The Five Best War Movies Ever

11b10

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Apocalypse Now (1979)
Director Francis Ford Coppola's vision of man's heart of darkness revealed through the peculiar madness of the Vietnam War. 153 min. Starring: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G.D. Spradlin, Harrison Ford



Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Director: Stanley Kubrick. Vietnam War drama which begins with a depiction of the brutality of Marine Corps training and then shifts to Vietnam, focusing mainly on a group of Marines responding to the Tet Offensive of 1968. 117 min.




Jacobs Ladder (1998)
Directed by Adrian Lyne. Jacob is a man living in a nightmare. Having survived Vietnam, he's back home in New York City. But memories of both his wartime demons and the accidental death of his son haunt and terrorize him. Jacob's grip on reality begins to slip and only his friend can save him. 116 min.




Platoon (1986)
Director: Oliver Stone. A young soldier in Vietnam (Sheen) discovers that his enemies are not just the Viet Cong, but fear, physical exhaustion, and anger within himself and others. Based on the first-hand experiences of director Oliver Stone. Oscar nominees Berenger and Dafoe portray sergeants Barnes and Elias; one hard and callous, the other tough yet compassionate. The two sergeants draw a fine line between the war they wage against the enemy and each other, dangerously dividing the loyalties of the platoon. 120 min.


Uncommon Valor (1983)
Directed by Ted Kotcheff; featuring Gene Hackman, Fred Ward, Reb Brown, Randall "Tex" Cobb, Patrick Swayze, Harold Sylvester, Tim Thomerson, Robert Stack. For over ten years, Colonel Jason Rhodes has been living a nightmare searching for his son who is listed as "missing in action" in Vietnam. After useless appeals to the government for information, Rhodes takes matters into his own hands. With financial backing of a Texas oil tycoon and the help of his son's five Marine buddies, Rhodes prepares to carry out a daring mission. After weeks of grueling training, the courageous veterans leave for Laos. The final battle of the Vietnam conflict is about to begin. 105 min.
 

11b10

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Gallipoli (1981)
Director: Peter Weir. Two young men in the Australia army in 1915 become part of the legendary First World War confrontation between the German allied Turks and Australia. 111 min.



Paths of Glory (1957)
Director: Stanley Kubrick. During First World War on the French front, a regiment of soldiers are set up for suicide missions and are generally manipulated in ways that show no regard for their lives. 89 min.
 

Igotmilk

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Originally posted by 11B10
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Director Francis Ford Coppola's vision of man's heart of darkness revealed through the peculiar madness of the Vietnam War. 153 min. Starring: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, G.D. Spradlin, Harrison Ford
If you like Apocalypse Now see Apocalypse Now Redux if you have not already.

Also I highly recommend "The quite American" :thumb:
 

twomack

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Before my list, I would like to share a fantastic book that covers almost every war film ever made in every country!! The title is Brassey's Guide to War Films. It is a good source for the historian and film buff.

Now the list, in no real order:
Glory
The Longest Day
Zulu
Saving Private Ryan
The Bridge over the River Kwai
The Great Escape
Dawn Patrol
The Four Feathers (1939 version)
 

Yue Fei

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The longest day
Platoon
Glory
Gettysburg
Saving Private Ryan
 

Doggie

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I saw what I think was a decent war movie way back around 1962 that I haven't seen since.

It opens on a beach where a raiding party of Marines have been massacred before they can reach the high water mark. Two of them play possum while the Japs go around finishing off the survivors. One gets stuck in the back with a bayonent, but maintains an even strain so the Nips leave him for dead. His unharmed buddy helps him into the jungle, where they hide out and wage their own little guerilla war.

It ends when the guys are just about at the end of their rope and the Japs surprise them by committing mass Hari-Kari.

Anybody ever seen this? You know the name of it? I been looking for this movie for decades.
 

11b10

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Originally posted by Doggie
I saw what I think was a decent war movie way back around 1962 that I haven't seen since.

It opens on a beach where a raiding party of Marines have been massacred before they can reach the high water mark. Two of them play possum while the Japs go around finishing off the survivors. One gets stuck in the back with a bayonent, but maintains an even strain so the Nips leave him for dead. His unharmed buddy helps him into the jungle, where they hide out and wage their own little guerilla war.

It ends when the guys are just about at the end of their rope and the Japs surprise them by committing mass Hari-Kari.

Anybody ever seen this? You know the name of it? I been looking for this movie for decades.

I seem to remember a movie where there are just two soldiers on an island (Jap and American) that are left alive..and they try to kill each other, only to end up friends.

Is that the one?
 

