Best and Worst war movies

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sprayber
Some of you may disagree but the last samurai with Tom Cruise was a pretty good movie. It wasn't the best ever but I pretty much enjoyed it.

excellent movie. for some reason I don't think of it as a war movie though. more of a movie about samurai's

[hexagonian]

Master and Commander.

[Dis]

another great movie, but for some reason I don't think of it as a war movie.

[pchang]

In Harms Way
Starring John Wayne
Directed by Otto Preminger

[rah]

A lot of my favorites mentioned
Longest day
Kelly's heros (alltime most entertaining)
Patton
Bridge over
Great Escape
SPR
TTT
Midway
and a lot of others.
Not mentioned
Lawrence of Arabia.


Worst
Starship troopers, but it was so stupid it was funny.
Pearl, Good special effects but SO SAPPY
U571 or whatever

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Dissident
another great movie, but for some reason I don't think of it as a war movie.

What exactly do you consider war?

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by monolith94
Another great war film: The Cranes Are Flying

although we don't actually see that much of the war.

I also really liked Cold Mountain. I think I'm in the minority though.

"Cold Mountain" has to be the best Civil War flick ever, but I think that it more belongs in the Romantic category. If you're going to include films in which war is primarily a background event then you could add "Casablanca".

Has anyone here ever seen "King of Hearts"? It was a great film, but it was more of a balck comedy than a war film.

For those of you who have seen "King of Hearts":

"And who are you?'

" I'm ....uh..... the king of hearts."

" Sire! You've returned!"

[Joseph]

Run Silent, Run Deep

[alva]

We Were Soldiers - The Mel Gibson movie everyone forgets.

Great movie

A Bridge Too Far - Recently saw this for the first time watching it all the way through.

Glory - Everytime I see it on TV I stop and watch. Great performances.

Is that the one with Denzel?

Saving Private Ryan - Great battle scenes and it wasn't necessary a good ending

This movie gets very bad stick for no apparent resons IMO. I know of very few other movies that caused me to piss my pants. The problem maybe that after those frist 20 minutes, anything after that is going to be a disapointment.

Black Hawk Down - Hard movie to watch especially after losing some friends overseas. It has a lot of idealism and a lot WTF are we doing here.

Must have seen about 4 times, great soundtrack too.

Three Kings - very good performances from Clooney, Cube and Marky Boy

Good movie but wouldn't classify it as a war movie though, rather an action movie in war enviroment.

Great Escape - Classic movie

For some reason I can't watch this movie anymore with chuckling all the way through.
" Donald Pleasance is doing forgeries on bits of tin can with a bit of jam. Clang! And on the day of the escape, they’re all there, and Steve McQueen has joined up in the escape, and the British have trilby hats on, overcoats, canoe, a bit of a rabbit… And Steve’s just there in jeans and a T-shirt, disguised as an American man! He romps out, jumps in a motorbike, knocks a guy off, and within 15 minutes, he’s in the borders of Switzerland. This is from Poland! And if you don’t know the geography, it goes Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Venezuela, Africa, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon… and then Switzerland."

Full Metal Jacket - Another Classic

Though perhaps not as serious as the rest but I really loved "Biloxi blues"

[Sandman]

Worst war film ever - Braveheart

Braveheart would be my second choice. Sentimental, dull, pompous schlock that seems to drag on forever.

Imagine a historical film about, say, the D-day landings. Now imagine that all the attacking American troops were dressed as cowboys and the fighting took place on the side of a mountain.

That's Braveheart.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
strange that some people think the thin red line wasn't realistic. I found it haunting.

what is brought out really well is what it means to assault a position and officer's role of driving men over an objective regardless of cost when you really feel like the smartest thing to do would be to run away. I really got drawn in to the drama and fear and the ruthless primitive brutality of an infantry assault. The fact that soldiers were being shot down by gunners they couldn't even see before they even got close to the objective was very realistic and chilling.

There were many surreal moments in that movie.

It gets better and better every time you watch it.

I think alot of people were let down because they were expecting another Saving Private Ryan with this movie. Thin Red Line is totally different kind of movie, and in the long run is a deeper, more thoughtful movie.

[alva]

Originally posted by Sandman


Imagine a historical film about, say, the D-day landings. Now imagine that all the attacking American troops were dressed as cowboys and the fighting took place on the side of a mountain.

That's Braveheart.

Hmm, could be but before the movie:

William who?!?!?

after the movie:

William...F R E E D O M

[Alexander's Horse]

I found Saving Private Ryan really annoying. The Hanks character continuously makes poor command decisions which ultimately lead to his death and the death of most of his patrol. And he's the heroe?

I was irritated even more because I still felt really upset when he died

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
I found Saving Private Ryan really annoying. The Hanks character continuously makes poor command decisions which ultimately lead to his death and the death of most of his patrol. And he's the heroe?

Not to mention the mission itself was idiotic.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Saving Private Ryan and Tora, Tora, Tora are at the top of my list. I also saw a four and a half hour Soviet era production of Leo Tolstoy's War & Peace which was damn good. In a capitalist society no one could have reproduced Napoleonic war battles using tens of thousands of soldiers simply because of the cost but the Soviets did and the results were world class.

Many Chinese war movies are like that. There are huge mobs of soldiers on both sides. It's awe-inspiring.