# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/61 "2021-05-02T15:39:40Z")
I was thinking about that. It does have some fantastic scenes, and an excellent movie for it’s time and the circumstances of it’s production. I don’t know, but I feel like it had a lot of influence on Braveheart. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/62 "2021-05-02T15:40:57Z")
Both of these were excellent movies in there own right. And I still think more of Tora! Tora! Tora! than a more recent movie about that attack. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/63 "2021-05-02T15:46:16Z")
I think more of **Ernest Goes to Camp** than the movie to which you allude. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/64 "2021-05-02T15:47:40Z")
You mean that more recent movie I mentioned, right? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/65 "2021-05-02T16:03:48Z")
I tend to put war films in two camps. There are the straight historical films where my favorites are **Tora, Tora, Tora** and **Sink the Bismarck**. Then there are films where war is used to forge absurd characters and situations that could never exist in a stable world: **Catch-22** , **MASH** , and my two favorite films (regardless of genre) **Apocalypse Now!** and **The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly**. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/66 "2021-05-02T16:04:13Z")
_The Siege of Firebase Gloria_. Set during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Nominally stars Wings Hauser, but R. Lee Ermey steals the show. Another vote for _Guns at Batasi_. _The Gallant Hours_. James Cagney plays Admiral William Halsey. It doesn’t actually contain any battle scenes. It is about the planning and preparation before the battles, and counting the dead afterward. _Piece of Cake_. British TV series about an RAF squadron in the Phony War and the Battle of Britain. _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ about Pearl Harbor. _The Lost Battalion_, a TV movie about the Lost Battalion in World War One. It has Rick Shroder playing Major Whittlesey, but he’s not bad. The TV version of _All Quiet on the Western Front_ is not bad. You may or may not care for John-Boy Walton playing the lead character, but the supporting cast is excellent. _The Rough Riders_ TV movie about the Spanish-American War. Tom Berenger plays Teddy Roosevelt, and Gary Busey plays General Wheeler. For the Civil War, gotta go with _Gettysburg_ and _Glory_. There are two famous versions of _The Charge of the Light Brigade_. The 1936 version stars Errol Flynn. It is pure fiction and pure hokum, and lots of fun. The 1968 version has a more realistic depiction of the events, with a much more cynical view of the battle, and of the war, and of war in general. _Zulu_ is one of the all-time great war movies. _Zulu Dawn_ is not as great, but in my opinion, it is underrated. _The Duellists_. Ridley Scott’s first film. Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. _Waterloo_ [Nick Hodges’ review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWKk5Sy0JT8) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/67 "2021-05-02T16:07:56Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _The Duellists_ . Ridley Scott’s first film. Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. That’s a really underrated film. One of those films I watched in my twenties and wondered why I had never heard of it before. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/68 "2021-05-02T16:47:46Z")
No love for [_Beau Geste_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Geste#Adaptations_for_film,_radio_and_theatre), [_Khartoum_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_(film)), or [_The Four Feathers_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Feathers#Film,_TV_and_theatrical_adaptations)? (I’ve never seen any of them, myself). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/69 "2021-05-02T16:49:11Z")
Which of the seven productions of The Four Feathers that you haven’t seen did you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/70 "2021-05-02T16:54:15Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > The BBC series **Danger UXB** follows the live of members of a WWII bomb disarmament/disposal team. Think of “The Hurt Locker” but with a British stiff-upper-lip. I watched the series, in class of all places, at “the schoolhouse.” > [@terentii](#): > > I tried watching _ **Ameяika** _ when I was prepping for graduate school. The whole premise was so absurd, I tuned out somewhere in the middle of the second installment. (And Sam Niell’s mangling of the Russian language was even worse than in _ **The Hunt for Red October.** _ ) I was in the 4th grade, and remember seeing one of the episodes back then, but not the whole series. The concept fascinates me, like @Sitnam alludes to. I want to see the full series, but have no idea where to find it. Another addition: [The Crossing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crossing_(2000_film)), which put a very human element to the Battle of Trenton. Tripler The US was occupied during the War of 1812, but I don’t know of any movies on that war. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/71 "2021-05-02T16:57:55Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Which of the seven productions of The Four Feathers that you haven’t seen did you mean? Take your pick. Ditto the three productions of _Beau Geste_. The links were provided to show how many options there are. > [@SCAdian](#): > > Movies that need to be made: And one novel I’d like to see filmed: _A Flock of Ships_, by Brian Callison. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/72 "2021-05-02T16:58:57Z")
So many good ones in this thread. I’m especially happy to see others sharing my appreciation for Zulu and I liked the mention of The Lost Battalion, too. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/73 "2021-05-02T17:04:00Z")
The Caine Mutiny deserves mention. The film did an excellent job of reducing a very long and complicated book into the essentials of the story. Also, Mr. Roberts, an engaging story of the tedium on a cargo ship away from the active battle. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/74 "2021-05-02T17:26:09Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/75 "2021-05-02T18:04:36Z")
I haven’t watched that many war films, but out of the ones I’ve watched, I’d have to go with _The Great Escape_ - it’s got a great film score, no immersion-breaking love scenes or romance storylines, and Steve McQueen ('s body double) jumping a fence on a motorcycle. I’m a simple man and I can’t ask for much more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/76 "2021-05-02T18:11:19Z")
I liked _1917_. The fact nothing essentially happens is the point. War is not only Heck, but mainly tedium. I wanted to like _Dunkirk_; the real story is fantastic. Somehow it just didn’t meet my expectations, though many loved it. I found _Das Boat_ too claustrophobic too enjoy, and _Life is Beautiful_ seemed very discordant. They could hardly avoid being so. Of course one cannot easily pick a best movie since the messages, stories, characters and style differ so much. A previous thread (found on searching to see if this topic was recently covered) pointed out how rarely they remake war films - despite their popularity and that other good films are often remade. But a remake today of _All Quiet_ would not pack the same punch or lurk within recent memory of the audience or the director. I doubt it would be nearly as good. You could say the same for most war films, I think. Tough to remake better. Best a decade or two after the original battles I was glad someone mentioned _12 Graves to Cairo_ and _The Great Escape_. Never watched the _Americanization of Emily_ nor _The Best Years Of Our Lives_… will seek these and some others mentioned here out. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/77 "2021-05-02T18:18:54Z")
Correct. The one about the love story interrupted by a war. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/78 "2021-05-02T18:38:59Z")
Let us not forget the first R. Lee Ermey as a DI war movie: **The Boys In Company "C."** ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/79 "2021-05-02T19:51:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ll pair _ **Gallipoli** _ with _ **Breaker Morant** _ . And add _ **The King of Hearts** _ . Throw in [_The Lighthorsemen_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093416/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) with the first two\* and you’ve got an Australian colonials giving the finger to British toffs trilogy. \*_The King of Hearts_ I’m not familiar with. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184/80 "2021-05-02T19:55:18Z")
Patients of an insane asylum are set free in a small French (or maybe Belgian; I don’t remember) town during WWI. Alan Bates is superb in the role of a Tommy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-war-movie/941184.md?page=5)