What is your favorite war movie?

[John Paul]

I was thinking of that movie

But can't remember the name either.Bogarts tank crew and a group of commonwealth soldiers are holed up in the only oasis around theres also an italian they captured with them.Theres a battalion of germans on the way and their the only guys who can try to stop them.It was made in 43 i think,so it could be called a propaganda piece.You know the outnumbered allies who by wits and teamwork defeat the unstoppable germans,theres even a short little voiceover by bogarts character at the end..

Speaking of war in the Sahara,How about Beau Geste?I think theres two versions and the original is the good one.Or for fun the Flying Deuces where Laurel and Hardy join the legion,theres also an Abbott and costello movie but can't recall the name.

 

[sgtsteiner]

Hi all

Some great movies mentioned here. Couple others I like are (not sure if they have been prviously mentioned ?)

Battle Of Britain

Dunkirk

Hell Is For Heroes

Bridge At Remagen (loved the Panzerfausts and 88s)

Charge Of The Light Brigade (the 1968 version)

Gettysburg (dodgy beards aside !)

Young Lions

Last Valley

Tora ! Tora ! Tora !

Anzio (well just the Sniper sequence)

Hamburger Hill

Great Escape

Attack !

300 Spartans

Stalingrad

Twelve O'Clock High

Merrills Marauders

Cheers

Sgt Steiner
Belfast
NI UK

 

[Jared Ball 286]

O.K., I have made my decision on what movies i need for my collection. They are:

RAN

Cross of Iron

Stalingrad

Battleground (if I can find it in DVD.)

Waterloo

War & Peace

Thanks for all the replies and keep posting when you have new ones because im always looking for movies.

 

[Brevet]

Pork Chop Hill. Black and white film starring Gregory Peck. A great movie depicting an obscure Korean War action. Based on the classic book by S.L.A. Marshall. There are a few corny lines about communists (it was made in 1959)

 

[Jared Ball 286]

I just picked up We Were Soldiers. And I love the movie. I read the book back in seventh grade. And stayed away from the movie when it was in theaters because I didn't trust Randal Wallace after his Pearl Harbor love triangle. Boy I wish I would've seen it in the theaters. A great movie.

 

[jBunnelle]

COME AND SEE is by far the best I've ever seen. In my book, nothing can touch it with the exception of Grand Illusion. I haven't seen anyone list COME AND SEE, which is surprising, although someone mentioned a French film called REQUIEM FOR A NIGHTMARE that sounded like it. Probably changed the title for distribution to some countries.

 

[Siberian HEAT]

Most of the standard movies have already been listed.

One of my favorite (anti-) war movies is called The Beast. It is about the war in Afghanistan and follows one Russian tank crew after they get separated from their unit and are tracked by the Mujas. The Mujas see the lone tank as a great prize, while the Russians just want to survive.

My #1 pick though is Black Hawk Down. It has current relevance, was well made and studied, and really gives a great respect for what the current US soldier must deal with both in local "peace actions" and the blunders of their CO's/allies. Plus the scene where the two snipers volunteer to save the downed pilot is amazing every time I watch it...


:cow:

 

[Siberian HEAT]

Originally posted by jbunnelle
COME AND SEE is by far the best I've ever seen. In my book, nothing can touch it with the exception of Grand Illusion. I haven't seen anyone list COME AND SEE, which is surprising, although someone mentioned a French film called REQUIEM FOR A NIGHTMARE that sounded like it. Probably changed the title for distribution to some countries.

Wow, one of the user reviews at IMDB says this movie is one of the most brutally realistic and barbaric movies ever made about the Nazis in Russia. I am curious if you found this to be true as well. Is the realism what makes it so high on your list?

 

[GunnerC]

Ice Cold in Alex !

Still contains all the essential elements of a great war movie without any significant combat.

 

[jBunnelle]

Originally posted by Siberian HEAT


Wow, one of the user reviews at IMDB says this movie is one of the most brutally realistic and barbaric movies ever made about the Nazis in Russia. I am curious if you found this to be true as well. Is the realism what makes it so high on your list?

