The Best 25 War Movies

[gunbarrel]

Moviefone rated the 25 best war movies here:

 

http://movies.aol.com/movie-photo/best-war-movies

 

According to them, they are:

 

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

 

2. Platoon (1986)

 

3. Saving Private Ryan (1999)

 

4. Schindler's List (1993)

 

5. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

 

6. Das Boot (1981)

 

7. Paths of Glory (1957)

 

8. The Great Escape (1963)

 

9. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

 

10. Braveheart (1995)

 

11. The Deer Hunter (1978)

 

12. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

 

13. Glory (1989)

 

14. The Longest Day (1962)

 

15. Three Kings (1999)

 

16. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

 

17. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

 

18. Patton (1970)

 

19. Downfall (2005)

 

20. M*A*S*H (1970)

 

21. The African Queen (1951)

 

22. The Thin Red Line (1998)

 

23. Stalag 17 (1953)

 

24. Sergeant York (1941)

 

25. The Pianist (2002)

 

I don't know about you, but they left out some of my favorites and listed some that I definitely do not agree with. For example, they left out:

 

From Here to Eternity, To Hell and Back, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Pork Chop Hill and We Were Soldiers...and Young.

 

I'm sure members from overseas will also have a number of war movies to talk about that we are not familiar with.

 

What do you say?

[Jeeper704]

A Bridge too far

Battleground Bastogne

Stalingrad (NOT the one with the 2 snipers going after each other)

Tora Tora Tora

Kelly's Heroes

 

Erwin

[alibi]

There is of course a wide difference of opinion as to which films are personal favorites and those that film historians and critics consider great films. The first problem is how to define what is a "war" film. Is it a story that takes place during a conflict, that is influenced by the conflict or is it soldiers (useing the generic word for someone trained for combat) ingaged in strategic or tactical combat?

 

There is no doubt the The African Queen and Casablanca are great films. The story is influenced by war but there is little in the way of combat. In other forums I have proposed that it may be a good thing to catagorize films within the "war" genere and to judge them based on comparison with other films in the same catagory.

 

For example we may want a catagory for films that take place before, during or after a war that the story was generated out of the conflict but is not necessarily about soldiers in battle. I would place in this catagory The African Queen(WWI), From Here to Eternity(WWII) and Casablanca(WWII). Another catagory might be films that are not directly related to a war but have military action such as The Sand Pebbles, The Wind and the Lion and The Professionals as outstanding films in this catagory.

 

For many film buffs La Grande illusion is considered the most outstanding film in the war genere. I have not seen this film so I don't even know how to catagorize the film.

 

I on occasion share my ideas of those films (that I have seen) that I think are outstanding. I am surprized to see The Thin Red Line on the list as it seems to be a film that is either liked or hated. It was said to be a thinking man's war film that I suppose for those that don't want the psychology of the characters, just the combat, it was unbearable. The Thin Red Line, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers are disappointments for people that just want to be entertained and get rid of some of their own aggressions by seeing the bad guy(s) KIA. Flags of Our Fathers is difficult to follow and I had to read the book and then revisit the film to get the people involved straightened out. For this reason I was disappointed, but throughly enjoyed the second viewing.

 

I am certain that Letters from Iwo Jima will be on the list of outstanding war genere films, it is certainly on mine.

 

I have always thought that A Bridge Too Far was the best war film since when I saw the film in the theater on first release. I have to say that it could be much better done now with the improved SFX available.

 

The film that impacted on me the most was Das Boot. I had read the book many years ago so the plot seemed familiar. While viewing this film in the theater I was cringing and wanted to crawl under the seat during the depth charging scenes.

 

I read The Ghost Soldiers and later saw the film The Great Raid. IMO the film was better than the book. Unfortunatly there doesn't seem to be a title that is really expressive of what the story is about. It is certainly not about ghosts and "Great Raid" could be anything from Quest for Fire to Blackhawk Down.

 

Of the Viet Nam films I thought Go Tell the Spartans, We Were Soldiers and The Hanoi Hilton as some of the better films of the era. I am of the opinion that The Boys in Company C and Flight of the Intruder are better films than Full Metal Jacket. I suppose FullMetal Jacket and Apocalypse Now are thought of as outstanding films because of the directors (Stanly Kubric and Francis Ford Coppola). Another Viet Nam related film I thought very well done was Faith of My Fathers.

