Best War Movie ?

Nemici · 09-05-2003 1:19pm #1

Was having a bitter discussion about the best war movie ever last night.

I voted for a bridge too far (for the amazing cast for one)

views anyone ?

Washout · 09-05-2003 1:25pm

PLatoon for me was the most harrowing and brilliant told war movie.

I get the chills down my spine everytime i watch it

daveg · 09-05-2003 1:29pm

My own personal choice would be the thin red line for it's cast, direction & score.

Also Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, where eagles dare, Bridge On The River Kwai, Guns of Naverone, Apocolypse now (if only for robert duvales (spelling) beach scene, Schindlers list, deer hunter, Full metal jacket

jonno · 09-05-2003 1:31pm

Full Metal Jacket
Saving Private Ryan
Where Eagles Dare
Platoon
4th of July
Schindlers List

would be amoung my favourites

echomadman · 09-05-2003 1:32pm

Best is a bit subjective, as war movies come under a variety of categories, anti war, pro war, and just plain old action...

My top five in no particular order
Platoon
Apocalypse now
Hamburger Hill
The thin red line
Full metal jacket

countless others like Tora Tora Tora, Kellys heroes, Von Ryans express...

[edit] I totally forgot The deer hunter.

Lemming · 09-05-2003 1:37pm

"Best War Movie" is a difficult question to answer, since there are movies that try to accomplish different aspects to portrayal of war. But certainly amongst the more notable would be (IMO):

Vietnam:

Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now

WW2:

The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan (for the beach scene and the final scene), Bridge on the River Kwai, A Bridge Too Far, Das Boot, and Where Eagles Dare

WW1:

All quiet on the western front

But I must say ... what I would probably consider the greatest War "movie" ever made isn't a movie at all.

Band of Brothers.

daveg · 09-05-2003 1:38pm

oh tora tora tora forgot abouit that one... great film.

An another note has anyone ever seen the episdoe of Sienfeld where they took off Platoon. It was where George's father cooked for the first time since the war... very very very funny. Sorry for dragging off topic.

Beruthiel · 09-05-2003 1:41pm

Das Boot made war very real for me

Tusky · 09-05-2003 3:42pm

Id go for Apocalypse now ! Allthough I didnt like the reduex version .... The extra scenes were not only not needed but also...fairly crap and didnt push the story in any direction

Talliesin · 09-05-2003 3:48pm

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame

Before that I would have said Cross of Iron.

Karl Hungus · 09-05-2003 5:27pm

Cross Of Iron definetly rates high.
Saving Private Ryan.
Das Boot.
I must also rate Enemy At The Gates quite high, although quite a few people dislike it.

And Band Of Brothers, if it counts.

Cant really stand Veitnam films though...
Odd.

patch · 09-05-2003 5:29pm

All the above, still haven't seen Das Boot though.
The only two I own are Thin Red Line and Cross of Iron.
The Big Red One is very good too, starred Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill......

I just remembered- Catch 22 is in my top three.

shotamoose · 09-05-2003 5:35pm

Welcome to Sarajevo
Salvador
Thin Red Line

mike65 · 09-05-2003 5:42pm

For action I'd proberly go for The Bridge at Remargen and Von Ryans Express - great double act of Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard the the latter.

I liked A Bridge Too Far even though it got slaughtered by the critics.

Cross Of Iron and The Big Red One are both exellent "War is Hell" flicks.

The Dam Busters for its look at problem solving and comming up with a brilliant solution.

The Train for its cat and mouse intrigue and gloomy b&w pessimism.

Mike.

ObeyGiant · 09-05-2003 6:38pm

Paths of Glory.
And Patton.

Talliesin · 09-05-2003 6:46pm

Oh wait, I can't believe I forgot about La Battaglia di Algeri.

