# Hey it's Memorial Day! Best war movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449 "2010-06-01T01:39:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/1 "2010-06-01T01:39:09Z")
Let’s talk about one of the largest genres of movies. I’ll start with a list off the top of my head of my favorite war movies. Since there are so many to choose from, let’s limit this discussion to movies that focus on actual fighting forces fighting. I know in these threads some wag usually comes in to say that technically, \*\*\*The Sound of Music \*\*\*is a war movie. So is _ **The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly** _ and _ **The Searchers** _. Retired soldiers home from the war don’t count (so no _ **The Best Years of Our Lives** _), and fighting as some kind of offscreen background doesn’t count (so no _ **Schindler’s List, Great Escape** _, or _ **Bridge on the River Kwai** _). Battlefield, air squadrons, submarines, etc. K? I’ll start (in no particular order except as they came to me): _**The Big Parade All Quiet on the Western Front They Were Expendable Das Boot The Longest Day Sergeant York 30 Seconds Over Tokyo 12 O’Clock High Wings The Life and Death Colonel Blimp Full Metal Jacket**_ Too soon to mention _ **The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds** _? ---
**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:** [June 1, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/2 "2010-06-01T01:42:45Z")
**She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Glory Gettysburg Zulu The Odd Angry Shot** ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/3 "2010-06-01T01:44:00Z")
Of course since I didn’t let this percolate properly I’ll be inserting addenda as we go . . . * * * The Story of G.I. Joe The Heroes of Telemark The Steel Helmet The Big Red One Objective, Burma! The Sands of Iwo Jima\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/4 "2010-06-01T01:45:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **She Wore A Yellow Ribbon > Glory > Gettysburg > Zulu > The Odd Angry Shot** * * * She Wore a Yellow Ribbon\*\*\* is a favorite, but doesn’t it take place largely inside a fort? With any fighting in the background, not front and center? Been a while since I’ve seen it though. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/5 "2010-06-01T01:48:36Z")
The main goal was to _avoid_ a fight, but there were a few cavalry actions in the movie: the holding of the ford, the raid on the horse-line, Sgt Tyree’s escape from the warband, etc. But I’ll admit that action isn’t the centerpiece of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/6 "2010-06-01T01:58:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The main goal was to _avoid_ a fight, but there were a few cavalry actions in the movie: the holding of the ford, the raid on the horse-line, Sgt Tyree’s escape from the warband, etc. > > But I’ll admit that action isn’t the centerpiece of the movie. Yeah, I didn’t include\*\*\* Fort Apache\*\*\* for much the same reason. There’s one skirmish toward the end of the movie, but the “heart” of the story is the human relationships inside the fort. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/7 "2010-06-01T02:02:13Z")
**The Lighthorsemen Gallipoli** How about **The Battle of Algiers**? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/8 "2010-06-01T02:05:59Z")
\*Platoon Gallipoli The Great Escape \* ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/9 "2010-06-01T02:07:50Z")
I didn’t include it [_ **Battle of Algiers** _] because it seems gray area to me–howbout _ **The Baader-Meinhof Complex** _? _ **The Little Drummer Girl** _?–not really a battlefield, not really fighting forces. Still, gray area just means judgment call, so I’m not gonna ask a mod to delete your post if you include it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/10 "2010-06-01T02:19:34Z")
Patton ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/11 "2010-06-01T02:37:20Z")
\*The Paths of Glory \*which is all the better because it is based on a true story. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/12 "2010-06-01T02:45:47Z")
**Saving Private Ryan** is a legitimate addition to the list. Also: The Dirty Dozen Letters from Iwo Jima The Battleship Potemkin Run Silent, Run Deep Tora! Tora! Tora! Soldier of Orange Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/13 "2010-06-01T02:51:44Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > \*The Paths of Glory \*which is all the better because it is based on a true story. Does it have any fighting in it though? Isn’t set well back from the front line? I probly should said “battle” or “front line” in the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/14 "2010-06-01T03:13:38Z")
Does _A New Hope_ count? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/15 "2010-06-01T03:50:16Z")
Crap, I’m not very good at this OP writing I guess. I started this thread not to come up with an exhaustive list of any film that might conceivably have aspects that might conceivably be considered conceivably war-related. I started it to make sure I haven’t missed any of one my favorite genres of films. Movies like the ones I listed above: G.I. Joes on the ground, slogging through mud and snow in a French forest, or shooting snipers out of palm trees, or complaining to each other about digging foxholes, etc. The down and dirty grit of grunt level combat. For the purposes of this list, to stay within this specific genre, let’s make them, well if not based on true stories, at least set in a real, historical war. I hope I didn’t just specificize all the fun out of it . . . And meanwhile let me add another, a really powerful WWI film that I’d never heard of until Criterion put it out a couple years ago: * * * Wooden Crosses\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/16 "2010-06-01T03:53:40Z")
Gallipoli A Very Long Engagement For Whom the Bell Tolls King of Hearts ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/17 "2010-06-01T04:03:15Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Does it have any fighting in it though? Isn’t set well back from the front line? > > I probly should said “battle” or “front line” in the thread title. There’s definitely [combat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPtVNDvwGMo) in the Kubrick film. Others: \*Come and See Men in War Memphis Belle \*(Wyler documentary) ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/18 "2010-06-01T04:09:22Z")
How about **Kelly’s Heroes**? ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/19 "2010-06-01T05:50:13Z")
I do think the fighting and space devoted to the strategy elements of the Arab uprising as part of the second world war mean that\*\* Lawrence of Arabia\*\* can join in here. If not, I don’t think Colonel Blimp should be there either which would be a pity because it’s spectacular. Also, presumably less in need of possibly having to defend itself, **The Cruel Sea** ETA: **Cross of Iron** ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/20 "2010-06-01T06:12:45Z")
It isn’t based on a real, historical war, but \*Starship Troopers \*otherwise fits the spirit of the OP, in that it depicts “the down and dirty grit of grunt level combat.” And I don’t mention it to be a nitpicker, but because it really is one of my favorite combat flicks. If “historical” is not limited to the modern era, I really loved the combat scenes in _Braveheart_, and in Orson Welles’ classic _Chimes at Midnight_. Failing all that, I’ll second your mention of _Full Metal Jacket_…TRM (really, not trying to be a PITA, just listing the war movies I’ve enjoyed the most) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449.md?page=2)