top 5 war movies

[Marshal Murat]

Eh, yeah, I kinda intentionally left that one off my lists. It is hokey as all get out, and Henry "Know It All" Fonda's character gets on my last nerve, but like you I grew up on it and will stop to watch it when it is on. The cheese factor is heavy but the music is good. The Panzer Lied song is pretty catchy and the end theme is awesome.

I understand completely.

[PanzerJaeger]

Cross of Iron
Stalingrad
Der Untergang
Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan

I would have included Band of Brothers, particularly the "Replacements" episode for the nice tank action and a surprisingly accurate Jagdpanther, but that series is highly inaccurate, as is the book its based on. Building up the myth of the 101st and Winters at the expense of the Fallschirmjager is an inexcusable offense in my book.

[Kurando]

Keeping in mind that I am saying these are my favorite, not necessarily the best. In no particular order, my top would be:

Tavilsota, Winter War (1989)
Cross of Iron (1977)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Das Boot (1981)
Downfall (2004)

[Hooahguy]

Cross of Iron
Stalingrad
Der Untergang
Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan

I would have included Band of Brothers, particularly the "Replacements" episode for the nice tank action and a surprisingly accurate Jagdpanther, but that series is highly inaccurate, as is the book its based on. Building up the myth of the 101st and Winters at the expense of the Fallschirmjager is an inexcusable offense in my book.

i disagree with you that the book is innacurate, but id agree that the series downplayed the germans. wheather you like them or not, they were a very good fighting force.

[Strike For The South]

i disagree with you that the book is innacurate, but id agree that the series downplayed the germans. wheather you like them or not, they were a very good fighting force.

Until they had to fight the 'Mericans. It's a fact of life America=Victory.

Don't let PJ suck you in with his Germophilla. Remember this is the country worships Hasslehoff.

[Jolt]

It surprises me how few mentions did Saving Private Ryan get. The film is monumental.

[Lemur]

It surprises me how few mentions did Saving Private Ryan get. The film is monumental.

I love Saving Private Ryan, but it's basically two epic battle scenes connected by a very, very thin plot. Admittedly those battle scenes are grip-your-chair-tightly terrifying, but there just ain't a whole lot of movie connecting them.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Downfall is epic just for this video:
http://tinyurl.com/2yfner

[PanzerJaeger]

i disagree with you that the book is innacurate, but id agree that the series downplayed the germans. wheather you like them or not, they were a very good fighting force.

Ambrose should be considered historical fiction, nothing more. Throughout the book he misrepresented, or simply lied, about the Fallschirmjager and a number of other things to prop up the myths he was creating about the 101st.

Unlike SPR, which does not pretend to be anything other than a fictional story based on the historical events surrounding D-Day, Band of Brothers purports to be an historical account. As such, I hold BOB to a higher standard, as it supposedly documents real people and real actions.

For example, consider the assault on Brecourt Manor as described in the book. 13 American paratroopers attack and defeat an entrenched force of 50 elite German paratroopers.

Ambrose says,

"Winters' casualties were four dead, two wounded. He and his men had killed 15 Germans, wounded many more and taken twelve prisoner; in short they had wiped out the 50 man platoon of elite German paratroops defending the guns, and scattered the gun crews" (Ambrose, pg. 102)

How much more l33t can you get than that?!

Unfortunately, it is about as far from reality as is possible. Just a little bit of research - the type that writers such as Ambrose are supposed to do - shows that the Americans were not facing the best the Germans had to offer, but in fact the worst.

Solid facts about the attack apart from the number of guns taken, such as German troop strength are quite sketchy, as official Army history does not even mention it, German accounts have no record of it, and Winter's initial interview about it vary wildly from what he claims today.

What is known as fact is that there were no Fallschirmjager in the area at the time of the assault. They arrived well after dark. The defenders could have been from the 709th static division or the 91st Infantry division, and it is questionable as to whether they were even German at all. Needless to say, they were the worst of the worst.

Of course, as every good fiction writer knows, a fight scene is much better when the bad guy who gets beaten is that much tougher. What could be more epic than the best of the Americans slaughtering the best of the Germans?

[Fixiwee]

It surprises me how few mentions did Saving Private Ryan get. The film is monumental.

I'm really suprised how few mentions Thin Red Line got. That film blew me away.

[InsaneApache]

Thin Red Line was ok. Quite a lot of stars in it. Why they named a film about Americans in the south Pacific after a Scottish regiment eludes me to this day.

[Beirut]

Henry V
Paths of Glory
Battle of Britain
Bridge over the River Kwai
A Bridge Too Far

There are lots of others but I just can't think of them right now.

