The Best War Movies Ever

[HMCS]

I'm a sucker for top ten lists - here is my list of the greatest war films of all time....

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. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
6. The Americanization of Emily (1964)
7. The Thin Red Line (1998)
8. Regeneration (1997)
9. Das Boot (1981)
10. Judgement at Nuremburg (1961)

[FesterShinetop]

Nice list but I really like the classics like

The Longest Day
A bridge too far
Bridge over the river Kwai
The Guns of Navarone
Tora! Tora! Tora!

Especially the first two, the scale of those somehow make it feel authentic...

[JScones]

Stalingrad...brilliant movie if I say so myself

Although, my favourite movie, despite all its failings, is Battle of the Bulge. Actually, can someone pls remind me what US tank model was used for replicating the King Tigers? I've forgotten now.

Other classics include Patton, Battle of Britain, Sink The Bismarck, Above Us the Waves, We Dive At Dawn, Battle of the River Plate, OK, well any Rank Arena or John Mills war movie of the fifties LOL.

Other Aussies may have a soft spot for The Odd Angry Shot too.

[HMCS]

I liked Tora Tora Tora very much, and I still do. Stalingrad is also excellent.

I dithered about putting Gallipoli on the list, and I had to choose between that an "Regeneration", which was hard.
My also-rans were:

The Cruel Sea (1953)
The Charge of The Light Brigade (1968)
Oh! What a Lovely War! (1969)(Gotta love a musical about WW I!)
Gallipoli (1981)
Breaker Morant (1980)
Enemy at The Gates (2001) (my #11 pick)
Europa Europa (1987) (yikes... espec. the bit with the rubber bands )

Privat Ryan didn't come close.... to much of a Steven Spielberg "Sgt. Rock Comic"

[JScones]

Oh - forgot one - Zulu.

And perhaps ANZACS (seeing Gallipoli mentioned reminded me).

Dang, I love all war movies :rotfl:

[Damo1977]

KELLY'S HEROES and maybe by christmas if they can release it here in OZ.......THE FALLEN

[Duncan Idaho]

Originally Posted by FesterShinetop

Nice list but I really like the classics like

The Longest Day
A bridge too far
Bridge over the river Kwai
The Guns of Navarone
Tora! Tora! Tora!

Especially the first two, the scale of those somehow make it feel authentic...

Your list is more my style. Especially Tora, Tora, Tora and Bridge over the river Kwai.

Also LOVE the movie Sink the Bismark, which I just finished watching before logging in here.

[HMCS]

After some thought I think that Lawrence of Arabia takes over my #8 spot.

I haven't seen The Fallen yet... thanks for mentioning it.

I also have to add some other near-top picks:

Hell's Angels (1930)...mmmm... Jean Harlow
Wings (1927) mmm... Clara Bow....

[Ginger Beer]

HMCS, let me shake your virtual hand. Thats the first time I've seen anyone mention ' The Best Years Of Our Lives ' in a list of favourite war films, on any forum.

Personally, I think it's the best film ever to come out of the USA.

[Gammel]

"Die Brücke" - Germany 1959
by Bernhard Wicki

Don´t know if there ever was made an english version.

Dr. Strangelove - S. Kubrik

Funny and sarcastic movie with some parts in not so funny...(the infantry attack on Burpelson Airbase looks not funny at all. I guess Kubrik used a video camera for that part, wich makes the scenes look very realistic).
Stanley Kubrik is one of the greatest!

[Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense]

an old one with Jack Palance, Eddie Albert... where the soldier that Jack Palance was playing got his arm mangled under a German tank...

i can't remember the name... but that one was great... the best i've seen


of recent film noir...

1- Saving Private Ryan (most intense forst 15 minutes of any movie)
2- Enemy At The Gate

honorable mention

1-Castle Keep
2- Bridge Over The River Kwai
3- the one with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Miffune when both were survivors on a Pacific atoll... can't remember the name
4- The Best Years Of Our Lives (i just keep comin back to this one, something about it)


not really war movies, but
1-Dr. Strangelove
2-The Keep (a really different one, you gota see)
3- Kelly's Heros

ahhhh there's just too many good ones... i mean, after all... there's a lot of available material from which to draw... right...

--Mike

Originally Posted by Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense

3- the one with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Miffune when both were survivors on a Pacific atoll... can't remember the name
4- The Best Years Of Our Lives (i just keep comin back to this one, something about it)

Lee Marvin,Toshiro Mifune movie is "Hell in the Pacific"

"The Best Years of Our Lives" Question: is that the one with the Banzai charge across the creek? The thing I remember about that one is the use of range cards by the machine gunners and that scene was done on a soundstage but captured the jungle feel so well.

My list would include most of the previous mentioned films as well as "A Walk in the Sun" and "Battleground" .

Honorable mention to "Band of Brothers" not strictly a movie but excellent TV probably the best ever.

[HuntingBot]

I know it's not the best movie but the Battle of the Bulge one I always found very fun to watch.
I love The Best Years of Our Lives.
Windtalkers wasn't bad even though it had Nicholas Cage.
The Longest Day is really interesting, both because I love D-Day and because despite some certain violence it's rated G.
Das Boot is the best U-Boot movie ever made.
Saving Private Ryan was the most realistic war scene ever made.
Enemy at the Gates I liked due to the realism, I like realism.
Patton is always fun to watch.

Now the real question is which books did you like the best(if you've read any, I have a near library collection of WWII history books.)

[HMCS]

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....

Today explosions are a type of air-cannon buried in the ground that can simulate anything from a grenade to heavy artillery. See BoB behind the scenes making-of video for explanation.

When "All Quiet.... " was made they used dynamite! ......
and killed two extras who got too close to to the blasts