Fidelis · 09-05-2003 7:00pm

Glory
Zulu
Gallipoli
A Midnight Clear / Memphis Bell / Cross of Iron / A Bridge Too Far & Kelly's Heroes

Casualties of War & Hamburger Hill
Navy Seals

The_Bullman · 09-05-2003 7:10pm

Does Forest Gump count?

While most of my favourites have been mentioned already there is another more recent one that I havn't seen anyone mention, which is, Three Kings. Not a great epic but a fairly good movie nonetheless

Karl Hungus · 09-05-2003 7:17pm

Originally posted by Fidelis
Navy Seals

...

...

...

:eek:

GreenHell · 09-05-2003 9:11pm

Bridge a Reimagein (spelling?) very good.
A Bridge to far, excellent.
The Desert Fox, very good.
Patton, very very good.
The Longest Day, very good.
Dive Deep, Dive Hard, I think thats the right title its been a while, good.
Where eagles dare
Tora Tora Tora
Cross of Iron
Kellys Heros
Dirty Dozen

Ya there all class, there are another one or two that I can't remeber but sure there ya go. Saving Private Ryan was only good for the D-day remake.

sceptre · 10-05-2003 12:28am

Pretty much anything I would nominate has already been mentioned

So I'll just add...
The Great Escape.

Does Braveheart count?:D

GreenHell · 10-05-2003 12:52am

The Battle on the River Plate also deserves a mention, its got its highpoints hardly the best naval war film ever made though. The Sinking of the Bismarck on the other hand is quiet good.

Winning Hand · 10-05-2003 9:50am

Depends as mentioned earlier on what you are looking for in a war movie, a satire, a gung ho action film, imagry, pathos. But for me, war films I really enjoyed were
Black Hawk Down
Platoon
No Mans Land
Savior
Where Eagles Dare
Thin Red Line
The Longest Day
Three Kings

And even though its a mini series, my favourite war related visual entertainment has to be Band Of Brothers, watched the whole series 2.5 times on dvd and whenever its on the telly.

cartman · 10-05-2003 4:01pm

Black Hawk Down
Saving Private Ryan

but again must admit Band Of Brothers is the best war documentory or whatever ye call it ever made..

daveg · 10-05-2003 4:15pm

Originally posted by sceptre
Pretty much anything I would nominate has already been mentioned

So I'll just add...
The Great Escape.

Forgot abot the great escape... great film. And escape to victory... stalones best film

Caesar_Bojangle · 10-05-2003 4:26pm

The Deer Hunter, sehr gut
Cross of iron
patton
full metal jacket
tigerland
apocalypse now, redux is really down to preference
longest day
born on the 4th of july, the one with tom hanks in a wheelchair
deliverance

black hawk down, okay but totally historically inaccurate, a real glorify america movie

platoon, either love it or hate it and its the latter for me

Horsefumbler · 10-05-2003 4:58pm

Saving private Ryan for its excellent cinematography
followed closely by Full Metal Jacket for it's unique aproach

lamda · 10-05-2003 5:06pm

I'd have to go for Full Metal Jacket as my absolute favourite!!
Apart from that....The Deer Hunter..and The Bridge on the River Kwai

Space Coyote · 10-05-2003 5:49pm

I'd have to go for 'Saving Private Ryan'. I've never seen anything like that opening sequence that had such an omg effect on me, when I first saw in in the cinema. Incredible is an understatement.

Washout · 10-05-2003 6:21pm

What about War and Rememberance? it was a multi parter on tv....would love it if they showed it again
wonderif it can be got on DVD

rob1891 · 10-05-2003 7:00pm

born on the 4th of july, the one with tom hanks in a wheelchair
deliverance

It was pretty good for a Tom Cruise film. That freak Oliver Stone doesn't disappoint!

Deliverance .... war?

STEINER!!!!

Fidelis · 10-05-2003 9:19pm

Originally posted by AngelWhore
:eek:

Oh come on! Charlie Sheen in all his glory!

