With Troy now playing, we should pick our favorite war films, Troy doesn't count, it is too new to consider. Also, for this list, Lord of the Rings is an adventure quest, not a war movie, even though it has fantasic battle scenes Red's five: 1. Full Metal Jacket (1987) -- The best of the Vietnam movies. R. Lee Ermey steals every scene he is in. 2. Braveheart (1995) -- The best of the medieval war epics. The Scots mooning the English army en masse is classic. 3. Battleground (1949) -- The best of the early WWII movies. The 101st Airborne at Bastogne. 4. Zulu (1963) -- The best British war movie. Real Zulu's make it authentic. The King of the Zulus played his grandfather in the film. 5. Dr. Strangelove (1964) -- The best war comedy. Peter Sellers is great playing three roles. "You can't fight in here! This is the War Room!" OK, let the lobbying for "Patton" and "Saving Private Ryan" begin. The best of the modern WWII movies, it's hard to leave them off. Maybe I should have done a top 10 . . . I known Bengal B will.
hmm...let's see. I like Platoon, The Patriot, Braveheart, of course Full Metal Jacket, We Were Soldiers was great. and oh...least I forget, the first three Star Wars!!!!
How can you possibly leave Apocalypse Now off ???? I would put Saving Private Ryan at the very top for all war movies. Because the starting scenes moved a nation of young people to remember those soldiers.....
Apocalypse Now - How can this be left off? Platoon - Good Vietnam War movie. Band of Brothers - I know it’s not a movie, but it was based on real people and real events. The Patriot - A great Revolutionary War movie. Saving Private Ryan - I think that up until this movie other war movies hadn't depicted the horror of war so graphically. They hadn't shown the effect of war on human beings. The opening scene really made you realize what these kids were going through. It wasn't "John Wayne'd" up to be purposefully heroic. These aren't in any order, they are just my top 5 War Movie picks. Patton - Was a great movie, but I'm not sure it ranks among the top 5. It is, however, in the top 10. Looks like I'm going to be renting War Movies this weekend. Thanks Red!
I like your choice of ZULU. It's vastly underrated. It's going to be on AMC tomorrow night if I'm not mistaken.
I liked two older (from the 50's) war movies. "Darby's Rangers" with James Garner and "Battlecry" with Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, and Aldo Ray. "Saving Private Ryan" was really good, but it was one of those films (like "Schindler's List"--also a great wartime movie) that I only had the stomach to see one time. "Gladiator" is pure greatness, with "Braveheart" not far behind.
Don't know if you guys have ever seen it but the German movie "Das Boot" or the "The Boat" about WWII submarine is the best I've ever seen. Won't spoil it for you but you've got to see it. On the DVD you can choose subtitles with them speaking in German- nice touch if you don't mind reading the subtitles. Gives you a good idea of what it was like to be in the German Navy. Go get it, you'll be glad you did!
