OK, I have to backtrack... I was on the way home from work this am and had to revise.
1. All Quiet on The Western Front (1932)
2. Downfall (2004)
3. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
4. The Paths of Glory (1957)
5. Apocolypse Now (Redux) (1979)
6. The Seven Samurai (1954)
7. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
8. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
9. Judgement at Nuremburg
10. The Thin Red Line
Honorable Mentions:
The Cruel Sea
Above Us, The Waves
Wings
Hell's Angels
Enemy At The Gates
Dr. Strangelove (thanx for reminding me!)
Ran
The really remarkable thing about #1 was that when you watch the pyrotechnics with All Quiet On The Western Front, you are seeing a film that was made very, very close to the truth. All of the extras themselves were veterans of the BEF,CEF,AEF and even the German Army; they did a scene in French uniforms, then shot another scene in German ones; and the extras didn't need to be directed to act realistically.
Check out the scene of the artillery barrage when Paul and his old DI are in an attack on a village, and Paul has to hide in a grave. Amazing cinematography.
One way to tell a bad war film is the pyrotechnics. Especially when you see mushroom clouds of flame from HE shells....
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