 

In a catagory all its own is The Caine Mutiny. The story takes place during WWII and is influenced by the war but has little to do with the war. In sort of this same area of command relationships is Twelve O'Clock High which is used in leadership training still today. I much prefer The Caine Mutiny as much more plausible and more instructive of leadership than 12 O'Clock High.

 

The list of bad war films is nearly endless. There are many with extremly low budgets that are classified as "B" films that are dreadful. However I nominate Midway and Windtalkers as films that should not have been made, at least with the director, writers, actors and production values displayed in these films.

 

Here is another list of war genere films that someone selected as "great," "worth seeing" or "worth the price of admission."

 

http://uk.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/War/

 

IF you regulary wait for films to be released on DVD or other format and don't take in the movie in the theater you are doing the film and yourself a disservice. For one, it is nearly impossible to maintain your attention to a film with all the potential distractions at home. Another is you don't get the full effect of the sound. I mentioned my experience with Das Boot and I was also alerted to the sounds of small arms rounds passing uncomfortably close while viewing Saving Private Ryan in the theater. I came out of viewing SPR, on opening day, with the determination that I was not going to discuss the film with anyone that had not seen it and encouraged people to see the film in the theater. This is a film that was best viewed first in the theater and reviewed later on the small screen.

 

 

**Post editted due to user complaints that the post discussed racism and may be interpretted to provoke arguments among members**

[gunbarrel]

US CANTEEN GURU,

 

I appreciate the excellent discussion; I can tell you've been down this road before. You reminded me of a couple of my favorites that I did not list, specifically The Sand Pebbles. Thanks for bringing such an in-depth discussion to this post!

 

GB

[bfryar44]

"Battleground" and "The Story of GI Joe". Both movies Directed by William Wellman.

 

The best war movies ever made, IMHO.

 

Bfryar44

[Jeeper704]

"Battleground Bastogne" shows that GIs aren't constantly fighting 24/24 and it gives a pretty good view about the confusion soldiers encounter when sent to a battlefield.

It's nothing compared to modern day movies, but I personally think it deserves a bit more credit.

 

A good movie is "l'Armée des Ombres" (1969), also known as "Shadow Army".

France, 1942, during the occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance's chiefs. Given away by a traitor, he is interned in a camp. He manages to escape, and joins his network at Marseilles, where he makes the traitor be executed... This non-spectacular movie (do not expect any Rambo or Robin Hood) shows us rigorously and austerely the everyday of the French Resistants : their solitude, their fears, their relationships, the arrests, the forwarding of orders and their carrying out... Both writer Joseph Kessel and co-writer and director Jean-Pierre Melville belonged to this "Army in the Shadows".

 

"Das Boot" is indeed one of the best movies ever made.

It is the kind of movie that crawls under your skin.

At the same time you also learn that not all Germans were die-hard Nazis.

De performance of Jürgen Prochnow is outstanding.

 

I went to see "Saving Private Ryan" twice.

On both occasions, people left the theater during the "D-Day" scene .... as white as my handkerchief.

I guess people were used to seeing GIs leap out of the landing craft like they do in "The Longest Day" (a "clean" movie in my eyes ... literally), not being blown to bits, dying without even getting out of the landing craft.

 

"A Bridge too Far" is a pretty good movie.

Of course, with modern techniques it would be much better and more dramatic, but for those times it was pretty well done.

Maybe a hint for Mr. Spielberg?

 

One movie I really dislike is "Battle of the Bulge" ..... even thinknig of it now turns my stomach.

Really unbelievable how they even thought of producing this kind of junk and saying this is THE movie about The Bulge is very disrepectful to every single Veteran who fought in that battle.

The area looked nowhere close to the real Ardennes, that German drives his tank all around the area (he literally shows up EVERYWHERE), the defense of Amel is hilarious (like cowboys and indians .... Amel was taken in 10 minutes in reality), even the massacre of the prisoners and the way the Skorzeny commandos (MPs) behave is more something for an epsiode in "Allo Allo" then for a serious war movie.

