Favourite War Movies

[time expired]

I am pleased to see someone finally got around to mentioning From Here To Eternity,not really a war movie
although it does culminate in very realistic depiction of the attack on Scholfield Bks.on the 7 Dec. 1941.
Its depiction of army life was very realistic,lots of single guys living in barracks,the paynight poker games,
most of the guys being broke about 2 days after payday .Reminded me of my first Germany tour in 63.
Burt Lancasters role as Coy. first sgt. was a classic, for me his best, even the love story between the
First sgt. and the Coy. commanders wife added to the story.An absolute great scene was as the Japs
were strafing the barracks the quartermaster sgt was bleating about not being able to issue ammo without an officers signature, if that isnt typical army I dont know what is.
An interesting footnote to those who have read the book,is that the USarmy refused to let the film company shoot in Schofield Bks. unless they took most of the stockade scenes out of the film.

 

[tingbudong]

I'm not going to blast through all 17 pages...but...

Russia has been pounding out some decent and well polished (both plot and SFX wise) war movies recently, most dealing with events in and around Chechnya and the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan.

I recommend checking out " War" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309047/ .  Revolves around kidnappings in Chechnya.
Also "The 9th Company" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417397/ about a group of Soviet Airbourne soldiers in the the last stages of Soviet involvement in AFG.  It's been described as the Russian "Full Metal Jacket/Platoon". 

Korea has a number as well including:

Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (The Brotherhood) Polished up Private Ryan style. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/
Silmido - S. Korean commandos trained to take out Kim in the north. (True Story) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387596/

Not sure about how easy they are to find in North America, but counterfiets can be found with ease throughout Asia.

 

[medicineman]

Forgot "The Boys in Company C".

MM

 

[Red 6]

Totally concur with Tae Guk Gi. It's an amazing and poignant film. Another sleeper is The Odd Angry Shot, about a group of Australian soldiers in Vietnam.

 

[Trooper Hale]

The odd angry shot is a great one, especially seeing as Graham Kennedy is in it. I'm a big fan of his. I'm Australian and more then a little bit biased but...
1) Zulu (i know the dialogue I've watched it so much, got to love those Welsh accents!)
2) Gallipoli
3) Odd Angry Shot
4) The LightHorsemen
5) Casualties of War

Theres almost to many good ones to name! Of course no list is complete without "A Bridge too Far", "the Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Battle Of Britain". I don't think you can really put numbers to any of those, especially Battle Of Britain. Brilliant movies.

 

[Koenigsegg]

One I just saw recently  -  "American Soldiers"

A movie on the war in Iraq, based in April 2004.  Good job showing the random, sparatic attacks.  One of the first films of any type that actually demonstrates how fanatical the insurgents are.

 

[chaos75]

My favs, war and military movies.

1. Platoon (hands down best war movie ever imo)
2. FMJ
3. Heartbreak Ridge (just for the acting and lines alone)
4. SPR (simply for the reality of conflict, not necessarily the story)
5. The Beast (guess its the ex-tanker in me)
6. Legends of the Fall (cause I was in it, well extra anyways)
7. Glimpse of Hell (crap movie, but again because I was an extra)
8. No Way Out (good military/spy movie)
9. Apocalypse Now (never get out of the ******* boat)
10. Hamburger Hill (gritty, good visuals)

Ten will do, many others of course.

 

[andpro]

Band of Brothers (without a doubt #1)
Horatio Hornblower series (cheesy special effects but still fun to watch)
Sharpe series 
Master an Commander (I know its extremly hollywood but I still like it)

 

[infuntry_boi]

I love pretty much any war movie i can get my heads on  ;D

One movie i saw once was "Jarhead", if you can handle the language and morality, an excellent story.

 

[Red 6]

Jarhead had some good parts. The way the Marines in the STA platoon interacted with each other was depicted effectively. There were a couple of parts that just ruined it for me though. Plus, the  scenes in the desert were pretty damned close to real life.

The o-course scene where the Marines were crawling through the barbed wire and the 60 was firing free gun about 10 yards from them—remember that scene? It was just complete fiction. The Marine Corps (and the Army for that matter) have strict safety rules for firing over the heads of troops in training. Plus, infiltration courses are equipped with 8 foot stands with locking cradles for machine guns to rest in.

The other scene was the movie where it cuts to a scene of a Marine's wife getting double balled and she looks into the camera and says she wants a divorce. This really bugged me in the book "Jarhead" because Swofford represented it as happening to his buddy. That was just total BS. This was one of the Desert Storm urban myths and. I was hundreds of miles from his unit and we heard the exact same one.