[InsaneApache]

Hey man, good to see ya!

[TosaInu]

Full Metal Jacket.

[Axalon]

1. Apocalyps Now – Redux (USA)
2. RAN (Japan) - Although I dont consider it to be a war movie. If I did, it would get this place.
2. Patton (USA) - George C. Scott in the role of his life!
3. The bridge over river Kwai (USA)
4. Catch 22 (USA)
5. Full Metal Jacket (USA)

Honorary mentions:


Saving Private Ryan (USA)
Dien Bien Phu (FRA) - 2h+ of Boom! Never seen anything like it. It's good as well....
Enemy at the Gates (FRA/USA)
Dirty Dozen (USA)
The Beast of War (USA) - One of the most intresting soundtracks I've ever heard...
Waterloo (RUS) - Rod Steiger kills as Napoleon!
Glory (USA)


- Cheers

[InsaneApache]

Here's nice shortie including the last cavalry charge by the British Army.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztQ9dvBY-OM

[PanzerJaeger]

Here's nice shortie including the last cavalry charge by the British Army.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztQ9dvBY-OM

Nice.

At 4:09, that looks like CGI - but that wasn't availible in 1972, so I'm wondering if that guy lived! What a stunt!

[Gregoshi]

Nice.

At 4:09, that looks like CGI - but that wasn't availible in 1972, so I'm wondering if that guy lived! What a stunt!

If you are talking about the horseman early in the charge, yeah, that was one nasty looking spill!

[Decker]

Here are mine:
Zulu
Battle of Britain
Guadalcanal Diary
The Thin Red Line
Pork Chop Hill

Honorable Mentions:
Gettysburg
Saving Private Ryan
A Bridge Too Far
The Great Escape
Black Hawk Down
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The Longest Day
We Were Soldiers

[Sarmatian]

Some not mentioned:

1. The Deer Hunter
2. Sergeant York
   
3. Dirty Dozen
4. The Killing Fields
5. Where Eagles Dare

How could I've forgotten the Dirty Dozen.

I loved that film when I was younger.

Waterloo (RUS) - Rod Steiger kills as Napoleon!

Is that the one Bondarchuk directed?

[InsaneApache]

If it's the same one that used the Red Army as extras, yes.

[Pannonian]

If it's the same one that used the Red Army as extras, yes.

Gah. Bondarchuk had a larger army at his disposal in War and Peace than either Napoleon or Wellington had at Waterloo.

[Quietus]

Watchable:
Braveheart
Ran (fiction, but great costumes and cinematography).
Emperor & the Assassin
Apocalypse Now
The Deer Hunter

I know I've seen Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill in the 80s, I just can't remember the plot atm.

Unwatchable:
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Pearl Harbor

[Hooahguy]

Unwatchable:
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Pearl Harbor

mind giving us a reason why they are unwatchable?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Yeah - I could see SPR or PH being "unwatchable" (I'd disagree) but Schilder's List was rather good, even though it's not something to watch with popcorn.

Basically all of my list is here, except of course, my favorite...

The Great Escape

[Quietus]

mind giving us a reason why they are unwatchable?

Saving Private Ryan - Imo, shallow, over-the-top and overrated.
Schidler's List - Worse than The English Patient. If you watch this movie backwards, you'd be asleep and wake up at the very end.
Pearl Harbor - Real title: Titanic 2: Trapped in Hawaii. (edit: what I meant is, it's a love story. Not to poke fun at people who died in the attack).

[King Jan III Sobieski]

Patton
Henry V (1989)
The Dirty Dozen
Schindler's List
The Hunt for Red October

[PanzerJaeger]

Saving Private Ryan - Imo, shallow, over-the-top and overrated.

I like that SPR is - as Lemur said - two battles connected by not much plot. (Although there were some deeper elements at play...)

War movies can - at times - become a little too self indulgent and introspective, imo. In an effort to give a movie depth, we see soldiers pondering things as wide ranging as the politics of the day, honor, and even the meaning of their existence. More often than not these movies end up being morality plays with guys in uniforms and explosions.

SPR was sublime in that it recognized that for most soldiers, war was about survival and accomplishing orders - all in an effort to get back to home and family. There simply wasn’t the time for all the bloviating that is common in war movies.

IMO, the film wasn't over the top at all. I have some issues with how they portrayed German tactics, but it was probably the most accurate representation of WW2 combat ever achieved, and showed it for what it truly was - extremely violent, dishonorable, and brutal in every respect - as most combat has been throughout history.