Yes, it's both beautiful and horrific at the same time. Don't expect a "War" film, as there are no epic action sequences to speak of and little in the way of actual combat between the Werhmacht and the Red Army. The director, Elem Klimov, was very young when his family fled Stalingrad. He said he remembers seeing the whole city on fire as they crossed the Volga at night. According to him, COME AND SEE was the first and last word he had to say about the war. The film, however, has nothing to do with Stalingrad. It centers around the experiences of a Russian boy who hooks up with the partisans. While not as graphic as one might fear (Klimov has said that if he showed what really happened, i.e. the einsatzgruppen at their very worst, the film would have been unwatchable), it is still very brutal and doesn't pull any punches. Klimov did a fantastic job with subjective techniques, such as the use of muffled sound and an audible "ringing" after the boy is deafened by a barrage of artillery fire; the sound returns gradually, almost imperceptibly, during the middle of the film. The climax, while not full of blood, is truly horrible nevertheless. Kino International released an expanded, revamped 2-disc version several months ago and I highly recommened it. It's essential viewing and unjustly ignored in the US, perhaps because there's little popular interest in the Eastern Front.

Just in case you're curious, as I was, the title is taken from the Bible, specifically "The Revelation of St. John the Divine", chap 6 verse 1:

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and See."

 

[Alvis_Striker]

Re: I was thinking of that movie

Originally posted by John Paul
But can't remember the name either.Bogarts tank crew and a group of commonwealth soldiers are holed up in the only oasis around theres also an italian they captured with them.Theres a battalion of germans on the way and their the only guys who can try to stop them.It was made in 43 i think,so it could be called a propaganda piece.You know the outnumbered allies who by wits and teamwork defeat the unstoppable germans,theres even a short little voiceover by bogarts character at the end..

Speaking of war in the Sahara,How about Beau Geste?I think theres two versions and the original is the good one.Or for fun the Flying Deuces where Laurel and Hardy join the legion,theres also an Abbott and costello movie but can't recall the name.

This sounds a lot like an 80's film called Sahara with John Belushi as a tank commander, he has a Grant Tank (M3 to you yanks lol) and a group of soldiers, around three Brits, a French Legionnaire, a captured Italian Infantryman and a stout Nazi Pilot, they are all holed up in an oasis, which is dry as a bone, but they fool the Germans into thinking there is water there (the scene when the fella is having a fake wash is brilliant) and so the Germans attack, realistic explosions (no twenty feet flames from a grenade) and good vehicles, (Halftracks, M3 and light German Armoured Cars, SDKFZ 231's).

Another great film is:

The Hill: and old B/W film, not exactly about war, but its about a group of soldiers in a British Prison camp (not POW, Brit Prisoners in a Brit Prison).

Also the never ending war between Montgomery Burns and the rest of Springfield, excellent........ :bandit:

 

[Major Major]

'the hill' was a great film showing 'another side' to war. i also liked 'the wave', cited earlier as a great, creative and educational take on a time sometimes we easily take judgment on without a real understanding of the time. (personally, i do not defend 'supporters' of that time.)

while none of the below are my favorite action war films (i too liked BoBrothers, Saving P. Ryan, and Blackhawk Down), these are all excellent films and older ones that many may not have seen ... but certainly should not miss!

Operation Burma! is a great film to give perspective on one of the largest air assualts outside of Europe. Eril Fynn leads US and British commandos on a seek and destroy mission to get caught behind enemy lines in Burma.

Don't miss 'the password is courage', a great film based on the true story of a british sgt. major who was a master of escape while detained in german POWs camps. not an action film, but very funny.

I don't recall 'the dirty dozen' mentioned, but it's an entertaining film that takes place in WWII with a great cast. I've herd the 'sands of iwa jima' is good, but haven't seen it yet.

