# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [June 1, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/41 "2010-06-01T21:25:31Z")
A few I haven’t seen mentioned yet: _The Train_ – Burt Lancaster’s chin singlehandedly takes on an obsessed German colonel’s attempt to spirit art masterpieces out of occupied France _The Beast_ – pretty much the only film I know of that is set during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan _Sahara_ – the Bogart version, starring a highly photogenic M3 Lee tank Can we include Michael Mann’s _Last of the Mohicans_? There’s quite a lot of the French and Indian Wars in it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/42 "2010-06-01T22:07:42Z")
A lot of good ones already mentioned. I’ll add [_Hamburger Hill_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093137/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/43 "2010-06-01T22:11:17Z")
I don’t know if it counts as a war movie but the 1977 version of _[The Four Feathers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076047/)_ has one of the best battle scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. Impressively well-done for a made-for-TV movie. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/44 "2010-06-01T22:43:18Z")
Odd how the US fought what are called the “Banana Wars” from 1898 to 1934, with more casualites than the US Civil War (mostly Filipinos), and the only two movies I can think of are the terribly innacurate **The Real Glory** , a Gary Cooper flag-waver, and a turgidly philisophical Gary Cooper in **They Came to Cordura** (which added Dick York to the casualty list. He broke his back in the battle scene and eventually **Bewitched** replaced his comically neurotic Darin with Dick Sergeant’s grouchy WASP asshole Darin.) Best War Movie? How about the USSR’s 1965 **War and Peace?** cost almost a billion dollars in 2010 money. Had a good writer, too. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/45 "2010-06-01T23:32:00Z")
[Ride With the Devil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134154/) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/46 "2010-06-02T03:02:11Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > [Ride With the Devil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134154/) Dammit, **spoke-** , that’s the one I came in here to mention. Just saw this on a pristine Criterion release; incredibly affecting wartime drama that takes place during the war that begat Memorial Day (the Civil War). Oddly, the [summary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_with_the_Devil_%28film%29) offered by Wikipedia seems to downplay the [Lawrence Massacre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Massacre) that is a central plot point of the movie. And although it does focus on the relationships and friendships of the bushwhacker boys, there’s at least one big messy battlefield scene in addition to the many pillaging scenes. ---
**Author:** ![ctywkr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@ctywkr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctywkr)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/47 "2010-06-02T04:59:14Z")
I’ll add [84 charlie mopic](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096744/) A low budget film about Vietnam, grabbed me when I first saw it. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/48 "2010-06-02T10:55:23Z")
One of my obscure favorites has always been **The Real Glory** with Gary Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/49 "2010-06-02T12:12:09Z")
**633 Squadron** **Dambusters** **Battle of Britain** From history: **Waterloo** **Spartacus** **Kingdom of Heaven** ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/50 "2010-06-02T13:37:22Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > How about **Kelly’s Heroes**? Darn you, Suburban Plankton…you stole my post! ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/51 "2010-06-02T13:39:58Z")
Gibson’s “We Were Soldiers” ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449/52 "2010-06-02T18:48:09Z")
> [@DirkGntly](#): > > Darn you, Suburban Plankton…you stole my post! You and your negative waves… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-its-memorial-day-best-war-movies/541449.md?page=2)