Best War Films

Batutta

Batutta

Major Contributor
Since it's veteran's day, here's my list of favorite war films, in no particular order--

1. Apocalypse Now. The film Coppola never recovered from. Genius. Saw this in 70mm at the Cinerama Dome and was one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of my life.
2. Dr. Strangelove. More a cold war film, but I had to include it. A Peter Sellers/Stanley K/Terry Southern tour de force. Comedy doesn't get any blacker.
3. Platoon...Nam. Sheen. Dafoe. Stone.
4. Saving Private Ryan. The script doesn't really hold up on repeated viewings. But the battles! Dear god, the battles.
5. Glory. Flawless screenplay. Denzel and Freeman are gods in this. One of James Horner's best film scores.
6. Lawrence of Arabia. If you haven't seen this in 70mm on a 60 foot screen, you haven't seen it.
7. Full Metal Jacket. Only the first hour, but few films in their entirety are as good as the boot camp section of this film. R. Lee Ermey set a standard here for degrading drill sergeant dialogue that I don't think will ever be matched.
8. Star Wars. Alright I'm reaching. But it's got Wars in the title!
 
I think if you include mini-series as war films then 'Band of Brothers' is by far the most expansive, breath taking, and haunting view of war.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Great Escape and Stalag 13 are at the top of my list.
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I think I'd put those in the prisoner of war genre. Good ones, although I'm sure actually being a prisoner of war isn't quite the comedic romp those two films make it out to be. Best POW movie for me is Bridge Over the River Kwai.
 
Ya got me...Another observation. I noticed Lions for Lambs can be added to the list of movies about the war in Iraq that have failed at the box office. It seems we are only entertained by wars that happened in previous generations.
 
Platoon combines the best squad level look at war

Saving Private RYan gives us the best combat look at war

Full Metal Jacket gives us the best Bootcamp experience

Apacalypse Now gives us the best dark side of the war

The Thin Red Line gives us the most poetic look at war

The Deer Hunter gives us the best view from the 'world' on war

Now if someone could combine all these elements into one film ....
 
Apocalypse Now
Band of Brothers
We Were Soldiers
Last of the Mohicans
Saving Private Ryan
Gallipoli
Black Hawk Down
Platoon
Patton
The Sand Pebbles
A Bridge Too Far

and I'm not including this one because I have a hard time remembering it because it has been so many years since I've seen it, but I remember it having a great basic training sequence: The Boys in Company C.
 
Batutta said:
7. Full Metal Jacket. Only the first hour, but few films in their entirety are as good as the boot camp section of this film. R. Lee Ermey set a standard here for degrading drill sergeant dialogue that I don't think will ever be matched.
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Am I the only one who likes the ENTIRE film, and not just the boot camp section? And for that matter, am I the only one who liked the second half MORE than the first?
 
I've appreciated the second half more on repeated viewings. Still not sure the whole film works as a piece, but that's the risk you take with an episodic structure...Funny side note, it was YEARS until I realized 2 Live Crew got "Me So Horny" from this movie. I wonder what Kubrick though of the song.
 
Billy Pilgrim said:
Am I the only one who likes the ENTIRE film, and not just the boot camp section? And for that matter, am I the only one who liked the second half MORE than the first?
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no, you're not alone. the film is two studies on the dehumanizing phenomenon of war. it's hard for me to imagine separating the two when they are so thematically interwoven -- each informs the other.
 
Honestly, the only opinions I really would be interested in hearing on this subject would be from people who have fought in wars.

When you talk to these people, you understand that there is no way to describe the fear and pain and silly surrealism of armed combat....

...like how you can be smoking a cigarette with your buddy sitting five feet away behind the tattered wall of an old church one minute, and how a shell can come ripping through and erase his face the next...and two minutes later, you're taking off his boots for yourself because yours have holes in them and his are in pretty good shape....

...and five minutes later you'res shooting at somebody's son, who you don't really have anything against personally, but since he's shooting at you, for reasons only vaguely known to him, you might as well get him before he gets you...

Having said that, I'm a fan of The Thin Red Line. The Longest Day comes to mind, too.
 
I like We Were Soldiers but can recognize it's misteps. I would have approached it with a more grainy, SPR approach than the tradtional one they took.
 
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