War movies

Saving private ryan brilliant.

Apocalypse now nine out of ten

They are the only two war films I have ever rated. I don't like war films usually.

Sergey Eisenstein's Warship Potemkin


I don't like war films.

These are my 3 favorites-

Das Boot

The Pianist

Pearl Harbor

Documentary - DEAR AMERICA.
This is a documentary which combines letters from soldiers in the Vietnam War with news clips and music of the day. It is one of the best I have seen.

Although it is a miniseries, not a movie, Band of Brothers is by far the best war film I have ever seen. It has an IMDb rating of 9.5 with 11,000 votes, which should be a good indication of just how powerful it is.

Yes, Das Boot, definately a really good film.

Walter

It was good wasn't it, although I haven't watched it in quite some time.

Rukajärven tie (Ambush, 1999), a Finnish film set during the second war with the Soviet Union (1941), about a group of bicycle scouts who get behind enemy lines.

Hamilton (1998), Swedish action film about secret agent's war on terrorists.

De Aanslag (The Assault, 1986), Dutch film about the effect of traumatic war time experiences on people later in life. Won an Academy Award

Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange, 1977), Dutch film based on the true story of a group of student friends and their different fates during the Second World War, some choosing the resistance, some collaborating with the nazis. The film has an excellent musical score.

Le Vieux Fusil (The Old Gun/Vengeance One by One, 1975), French film about a surgeon who exacts bloody revenge on the Germans who have brutally murdered his wife.

Die Brücke (The Bridge, 1959), German film about the pointless defence of an unimportant bridge by blue-eyed hitlerjugend kids.

Kanal (Canal, 1957), Polish film set during the Warzaw uprising of 1944, most of the action plays out in the sewers of the city.

I chose some European film, supposing you have already seen most Hollywood flics.

My 20 favorite war -or war related- films:

Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
Landscape After the Battle (Wajda).
La vita è bella (Benigni)
Ran (Kurosawa)
Gallipoli (Weir)
The Killing Fields (Joffe)
Kagemusha (Kurosawa)
From Here to Eternity (Zinnemann)
Cross of Iron (Peckinpah)
Slaughter-House Five (Roy Hill)
Hostages (Tuttle)
Hitler: the last ten days (De Concini)
Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick)
Alexandr Nevsky (Eisenstein)
The Red and the White (Jancsò)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola)
Braveheart (Gibson)
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Shinoda, I think)
Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean)

"The Old Gun", commented by Paaskynen, is quite
interesting. It's a bit sick in my opinion. But if you want to build hatred and feel like killin'em bastards, then it's a film for you to see.

I don't consider "Battleship Potemkin" a "war film". Others may consider that some films on my list aren't war films, either.

WAR MOVIES
while i was only 15 years old when ww 2 ended, i do remember it well enough. i don't think war movies (particularly the rah-rah type of movies) portray the REAL horrors of war, the dead soldiers and civilians including women and children, the maimed, the people that have been scarred psychologically for life. i can still remember the many former soldiers sitting in wheelchairs after the war. i don't need war movies to show me the horrors of war. the only movie that seems to come close to it is (imho) ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT . my father served in ww 1 and i can still remember when on very rare occasions spoke of the horrors of war. i also have some postcards and some photographs of him when he was a young soldier of 18 when he was consripted in 1916. war movies ? no, thank you ! hbg

Good point hbg. That is a real anti-war war movie.

Erich Maria Remarque
Remarque was born in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. His mother was Anna Marie Kramer and father, Peter Maria Kramer, a bookbinder. He drafted into German army at the age of 18, and was wounded several times.

After his discharge Remarque had taken a teacher's course offered to veterans by the government. Remarque began his writing career as a sporting journalist, and assistant editor of Sportbild. Fame came with his first novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which touched a nerve of the time.

In the 1930s Remarque's books were banned by the Nazis. All Quiet on the Western Front was among the works consigned to be publicly burnt in 1933 by the Nazis. In 1938 Remarque lost his German citizenship, and he left Germany in the late 1930s.

First Remarque went to Switzerland and moved later to the United States, where he made friends with Hollywood stars. He died in Locarno, on September 25, 1970.

The Young Lions (1958):

Edward Dmytryk, director, Irwin Shaw for novel, Edward Anhalt for script.

A blonde Brando with a cultured German accent begins the movie thinking that Hitler would lead Germany into a wonderful future with opportunities, but reality as an officer slowly corrodes his dream. The story also follows Dean Martin as a reluctant soldier from Broadway and Montgomery Clift whose soldier reminds me of his role in From Here To Eternity, but with the love of Hope Lange. Martin and Clift support each other in the same, discriminatory outfit, but meet up with a haggard-looking Brando in the end. Excellent, long look at how wrong and inhumane war is.

i do like reading remarque's books. we have several of his books (in german), that we have read and re-read over the years. they've become somewhat dog-eared but still make good reading. hbg

fbaezer: A few comments on your list:

Paths of Glory (Kubrick): Fantastic film. I own it on dvd.
Ran (Kurosawa): Another great film.
Gallipoli (Weir): This one is on my list of dvd's to purchase.
The Killing Fields (Joffe): Haven't seen this one in a long time.
From Here to Eternity (Zinnemann): Great film.
Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick): One of the best movies of all time.
Alexandr Nevsky (Eisenstein): On my list.
The Red and the White (Jancsò): Saw this once. Honestly, I thought it was too confusing, too episodic. No narrative continuity, just a lot of senseless killing (which, I suppose, was the whole point).
Braveheart (Gibson): Not a big fan of this film. The battle scenes were good film, bad history.
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean): Can only truly be appreciated in the theater.

I'll add some to your list:

Sergeant York
The Caine Mutiny
Breaker Morant
La Grande Illusion
M*A*S*H
Patton
Catch-22
Mister Roberts
The Long Parade
Wings (1927)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)

And I'll echo hamburger's endorsement of "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Sergeant York
The Caine Mutiny
Breaker Morant
La Grande Illusion
M*A*S*H
Patton
Catch-22
Mister Roberts
The Long Parade
Wings (1927)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)

Great list...I'll just add Platoon...so good I'll never watch it again.

I understand what you're saying. I feel the same way about "Saving Private Ryan."

Oh, and I forgot to add "Glory" to my list.

There's another "sort of" war movie that is so well written I can watch it repeatedly and not get tired of it. Stalag 17. William Holden and Peter Graves are indelible in their roles.

Twelve O'Clock High is one of my favorites. A great study of leadership.

"Memphis Belle"...because my friends Dad was a navigator. I had to go visit the Belle in Memphis...walk inside and it's claustrophobia time.