I just read through every post and noticed...
... not one person has mentioned
The Thin Red Line.
Its an excellent film and is worth watching. It may move just a bit slow and may be a little hard to follow at points, but its not supposed to be like
Saving Private Ryan (which opened in theaters the same year and overshadowed this film) or Eastwood's
Iwo Jima films (which I must commend for its eye candy and sound mixing... has some neat cinematography too; ie, the Corsair scenes in the cockpit!).
The Thin Red Line is, in my opinion, a very realistic and emotionally moving war film... because it really dives into the soldier's mind, captures the horrible conditions of the fight for Guadalcanal, and constantly reminds you that everyone is human... nobody is perfect... and anyone can die at any moment. I tend to feel a closer connection to this film, as if I were there with the characters, than I do with other films... because its all in the little realistic details.
Operation Pacific - A rather Americanized propaganda film but fun to watch! Can't beat The Duke!
Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg are currently working on another WWII HBO Mini-Series called
The Pacific, due to air this year I believe. From what I've read it follows two Marines (the 10-part plot is based on their memoirs), all the way from the hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor to the signing of the Japanese surrender!
http://www.pacificfans.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pacific_(miniseries)