# What is the best “war movie”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 1, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184 "2021-05-01T23:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/261 "2022-11-11T14:39:14Z")
Many of these already mentioned but thro in my 2 cents… Saving Private Ryan, Iron Cross (German show), I have a soft spot for Bridge over Remagen, A Bridge too Far, White Tiger (Russian film as much supernatural horror as war), Das Boot (another German one), All quiet on the Western Front (I think the original 20s B&W was best), Casualties of War (more of a moral/ethics than war but still war), Kellies Heroes (more comedy but still a war show), Red Badge of Courage (older show and message probably won’t age well to today but still one I like), Platoon, Glory, Zulu, Patton, Full Metal Jacket, Spartacus (another older one), The Hurt Locker. What can I say, I like war movies 🙂 My wife’s ‘favorite’ (she is an army vet) is Blackhawk Down…but refuses to watch it again. I have to plug Casualties of War again as I think it has been lost to time. I think you also have to be in the right demographic state and time to get the full effect. I saw the show as a young Buck full of vim and patriotism and the show drug me along PERFECTLY with the full effect of serving your country and loyalty to your buddies and your leader who WAS a great war leader who would and did risk his life for you and was good at his job…to realization that the moral consideration should outweigh this…I was drug along PERFECTLY through this…I could easily have been the Micheal J Fox character going through this. One line still sticks with me after all this time. Something like “Everyone acts like that since we can be blown away at anytime and that nothing matters. I am starting to think that what we do …it matters a lot…more than we could possibly imagine”. I think that show actually had a permanent effect and shift of my morality and view of the world. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/262 "2022-11-11T14:42:36Z")
The Killing Fields. Can’t believe I forgot that one. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/263 "2022-11-11T16:10:39Z")
Last night, I remembered the girl jn _ **Cranes** _ gave the guy a harmonica that he carried with him “everywhere.” He was sniped while walking through a forest and died flat on his back, staring up through the trees. _“Are you hurt?”_ _“I’m … okay …” [Expires with eyes wide open.]_ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/264 "2022-11-11T19:39:55Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > The Killing Fields. Can’t believe I forgot that one. That’s one of the films I saw once, was moved, even shaken by, and have no intention to ever watch again. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/265 "2022-11-12T21:34:07Z")
My top 10 roughly in chronological order: Battleship Potempkin The General The Longest Day Lawrence of Arabia Battle of Algiers Patton Apocalypse Now Grave of the Fireflies Master and Commander 1917 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/266 "2022-11-12T21:43:41Z")
I’m not a judge as to best war movie, but I really like _Gettysburg_. I thought the acting and cast were great. One of my great-great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War, and was held at Andersonville prison. He told his granddaughter, my maternal grandmother, he was periodically sick for the rest of his life, due to the poor conditions and ill treatment by the guards. The commandant of the camp was the only person executed for war crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/267 "2022-11-13T21:41:18Z")
Levanon Waltz with Bashir Apocalypse Now Das Boot From the top of my head. Oh and The Deer Hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/268 "2022-11-13T22:43:06Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Most of my favorites have been mentioned, so I won’t repeat them. One I didn’t see mentioned yet is _Come and See_ (1985). It was a Soviet film about World War II with dialogue mostly in Russian and Belarusian. It’s hard to watch, because it depicts the horrors of war more accurately than any other film I’ve ever seen. Out of any “war movie” I’ve seen, [Come and See](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See) made the biggest impact on me. It’s just an incredible film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184.md?page=13)