 

"Windtalkers". Well, I am sad when I see it as the story of the Navajo codetalkers is very interesting. They did a great job and deserve a more serious movie than "Windtalkers".

 

Erwin

[cwnorma]

A good list, but like any list, I think it serves more to generate discussion than to be definative.

 

Also agree with US Canteen Guru, the list could be further categorized.

 

I.e.

- Combat movies: some good ones here left off the list that I would vote for are Taegukgi (national flag) a really great Korean movie, or Enemy at the Gates

 

- Movies influenced by war: How about Dr Zhivago? Casablanca, and African Queen surely belong in this category

 

- Finally Anti War movies: Mash, Dr Strangelove, Catch 22, all great movies, all important movies, but I wouldn't call any of them great war movies.

 

Just my $.02 (if that)

 

Chris

[Bagman]

There is of course a wide difference of opinion as to which films are personal favorites and those that film historians and critics consider great films. The first problem is how to define what is a "war" film. Is it a story that takes place during a conflict, that is influenced by the conflict or is it soldiers (useing the generic word for someone trained for combat) ingaged in strategic or tactical combat?

 

There is no doubt the The African Queen and Casablanca are great films. The story is influenced by war but there is little in the way of combat. In other forums I have proposed that it may be a good thing to catagorize films within the "war" genere and to judge them based on comparison with other films in the same catagory.

 

For example we may want a catagory for films that take place before, during or after a war that the story was generated out of the conflict but is not necessarily about soldiers in battle. I would place in this catagory The African Queen(WWI), From Here to Eternity(WWII) and Casablanca(WWII). Another catagory might be films that are not directly related to a war but have military action such as The Sand Pebbles, The Wind and the Lion and The Professionals as outstanding films in this catagory.

 

For many film buffs La Grande illusion is considered the most outstanding film in the war genere. I have not seen this film so I don't even know how to catagorize the film.

 

I on occasion share my ideas of those films (that I have seen) that I think are outstanding. I am surprized to see The Thin Red Line on the list as it seems to be a film that is either liked or hated. It was said to be a thinking man's war film that I suppose for those that don't want the psychology of the characters, just the combat, it was unbearable. The Thin Red Line, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers are disappointments for people that just want to be entertained and get rid of some of their own aggressions by seeing the bad guy(s) KIA. Flags of Our Fathers is difficult to follow and I had to read the book and then revisit the film to get the people involved straightened out. For this reason I was disappointed, but throughly enjoyed the second viewing.

 

I am certain that Letters from Iwo Jima will be on the list of outstanding war genere films, it is certainly on mine.

 

I have always thought that A Bridge Too Far was the best war film since when I saw the film in the theater on first release. I have to say that it could be much better done now with the improved SFX available.

 

The film that impacted on me the most was Das Boot. I had read the book many years ago so the plot seemed familiar. While viewing this film in the theater I was cringing and wanted to crawl under the seat during the depth charging scenes.

 

I read The Ghost Soldiers and later saw the film The Great Raid. IMO the film was better than the book. Unfortunatly there doesn't seem to be a title that is really expressive of what the story is about. It is certainly not about ghosts and "Great Raid" could be anything from Quest for Fire to Blackhawk Down.

 

Of the Viet Nam films I thought Go Tell the Spartans, We Were Soldiers and The Hanoi Hilton as some of the better films of the era. I am of the opinion that The Boys in Company C and Flight of the Intruder are better films than Full Metal Jacket. I suppose FullMetal Jacket and Apocalypse Now are thought of as outstanding films because of the directors (Stanly Kubric and Francis Ford Coppola). Another Viet Nam related film I thought very well done was Faith of My Fathers.

 

In a catagory all its own is The Caine Mutiny. The story takes place during WWII and is influenced by the war but has little to do with the war. In sort of this same area of command relationships is Twelve O'Clock High which is used in leadership training still today. I much prefer The Caine Mutiny as much more plausible and more instructive of leadership than 12 O'Clock High.

 

The list of bad war films is nearly endless. There are many with extremly low budgets that are classified as "B" films that are dreadful. However I nominate Midway and Windtalkers as films that should not have been made, at least with the director, writers, actors and production values displayed in these films.

