Top 5 War Movies

10ish for me -

Apocalypse Now
Braveheart
Das Boot
Lawrence Of Arabia
Stalingrad
Platoon and/or Full Metal Jacket
Saving Private Ryan
Glory!
Ride with the Devil
A Midnight Clear

I need to set this thing up. My war movies deal with combat--if there's no combat, then it's some other kind of movie, be it Holocaust (SCHINDLER'S LIST), heist (THREE KINGS), comedy (DR. STRANGELOVE) or other (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA).

1. FULL METAL JACKET -- fucking period. This movie is just stunning. The half-and-half setup of boot camp (lose your humanity) and Tet offensive (acknowledge that) has no equal.

2. PATHS OF GLORY -- POW, gut shot. War is hell because hell is other people.

3. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN -- I wish the ending wasn't so hackneyed, but more than made up for by the combat sequences.

4. THE THIN RED LINE -- Not smashy smashy for enough folks. Too bad. It's beautiful. There's actually nothing wrong with being "deep" and in a combat unit. I know it rubs folks the wrong way; but when the draft is on, poets get drafted too.

5. COME AND SEE -- This movie will just totally fuck you up. No joke--you are not the same after this. And not in a good way--in a bad way.

Almost dead nuts with MJL as I love all of his, but...

Saving Private Ryan
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Glory
The Great Escape
FMJ

I'll add 3 more at future date:
Apocalypse Now
Paths of Glory

How I Won The War
A Bridge Too Far
Weekend at Zuydcoote
Overlord
Kelly's Heroes

I was thinking about this last night some more, and there's a shitload of good war movies out there. These are off the top of my head, ones that I've personally seen. This came up as I was talking to my buddy Mickey, who was in the Navy in wartime, and as you would suspect, Midway was the first out of his mouth! Fuckin' squid....

Hamburger Hill
Battle of the Bulge
Das Boot
Dirty Dozen
Tora!Tora!Tora!
Midway
The Deer Hunter
THE LONGEST DAY (Forgotten about this one...great film!)
The Green Berets

Battle of the Bulge. A total howler from a history perspective, but still a hoot to watch. I bought it on DVD as soon as it came out. Doesn't get shown on TV that much compared to many of the others mentioned, and when it does they edit out a few scenes.

Exactly, hoot to watch, questionable historical accuracy.

Another flick I really, really enjoy is Three Kings, although I find it to be on the cusp of a "war film" because it's less about the war and more about the characters stealing shit. Still, love it.

I always wished there were more "Epic Tank Engagement" films, and with CGI being what it is, I'd think that eventually a Spielburg/Ridley Scott type will have to go back and recreate some killer tank scenes.

superflytnt wrote:

Exactly, hoot to watch, questionable historical accuracy.

That is being generous. I remember reading how Mantueffel walked out of the screening he was so disgusted at how corny the history was.

Films like, Bridge Too Far, Great Escape, Longest Day - all had tremendous ensemble casts that in today's Hollywood can almost never be replicated.

Full Metal Jacket
Saving Private Ryan
Stalag 17
Kingdom of Heaven
The Guns of Navarone