# Best All-Time Military Movies -- Pre-Poll Data Gathering **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835 "2015-05-26T00:38:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/161 "2015-05-28T16:33:28Z")
The Sand Pebbles ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/162 "2015-05-28T16:54:22Z")
_ **Comrade X.** _ Clark Gable in 1940 Moscow. _ **The Search** _. Montgomery Clift is a GI who reunites a DP with his mother. Filmed in postwar Germany. _ **The Big Lift** _. Montgomery Clift in postwar Berlin. _ **The Third Man** _. Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard. Black marketeeers in postwar Vienna. _ **The Journey.** _ Yul Brynner as a Soviet officer in Cold War Hungary. With Jason Robards and Deborah Kerr. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/163 "2015-05-28T16:56:44Z")
_ **Mission to Moscow.** _ US pro-Soviet propaganda. This one is a howler! ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/164 "2015-05-28T16:59:27Z")
Spartacus ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/165 "2015-05-28T17:12:52Z")
_Gladiator_ has that great Romans vs. Germanic barbarians battle at the start. ---
**Author:** ![bunyupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@bunyupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyupp)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/166 "2015-05-29T00:44:53Z")
I nominate [Johnny Got His Gun](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/167 "2015-05-29T01:28:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **This Is the Army** _, with Ronald Reagan and George Murphy, among others. IIRC, this was the most popular movie of 1943 in the US. > > I also remember watching a biopic about Eddie Rickenbacker, top US air ace in WWI, when I was a kid. I wonder how many other such movies (Richthofen, Bishop, Barker, Hawker, Guynemer, etc.) are out there. A fairly recent one is _ **Flyboys** _, with Jean Renault. > [@terentii](#): > > There have been two versions of _ **War and Peace** _: the Hollywood version with Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn, and the Soviet version starring and directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Pork Chop Hill** _. Gregory Peck in Korea. > [@terentii](#): > > I don’t see\*\*\* Empire of the Sun\*\*\* on the list either: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyf059psVew](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyf059psVew) > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNTQSbvlutg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNTQSbvlutg) > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Life is Beautiful > The Pianist > Unbreakable > Night of the Shooting Stars > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The Bridges at To Ko Ri > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Reach for the Sky** _, the true story of legless WWII ace Douglas Bader. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Is Paris Burning? > [@terentii](#): > > _ **The Glen Miller Story** _, with real-life USAF General Jimmy Stewart. > > _ **Strategic Air Command** _, also with Jimmy Stewart. > > Howard Hughes’s _ **Jet Pilot** _, with John Wayne and Janet Leigh. > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Night of the Generals** _ > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Tokyo Joe** _ and _ **Battle Circus** _ (an early _MAS_H\*\*\*?) with Humphrey Bogart. > > _ **Merrill’s Marauders** _,\*\*\* Away All Boats!\*\*\*, and \*\*\*Red Ball Express \*\*\*with Jeff Chandler. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > A Cold War Favorite – _Ice Station Zebra_ > [@terentii](#): > > Martin and Lewis’s _ **At War with the Army** _. Produced on a shoestring budget, and it shows. > > _ **Sad Sack** _, starring Jerry Lewis. IIRC, Peter Lorre is one of the villains in the film. > [@mack](#): > > The Sand Pebbles > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Comrade X.** _ Clark Gable in 1940 Moscow. > > _ **The Search** _. Montgomery Clift is a GI who reunites a DP with his mother. Filmed in postwar Germany. > > _ **The Big Lift** _. Montgomery Clift in postwar Berlin. > > _ **The Third Man** _. Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard. Black marketeeers in postwar Vienna. > > _ **The Journey.** _ Yul Brynner as a Soviet officer in Cold War Hungary. With Jason Robards and Deborah Kerr. > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Mission to Moscow.** _ US pro-Soviet propaganda. This one is a howler! > [@mack](#): > > Spartacus > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > _Gladiator_ has that great Romans vs. Germanic barbarians battle at the start. > [@bunyupp](#): > > I nominate [Johnny Got His Gun](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/). These are the versions I’m using for those listed. Where you see blanks it means I didn’t find a “war movie” to match, so I need your help on those. If I didn’t provide the IMDb link and release date it means that one is already on my listing, which I will update and post later, so as not to have too many longish posts of the whole enchilada. Thanks to all for the great suggestions. Rave on! 😃 ============================================= This Is the Army [This Is the Army (1943) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036430/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1943) Flyboys [Flyboys (2006) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454824/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (2006) War and Peace [War and Peace (1956) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049934/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) (1956) War and Peace [War and Peace (1965) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063794/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4) (1966) Empire of the Sun [Empire of the Sun (1987) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092965/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1987) Life is Beautiful [Life Is Beautiful (1997) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1997) The Pianist [The Pianist (2002) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (2002) Unbreakable Night of the Shooting Stars The Bridges at Toko-Ri [The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046806/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1) (1954) Is Paris Burning? [Is Paris Burning? (1966) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060814/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1966) The Glenn Miller Story [The Glenn Miller Story (1954) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047030/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1954) Strategic Air Command [Strategic Air Command (1955) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048667/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1955) Jet Pilot [Jet Pilot (1957) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050562/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1957) Night of the Generals [The Night of the Generals (1967) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062038/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1967) Tokyo Joe [Tokyo Joe (1949) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041967/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1949) Battle Circus [Battle Circus (1953) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045544/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1953) Merrill’s