'Action in the North Atlantic' is another action-packed Bogart film where US merchant marines battle with Nazi U-boats in the North Atlantic

'Destination Tokyo' is a great Cary Grant film where he plays a sub captain on a espionage mission.

for civil war buffs, check out 'The Red badge of courage', a good rendition of the book that gives one a feel for the moral rollercoaster troops in those days may have road.

Two other films i enjoyed, but can't remember the names of. one was with kirk douglas and takes place in the korean war. its a psychological thriller where he's on a boat and must execute a captured POW. He and his men debate on what to do. may be called 'the prisoner' (?)

Another film (also cary grant?) involved a US subcommander who was a shark in the water, sinking U-boats by the score. his only care is for his family, trapped in a Japanese POW camp. Then he gets an order to sink the mother of all Japanese boats ... but he learns his family is on board!

Finally, for those who like the 'killing fields', check out 'the year of living dangerously' with mel gibson and sigourney weaver. another good account of a reporter operating in indonesia.

 

[LaPalice]

Come and See

Originally posted by jBunnelle
COME AND SEE is by far the best I've ever seen. In my book, nothing can touch it with the exception of Grand Illusion. I haven't seen anyone list COME AND SEE, which is surprising, although someone mentioned a French film called REQUIEM FOR A NIGHTMARE that sounded like it. Probably changed the title for distribution to some countries.

Yes, I spoke about Come and See. Requiem for a Nightmare is the French title (Requiem pour un Massacre). And the best war movie I have ever seen too. In my point of view the best demonstration of what is war. It’s brutal and barbaric, but not gratuitous.
I saw it on television, on Arte, a German-French channel. And after it there was a doccumentary about the Nazi brutality in Bielorussia. The story related in the movie is only one exemple.

You give a perfect description of it in your other post.

 

[Jared Ball 286]

Good News for the DVD war movie lovers, War and Peace the (1968) version is on sale at amazon.com.

They have a special edition for 53.00

and a standard edition for 29.99

Finally a true classic on DVD.

 

[Scipio]

Re: Re: Oh so many.....

Originally posted by Wolfe Tone
Cross of Iron.... A great book!....just finished reading it a few weeks ago.

Yeah, great book! I've read it when I was very young...12 or so...,that already more then 20 years ago. I guess I should read the book again!

BTW, another good East Front reading is 'Stalinorgel' by Gerd Ledig. It is really...disturbing.

 

[Siberian HEAT]

I just want to say Run, don't walk, to your nearest library and get a copy of the DVD "We Were Soldiers." A top notch war film that also goes into the family life behind the soldiers.

Also, I was impressed that the creators also took time to show some of the battle from the VC side of things, as well as actually have the book's author heavily involved in getting things correct.

I can't believe Randall Wallace had a hand in that bilgewater called Pearl Harbor after watching this one.

I give this movie a :thumup:

 

[Major Major]

the movie was good. much of the movie properly dipicted the book (even moving parts like the deliverly of notices of death by moore's wife).

however, i must say i was a bit bothered by one scene where M. Gibson leads his troops up a hill to overtake VC forces with a US flag high in the air over the troops. I don't recall this in the book. I saw this as an unnecessary inclusion that attempted to conjure pro-US feelings.

for me, this wasn't a book about sides. it was about a tough situation, men who rose to an occasion, who probably more than anything fought for each other.

see the movie, but don't miss the book.

 

[Major Mojo]

Apocalypse Now
The Unknown soldier (Tuntematon sotilas), both versions
Winter War (Talvisota)
Das Boot
Cross of Iron
Platoon
The Longest Day

...to mention few...

 

[Dr Zaius]

What did people think of Band of Brothers?

 

[Wolfe Tone]

Great!.....one of the best war series I have seen. Kept the sentimental bulls+*t to a minimum. Great action sequences too. Mush better than Saving Private Ryan overall, though that film was great in places too. BTW many of the 'extras' in Private Ryan were part-time Irish Army soldiers used when the invasion scenes were shot in Co.Wexford!