I agree with Force 10 from Navarone. So the characters had been changed, so what? Here’s one that I like which hasn’t been mentioned: The Devil’s Brigade.
Personally, I’d like to see movie versions of Mark Berent’s Rolling Thunder and the subsequent novels. If done properly, these would be great!
I’d like to point out that I think POW movies are a seperate genre so no Bridge on the River Kwai or The Deer Hunter.
Another great ‘war’ movie is the recent version of Henry V. Which had some really great dialogue and a some great battle scenes.
What I would like to ask is what makes a war movie great?
Battle scenes?
Historical accuracy?
Plot and character?
Of course you really need all of these to make a great war movie unless it is a futureistic or sci-fi one so you don’t need historical accuracy.
So would the Star Wars trilogy be a great ‘war movie’?
What about films like ‘The Best Years of our Lives’ or ‘The Man in the Grey Flannal Suit’ or ‘Casablanca’? The first two deal with coming home (another choice?) from the war and the after effects. Casablanca is about joing the war as is AH’s The Lady Vanishes.
What makes a war movie a war movie?
More recomendations would be Hope and Glory, Empire of the Sun, and The Last Emperor.
Are there any good American Reveloution films? I thought The Patriot sucked.
2.Paths of Glory–Kubrick’s dissection of military incompetence
3.Bataan–Terrific, if jingoistic account of the Bataan Death March
4.La Grande Illusion– Jean Renoir’s WWI classic
5.All Quiet on the Western Front The restored version of this 1930 adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel that TCM showed last year had me in tears by the end
6.Kagemusha–Another great feudal Japan war flick from Akira Kurosawa
7.Spartacus–more of a slave rebellion than a war, but still an awesome flick, Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas’s second collaboration
8.Flesh and Blood–One of Paul Verhoeven and Rutger Hauer’s movies before they were both ruined by Hollywood, this 1985 Dutch film is the best ever medieval war film, showing the real horror of the destruction visited on the land and people
9.Henry V–I prefer Branagh’s 1989 film for the verisimilitude of the performances, rather than the sing-song pronunciation of Olivier’s 1944 version.
10.Drums Along the Mohawk–Henry Ford and Claudette Colbert defend their upstate New York farm during the French and Indian War. (The Seven Years War to you Europeans)
I’m pleased to discover I’m not the only person in the world who saw “A Midnight Clear.”
I also like:
“Saving Private Ryan” - Despite the sandwich scenes, a terrific, scary, stunning experience. I thought Tom Hanks was magnificent, and didn’t get the credit he deserved for a very subtle, nuanced performance, despite the Oscar nomination.
“Das Boot” - Good Lord, don’t see the dubbed version, though.
“Glory” - This movie seems largely forgotten now. I can’t imagine why because it was one slam-bang terrific movie. One of the first modern Civil War epics to really show how horrible the war was.
“MAS*H” - Still a classic, and a fascinating portrait of the attitudes of its time.
“12 O’Clock High” - Masterpeice.
“Braveheart” - Hey, it was a war movie.
“Patton” - Much of the movie seems dated now, but George C. Scott’s performance, with Karl Malden’s reflective performance, is a true joy to behold. Scott makes the whole movie worthwhile.
Saving Private Ryan. This sin’t just one of my favorite war movies, it’s one of my favorite movies.
Kelly’s Heroes
Braveheart
Patriot
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
One of the best cheesy war movies is Starship Troopers. 
Sorry bud, but that movie is NOT about the Death March. It is about the fighting on the peninsula before it.
And thank you Rocket88, I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who had seen The Beast also (found my copie in a pawn shop for $6 CDN).
Also, not to question peoples tastes, I find it bizarre that Force 10 has been mentionned several time (not a bad, not a great war movie, an OK one IMHO), while I seem to be the only one to have mentionned Guns ? Just curious about it that’s all.
You can coun’t me in also for A Midnight Clear, although it is not the best Bulge movie (this would be a 50’s movie called Battle IIRC, with Van Johnson).
Another great Vietnam war movie is Hamburger Hill, the only thing I didn’t like about it, is that they didn’t mention that after all the trouble they went through to capture that hill, they abandonned it the day after it’s capture.
For those interested in POW movies, you should check a British one The password is Courage IIRC, with Dirk Bogarde.
