Best War Movie Ever?

[Stomper]

I watched Blackhawk Down in the theater....
Having been in the actual battle depicted in the movie , seeing it played out in the big screen was , as I have mentioned before :
Surreal at best.
Andy

Bubblegum Bill Clinton, right in his bubblegumming EARHOLE!

He left you guys to hang out and dry!

 

[revjen45]

Stalingrad

 

[Bam]

Downfall aka Der Untergang

Incredible movie, might have been too good, because it humanized monsters.

 

[Xaevian]

No Letters from Iwo Jima/Flags of our Fathers?

There are so many Clint Eastwood memes, I would've thought he got more love...

 

[RVTECH]

Certainly far from the best is Kelly's Heroes but no doubt a favorite 'fun' movie for many of us (with some anti-establishment undertones given the time it was made) and admittedly Eastwood's least favorite movie. Probably due to the fact he did NOT 'carry' the movie and was 'upstaged' by all the other high profile actors however the following line goes down as one of the best in a movie:

 

[Ura-Ki]

Greyhound is my new top fav, hyper realistic and very accurate/authentic, as one would expect from Tom Hanks! Loosely based on the book "Good Shepard's" its a sort of mash up of several fictional ( but based on historical facts) events that took place during the darkest days of WW-II! Dad being a retired Naval officer intimately familiar with Destroyers, Captain's, and WW-II Naval history has very little bad to say about this film, his only real gripes being that 1) no German U-Boat ever taunted the Atlantic convoys on the radios, 2) no captain would ever allow so many officers and/crew on the bridge, Ever, and 3) there was never any British command authority over any U.S. Naval assets, the Navy ran the show how they saw fit, and that was that!

An outstanding film none the less, will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Man some excellent movies listed here. I'm totally on board with apocalypse now, dr strangelove, sergeant York, zulu. Most all the other movies mentioned are good too imo. Deer hunter, while technically not a war movie I guess, was also very good.

Lawrence of Arabia would be top for me and master and commander second.

Some others I like are Battle of Britain, failsafe, the final countdown, guns of navaronne, dirty dozen, bridge on the river kwai.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

...I'm drawn to war movies with authentic footage too.

There was some movie where the director John Ford went up to to film a real aerial bombardment. Everyone was trying to get him into cover but he wouldn't do it. Can't remember what movie, seems like it may have been a short newsreel type film. I'll have to try to find it.

Edit: found it, from wiki:

When the United States Navy sent director John Ford to Midway Island in 1942, he believed that the military wanted him to make a documentary on life at a small, isolated military base, and filmed casual footage of the sailors and Marines there working and having fun. Two days before the battle, he learned that the Japanese planned to attack the base and that it was preparing to defend itself.[1] Ford's handheld, 16mm footage of the battle was captured totally impromptu. He had been in transit on the island, roused from his bunk by the sounds of the battle, and started filming.[2] Ford was wounded by enemy fire while filming the battle.[3] Acclaimed as a hero when he returned home because of the footage and the minor wound, Ford decades later incorrectly claimed to Peter Bogdanovich that he was the only cameraman; however, Jack Mackenzie Jr. and Kenneth Pier assisted Ford in filming.[1]

Ford was worried that military censors would prevent the footage from being shown in public. After returning to Los Angeles, he gave the footage to Robert Parrish, who had worked with him on How Green Was My Valley, to edit in secret. Ford spliced in footage of James Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son and a Marine Corps officer; when the president saw the film in the White House, he told William Leahy: "I want every mother in America to see this film", thus protecting Ford from censorship.[1]Parrish wrote an in-depth account of the making of The Battle of Midway in his autobiography, Growing Up in Hollywood (1976).[3] The film runs for 18 minutes, was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and was one of four winners of the inaugural, 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Seeing men he had met and filmed die horrified Ford, who said, "I am really a coward" compared to those who fought. He had spent time with Torpedo Squadron 8, and 29 of 30 men of the unit died or were missing after the battle. Ford assembled the footage he had taken of the squadron into an eight-minute film, adding titles praising the squadron for having "written the most brilliant pages in the glowing history of our Naval Air Forces" and identifying each man as he appeared. He printed the result, Torpedo Squadron 8, to 8mm film suitable for home projectors and sent copies to the men's families.[1]

The 18 min film is viewable on this wiki page:

The Battle of Midway (film) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[wolfcreed]

Hacksaw Ridge
Saving Private Ryan
We were Soldiers

Favorite mini series has to be Band of Brothers. The series "The Pacific" was really good too, but hard to watch knowing the history of island fighting in The Pacific Theater. One of my uncles served with the 11th Airborne and fought hand to hand with the Japanese on more than one occasion.