Marauders [Merrill's Marauders (1962) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056234/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1962) Away All Boats! [Away All Boats (1956) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048971/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1956) Red Ball Express [Red Ball Express (1952) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045072/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1952) Ice Station Zebra [Ice Station Zebra (1968) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063121/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1968) At War with the Army [At War with the Army (1950) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042209/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1950) The Sad Sack [The Sad Sack (1957) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050922/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3) (1957) The Sand Pebbles [The Sand Pebbles (1966) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060934/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1966) Comrade X [Comrade X (1940) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032349/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1940) The Search [The Search (1948) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040765/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) (1948) The Big Lift [The Big Lift (1950) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042249/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1950) The Third Man [The Third Man (1949) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1949) The Journey [The Journey (1959) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052950/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4) (1959) Mission to Moscow [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036166/?ref\_=fn\_al\_tt\_1](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036166/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1943) Spartacus [Spartacus (1960) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054331/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) (1960) Gladiator [Gladiator (2000) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (2000) Johnny Got His Gun [Johnny Got His Gun (1971) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) (1971) ============================================= ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/168 "2015-05-29T03:01:08Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > These are the versions I’m using for those listed. Where you see blanks it means I didn’t find a “war movie” to match, so I need your help on those. > > If I didn’t provide the IMDb link and release date it means that one is already on my listing, which I will update and post later, so as not to have too many longish posts of the whole enchilada. > > Thanks to all for the great suggestions. Rave on! 😃 > > ============================================= > Unbreakable > > ============================================ I’m guessing that should be _Unbroken_ (2014) > **[Unbroken (2014) ⭐ 7.2 | Action, Biography, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809398/?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > 2h 17m | PG-13 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/169 "2015-05-29T03:09:16Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’m guessing that should be _Unbroken_ (2014) > > [Unbroken (2014) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809398/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Looks good to me, too. I’ll add it in in any case. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/170 "2015-05-29T03:27:32Z")
More for trivia value than anything else, and I probably won’t add it to the list, but I’m curious if any of you have ever seen… Yellowneck [Yellowneck (1955) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048818/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_37) (1955) … a Civil War thing I saw as a teenager and some of the scenes and dialog are with me to this day! Just out of curiosity again, has anybody tried to come up with a list of conflicts that our selections represent? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/171 "2015-05-29T04:00:47Z")
I don’t see _ **Blackhawk Down** _ on the list! :eek: Let’s see … Somalia (that wasn’t a _war_, was it? 😕 ), Cold War (no \*\*\*Rambo \*\*\*movies either! ☹ ), Vietnam, Korea, WWII, WWI, Age of Imperialism, American Civil War, Crimean War, Russian “Patriotic” War of 1812, American Revolution, French and Indian (Seven Years’) War (no _ **Barry Lyndon** _?), Elizabethan Era, Roman Empire, Greek Wars (_ **300 Spartans** _, _ **Alexander the Great** _; I prefer the one with Richard Burton) … Have I missed any? :dubious: What the hell, throw in _ **The Buccaneer** _ (Yul Brynner, Charlton Heston, EG Marshall, and Claire Bloom) for _our_ War of 1812. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/172 "2015-05-29T04:09:22Z")
Whoops! :smack: Bolshevik Revolution, Russian Revolution of 1905, Boer War, Boxer Rebellion, American Indian Wars, Texas War of Independence, 100 Years’ War. Any _more_??? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/173 "2015-05-29T04:17:16Z")
_ **Drums along the Mohawk** _, _ **Northwest Passage** _, and _ **Last of the Mohicans** _ are all French and Indian/American Revolution movies. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/174 "2015-05-29T04:18:08Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I don’t see _ **Blackhawk Down** _ on the list! :eek: See [Post #144](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18396298&postcount=144), (2001), please. Rest of your post looks great! Lots of folks chopping up other folks, for sure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/175 "2015-05-29T04:27:40Z")
Inter- and Postwar Periods (1920s and '40s), WWI Arab Revolt, Zulu Wars, English–Scottish Border Wars, Novgorod vs Teutonic Knights. Are there no films out there about the _English_ Civil War? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/176 "2015-05-29T04:29:12Z")
Is _ **Khartoum** _ on the list? _ **The African Queen** _. They just keep coming… ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/177 "2015-05-29T04:38:15Z")
Another Colditz movie (the one I was thinking of). John Mills _and_ Guy Hamilton, who directed four Bond films including _ **Goldfinger** _: > **[The Colditz Story (1955) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047945/)** > > The Colditz Story: Directed by Guy Hamilton. With John Mills, Eric Portman, Frederick Valk, Denis Shaw. Allied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp... _ **Ice Cold in Alex** _ with John Mills and Anthony Quayle. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/178 "2015-05-29T04:43:21Z")
Napoleonic Wars too. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/179 "2015-05-29T04:45:32Z")
I don’t see _ **Counterpoint** _ (Charlto Heston, Maximillian Schell) on the list either. Does _ **The OdeSSa File** _ count? Lots of ONs in that one! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835/180 "2015-05-29T05:10:34Z")
_ **Taras Bulba** _ with Yul Brynner, Tony Curtis, and Christine Kaufman. 16th-century Cossacks vs Turks and Poles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-all-time-military-movies-pre-poll-data-gathering/720835.md?page=10)