Please add your favorite war movies to this thread

ReveBM ^ | February 23, 2002 | ReveBM

[ReveBM]

I'm trying to get some of the best war movies on DVD to show to my kids someday, when they are older. So far here's what I have in my collection:
Gladiator (OK - not technically a war movie)
Braveheart
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version)
Glory
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Patton
Saving Private Ryan

Here are some ones I want to get when they come out on DVD:
Behind Enemy Lines (OK, I thought the ending was goofy but I thought it was good in capturing the atmosphere of Yugoslavia)
Black Hawk Down
We Were Soldiers

Can some people please add movies (preferrably ones currently out on DVD) to this thread, and why you think they are good?

I'm hoping that watching these movies will help teach my kids some of the following virtues:

1. Patriotism
2. Sacrifice
3. Bravery
...I missed a few I'm sure.

I'm also interested in getting films from different historical periods. Are there any good films (from a Freeper point of view) on World War I or the Korean War, particularly the Chosin Reservoir conflict?

Please note that I'm not interested in leftist, polemical "antiwar" war movies, though I don't mind movies that show war brutality, senselessnes or tragedy, provided that it's in a context appropriate to the conflict.

[Moonmad27]

Great Escape, for a "war" movie. Related to WWII, I would recommend Pimpernel Smith starring Leslie Howard - available on VHS and not too hard to find. It's an update of his starring role in Scarlet Pimpernel; Howard is a mild-mannered British archaeologist who sneaks into Germany and rescues people.

[top of the world ma]

"There was one released by HBO last year but I can't remember the name. It was about combat in the Hurtgen Forrest in 1944."

_When Trumpets Fade_

A&E made a film late last year which,imho, is better than SPR about Major Charles Whittlesey who was ordered to take his men into the Argonne Forest and hold the Germans against incredible odds. He did so and won the CMH: _The Lost Battalion_. It's probably unavailable in video stores yet, but don't miss it when it arrives.

[top of the world ma]

"Sands of Iwo Jima"

Tonight on the History Channel is _The Flag Raisers of Iwo Jima_, veterans discussing the *two* photographs. Catch the late encore presentation if you plan to watch the Olympics.

[kennyo]

Is Paris Burning? with Orson Welles,among others.
Believe it or not,The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly,and The Outlaw Josie Wales(love Clint).
The Train,with Burt Lancaster
Von Ryan's Express,with Frankie

[kennyo]

Johnny Got His Gun,
All's Quiet on the Western Front

[Dante3]

SOMETHING OF VALUE (book was better)

CUSTER OF THE WEST

HANOI HILTON (haven't seen it myself but read by good and bad reviews about it -- some critics were upset about how Jane Fonda was treated)

[NMC EXP]

"Hamburger Hill" -- Viet Nam
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" -- Indian Wars.

J.R.

[Cloud William]

"Are there any good films (from a Freeper point of view) on World War I..."

I recently caught The Blue Max on one of the "classic movies" channels. It had been years since I last saw it and I'm really glad I taped it (it is tough to find on VHS and isn't yet on DVD). The film is centered on a fictional character, but is otherwise quite realistic.

Do a websearch for the film and you'll also find a site that sells copies of the book upon which the film is based (it is the first of a trilogy, interestingly). The author also sells his original WWI aviation art.

[angcat]

"the deer hunter" although i cover my eyes during the war ...............

[ThinkingMan]

Hamburger Hill, Bridge too far, Flying Leathernecks and 84 Charlie MOPIC.

[IGNATIUS]

What an awesome list--many yet to enjoy--thanks to all.

I would add 'Zulu Dawn'--harder to find than 'Zulu'--covers the disastrous Brit defeat a few days before their heroic defense of Roarke's Drift. The African chants in both movies stick in the mind. A gripping modern time Southern Africa mercenary adventure is 'The Wild Geese'(Stewart Granger's last apppearance).

Although not a strictly war story the 50's flick (Stew Granger in his prime) version of 'King Soloman's Mines' is another fine African adventure tale.

[gopgen]

Deterrence. The thinking man's war movie. Takes place in 2008, ends with Baghdad getting nuked.

[ThreePantherEightyDuce]

Little Big Man, based on Thomas Berger's excellent book is my choice hands down.

Dances with Wolves is also another outstanding war film. It has always bothered me how badly and unfairly Native people were treated by Western culture as it spread across the Americas. It's good to see films with some positiveness to cultures that would have been more valuable to preserve then to crush in the brutal spirit of of the bigotry of ways of thinking that gave us the doctrine of 'Manifest Destiny.'

[general_re]

I watch "Battlefield" every time it comes on.

Do you mean "Battlefield", the '80's TV documentary, or "Battleground", the 1949 movie with Van Johnson and Ricardo Montalban?

The movie is great, well worth watching, although not out on DVD, AFAIK. 101'st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge - good, good movie.

[Ax]

How about "The Wild Geese," with a truly stellar cast: Richard Burton, Richard Harris, inter alia. About a unit of mercenaries in Africa who try to rescue a native leader but are double-crossed by the guy (Stewart Granger, I think) who hired them. Lots of Cuban mercenaries get greased and the appalling scene where the rescue aircraft gets the abort message and leaves the good guys stranded on the runway.

[katana]

The Japanese soldier was played by Toshiro Mifune, probably the most recognizable face in all of Japanese film. He played the "crazy" samurai in "The Seven Samurai", which the "Magnificent Seven" was a western re-make of.

Speaking of which, as long as you can include wars where the main weapons were swords and spears, "The Seven Samurai" should probably be on the best-of list.

[katana]

Subsequent to his making "Pimpernel Smith", Howard was in fact used as a British agent and was killed under what I believe are still mysterious circumstances. Any freepers remember the details or whether they are still classified ?

[proudofthesouth]

The Diary of Anne Frank. Technically, its not a war movie I know. But it does tell the story of jews in hiding during WWII.

[hedgetrimmer]

We just saw Bridges at Toko-Ri last night.

This movie should be required viewing by all Americans. The war against the communists in Korea has never ended, and the war has been brought to America through the infiltration of our government and our schools by the very communist ideas we fought. There was a scene in the movie where the Admiral discusses the American people. He said something to the effect that they didn't know what was happening in Korea because they were too content, too comfortable. The Admiral knew that the world as we knew it then was in grave danger.

Again, America is too content and too comfortable. Most Americans do not know that their world is changing much for the worse. Every time the UN or one of its directorates holds a global conference on human rights, social development, the environment, the International Criminal Court, they are consolidating their plan to become THE WORLD GOVERNMENT. The American people do not know that the forces we were fighting in Korea are the forces behind the move toward global government.

Yes, we need some of the men depicted in this movie now. We need men of the caliber that made the Admiral remark:

"Where do we get such men? They leave this ship and they do their job; then they must find this speck, lost somewhere on the sea, and when they have found it they have to land on its pitching deck. Where do we get such men?"

Do we still have such men in America? Will they stand and fight the insidious?

[sixmil]

I really liked Europa, Europa, but I was studying German and Russian at the time.