Some of the greatest movies of all time involve soldiers. All Quiet on the Western Front, Bridge on the River Kwai, MASH… more recently Dunkirk and 1917.
Yet, I find some highly regarded movies much better than others. Tonight, I’m watching Paths of Glory. What is your favourite war or anti-war film?
The Big Red One and A Bridge Too Far.
The Americanization Of Emily.
Patton. I was like 10 when it came out. My dad told my mom that it was required that his three sons watch the movie to see how real men act. Maybe not the best role model but a damn good war movie.
Saving Private Ryan is right up there with it.
A lot of the interstellar warfare in Star Crash blew my mind. Not the most ‘militaristic’ movie, perhaps…
Yeah and also POG - in my top three SK’s
Kelly’s Heroes. If it’s on, clear the sofa and don’t count on me for dinner.
My all time favourite war movie would be The Cruel Sea based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Monsarrat, it’s about a corvette on convoy escort duty in WWII
That would be closely followed by 12 O’clock High and The Dambusters
Inglourious Basterds.
I might think of a better answer later, but for now I’ll go with Dr. Strangelove.
Bridge on the River Kwai and MASH are certainly great movies. However, I’ll nominate Full Metal Jacket. It’s one of my favorite (war or otherwise) movies.
Apocalypse Now is certainly up there as well.
Also a few honorable mentions, at least on my list: Stalag 17, The Great Escape, Life is Beautiful
The Great Escape. The Dirty Dozen.
The Dirty Dozen, but I prefer the original spanish name “Los doce del patíbulo”
I’m an eighties kid, so my favorite war movie is Full Metal Jacket, followed closely by Saving Private Ryan.
Not that long ago, I decided to knock out the Kubrick movies I hadn’t seen, which included Paths of Glory. I wasn’t expecting much as it isn’t as lauded as some of his later movies were, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, how un-Kubrickish it was if that makes sense. Another great war flick.
‘Stalingrad’. 1993 German film.
Stalag 17, All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) and Bridge On The River Kwai.
Honorable mention to Das Boot.
I’d still go with Saving Private Ryan, for the realism mainly. Few other movies take the detail as seriously as that one (except for, in fact, Spielberg dumping too much blood in the water during the opening scene.)
Lot of good ones mentioned.
Patton is an incredible movie, fantastic performance by George C. Scott created a character that matched the legend.
Bridge Over the River Kwai was magnificent but the combined efforts of so many overacting hams overshadowed the message.
A couple of other POW pictures deserve mention, Stalag 17 and King Rat. Both of them more serious examinations of human nature softened with a touch of humor.
For pure humor Kelly’s Heroes is the best, no redeeming social value here.
Zulu was a very gritty movie deal with survival against great odds, and closer to reality than so many other war movies.
The movie that always comes to mind first in this category is Patton. So well made, it lets us see an incredible story unfold, based on reality while enhanced by legend, and conveyed with masterful acting performances.
Some of my favorites have been mentioned already. so I’ll add
The Train
Objective: Burma
Decision before Dawn
13 Rue Madeleine
Orders to Kill
Heaven Knows, Mr Allison
Mr Roberts
The Desert Rats
The Desert Fox
Sahara
Twelve Graves to Cairo
49th Parallel
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
The African Queen
The Blue Max
Operation Crossbow
633 Squadron
and of course
Casablanca
I’ll add Shout at the Devil, The Wild Geese, and The Guns of Navarone.
Three more that should be watched in this order:
Destination: Tokyo
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
The Purple Heart
and three more set in the post-WWII period:
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Lift
The Search