Favorite War Movies

[Taylor]

A few more Cold War movies:

The Third Man (while it's not about the Cold War it is set in post-war Vienna)
The Ipcress File
Funeral in Berlin

[forkserker]

Sink the Bismarck

Showing this Sunday on "Family Classics" with your host Frazier Thomas.

[cubbiebluestew]

Sink the Bismarck

Showing this Sunday on "Family Classics" with your host Frazier Thomas.

You just reminded me of a great one.  "The Cruel Sea".   British movie about life on a destroyer (I think) in WWII.  The movie was made in the mid '50s based on the novel by Nicolas Monserat. 

[SKO]

I realize I'm way late to the party on this one but with Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers being on all weekend on TNT it got me thinking so here's my list-

1. Saving Private Ryan- We've all seen it, and damned I don't still blubber like a little girl when old Ryan says "Tell me I'm a good man"

2. Gettysburg- One of the most faithful movie adaptations of an absolutely awesome book that every American should read, The Killer Angels. Jeff Shaara needs to die for disgracing his father's legacy by writing the drivel that was Gods and Generals.

3. We Were Soldiers- Fuck Hollywood. It got criticized for being a "too noble" version of Vietnam, but I've read the book and most of the 'Nam vets I know say this is closer to the real thing than any of the others. The subplot of the families at home receiving the telegrams tears at ya.

4. Black Hawk Down- Pretty faithful to the book and exciting from beginning to end.

5. Platoon- It's not as much of a cinematic accomplishment as Full Metal Jacket, and it's nowhere near the mindfucking masterpiece that Apocalypse now is, but I still like the plot of this one the best and the dichotomy between Berenger's character Barnes and Willem Dafoe's Elias.

6. Apocalypse Now- Mind fucking masterpiece.

7. Full Metal Jacket- My father thought it was a good idea to let me watch this at age 6. I had nightmares about that guy blowing his own brains out for a while. Watched it again years later and finally realized just how awesome this movie is.

8. A Bridge Too Far- Pretty accurate in it's retelling of Market Garden, one of the most brilliantly stupid plans in military history, for which all of the blame can be laid upon the Brits. (Yeah, Tonk, I said it). Connery and Redford are pretty badass as well.

9. All Quiet on the Western Front- The original 1930s version. There was a color one made later, but nothing beats the original. I'm still not sure how it's such a high quality film for being one of the first "talkies" ever. As haunting and damning as the book it's based on.

10. Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima- I sort of consider these to be one movie, as each one just presents one side of the same coin. Both are brilliant, but Letters is probably the better film.

11. Tae Guk Gi- This is actually a Korean film about two brothers forced to fight on opposite sides during the war. I saw it on a shelf at Hollywood Video and watched it because I had nothing better to do and I'm tired of Hollywood ignoring the Korean War (someday, Grandpa, someday). It's an incredibly moving film if you don't mind subtitles. Or if you speak Korean.

12. Stalingrad- A German film from the early 90s. Absolutely brutal to watch. That place was hell on earth.

13. Glory- Denzel, Morgan Freeman, and Ferris Bueller all give great performances.

14. Enemy at the Gates- If you take out the shitty love story (but keep Rachel Weisz getting humped), this is a really good movie. Snipers are cool.

15. Hurt Locker- I work with a bunch of former EOD techs on a daily basis, so I can say on pretty good authority that the accuracy in this film is shit. I still really like the message though.

16. The Longest Day- Paul Anka, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, John Wayne. "I don't have to tell you the story. You all know it. Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach: those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts. You guys are the Fighting 29th. "

17. Tora! Tora! Tora!- An incredibly accurate movie about Pearl Harbor that doesn't suck. Fuck Michael Bay.

18. Thin Red Line- The 90s' remake isn't bad, but the original is still much better.

19. The Dirty Dozen- If you haven't seen it, you're probably not a man.

20. Kelly's Heroes- Eastwood's a badass and Donald Sutherland makes me laugh every time.

Oh, and if Band of Brothers counts as one film, go ahead and slot it in at #3.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Saving Private Ryan was on a bunch this weekend, and I think Black Hawk Down was on FX a few weeks ago.  I can't not watch them.  According to SKO's list, I have a lot of viewing to do.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Where do you put movies like Stalag 17 and Bridge Over The River Kwai?

No battles = not really a "War" movie?  Just trying to see where the line is.

You have a pretty good list for sooth.

No "Sands of Iwo Jima"? 

[SKO]

Where do you put movies like Stalag 17 and Bridge Over The River Kwai?

No battles = not really a "War" movie?  Just trying to see where the line is.

You have a pretty good list for sooth.

No "Sands of Iwo Jima"? 

I'm not really sure where I put them. P.O.W. movies are almost a genre of their own. Sands of Iwo Jima is good, but The Longest Day won out as best John Wayne war movie. Although I fucking love The Green Berets as well.

[CT III]

Also recommend (especially for TEC and SKO) "Paths of Glory".

[Chuck to Chuck]

Also recommend (especially for TEC and SKO) "Paths of Glory".

Along with all other Kubric.

Does the original Sparticus count as a war movie?

[flannj]

I don't think either of these movies have been posted:

A Midnight Clear. Not particularly well known but a great cast and story.

Yamato. A Japanese made film about the battleship Yamato and it's crew. The film focuses primarily on Operation Ten-Go and the absolute suicidal aspects of that mission. Extremely bloody and graphic. I find it interesting to watch movies that chronicle history that are not necessarily written and shot from an American perspective. Never released in the United States but you can find it on-line.

[SKO]

Also recommend (especially for TEC and SKO) "Paths of Glory".

Along with all other Kubric.

Does the original Sparticus count as a war movie?

I tend to separate modern war films from ones based on medieval and ancient topics. That's sort of the sandals and swords genre. Paths of Glory is sweet. Kirk Douglass is awesome.

[SKO]

I don't think either of these movies have been posted:

A Midnight Clear. Not particularly well known but a great cast and story.
Yamato. A Japanese made film about the battleship Yamato and it's crew. The film focuses primarily on Operation Ten-Go and the absolute suicidal aspects of that mission. Extremely bloody and graphic. I find it interesting to watch movies that chronicle history that are not necessarily written and shot from an American perspective. Never released in the United States but you can find it on-line.

DPD- I saw that one. Really good. Tense as well. You think it might be a heartwarming story about the two groups making peace in the middle of the war but then the shit hits the fan. I also recommend Joyeux Noel, it's a French movie about the 1914 Christmas truce on the Western Front that's pretty good, and Gallipoli is always worth watching.

[Yeti]

In the Army Now

[Simmer]

Credit to Chuck and Taylor (Chuck Taylor?) for mentioning Stalag 17.  Is Taylor still around in some capacity?

Spartacus and Patton for me, unless Spartacus doesn't count.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Spartacus and Patton for me, unless Spartacus doesn't count.

Patton is Steak Tits Balls on Sauce.  Whatever.  (Blu-Ray version at Costco for about $13 right now).

Not really a war movie per se, but Good Bad and Ugly has an awesome battle sequence.