 

Here is another list of war genere films that someone selected as "great," "worth seeing" or "worth the price of admission."

 

http://uk.imdb.com/Sections/Genres/War/

 

IF you regulary wait for films to be released on DVD or other format and don't take in the movie in the theater you are doing the film and yourself a disservice. For one, it is nearly impossible to maintain your attention to a film with all the potential distractions at home. Another is you don't get the full effect of the sound. I mentioned my experience with Das Boot and I was also alerted to the sounds of small arms rounds passing uncomfortably close while viewing Saving Private Ryan in the theater. I came out of viewing SPR, on opening day, with the determination that I was not going to discuss the film with anyone that had not seen it and encouraged people to see the film in the theater. This is a film that was best viewed first in the theater and reviewed later on the small screen.

 

 

U. S. Canteen Guru,

 

We've got to stop meeting like this--on points of disagreement.

 

I respectfully disagree with you regarding the relative merits of "The Caine Mutiny" versus "Twelve O'Clock High" as a leadership teaching tool. IMO, "Twelve O'Clock High" is the finest film ever made about wartime decision making. It shows you how to build and lead a successful unit, not, as in "Caine Mutiny", how the failure under duress of one officer can cause others to make what their own defense counsel felt were bad command choices. I guess that is instructive in a negative sort of way, but it is hardly a blueprint for a successful leader in any endeavor. Still, it was a very good film that I always enjoy watching due to Bogie and Jose Ferrer.

 

Your post contained many thought provoking ideas and choices with which I am in full agreement---and some I'm not sold on.

 

I would like to mention a few wartime films which are still very deserving of praise despite the obvious propaganda component:

1) "In Which We Serve"

2)"The Immortal Battalion"

3)"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo"

4)"They Were Expendable"

Nothing like having the complete cooperation of the military services during the war to get some wonderful technical content.

 

Also, how about "The Dam Busters" (except for the silly clip of an early model B-17 crashing into the woods!!)?

 

"Fighter Squadron", despite an awful plot, at least had all those wonderful P-47's buzzing around, an actual 8th Air Force ace strafing the movie extra Krauts (not meant to be racist!) so low that the director had him bring it up just a wee bit to avoid scaring the s**t out of his actors, and some actual WWII color footage!

 

In the final analysis, which "war" movies one likes comes down to what we expect of them walking into the theatre or popping in the tape or DVD. This is a debate that can never be resolved. Different strokes .....

 

"Windtalkers" and "Midway" did suck, though! So, too, did "Memphis Belle"!

 

See you at the movies.

 

Bagman

 

**Post editted due to user complaints that the post discussed racism and may be interpretted to provoke arguments among members**

[34BDQ]

All great movies listed....my favorite IS BLACKHAWK DOWN. "RANGERS LEAD THE WAY"

[militariacollector]

There are some good movies on there, but a couple are missing I think.

 

300 could make an appearance on the next list, I saw it on opening night and it was amazing.

[Jeeper704]

Another one which is very good is "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) from 1959.

 

A group of German boys is ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge.

 

The only minor point is the rather silly appearance of "Shermans".

 

None of the tanks shown in the movie are real. Since the German army still did not have any tanks in 1959, Bernhard Wicki had to have wooden models constructed, which were dragged along the scene with ropes. The sound of the engines was dubbed afterwards.

 

Die Brücke

 

And never forget "Patton" with a superb George C Scott who portrayed General Patton better than himself.

 

"Steiner, The Cross of Iron" (1977) is very good as well.

Never knew James Coburn could play such a convincing Feldwebel Rolf Steiner.

 

Erwin

[Bob Hudson]

I still lean toward the ones made during WWII such as They Were Expendable, So Proudly We Hail (both set during the fall of the Philippines).

 

Das Boot (if you ever get a chance, see that in a movie theater, in German, with subtitles) and Enemy at the Gates are extremely compelling tales.

 

Last I watched 12 O'clock High for the first time in many years (it was on one of the cable movie channels). The movie channel host said WWII bomber vets have said this film captured things the way they were. Who remembers the TV show of the same name from the mid 1960's?

