# "Best" war movies (redux) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368 "2006-11-07T00:02:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/41 "2006-11-07T23:38:43Z")
I have to echo “All Quite on the Western Front”. To some extent more on the book than than the various movies. But the book is brilliant. Terrifiying, sickening, and brillant. Maybe it’s about time to remake it again. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/42 "2006-11-07T23:42:35Z")
Oh and I might have missed it but has anyone mentioned The Best Years Of Our Lives? Post war is still a war movie and that was a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/43 "2006-11-08T02:31:28Z")
[QUOTE=eenerms] [QUOTE=Chefguy] **MASH** And one I’m sure nobody will mention (or has even seen, for that matter): **A Midnight Clear** I saw it, liked it, didn’t hear mush about it though. [/QUOTE] Mush or oatmeal, either one. It got raves from the critics, but probably got crushed by the competition at the time (Unforgiven, Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Scent of a Woman). Nice to know there’s one other person who’s seen it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/44 "2006-11-08T02:52:53Z")
_The Sand Pebbles_ ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/45 "2006-11-08T08:27:02Z")
A few more that so far have missed out, To Hell and Back The Red Badge of Courage Von Ryans Express Hannibal Brooks ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/46 "2006-11-08T17:36:59Z")
**A Midnight Clear** is a great movie but I prefer the movie **Birdy**. **Empire of the Sun** is probably my favorite movie of all time. (based on a different novel by the same writer, William Wharton) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/47 "2006-11-08T17:44:20Z")
One of the homework assignments in my AP Euro class involves watching movies about WW2 and associated years. Below is the list I use, along with the point values of each movie (higher=better/more accurate/more than just a war movie, etc.) World War II Movie List _Midway – 10 Tora, Tora, Tora – 15 In Harm’s Way – 15 They Were Expendable – 15 Back To Bataan – 20 Sands of Iwo Jima – 15 Flying Leathernecks – 15 Run Silent, Run Deep – 20 Guadalcanal Diary – 15 Battle Cry! – 10 Bridge Over The River Kwai – 20 Empire of the Sun – 20 Torpedo Run – 10 Operation Petticoat – 10 Mr. Roberts – 20 Merrill’s Marauders – 15 30 Seconds Over Tokyo – 20 Flying Tigers – 15 The Enemy Below – 20 Hellcats of the Navy – 15 Enola Gay – 20 The Thin Red Line – 20 King Rat – 20 South Pacific – 10 Objective, Burma – 10 Battle of the Bulge – 15 The Great Escape – 20 Battle of Britain – 30 Casablanca – 15 Das Boot – 40(IN GERMAN!) The Big Red One – 15 Patton – 20 Sink the Bismarck! – 20 The Longest Day – 20 A Bridge Too Far – 20 The Sorrow and the Pity – 25 Triumph of the Will – 40 Stalag 17 – 20 Remains of the Day – 20 12 O’Clock High – 15 The Devil’s Brigade – 10 Mrs. Miniver – 15 Is Paris Burning? – 20 Hope and Glory – 20 Judgment at Nuremberg – 25 The Diary of Anne Frank – 15 Three Came Home – 20 The Man In The Glass Booth – 20 The Last Metro – 20 Von Ryan’s Express – 10 U-571 – 15 Memphis Belle – 15 Hell Is For Heroes – 15 The Bridge At Remagen – 15 Tobruk – 10 Raid On Rommel – 10 Mosquito Squadron – 10 The Dam Busters – 15 The McKenzie Break – 10 The Secret of Santa Vittoria – 10 Enemy At The Gates – 20 A Midnight Clear – 15 When Trumpets Fade – 15 Battleground – 10 Sahara – 10 Soldier of Orange – 15 A Walk In The Sun – 10_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/48 "2006-11-08T17:52:29Z")
One that often gets overlooked in lists of war movies is [Last of the Mohicans](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104691/) (French and Indian War). And one of my favorite Civil War movies is the often overlooked [Ride With the Devil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134154/). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/49 "2006-11-08T19:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] King Rat Soldier of Orange [/QUOTE] Wow! What a list. I completely forgot about [Soldier of Orange](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0076734/) and [King Rat](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0059358/), two absolutely outstanding movies. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/50 "2006-11-09T04:30:41Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] **Empire of the Sun** is probably my favorite movie of all time. (based on a different novel by the same writer, William Wharton) [/QUOTE] Erm, what? It’s by **J.G. Ballard**. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/51 "2006-11-09T04:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Erm, what? It’s by **J.G. Ballard**. [/QUOTE] whoops, Birdy and A Midnight Clear share the same author. I added the Empire of the sun line later. in the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368/52 "2006-11-09T05:56:54Z")
Hey, I own _A Midnight Clear_. One of my favorites. A good commentary track, too (it’s suprising how good it looks for how cheaply it was made). Not entirely about war (it’s a Japanese version of _King Lear_), but _Ran_ does have some good battle scenes (feudal Japan). Somewhat tangent to this thread, but submitted to **silenus** for ‘about WW2’ - The Tin Drum (_Die Blechtrommel_) Forbidden Games (_Jeux Interdits_) Grave of the Fireflies (_Hotaru no haka_) (I just realized those all involve children, hm.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-movies-redux/379368.md?page=2)