Your Favorite War Movies...
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buzzard
First Post
Most of my favorites have been mentioned.
Bridge too Far
Longest Day
Patton
We Were Soldiers
Blackhawk Down
Sergeant York (which is a great movie if you haven't seen it)
and just for sentiment's sake
Sands of Iwo Jima
As a counterpoint I only like the Normandy scene of Saving Private Ryan. I could very easily have skipped the rest of the movie and missed very little. The plot and characterization, I felt to be lacking.
buzzard
Bridge too Far
Longest Day
Patton
We Were Soldiers
Blackhawk Down
Sergeant York (which is a great movie if you haven't seen it)
and just for sentiment's sake
Sands of Iwo Jima
As a counterpoint I only like the Normandy scene of Saving Private Ryan. I could very easily have skipped the rest of the movie and missed very little. The plot and characterization, I felt to be lacking.
buzzard
Brakkart
First Post
Lets see, favorite war movies, those would be:
Saving Private Ryan (though like most I like the Beach Landing and the battle at the end, the middle I can happliy skip. Yay for Scene Select on DVD's!)
Black Hawk Down
Braveheart
Last Of The Mohicans
The Patriot (English vs Americans. Works for me, I'm Welsh!)
Troy
Enemy At The Gates (love how they only issued every other soldier with a gun! Harsh!)
A Bridge Too Far
Conspiracy (A truly chilling account of how the final solution was decided upon over wine and canapes by the Nazi elite, on 20th January 1942)
Bridge Over The River Kwai
I also like a few films that detail the lead-up to World War 2, especially The Gathering Storm which details Churchill's efforts to alert Britain to what was going on in Germany in the 1930's, when nobody wanted to know.
Saving Private Ryan (though like most I like the Beach Landing and the battle at the end, the middle I can happliy skip. Yay for Scene Select on DVD's!)
Black Hawk Down
Braveheart
Last Of The Mohicans
The Patriot (English vs Americans. Works for me, I'm Welsh!)
Troy
Enemy At The Gates (love how they only issued every other soldier with a gun! Harsh!)
A Bridge Too Far
Conspiracy (A truly chilling account of how the final solution was decided upon over wine and canapes by the Nazi elite, on 20th January 1942)
Bridge Over The River Kwai
I also like a few films that detail the lead-up to World War 2, especially The Gathering Storm which details Churchill's efforts to alert Britain to what was going on in Germany in the 1930's, when nobody wanted to know.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
I know its not technically a movie, I absolutely love Band of Brothers. Just an amazing series.
One movie that i love, but haven't seen listed is
Go for Broke- A story about the japanese american troops in ww2, a very funny and yet very informing story about what could be considered the best troops america had in ww2.
Am ong other ones i like are
MASH
Tora Tora Tora
The Great Escape
Where Eagles Dare
The Beast
A Bridge Too Far
Sargent York
Kelly's Heroes
The Longest Day
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Hamburger Hill( A drill sergent in my company at basic training was in that battle, and said it
is a very true to life movie)
Bridge on the River Kwai
Glory
Das Boot
Apocalypse Now
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
The Thin Red Line
The Dirty Dozen
10 Seconds over Tokyo
The Great Escape
and more that i can't think of right now
Go for Broke- A story about the japanese american troops in ww2, a very funny and yet very informing story about what could be considered the best troops america had in ww2.
Am ong other ones i like are
MASH
Tora Tora Tora
The Great Escape
Where Eagles Dare
The Beast
A Bridge Too Far
Sargent York
Kelly's Heroes
The Longest Day
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Hamburger Hill( A drill sergent in my company at basic training was in that battle, and said it
is a very true to life movie)
Bridge on the River Kwai
Glory
Das Boot
Apocalypse Now
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
The Thin Red Line
The Dirty Dozen
10 Seconds over Tokyo
The Great Escape
and more that i can't think of right now
I have many of the same favorites, though I'll throw in a few that haven't been mentioned:
Braveheart - Best depiction of what we've all imagined in gaming: Sex with the Queen of England or rather... sword fights and stuff.