 

[gaspasser]

I think the scene with the Marine's wife on video was put there as part "what's going at home" worries that every soldier goes thru.  Mind you, that type of thing does happen when soldiers go away, but very few "significant others" actually video tape the encounter just to put a zap on thier "others" heads. We had those same rumours going around our Canadian Camp further north. The desert scenes with the "raining oil" and darkened skies really did a job on my head and brought back many sickening memories of my "road trip" to Kuwait city to replenish the Canadian Embassy there. 

Cheers, my two cents worth

 

[Trooper Hale]

Bugger! How could i forget Hornblower? Its not really a movie but then neither is Band Of Brothers. Cheesy? NEVER! haha, i reckon its a really brilliant series, ok its cheesy at times, but i read the books when i was a little 'un and they stayed very true to them. Good watch that, really good watch.

 

[andpro]

Bugger! How could i forget Hornblower? Its not really a movie but then neither is Band Of Brothers. Cheesy? NEVER! haha, i reckon its a really brilliant series, ok its cheesy at times, but i read the books when i was a little 'un and they stayed very true to them. Good watch that, really good watch.

The books are my next endeavor after I finish the Sharpe series. The movies are great, I saw the box set at Music World the other day and was so close to buying it. I still don't know why I didn't.

 

[Infantree]

We were soldiers
saving private Ryan
Black hawk down
Full metal jacket
the thin red line
Platoon
Peacekeepers
windtalkers
behind enemy lines
American soldier
For king and empire
For king and country
enemy at the gates
Jarhead
the great raid
Devils brigade
And any documentary video


Watched peacekeepers today. Wonderful film.

 

[navymich]

Bugger! How could i forget Hornblower? Its not really a movie but then neither is Band Of Brothers. Cheesy? NEVER! haha, i reckon its a really brilliant series, ok its cheesy at times, but i read the books when i was a little 'un and they stayed very true to them. Good watch that, really good watch.

I haven't read the books, I'll have to give them a try.  Just watched the series for the first time earlier this year.  We went through the set in the mess instead of movies each night when we sailed in the spring.  Great show for sure!

 

[Shec]

I'm thinking of themes, specifically the French Foreign Legion theme:

Beau Geste (I think it was made 3 times)
The Last Remake of Beau Geste  (OK so its a comedy but if you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined,)
Legionnaire
March or Die
Day of the Jackal (original one)

 

[CanadaPhil]

These are flicks in my own collection. Noted in no particular order.

Saving Private Ryan
Black Hawk Down
A Bridge Too Far
Apocalypse Now
Battle of Britain
U571
The Longest Day
Zulu
Gallipoli
Waterloo
Lawrence of Arabia
The Alamo (1960)
Sahara (1941) (Great wartime flick with Bogart in an M3 Tank)
Sands of Iwo Jima
Twelve O’clock High
Memphis Belle
Glory
Gettysburg   (at least the Little Round Top scenes)
The 300 Spartans                     (need at least one old sandal epic)
March or Die       (best Foreign Legion flick ever)
Gladiator                                 (Hey..the opening scenes count as a battle right?...I cant help it… I love this movie)

Honourable Mentions for most “Over the Top” NONSENSE:

Pearl Harbour
The Patriot
Braveheart

And if we were to include future sci-fi type wars:

Aliens   ;D

 

[TMM]

I just watched two "non-war" war movies if you will:

Random Harvest
Mrs. Miniver

They might be a bit sappy but I can't help crying at the end!

 

[rmacqueen]

Gallipoli - This will date me but first saw it while sipping American beer in a barracks in Grayling, Michigan back when the SSM showed films for the guys using a projector

Kelly's Heroes - see why I joined the Armoured Corps (always with the negative waves Moriarty)

Devils Brigade - according to some of the actual members it is a relatively good composite depiction of the guys

Enemy at the Gates - war doesn't get much messier than this one

Tears of the Sun - although it may be little too much of a super soldier type movie it is an excellent depiction of the brutality of some of the factional fighting that occurs in third world countries

All Quiet on the Western Front - for a different point of view

Black Hawk Down - good depiction of events but was disappointed that it left out so much of the political machinations that led to it

I also have a soft spot for Tour of Duty because it gave my daughter a sense of what I was doing for a living without all the whohaw flag waving

 

[Kat Stevens]

Lion of the Desert-  the historicaly accurate story about the Libyan resistance leader, Omar Mukhtar, who led the Libyan resistance against the Italian opressors from 1911-1931. The movie takes place during the reign of Mussolini. Anthony Quinn does an excellent job.