[alibi]

I also respectfully disagree with you regarding the relative merits of "The Caine Mutiny" versus "Twelve O'Clock High" as a leadership teaching tool. IMO, "Twelve O'Clock High" is the finest film ever made about wartime decision making. It shows you how to build and lead a successful unit, not, as in "Caine Mutiny", how the failure under duress of one officer can cause others to make what their own defense counsel felt were bad command choices. I guess that is instructive in a negative sort of way, but it is hardly a blueprint for a successful leader in any endeavor. Still, it was a very good film that I always enjoy watching due to Bogie and Jose Ferrer.

 

As to 12 O'Clock High as a model of leadership. I would not want to work for someone who thought that making wholesale changes was the way to gain, as the Army defines leadership, the willing cooperation of the troops. Frankly given the opportunity I would have fragged Savage. (I retired from the USAR as major and saw allot of commanders that tried to use this principle to establish that they were "in command." My experience with these commanders is they were usually weak leaders and needed to "establish" themselves. To a great extent Army leaders can be defined as leaders or trainers. Generally leaders are strong in one or the other. There are of course outstanding leaders that can do it all. Usually a trainer needs good complimentary leaders that together they can provide a winning team that can lead, administrate and train.) The fact is that this approach assumes that there is something wrong with the unit that requires drastic changes. That is the model provided in 12 O'Clock High . The character Savage (an appropriate name) tears around disrupting virtually everything and everybody. He has to be assuming among other things that the crews, ground and flight, don't care about what they're doing. They are all willfully doing a bad job so they can keep flying the same missions and get blasted out of the sky. After Savage establishes himself as the "boss" he proceeds to train the crews, which is what was lacking in the first place. So his establishing himself as the "Commander," inciting near mutiny and driving himself to the point of mental exhaustion is the lesson we should take away from the film? All he had to do was reorganize, stand down the squadron and train, without all the dramatics.

 

Modern organizational thought is that the kind of absolute imperical command that was trained in the WWII era does not work today. Even the Army has a quite different way of training leaders to command. Without going into all the implications of modern society, leaders must provide training, impowerment, trust, guidance and a vision (goals).

 

I use The Caine Mutiny in leadership training because of the underlying cause of the disharmony on the ship. Capt. Queeg started off providing the kind of leadership that Ensign Keith, through who's eyes we observe the story, wanted from his captain. But notice that the character Queeg did not assume that everything was wrong about the Caine, and make wholesale changes. He set down some "rules" that were reasonable, and on the whole did a good job providing leadership, training and guidance. It was the use, or abuse, of discipline that Queeg went off course. In my opinion The Caine Mutiny provides considerably more nuances of leadership, good and bad, than 12 O'Clock High . I have to say the film is very well done with a great cast. The principal methodology is just not applicable to contemporary managers.

 

Rats, jeeper 704 had to bring up Battle of the Bulge . This film was made in the days when it was thought that war films in particular had to have allot of big names. The Longest Day lead the way with a big names cast that IMO worked as a distraction. The Longest Day had some great moments and great acting. But I could not help thinking of Sean Connery as James Bond and Gert Frobe as Goldfinger.

 

The only memorable scene in Battle of the Bulge is the German tank crews singing for Col. Hessler (Robert Shaw), a scene that is usually cut out of television broadcast of the film. The remainder of the film has many moments that are unforgettable even though we wish we could.

 

- Finally Anti War movies: Mash, Dr Strangelove, Catch 22, all great movies, all important movies, but I wouldn't call any of them great war movies.

 

Yes! A very interesting catagory. I read one review of Das Boot that claimed the film glorified war. The reviewer could not have seen the film or was on something during the film. Of all the great anti-war films like Paths of Glory there is none with a clearer anti-war, futility of war, message than Das Boot .

 

**Post editted due to user complaints that the post discussed racism and may be interpretted to provoke arguments among members**

[VALERY]

 

One of my favorite war film is " La 317è section" (317th platoon), as for myself one of the best war film about war in SE Asia and wars in general. It's the story of the withdrawl of a small french outpost. A young lieutenant and his XO, an alsatian former veteran of the german army, lead suppletives and few french soldiers across the country between VM forces.

