# The Best War Film
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 14, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013 "2003-02-14T06:40:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/1 "2003-02-14T06:40:43Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=162025&perpage=50&pagenumber=3) has turned into a bit of a trainwreck about the best war movie of all times. Apparently it is far hotter of a topic than I would have ever guessed.
The best war movie, of course, is Elem Klimov’s **Come and See**. After I watched it, I left the room shaking, and I didn’t stop shaking for a long, long time. I highly suggest that you look for it if you havn’t seen it, because it makes **Saving Private Ryan** look like **Titanic meets the Care Bears** and it really should be recognized as one of the best movies ever to address the concept of war.
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### Author:  [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/2 "2003-02-14T06:45:54Z")
**Titanic meets the Care Bears** is my favorite war film! that scene, when the Care Bears storm Decaprio Beach…
I’m gonna vote for Longest Day
(too bad Band of Brothers is a tv series)
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### Author:  [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/3 "2003-02-14T07:37:32Z")
I haven’t seen too many war films so my opinion is far from authoritative.
However I will second Longest Day. What I really like about the film is the way it looks at all sides,including the Germans, and gives us a sense of the uncertainty and confusion of military planning. By contrast Saving Private Ryan is less cerebral and far more US-centric.
```
My other choice is Grave of the Fireflies. It doesn't deal with the war per se but it's a stark account of the pain inflicted on Japanese civilians by American bombing. It's truly impressive how the film refuses to vilify the Americans or glorify the Japanese. I doubt a similar American film would be so restrained.
```
Other war-films I liked include Lawrence of Arabia and Guns of Navarone though the latter is perhaps more action-adventure than a serious war-film.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/4 "2003-02-14T07:49:53Z")
How 'bout _Henry V_? Can’t beat the writing. Can I vote for _Ran_ even if it’s not about a real war? If yes, can I vote for _Star Wars_?
More seriously, I’d put forward _Three Kings_ and, oh, let’s say _Glory_.
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### Author:  [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/5 "2003-02-14T08:03:32Z")
I’ve never seen _Come and See_, but I’m always in the market for movie recommendations, so I’ve put it at the top of my Netflix rental queue.
_Grave of the Fireflies_ is the most emotionally devastating movie I’ve seen.
My personal top 10 (which is likely different from the last time I posted to a thread with this topic, and likely to change tomorrow).
1. Grave of the Fireflies
2. Schindler’s List
3. Lawrence of Arabia
4. The General
5. Duck Soup
6. The Bridge on the River Kwai
7. Das Boot
8. Dr. Strangelove
9. Ran
10. The Grand Illusion
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### Author:  [@greenphan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenphan)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/6 "2003-02-14T08:22:35Z")
My favourite war movie, although its’ not a typical war movie per se, is the terribly titled **Hell in the Pacific** starring Lee Marvin as a downed pilot on a deserted island on which the only other person is a Japanese pilot. They fight back and forth (the only weapon they have is a knife) and it’s an interesting battle of wits.
As I understand it, it’s just one of those really good B movies.
–greenphan
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### Author:  [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/7 "2003-02-14T11:28:22Z")
Besides what’s been posted:
Patton
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
Apocolypse Now
All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/8 "2003-02-14T12:26:42Z")
Best war movies IMHO:
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan
Blackhawk Down
The Wind and the Lion
Lawrence of Arabia
All Quiet on the Western Front
Zulu
Patton
Platoon
Glory
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### Author:  [@samboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samboy)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/9 "2003-02-14T14:25:54Z")
The Thin Red Line… a truly masterful peice of cinema.
Ill second Three Kings… both of these films give a different perspective on classic depictions of war.
I saw Glory last night on television. I thought it was complete crap, sorry.
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### Author:  [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/10 "2003-02-14T14:27:28Z")
To End All Wars–It’s an independent film that came out last year, starring Keifer Sutherland. Amazing and disturbing. It’s about Scottish prisoners of war during WW2. Has anyone else seen this movie?
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### Author:  [@lout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lout)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/11 "2003-02-14T14:34:59Z")
I agree that Terrence Malick’s Thin Red Line is a masterpiece. Beautifully photographed and brutually honest regarding its subject.
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/12 "2003-02-14T14:53:24Z")
I have to totally disagree about the Thin Red Line. It was visually stunning, yes, and the performances were good, but the picture was incredibly unrealistic. It wasn’t honest as much as it was false and I honestly found much of the movie very boring.
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### Author:  [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/13 "2003-02-14T15:02:31Z")
Tora Tora Tora is a very good.
Band of Brothers while not a film is the most effective portrayal of war I think I’ve ever seen.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/14 "2003-02-14T15:07:19Z")
A third or whatever for THE LONGEST DAY. My favorite line (which to me sums up the brilliance of the movie) is when the Nazi Field Marshal says “I sometimes wonder just who’s side God is on.”
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/15 "2003-02-14T15:11:12Z")
[Intolerance](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0006864) (1916).
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/16 "2003-02-14T16:04:35Z")
No one’s mentioned _A Bridge Too Far_ yet, which I’m fond of. Wouldn’t call it the best ( I might go with some of the earlier like _Lawrence of Arabia_ or _The Bridge on the River Kwai_ ), but I might squeeze it into the top 10.
Despite its artistry and power in the first half-hour, I don’t think _Saving Private Ryan_ would make that list for me ( maybe top 20 ).
- Tamerlane
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/17 "2003-02-14T16:17:32Z")
_Star Wars_ in no way shape or form is as good a war movie _per se_ than Aliens. Aliens definitely had the war “feel”.
My top war movies:
Aliens
Gettysburg (but only when you turn the volume all the way up)
We were Soldiers.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/18 "2003-02-14T16:34:38Z")
Zulu
MASH
Duck Soup
Catch 22
Breaker Morant
Kelly’s Heroes
Great Escape ( especially the first half)
Stalag (?) with william holden?
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### Author:  [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/19 "2003-02-14T16:41:47Z")
I could not believe the heady drama of **When We Were Smurfs**.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-war-film/155013/20 "2003-02-14T17:16:12Z")
**Come and See** is definitely among the very best. For some reason, there’s always a specious belief that “war movie” = “combat movie”, as if to say horror movies _must_ have monsters or romantic comedies only count when they’re heterosexual. **Casablanca** is romantic and adventurous, but it is also undoubtedly a war movie.
So, with that understanding, I’d say the 12 best (in chronological order) are:
The General
Casablanca
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Henry V
Paisan
Men in War
Paths of Glory
Ashes and Diamonds
The Battle of Algiers
Come and See
Hope and Glory
Underground\*\*
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