!

5. "Fort Apache" - Ford and Wayne with Fonda doing his best imitation of Custer. Great film even though in Black and White.

6. "Enemy at the Gates" - Story long overdue, long ignored. If the valiant, long suffering Russian Soldier's hadn't withstood murderous enemies in front and behind them...

7. "Sahara" - Early war Bogart film with a multiracial and multicultural cast that shows the war in the desert in all it's dry, hot and bloody glory.

8. "In Harms Way" - Preminger does WWII but with toy models... how sad.

9. "Sink the Bismark" - Amazing film but again with toy models... but you cared anyway.

10. "The Story of G.I. Joe" - Real soldiers play themselves in a film made while the war was still raging. Some of them went back into action and died after filming was complete.

11. "Tora Tora Tora" - Wow... just plain WOW!!!!

I know it's Eleven so sue me.

Da Worfster

[Smokey]

Pheh..... you all know a leetle about war movies....

....very leetle!!! Just joking. I used to say that to Smokey every week....

You used to say alot of things to Smokey every week, including Philistine

I forgot all about Sahara movie you mentioned. Not only this movie tackle horrors of war emotionally, but psychologically also

[eisforelectronic]

6. "Enemy at the Gates" - Story long overdue, long ignored. If the valiant, long suffering Russian Soldier's hadn't withstood murderous enemies in front and behind them...

Loved it!!!

[jimmymagick]

Missed "Battleground," an absolute classic 1949 film about the Battle of the Bulge with just about every great stock actor MGM had under contract at the time.

And I really liked "We Were Soldiers." Lord, I was drained at the end of that film.

[wfontenot]

No one mentioned Apocalypse Now - that is a classic!

Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers - tied for the best war movie.

[20to20K]

No one mentioned Apocalypse Now - that is a classic!

Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers - tied for the best war movie.

Apocalypse is VERY high on my list...don't know how I forgot it. This is a very polarizing film. I've found that people either love it (like me) or hated it...kind of like Tarrentino movies. I'm sure not everyone on this thread is in the hate it category so it looks like I'm not the only one who forgot it.

I just remembered another great foreign war film. "Bullet in the Head" by (then) Hong Kong director John Woo. Kind of a Hong Kong version of Deer Hunter. Very realistic and distrubing...and educational. I didn't realize Hong Kong played such a significant role in the Vietnam War. Of course it was still just a movie...