[Gregory]

In my opinion the Moviefone ranking is abstract. If somebody ranks in one bag the "Braveheart" and "Platoon" this is funny misunderstanding. In that case why do not to rank in one bag Roger Moore starred "Ivanhoe" and "Star Wars" -- they also describe the conflicts and "wars".

[mortaydc60]

Most of the movies mentioned are very good;but one was left out from all of the post and I think one of the best,and that is "A Walk in the Sun" made in 1945 which maybe before time for most of the posters. Was nominated for Best Picture that year by the academy. Starred Richard Conte,Lloyd Bridges,Richard Jaekel and screen debut of John Ireland. Story of patrol making its way inland from the beach and the exploits of the unit as they encounter different obstacles along the way. Really a great movie. Mort

[Hawk914]

I kinda like '1941' myself...

 

War nerves? Who said war nerves?

 

 

 

Fade to Black...

[Bob Hudson]

I kinda like '1941' myself...

 

War nerves? Who said war nerves?

 

2/USMF1/045a.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Fade to Black...

 

That one was fun wasn't it? I was working in LA at the time and saw 1941 at a theater in Hollywood. When we left the theater we were looking at pretty much the same skyline Belushi had strafed in movie: little changed from 1941 to 1979 or 80.

 

[Brig]

Full Metal Jacket I think is as famous and highly rated because of the boot camp scene, not the Vietnam portions, which I didn't particularly care for. But the depiction of USMC bootcamp was rather accurate

[TBMflyer]

Had to add a couple of my favorites; SAHARA, the Bogart one from '43, a lot of propaganda but you can feel the heat and thirst, one I always watch when it's on. My other favorite is OPERATION PACIFIC with John Wayne and Ward Bond, pretty much the best overall sub movie(US) of our time. Word is that Spielberg/Hanks bought the rights to Gene Fluckey's book "Thunder Below" which reads like a Hollywood movie. If they do it right, it could be a classic. Just my two cents, Mark.

[craig_pickrall]

A few more made in the 40's that are worth a look.

 

Objective Burma

Sands of Iwo Jima

Gung Ho

Parachute Battalion (This is hard to find as it isn't available on DVD)

[GIl Sanow]

Had to add a couple of my favorites; SAHARA, the Bogart one from '43, a lot of propaganda but you can feel the heat and thirst, one I always watch when it's on. My other favorite is OPERATION PACIFIC with John Wayne and Ward Bond, pretty much the best overall sub movie(US) of our time. Word is that Spielberg/Hanks bought the rights to Gene Fluckey's book "Thunder Below" which reads like a Hollywood movie. If they do it right, it could be a classic. Just my two cents, Mark.

 

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned the CW era films like "Red Badge of Courage", -- or is that too much like the literature we had to read in High School?

 

What about "Gettysburg" or "Gods and Generals" ? Neither was mentioned, though "Glory" was.

[alibi]

I think that most people that are interested in war related films are more interested in action and perhaps heroism. For those of us of the Viet Nam generation we have developed a certain amount of cynicism towards the military and view a film of the war genre that displays anything in the way of competent military command as suspicious.

 

I try to gather some sense of how these films are being received by the critical reviews, box office (revenue from the audience) and to a certain extent the comments and evaluations by the public in movie websites and in forums such as this.

 

It is also interesting to examine the history of the film. We all know that when motion pictures were first made they were mostly documentaries of happenings of the time, and a novelty to the public. People would go to see a moving picture just to see a moving picture. It is interesting that the military and war were popular subjects from at least 1898, with still existing film of the heroes of the War with Spain.

 

Prior to WWI short films (one reel) about the Civil War were made for public consumption. The landmark film that really kicked things off was D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915). There were patriotic films made in Europe during WWI, but few made here. The films made in the U.S. after the WWI celebrated the soldiers, but at the same time were anti-war. The main failing for later generations is that these were black and white silent films. So few of these films are viewed or reviewed today. Except for film history buffs, who knows what gems there may be in the films of that era?

 

The sound, and later color, films prior to WWII reflected the times and were made quite cheaply and rapidly to get them into the theaters to meet the demand of the audiences. So these films are mostly forgettable. In the 1930s the demand was for films that would raise public spirits and help them forget the depression, for at least the length of the film.

