The Best War Movies Ever Made

Freepers who know their war flicks | June 25, 2002 | wimpycat

[wimpycat]

As a companion to http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/705904/posts' The Worst War Movies Ever Made thread, I offer you the best war movies ever made, and I wanted to get mine in first. Here's my list, in no particular order.

1. Battleground (love James Whitmore in this!)

2. Full Metal Jacket (love the DI, R. Lee Ermey. "Hard core, man! F***ing Hard core!")

3. Glory (even though it's not quite historically accurate and it's about Yankees, it's a very moving film, IMHO. Great musical score, too.)

4. The Boys in Company C (same DI as in Full Metal Jacket. Made very soon after Vietnam, but it's still pretty good.)

5. Tora! Tora! Tora! (forget Pearl Harbor, the movie, this is the definitive Pearl Harbor movie)

6. Das Boot (definitely one of the all time great war films--great camera work, great sound effects, it makes you feel claustrophobic. Best viewed on DVD with SurroundSound system. Make sure you watch it in German, with the subtitles, not dubbed! Awesome!)

[Light Speed]

The Battle of Britian

The Sandpebbles

[harpo11]

Any war movie starring John Wayne and/or Robert Mitchum.

Patriot
Braveheart

[Risky Schemer]

The best war movie ever made may also be the best war movie no one has seen. Well, a few people have seen it.

It was a made-for-cable miniseries type flick called "Rough Riders." (Check out some of the customer reviews.)

Permit me to rave.

It was written and directed by John Milius, known gun lover and Teddy Roosevelt buff. Turner Network Television, for which it was made, aired it once. And given the testosterone charged, war-and-winning-is-glorious, America-as-new-empire exhilaration of this movie, and knowing the politics of the Turner group, one can see why.

It's a sweeping overview of the Spanish-American war. It runs about 3 hours (it was a 2-parter originally) but never drags. Tom Berenger -- yes, Tom Berenger of "Major League" and "Platoon" fame -- shows his range and is almost unrecognizable in a terrific character study of a young, vigorous, ambitious Roosevelt.

Sam Elliot does a terrific job as Bucky O'Neill, as does Illeana Douglas as Edith Roosevelt. And Gary Busey nearly steals the movie as scrappy, former Confederate officer fightin' Joe Wheeler, commissioned to lead the cavalry unit in an effort to unify the South behind the war effort.

This movie is charged with energy and a "Boy Scout" sense of fun and vigor -- set by the training camp sequence, which makes up much of the first half of the movie.

There are tons of memorable scenes. And remarkable is the chemistry of Berenger and Douglas as they portray a touching and lively relationship between Mr and Mrs Roosevelt, one with plenty of spark after years of marriage and several children.

It not only appeals to guys. The movie depicts real men doing the kinds of things real men do, and has the surprisingly good love story thread with Edith and TR. When my copy disappeared from the house I might have guessed my sister had taken it. I thought I glimpsed a bit of reluctance on her part when she finally brought it back and handed it over. ;o)

And where did Milius get all those Krag carbines?

And how did this thread get this long without being bounced into "Chat"? ;o)

[muleboy]

BREAKER MORANT tops the list.

Another class warfare "war" movie deserving honorable mention, THE WILD GEESE.

[Leto]

Pork Chop Hill is set in Korea at the end of the Korean War with Gregory Peck. The one you are thinking of is Heartbreak Ridge, a real fave.

A few I hadn't seen mentioned:
Sink the Bismark
Pursuit of the Graf Spee
Soldier of the King (WW1)
Cross of Iron (Russian Cremia, 1943)
Run Silent Run Deep (WW2)
The Bedford Incident(Cold War)
Schlindler's List
Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior (Midevil Japan)

[dsutah]

Now that you mention J. Stewart, did you see him in "Shenandoah"? This took place in the Civil War time; and it had some similarity with "The Patriot" in some places. Particularly Stewart's character, and Gibson's in "The Patriot". Even my sister noticed it when we were watching "The Patriot".

I had seen "The Patriot" before she did; and I had told her that it had some similarities, to "Shenandoah" in some places, then she saw "The Patriot". She leaned over, as we were watching it, and said she agreed with me; it was reminiscent to "Shenandoah". Particularly with the similarity of the families during wartimes, in the story, and the two 'father' characters.

[dougherty]

Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, The Great Escape, Sergeant York, Europa Europa, Enemy At the Gate, For the Moment.

I'm also fond of a tv movie by the name of 'The Summer of My German Soldier'. Not your typical war movie, but I like it. Another good tv war movie is 'The Hunley'.

[Don Carlos]

Pork Chop Hill?

[dougherty]

I can't believe I forgot this one, but it's one of my favorites: Gallipoli, starring Mel Gibson.

[exit82]

One of my favorite war movies is "A Wing and a Prayer", a 1944 flick about the Battle of Midway, with Don Ameche and Dana Andrews. Early special effects to, to give you a "you are there" feeling, with actual combat footage. Just saw it again recently, couldn't stop watching it. Must have watched it 20 times as a kid.

[dougherty]

Has anyone seen the German war movie titled, 'Mein Krieg'? That's one I have been planning on watching, just never have gotten around to ordering it.

[Teacher317]

• Patton
• Band of Brothers (HBO miniseries)
• Gladiator
• Tora, Tora, Tora
• Saving Private Ryan
• Patriot
• Pursuit of the Graf Spee
• Gettysburg

[Don Carlos]

For Whom the Bell Tolls. Spanish Civil War, Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. Cant believe the thread has gotten this long without this one being mentioned!

[Calvin Locke]

THE WILD GEESE.

Pretty good. Richard Burton and the guy that made it on the charts with "MacArthur Park".

Also add The Dogs of War. Christopher Walken.

Even though it has a Baldwin, I liked The Beast.

The Devil's Brigade

(What! No Star Wars?)

[RISU]

The only film I ever saw about war that made me leave the theater before it was done was

The Deerhunter.

[Euro-American Scum]

Where is "Saving Private Ryan" for God's sake?

My question exactly. I think I lot of people overlook this film because of their dislike for Steven Spielberg. While there's much to dislike in Spielberg, Private Ryan is a classic.

Ditto for Schindler's List as well.

[Light Speed]

I liked the "Rough Riders" too...the director got his one right.

Brian Kieth does a good Teddy Roosevelt in the "Wind and the Lion"...
His bitchin and jokes with Chuck Heston in "The Mountain men" is something else...

Brian Keith:.."I was once chased into a box canyon by a 100 Rapaho"!
Chuck Heston:..."Well what happened then"?
Brian Keith..."Well I F-ing Died"!!

[Euro-American Scum]

Band of Brothers. Best damn movie/series I ever saw.

Damn straight!

[dougherty]

MEMPHIS BELLE

Yep, that's one of the best.

[Northern Yankee]

Lots of war movies I would rate as great, but right now We Were Soldiers stands out in my mind as one of the best.

It was damned uncomfortable to watch, which made it probably the most realistic movie I've seen to date.

This movie finally sheds light on the fact that our boys in Vietnam were fighting for each other, and were fighting honorably. All of the men trapped in Landing Zone X-Ray, in the Ia Drang Valley - 1965, fought like tigers against overwhelming odds.

BTW I went with a lot of friends, Vietnam Vets, to the movie Platoon when it came out. The consensus coming out was that no one liked it. Too damned political, and to much petty horseshit going on between guys in the same platoon. You fight like hell for each other, and deal with problems later.