Top 10 War Movies | Syracusefan.com

Top 10 War Movies

TexanMark

TexanMark

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My list...changes with the season but Patton is pretty much my favorite.

1. Patton
2. Tora Tora Tora
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. The Deerhunter
5. Where Eagles Dare
6. Apocalypse Now
7. The Dirty Dozen
8. Blackhawk Down
9. American Sniper
10. We Were Soldiers

Honorable Mention: The Guns of Navarone, Fury, The Hurt Locker, The Longest Day, Behind Enemy Lines, Lone Survivor, Midway, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Letters from Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor, Battle of the Bulge
 
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Do you not like submarines?

Das Boot
Operation Pacific
Destination Tokyo
Torpedo Run
Up Periscope
Run Silent Run Deep
Hellcats of the Navy
The Enemy Below
Crash Dive
U-571
The Hunt for Red October
Crimson Tide
 
I am not a fan of the genre, but I will rank the three that I liked enough to remember.

1. Apocalypse Now
2. Platoon
3. Full Metal Jacket
 
OrangeXtreme said:
Do you not like submarines?

Das Boot
Operation Pacific
Destination Tokyo
Torpedo Run
Up Periscope
Run Silent Run Deep
Hellcats of the Navy
The Enemy Below
Crash Dive
U-571
The Hunt for Red October
Crimson Tide
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I liked Crimson Tide...but yes, sub movies are not my favorite
 
"The Longest Day" : star-studded cast, and as far as I'm able to tell, historically accurate.
"Saving Private Ryan"
"Pearl Harbor" : had some great special effects. It covered the Doolittle raid, but for my money "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" did a more thorough job.
"Midway"
"Battle of the Bulge"

I guess you could say I gravitate towards war movies that emphasize the military strategies and human element, and less about the killing.

Confession: when I was in my mid-20s I took a first date to go see "Das Boot" (in German, with subtitles). What the hell was I thinking? To make my lapse in judgement even worse, it was a local girl who was an attractive, athletic type, and not the cerebral type who might have appreciated the film for its artistic qualities. Needless to say, it was a first and last date. My wife (who was not my date on that fateful evening) still kids me about it. My advice to the younger board members is to stick to romantic comedies.
 
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off the top of my head

Best Years of our Lives
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Stalag 17
Michael Mann's Last of the Mohicans
Kelly's Heroes
Das Boot
Cross of Iron
Full Metal Jacket
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Drums Along the Mohawk
 
JoeSU said:
"The Longest Day" : star-studded cast, and as far as I'm able to tell, historically accurate.
"Saving Private Ryan"
"Pearl Harbor" : had some great special effects. It covered the Doolittle raid, but for my money "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" did a more thorough job.
"Midway"
"Battle of the Bulge"

I guess you could say I gravitate towards war movies that emphasize the military strategies and human element, and less about the killing.

Confession: when I was in my mid-20s I took a first date to go see "Das Boot" (in German, with subtitles). What the hell was I thinking? To make my lapse in judgement even worse, it was a local girl who was an attractive, athletic type, and not the cerebral type who might have appreciated the film for its artistic qualities. Needless to say, it was a first and last date. My wife (who was not my date on that fateful evening) still kids me about it. My advice to the younger board members is to stick to romantic comedies.
Expand...

I loved Pearl Harbor and Battle of the Bulge...should've added them to my honorable mentions (doing it now)

Thought about Kelly's Heroes...but left it off.
 
Saving Private Ryan
A Bridge Too Far
The Great Escape
Thin Red Line
Bridge Over The River Kwai
Last of the Mohicans
Gettysburgh
Inglorious Basterds
The Longest Day
Geronimo
The Hunt for the Red October
Braveheart
 
Bataan
They Were Expendable
Wake Island
Flying Leathernecks
Sands of Iwo Jima
Gung Ho!
PT109
Away All Boats

Battleground
Band of Brothers
The Bridge at Remagen
A Midnight Clear
To Hell and Back
The Big Red One

You could list a top 100 and still miss a few.
 
Trueblue25 said:
Saving Private Ryan
A Bridge Too Far
The Great Escape
Thin Red Line
Bridge Over The River Kwai
Last of the Mohicans
Gettysburgh
Inglorious Basterds
The Longest Day
Geronimo
The Hunt for the Red October
Braveheart
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suprised so little mention of the great escape.
 