 

[Mikej]

There was some movie where the director John Ford went up to to film a real aerial bombardment. Everyone was trying to get him into cover but he wouldn't do it. Can't remember what movie, seems like it may have been a short newsreel type film. I'll have to try to find it.

When I watch these movies I'm blown away by the thought of the men (women?) being out there to film this stuff. Too bad they don't show the reality of war anymore to the public. It might change some perspectives. Or even actions.

 

[Mikej]

Did The Dirty Dozen get mentioned?

 

[RVTECH]

And one of the best scenes in Kelly's Heroes was the following with it's 'parody' of a 'Spaghetti Western'! Listen for the 'spur' sounds as the three are walking up to the tank!

 

[Mono1]

Why would you date yourself?

Fewer Complications.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

When I watch these movies I'm blown away by the thought of the men (women?) being out there to film this stuff. Too bad they don't show the reality of war anymore to the public. It might change some perspectives. Or even actions.

Noticed this written account by John Ford, it's a little long.

John Ford remembers filming Battle of Midway

Recollections of Commander John Ford, USNR, Oscar-winning Hollywood producer and Chief of the Field Photographic Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), concerning his experiences making combat motion pictures under battle conditions. His film of the Battle of Midway subsequently...

www.history.navy.mil

I recall some documentary that showed film of Ford filming on top of the dugout thing as the bombs were dropping. Can't remember what documentary that was though. Apparently he didn't head for cover until a bomb hit close by that wiped out his camera and put shrapnel in his arm.

 

[titsonritz]

Maybe not the best war movie ever...*
But one of my favorite movies ever :
Kelly's Heroes.
Andy
* It might not really be a war movie...but that is a discussion for a different thread....

 

[titsonritz]

Go tell the Spartans,

Dig me some Burt Lancaster.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Man some excellent movies listed here. I'm totally on board with apocalypse now, dr strangelove, sergeant York, zulu. Most all the other movies mentioned are good too imo. Deer hunter, while technically not a war movie I guess, was also very good.

Lawrence of Arabia would be top for me and master and commander second.

Some others I like are Battle of Britain, failsafe, the final countdown, guns of navaronne, dirty dozen, bridge on the river kwai.

Oh man, the deer hunter. That's definitely a must watch classic.

Ever play " Beer hunter" with a few friends and a 6 pack of canned budweiser?

 

[titsonritz]

Some of my favs in no particular order...

Paths of Glory
Letters from Iwo Jima
Gallipoli
Black Hawk Down
Full Metal Jacket
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
The Deer Hunter

 

[Member 52301]

No mention of John Wayne in, The Green Berets? No, Boys of Company C, Go tell the Spartans, or Blackhawk Down?

What's WRONG with you people?!




Actually, although I'll watch sci-fi "battle" shows, I no longer tend to watch "war movies" because looking back with the benefit of living long enough to have acquired some wisdom… I find myself building into a rage (or choked up… or both) because of all the waste and human misery caused by the ambitions and greed of sorry-azzed murderous old men (and women) who have no qualms using honorable soldiers to get what they want.


I often find myself asking, "the MoFo's we were sent to fight are still there and now worse then ever, WTF was it really all for?"

We still have JOHN WAYNE'S movie called THE GREEN BERETS here at home with the other JW movies that my husband still owns.

We donated the BLACKHAWK DOWN film to the library after seeing it many times.

I do not remember the other 2 movies that you mentioned but I may have seen them but they do not ring a bell to me. I will look up the titles.

I can totally RELATE to what you said on the BOTTOM OF YOUR POST when it comes to 'wars' and other conflicts. I would say more but it would get TOO POLITICAL and I don't want THIS thread to get closed up.

Take care.

Old Lady Cate

 

[Member 52301]

Midway with Heston, Das Boot, and Master and Commander are the only ones I'll watch multiple times. Band of Brothers and The Pacific are the best mini series.

I loved MIDWAY and DAS BOOT!

I saw Master and Commander off of the boob tube. I was doing something else so I really did NOT concentrate on the movie. I will have to check it out and pay attention whenever it comes on again or see if my library has a copy of it.

Cate