11b10

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Originally posted by ChickenSalad
No thats Enemy Mine its a freaking martian and a humanoid. Not a jap.

cheers, 11b

:toast:


Nah...I know the movie "Enemy Mine"....this was before that... You think I got brain damage(60`s) and it wasn`t SiFi ...You think I got brain damage? .....You think I got brain damage...You think I got brain damage..You think I got brain damage....You think I got brain damage... You think I got brain damagedamageYou think I got brain damageYou think I got brain damageYou think I got brain damage...
 

p-51

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Platoon
Band of Brothers
Hamburger Hill
We Were Soldiers
Patton

And of course Honors go to Go tell the Spartans
Gladiator(like that chrge through the woods)
The lost Battalion
Sahara(with Bogart)
 

p-51

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There was a movie with just two soldiers in it, one a Jap and the other an American Marine. Lee Marvin was in the movie. Infact it was his next to last one.
 

p-51

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yeah I saw that, Palance pulled his arm out from under a tank.The enemy below was pretty good to.
 

Doggie

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Originally posted by 11B10
I seem to remember a movie where there are just two soldiers on an island (Jap and American) that are left alive..and they try to kill each other, only to end up friends.

Is that the one?
Nah, P-51 has that one right. It was Hell in the Pacific with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. The movie I'm referring to is circa 1962. I saw it at the theater when I was a kid and I've always remembered it. It wasn't the one with Frank Sinatra and Clint Walker stranded on an island with a platoon of Nips either. Forgot the name of that one.

Another obscure one is No Man is an Island, about a sailor who gets left behind in the Phillipines and organizes the locals into a guerilla campaign.
 

hogdriver

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5 favorite war movies

:thumb: In no particular order, here are my picks:

Apocaplypse Now: despite the presence of Ramon Estevez (aka Martin Sheen), excellent acting, good story, sweeping scenery and masterful special effects make this one for the record books.

Dr. Strangelove: Slim Pickens riding the H-bomb down to the target, George C. Scott as the oversexed USAF Chief of Staff, a young James Earl Jones as the bomb-nav, and Peter Sellers as the President AND Dr Strangelove AND Group Captain Mandrake. Honorable mention to General Ripper ("I do not avoid women, but I deny them my essence"). One of Kubrick's big scores.

Patton: The chronicle of arguably America's greatest general. He felt he was born to command, and his exploits only served to validate that viewpoint. Perhaps the movie's only drawback, in my opinion, was using General Omar Bradley as advisor. It is my assessment that, at least to some degree, Bradley had an axe to grind to Patton. Ask yourself, had the American high command allowed him to move into Eastern Europe, even to engage the Red Army in combat, where would we be today?

The Longest Day: A sweeping epic, chock full of big name stars ( a short list is Henry Fonda, Robert Mithcum, John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Fabian, Gert Frobe ("Goldfinger", as the sergeant taking coffee to the beach gunners), and Richard Burton) . It starts in England, and in various German Command locations, and progresses inexorably to the Channel, the beaches, the paratroop and glider locations. A nearly 3 hour movie, it never seems long, boring or tedious. P.S. The German officer with boots on the wrong feet really happened!

Wake Island: Produced in 1942, it told the story of an otherwise forgotten outpost's date with destiny. With a mostly unknown cast, it develops several twists, such as a Japanese "diplomat" laying over on Wake, and proposing a toast "to peace". In a rather short (<90 minutes) feature, it develops the story of the position facing Wake's defenders and chronicles their valiant, but ultimately hopeless, campaign againt a vastly superior enemy. Though the Japanese characters are rather stereotyped, the portrayal is not far off the mark.

Well there's my picks, for what its worth.
 

hogdriver

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P-51s movie

I remember the movie you're talking about - I think the Japanese may have been Toshiro Mifune, but not sure. Can't remember the name. Definitely NOT Enemy Mine. Lee Marvin wasn't the human in that movie, if I recall.
 

Marcks

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Hmmm,

1. Das Boot
2. Band of Brothers (although not a "movie")
3. A Thin Red Line
4. A Bridge To Far /shares the place with The Longest Day.
5. Stalingrad

Two movies which I don´t put on the list because they´re classics IMHO.

- Die Brücke ( The Bridge)
- 08/15 ( three part movie series)


I see a whole lot of people listing Patton. I´m really curious what you find so good about this movie. Just recently saw it again and actually I felt quite bored.

I must admit that Das Boot only ranks number 1 cause it was the first serious war movie I watched as a kid (the 6 hours TV version) and really impressed me. Is it the same with Patton?

A few weeks ago I got hands on a DVD box set of Combat! . I´m sure all the americans here know the series ;), I only learned about it now ( :sleep: ). I have a question, does anybody know how many parts were shot of this series?
 
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