 

But shortly before WWII something quite remarkable happened. The directing, writing, cinematography, film stock and etc. came together to make some classic movies, but people still weren't in the mood for war films. Two films that classify as war films were made. Gone with the Wind showed some dreadful and depressing scenes, but in the end Scarlet is determined to survive and the audience went home with feeling of hope that they and the country would survive the Depression. The scene I remember most from my first viewing of the film in the 1950s was the long panning shot of the railroad station with thousands of wounded soldiers lying on the ground. BTW there was Civil War veterans invited to the premier showing of GWTW in Atlanta. I often wonder what they thought of the film.

 

The other film was Sergeant York (1941). The theme of the film was more patriotic to prepare people for the inevitability of U.S. entry into WWII. I have seen that quite a few people cite Sergeant York as one of their favorite films. It is most likely the earliest film that any of us from the WWII period and later think of as a good war film.

 

We all know that the films made during WWII are for the most part very patriotic and invariably show the wholesale slaughter of the bad guys and the triumph of the good guys, with just a few casualties. These films are hard for those of us that suffered Viet Nam to take seriously. But Sahara (1943) is a singular exception. The patriotic theme is understated and the cooperative spirit of the multi-national force is uplifting by providing a sense that working together "we" will prevail over the bad guys once again.

 

The post war films in a sense were intended to celebrate the victory and to honor those that did the job. Some of these films are pretty good and some not so palatable today. But they were the films we saw on Saturdays on the television that showed us what a great war WWII was. Sneaking in just before Viet Nam hit the fan was The Longest Day (1962). The ingrained impression of the spirit of the Army that won WWII, to the reality of the Army that "lost" in Viet Nam was a shock, and we didn't want to see it film.

 

Few of the post WWII films are of great interest as war films. It is interesting to note that prior to 1966 Marine Corps recruiting always went up shortly after Sands of Iwo Jima was shown on television.

 

There are few films related to the Korean War that show up on anybody's list of great films. I personally like Men in War (1957), despite the low budget and production values. The two classic Korean War films are The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) and Pork Chop Hill (1959). A late entry into the Korean War catagory is the Korean film Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004) and is often on "best" film lists.

 

Viet Nam brought forth some strange war films like The Green Berets (1968) and Apocalypse Now (1979). One of the most quirky Viet Nam related films was Casualties of War (1989) in which director Brian De Palma shows us why he was justified avoiding the draft by moving to Canada. (I saw The Green Berets in a Fort Ord in 1971 and there was alot of laughing and yelling at the screen by recently returned Viet Nam veterans in the theater.)

 

Starting with Patton (1970) there have been a number of films that are more attuned to historical subjects that have also gone to great lengths to get uniforms and equipment correct. Saving Private Ryan is an historical film in it's own right because it kicked off a serious revisiting of everything WWII, including it's fast disappearing veterans. It is strange that a film with a totally unhistorical plot, but very memorable scenes has acted as the catalyst.

 

Since SPR we have witnessed an astounding number of films, that have striven for accuracy in uniforms and equipment, based on historical events. There has also been some incredibly bad film making that leaves you wondering "How could this mess have been produced?"

 

Two rogue films Gettysburg (1993) and Gods and Generals (2003) were produced without regard for profit. We can only hope that the Ted Turner's of the world will continue giving to those of us that appreciate these kinds of films.

 

To get back to where I started with this post it seems to me that the more popular films or "favorites" or "bests" are those that show a few people or small units rather than big strategy films. For example Glory was a much more popular film and is often on best film lists, than was Gettysburg . I think that people favor the focus on the actions of a few that they can identify with and find sympathy for. Films in which the three acts are clearly defined and there is resolution at the conclusion.

[Andrei]

My favorite ones are "La 317eme Section" and "L'Honneur d un Capitaine".

"Hoa Binh" by Raoul Coutard is also on my top ten list. This is an obscure french movie about the Vietnam war.

I like the Longest Day, Kelly's Heroes, Okinawa, A bridge too far, all the war movies from the 60s and 70s.

If we could add the westerns, my all time favorites are :

- She wore a yellow ribbon

- Fort Apache

- Rio Grande

- The Wild Bunch

 

Andrei

[Gliderinf]

Best film ever - in all categories - no arguments - %100

 

ZULU!!