Fidelis · 10-05-2003 9:20pm

Originally posted by GreenHell
Dive Deep, Dive Hard, I think thats the right title its been a while, good.

Could you mean 'Run Silent, Run Deep?'

Clintons Cat · 10-05-2003 9:47pm

Ice Cold In Alex,

Casablanca,

Apocalypse Now

Deer Hunter

Killing Fields

Kellys Heros

The Longest Day

Tora Tora Tora

Bridge Over the River Kwai

The Pianist

Casualties Of War

Full Metal Jacket

The_Bullman · 10-05-2003 9:52pm

Operation Dumbo Drop

GreenHell · 11-05-2003 12:53pm

Originally posted by Fidelis
Could you mean 'Run Silent, Run Deep?'

Yes I do, thank you can never remember the title.

Lemming · 11-05-2003 12:59pm

Originally posted by daveg
And escape to victory... stalones best film

Is that the film with the footie match which had some itnernational stars playing parts in it? And Stalone's the goalie?

Clintons Cat · 11-05-2003 1:31pm

Is that the film with the footie match which had some itnernational stars playing parts in it? And Stalone's the goalie?

Thats the one.

Anyone remember the name of the POW escape film with the Circus elephant crossing the alps?

mike65 · 11-05-2003 2:48pm

Originally posted by Clintons Cat
Anyone remember the name of the POW escape film with the Circus elephant crossing the alps?

That was Hannible Brooks which starred Oliver Reed and Michael J Pollard. It was pretty good.

Mike.

Caesar_Bojangle · 11-05-2003 7:45pm

Originally posted by rob1891
It was pretty good for a Tom Cruise film. That freak Oliver Stone doesn't disappoint!

Deliverance .... war?

STEINER!!!!

yeah mixed deliverance up with something else cant remember what it was tbh.

War of the buttons?

Pearl Harbour, a very average movie its more a chick flick war movie but kate beckinsdale ahhhhhhh she so fine

Amz · 11-05-2003 8:31pm

My favourite film ever is Das Boot so I'm slightly biased towards it.

A Bridge too far
Tora Tora Tora
The Deerhunter
Patton
does Lawrence of Arabia count

And saving private ryan I've only ever seen the beach scenes from it (something always seems to drag me away from it just as Mrs Ryan is receiving her telegrams)

Pigman II · 11-05-2003 9:15pm

Star Wars

Mark · 11-05-2003 9:31pm

Originally posted by Caesar_Bojangle
yeah mixed deliverance up with something else cant remember what it was tbh.

War of the buttons?

Pearl Harbour, a very average movie its more a chick flick war movie but kate beckinsdale ahhhhhhh she so fine

Oddly enough I seem to recall reading that Deliverance was an analogy of the Vietnam conflict so technically it might be classed as a war movie. No, I didnt get it either.

Anymore I pick:

Lawrence of Arabia
The Great Escape (den den, den den de den den!)
Full Metal Jacket

Ruu_Old · 11-05-2003 9:36pm

Kellys Heroes was good

(Donald Sutherland was so funny in that one with that tank launching paint haha)
Dirty Dozen was good too

claudius · 12-05-2003 6:52am

difficult topic as war films can operate in different areas of the cinematic spectrum. just look at 'where eagles dare', a boys' own adventure, and the deer hunter, a different animal altogether.

my personal favourite would be paths of glory (1957) with kirk douglas.

daveg · 12-05-2003 8:13am

Forgot about Hunt for red october and Crimson Tide. Gene Hackman was excellent in crimson tide especially:

"Mr. Hunter, we have rules that are not open to interpretation, personal intuition, gut feelings, hairs on the back of your neck, little devils or angels sitting on your shoulders."
"Captain."
"We are all very well aware of what our orders are and what those orders mean. They come down from our Commander in Cheif, they contain no ambiguity."
"Captain..."
"Mr. Hunter I have made a decision, I'm captain of this boat, now shut the fúck up!"