  1. Gettysburg (Accurate portrayal of The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara)
  2. Saving Private Ryan (according to D-Day vets, the first 20 minutes was the first realistic portrayal of the landing)
  3. Patton (Very faithful Ladislas Farago's masterpiece, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph)
  4. A Bridge Too Far - great production values and great cast
  5. Midway - one of the only movies about the most important naval battle of the Pacific War
  6. The Enemy Below - just like the story line
  7. Henry V - Kenneth Branagh version - beautiful movie
  8. Platoon - when we were leaving the theater nobody said a word - totally quiet with everyone deep in thought.
  9. The Bridge On The River Kwai - winner of 7 Academy Awards
  10. Lawrence of Arabia - beautifully filmed - 7 Academy Awards.
Mrs Crusty Top Ten
  1. Das Boot
  2. Casablanca
  3. Ran
  4. Gone With The Wind
  5. The Thin Red Line
  6. For Whom The Bell Tolls
  7. Gettysburg
  8. Henry V - Branagh version
  9. Glory
  10. Saving Private Ryan
 
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A couple that haven't been mentioned:
Hells Angels
From Here to Eternity
Attonement
Catch 22
Buffalo Soldiers
1941
Schindler's List
 
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Nothing like on a bad weather day...to sit down and watch Patton or Midway or The Great Escape or the Battle of the Bulge, ...
 
It's ancient, but it's a great movie. If you ever get a chance to see it I think you'll be impressed with the production values as well as the acting and story, given it was released in 1930.

All Quiet On The Western Front

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/
 
Crusty said:
  1. Gettysburg (Accurate portrayal of The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara)
  2. Saving Private Ryan (according to D-Day vets, the first 20 minutes was the first realistic portrayal of the landing)
  3. Patton (Very faithful Ladislas Farago's masterpiece, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph)
  4. A Bridge Too Far - great production values and great cast
  5. Midway - one of the only movies about the most important naval battle of the Pacific War
  6. The Enemy Below - just like the story line
  7. Henry V - Kenneth Branagh version - beautiful movie
  8. Platoon - when we were leaving the theater nobody said a word - totally quiet with everyone deep in thought.
  9. The Bridge On The River Kwai - winner of 7 Academy Awards
  10. Lawrence of Arabia - beautifully filmed - 7 Academy Awards.
Mrs Crusty Top Ten
  1. Das Boot
  2. Casablanca
  3. Ran
  4. Gone With The Wind
  5. The Thin Red Line
  6. For Whom The Bell Tolls
  7. Gettysburg
  8. Henry V - Branagh version
  9. Glory
  10. Saving Private Ryan
Expand...
Did Mrs. Crusty date JoeSU once?
 
Great topic, I'll have to mull it over. Very timely with American Sniper surpassing SPR in gross and people saying lots of dumb stuff in the comments on Facebook about it.
 
TexanMark said:
My list...changes with the season but Patton is pretty much my favorite.

1. Patton
2. Tora Tora Tora
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. The Deerhunter
5. Where Eagles Dare
6. Apocalypse Now
7. The Dirty Dozen
8. Blackhawk Down
9. American Sniper
10. We Were Soldiers

Honorable Mention: The Guns of Navarone, Fury, The Hurt Locker, The Longest Day, Behind Enemy Lines, Lone Survivor, Midway, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Letters from Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor, Battle of the Bulge
Expand...
Great movies tend to follow great directors (like great teams/great players).

So--David Lean: Bridge Over the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia

Stanley Kubrick: Paths of Glory (Kirk Douglas' best?)

I guess Private Ryan falls in this group, although Spielberg is a step below the two above.

The first third of Enemy at the Gates is worth a look. Bob Hoskins as Khrushchev is terrific,

For entertainment/escapist value: Dirty Dozen, Guns of Navarone, Von Ryan's Express
 
toss in a couple more. RED BADGE OF COURAGE and GALLIPOLI.
as a lad i was raised on episodes of COMBAT and RAT PATROL.
and there is probably an entire other thread we could devote to
Akira Kurosawa and the great samurai films like kagemusha or seven samurai .
or abe lincoln fighting vampires and zombies.
 
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10 When Trumpets Fade
9 Patton
8 Lone Survivor
7 Memphis Belle
6 Battle of the Bulge
5 Full Metal Jacket
4 American Sniper
3 Fury
2 Saving Private Ryan
1 Black Hawk Down

I made this list based on what DVD/Bluray I would want if it was like a draft. So this is more my favorite 10 war movies, if it was "Best", my list would be different.
 
Late to the party but here are mine:

Casablanca
Patton
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
Spartacus
The Deer Hunter
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Great Escape
Stalag 17
Apocalypse Now

Cheers,
Neil
 
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