Thirteenth Warrior - I know. Banderas as an Arab was a stretch, but the Viking dudes were absolutely the best ever. Probably not technically a war movie...more of a skirmish movie.
Queen Margot - Not technically a war movie...more of a massacre movie... but great story between Catholics and Protestants.
Patriot - It was kinda cartoony, but there were a few things I liked about this movie. You really got the sense of 'war in your backyard,' with kids learning to shoot the bad guys, and stuff.
Master and Commander - I like this movie for the same reason I liked Braveheart: You really get immersed in how crazy/brave these guys were to do the things they did -- in this case, go out on a big wooden boat through all kinds of weather and fling iron balls at each other.
Kelley's Heroes - This one was a 'training film' when I was in the Army. Lots of good tanking in this movie.
Iron Cross - Same here. Much better tanking than KH and Beast, though.
Where Eagles Dare - My 12-year olds' favorite movie. He just recently got into 'old war movies.' I read in the Clint Eastwood Bio that Burton was drunk for this entire movie, and was basically on a downward spiral afterwards. Good movie though.
Saving Private Ryan - Battle scenes. I could take or leave the 'story.' Lots of 'ringing true' soldier interaction, though. Good characterization overall.
Most of the 60's-80's WWII movies. Great Escape, Dirty Dozen, etc. etc. Already mentioned.
Platoon - Thought the American soldier was poorly represented here, but the interaction between soldiers rang true, for the most part. And the combat was crazy real.
We Were Soldiers Once - Great great movie. Pre-draft, professional Army stuff here. Didn't demonize (or glorify) the enemy.
Beast - If you can get past the biblical allegory, this is really a great movie. Some awesome tanking and the T-72 was mocked up reasonably well.
Red Dawn - Cheesy, but I still love it. And growing up in the 80's, you just knew it could have happened that way!
Blackhawk Down - There was a lot I didn't like about this movie. Mostly with the tin-ear dialogue. Combat was sufficiently chaotic and scary.
Didn't Like:
Kingdom of Heaven - Terrible. Hated it.
Buffalo Soldiers - Not a war movie, unless you count the Cold War. I lived through the late-80's Army in Germany. This was over the top and just bad bad.
Braveheart - Best depiction of what we've all imagined in gaming: Sex with the Queen of England or rather... sword fights and stuff.
Thirteenth Warrior - I know. Banderas as an Arab was a stretch, but the Viking dudes were absolutely the best ever. Probably not technically a war movie...more of a skirmish movie.
Queen Margot - Not technically a war movie...more of a massacre movie... but great story between Catholics and Protestants.
Patriot - It was kinda cartoony, but there were a few things I liked about this movie. You really got the sense of 'war in your backyard,' with kids learning to shoot the bad guys, and stuff.
Master and Commander - I like this movie for the same reason I liked Braveheart: You really get immersed in how crazy/brave these guys were to do the things they did -- in this case, go out on a big wooden boat through all kinds of weather and fling iron balls at each other.
Kelley's Heroes - This one was a 'training film' when I was in the Army. Lots of good tanking in this movie.
Iron Cross - Same here. Much better tanking than KH and Beast, though.
Where Eagles Dare - My 12-year olds' favorite movie. He just recently got into 'old war movies.' I read in the Clint Eastwood Bio that Burton was drunk for this entire movie, and was basically on a downward spiral afterwards. Good movie though.
Saving Private Ryan - Battle scenes. I could take or leave the 'story.' Lots of 'ringing true' soldier interaction, though. Good characterization overall.
Most of the 60's-80's WWII movies. Great Escape, Dirty Dozen, etc. etc. Already mentioned.
Platoon - Thought the American soldier was poorly represented here, but the interaction between soldiers rang true, for the most part. And the combat was crazy real.
We Were Soldiers Once - Great great movie. Pre-draft, professional Army stuff here. Didn't demonize (or glorify) the enemy.
Beast - If you can get past the biblical allegory, this is really a great movie. Some awesome tanking and the T-72 was mocked up reasonably well.