Well, here’s my updated war-by-war list:[ul]
[li]French and Indian War- Last of the Mohicans[/li][li]Revolutionary War- The Patriot[/li][li]Texas War for Independence- The Alamo[/li][li]Civil War- Ride with the Devil. I just watched this tale of Missouri Bushwhackers on one of the movie channels again last night, and I believe it has overtaken Glory as my favorite Civil War flick.[/li][li]Indian Wars- Geronimo. Robert Duvall does an impressive turn in a supporting role in this underappreciated movie.[/li][li]Spanish American War- Can’t think of any good ones.[/li][li]WWI- Gallipoli. Captures the waste and stupidity of that war.[/li][li]WWII- European Theater- Saving Private Ryan[/li][li]WWII- Pacific Theater- Bridge on the River Kwai[/li][li]Korea- MASH (By default. There should be more movies about this war. There’s a lot of dramatic material there, from the Pusan Perimeter, to the Inchon Landing, to The Frozen Chosin, to MacArthur vs. Truman. Nobody’s made a good drama yet, though.)[/li][li]Vietnam- Casualties of War. Damn fine film with Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn.[/li][li]Grenada- What was that Clint Eastwood movie- Heartbreak Ridge?[/li][li]The Cold War- The Hunt for Red October[/li][li]The Gulf War- Three Kings[/li][li]Boer War- Breaker Morant[/li][li]Zulu War- Zulu[/li][]Scotland/England Conflict- Braveheart.[/ul]
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Casablanca
Lawrence of Arabia
Catch 22
Saving Private Ryan
The Thin Red Line
Platoon
Kelly’s Heroes
in no particular order:
-apocalypse now
-full metal jacket
-a bridge too far
-the thin red line
-saving private ryan (‘cmon, guys. the plot may have sucked, but it really showed the horrors of war. especially the start.)
-the deerhunter
-kellys’ heroes
-MAS*H
-spartacus
-gladiator (ok, stretching the definition. i really like it 'cause it’s a epic. real cast-of-thousands-stuff.)
-platoon
-good morning vietnam
and soon: the long- awaited Lord of the Rings trilogy! yeah! how’d you like them biscuits?
I think I’m all alone here but I just love
The Hunt for Red October
If you want battles and such, these won’t serve up what you’re looking for, but these are still good:
Bat 21 – vietnam war movie–important intelligence mucky-muck is shot down, and can’t be extracted via regular means. Danny Glover plays a pilot flying something akin to an ultralight who CAN get him. They’ve got radio contact, but he’s such a hot target they can’t speak plainly. Turns out they are both huge golf fans, so they map out the region like a famous golf course and that’s how Glover gets him out. Very interesting.
Paradise Road – a ship full of evacuees from an area in Southeast asia during WWII (mostly women and children) gets torpedoed. The women are rescued (from drowning, that is) but become POWs of the Japanese. Good cast, and an interesting look at a lesser-known aspect of WWII.
Five Graves to Cairo is one of those excellent war movies that I can see on AMC every so often. Directed by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone.
Of course, I love Casablanca and Stalag 17.
Renoir’s Grand Illusion and The Great Escape are some other “Prison Camp” movies.
I was not impressed with From Here to Eternity, probably because I read the (800+ page) book first – that’s a lot of meaning to cram into one movie. Burt Lancaster was great, though, as was Montgomery Clift.
The Fighting Sullivans - I dunno why, but, this movie has the power to just suck me right into it. My arms go numb, disallowing me to change the channels whenever its on. Maybe its the brothers thing.
I can’t believe y’all forgot the singlemost greatest war movie of all time:
1941
I mean, John Belushi as a fighter pilot? Dan Aykroyd with pantyhose on his head yelling “Haah! I’m a bug!!”. And the howitzer in the house?!? Come on here people!!
Tripler
And it was historically accurate too. Educational and entertaining!
A Bridge Too Far. Best Airborne movie ever made. I have a soft spot in my heart for Paratroopers.
ALL THE WAY!!!
Patton.
Lawrence of Arabia.
The Big Red One. I put the Big Red One in the same category with “A Midnight Clear,” and “Apocalypse now,” in terms of their slightly surrealist, absurdist approach to depicting warfare. Of the three, the Big Red One is still my favorite.
By the way…I saw Midnight Clear at the post theater on Ft. Benning Georgia when it came out. Great place to see it.
No one’s mentioned “The Iron Cross,” by Sam Peckinpah, huh? Ok, I will.
Gallipolli was good.
I’ll also throw in “Red Badge of Courage.”
And the Russian, 8 hour version of “War and Peace.” Get it if you can find it, and set aside the whole day. I saw it in a theater. The sheer scale of Borodino is overwhelming. Kinda like “Gettysburg,” but without the fake beards and cheesy, formulaic dialogue. Gettysburg DID capture more scale than most movies.
Glory was wonderful.
Hell in the Pacific.
Platoon.
Das Boot.
The Korean war DID produce an excellent drama…“Pork Chop Hill” starring Gregory Peck.
12 O’Clock High remains my grandfather’s favorite movie ever. He saw the real thing…flew in B17’s over Germany, including on the Regensburg shuttle mission.
There are so many other good ones. Saving Private Ryan.
Midway. (Proof that god was on our side. No other way we could have won that battle.)
Schindler’s List.
When’s someone gonna make a good movie out of “Mila 18?”
Just came back from seeing “Enemy at the Gates.” It reeked, pretty much. But the book remains the best piece of military history I’ve ever read. Highly reccommended.
Here’s hoping there will be no more wars to make movies about! <clink!>