Posted on 11/03/2005 1:55:10 PM PST by wallcrawlr
In a pivotal scene in the new Gulf War film "Jarhead," an audience of young Marines watches the famous "Ride of the Valkyries" scene from "Apocalypse Now" before they leave for the combat zone. Cheering Robert Duvall and his helicopter gunships, they revel in the movie's visceral depiction of destructive power.
• The fact that the film was meant to be antiwar doesn't deter them. "Actually, Vietnam War films are all prowar no matter what the supposed message," Anthony Swofford writes in the grimly candid memoir on which "Jarhead" is based. Marines love them because "the magic brutality of the films celebrates the terrible and despicable beauty of their fighting skills."
• A great war film is one that carries a variety of meanings for different viewers. It must show the gung-ho thrill of battle heroism and the absurdity of squandered lives, the psychological costs of combat and the camaraderie between soldiers, idealism and disillusion, the dignity of the cause and the futility of war.
• Here is a collection of classics worthy of repeated viewing, and often-overlooked treasures.
• "Full Metal Jacket"
• "Saving Private Ryan"
• "Black Hawk Down"
• "Three Kings"
• "They Were Expendable"
• "Das Boot"
• "Apocalypse Now"
• "Zulu"
• "The Battle of Algiers"
• "Starship Troopers"
Why these 10?
"FULL METAL JACKET"
Stanley Kubrick presents his extraordinarily unformulaic war movie in two parts. The prologue shows the boot camp where a leather-lunged drill instructor (Marine Corps vet R. Lee Ermey) turns young American civilians into killing machines. The climax brings them to Vietnam, where their training is all but useless in the chaos of actual combat. A sardonic portrait of militarism from the director of "Paths of Glory,"Dr. Strangelove" and "Barry Lyndon." (1987)
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
They show that movie at the Air Force Academy to illustrate the pressures of command.
'Attack!' w/Jack Palance... 'Castle Keep' w/Burt Lancaster... 'Red Beach' w/Cornel Wilde... 'Battle Cry' w/Van Heflin...
Your list looks about right to me.
Tora Tora Tora
Patton
Stalag 17
Are three of my faves.
I look forward to the dvd.
It was filmed in Israel. Might have had some Israeli military advisors, etc. The director and principal actors were American. And the star of the film, the tank, was most certainly Russian.
I always wondered about "drinking the brake fluid?"
It is a great movie.
A few more:
U571
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Green Berets
Flying Leathernecks
The Great Escape
From Here to Eternity
Von Ryan's Express
Winds of War / War and Remembrance
many didn't like Platoon.
I was an 0811, - 05's, yet in-country was an 0311...go figure.
Semper Fi.
Startship Troopers was a comic book, and I'm pretty sure the director, Paul Verhoeven, (SHOWGIRLS) intended it to be high camp
Three Kings in the top 10? How about Patton, We Were Soldiers, or Windtalkers instead?
I saw a DVD of that last year, with restored footage, a sort of faux director's cut. Also a blurb said it was, hmm, Lee Marvin's (?) finest performance.
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