Red Dawn - Cheesy, but I still love it. And growing up in the 80's, you just knew it could have happened that way!
Blackhawk Down - There was a lot I didn't like about this movie. Mostly with the tin-ear dialogue. Combat was sufficiently chaotic and scary.
Didn't Like:
Kingdom of Heaven - Terrible. Hated it.
Buffalo Soldiers - Not a war movie, unless you count the Cold War. I lived through the late-80's Army in Germany. This was over the top and just bad bad.
AIM-54
First Post
Most of my faves have been listed already, but I'll do it again:
Patton
Black Hawk Down
We Were Soldiers (Moore was an LTC, not a COL, commanding a battalion, not a brigade) [Speaking of nitpicking...]
Memphis Belle--"Somebody's guts are all over the nose!"
The Longest Day
Tora! Tora! Tora!--Fantastic film.
Das Boot--I've been on the Das Boot set stuff at the Bayernische Filmwerken in Munich. Great fun. Remains one of my most favorite of war movies.
Lawrence of Arabia
The Battle of Algiers
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Bridge on the River Kwai
Master and Commander
Glory
A Bridge Too Far
War movies that I'm less fond of:
Pearl Harbor--It was a travesty how Pearl Harbor tried to glom on the key parts of Tora! Tora! Tora! to the drivel that was at the heart of Pearl Harbor. Also modern guided missile destroyers and cruisers make very poor WWII destroyer/cruiser stand ins. It's like they didn't even try...though the trailers with just the music and the planes were amazing.
The Thin Red Line--My film major roommate my senior year loves it, but to me it was less than compelling.
The Great Raid--Decent, but it suffers from being about an event that was too small to make a good two hour movie. This is not to take anything away from those who participated in the actual events, but not enough on its own for a good flick.
Midway--Suffers from the Pearl Harbor syndrome, trying to superimpose human relationships on events that transcend them. I wouldn't be ashamed to own this one, however.
U-571
Windtalkers--I kinda liked it first time round, but the shine quickly wore off. Also grainy shots of battleships really did not work well with the rest of the film. And the frag grenades with the explosive and fiery effect of incendiary bombs...geesh.
I'm told that Harrison Ford is doing a movie based on Bing West's No True Glory about the Marine's battle in Fallujah, Nov 2004, which I am most interested to see.
Patton
Black Hawk Down
We Were Soldiers (Moore was an LTC, not a COL, commanding a battalion, not a brigade) [Speaking of nitpicking...]
Memphis Belle--"Somebody's guts are all over the nose!"
The Longest Day
Tora! Tora! Tora!--Fantastic film.
Das Boot--I've been on the Das Boot set stuff at the Bayernische Filmwerken in Munich. Great fun. Remains one of my most favorite of war movies.
Lawrence of Arabia
The Battle of Algiers
Platoon
Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Bridge on the River Kwai
Master and Commander
Glory
A Bridge Too Far
War movies that I'm less fond of:
Pearl Harbor--It was a travesty how Pearl Harbor tried to glom on the key parts of Tora! Tora! Tora! to the drivel that was at the heart of Pearl Harbor. Also modern guided missile destroyers and cruisers make very poor WWII destroyer/cruiser stand ins. It's like they didn't even try...though the trailers with just the music and the planes were amazing.
The Thin Red Line--My film major roommate my senior year loves it, but to me it was less than compelling.
The Great Raid--Decent, but it suffers from being about an event that was too small to make a good two hour movie. This is not to take anything away from those who participated in the actual events, but not enough on its own for a good flick.
Midway--Suffers from the Pearl Harbor syndrome, trying to superimpose human relationships on events that transcend them. I wouldn't be ashamed to own this one, however.
U-571
Windtalkers--I kinda liked it first time round, but the shine quickly wore off. Also grainy shots of battleships really did not work well with the rest of the film. And the frag grenades with the explosive and fiery effect of incendiary bombs...geesh.
I'm told that Harrison Ford is doing a movie based on Bing West's No True Glory about the Marine's battle in Fallujah, Nov 2004, which I am most interested to see.
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