Favorite war movies?

[The Mastiff]

If you like them what are some of your favorites?

Battle of Britain
Sink the Bismark
Zulu

Are some of mine.

[JD Spydo]

I wasn't all that big on war movies per se because I discovered very early in life that many of the war films during the 60s especially were works of propaganda. The John Wayne war films truly depicted that scenario IMO but his weren't the only ones either. But one that I personally found intriguing was "The Bridge On The River Kwai". I first saw it on a "late, late show" on a local TV Station long after it's initial release and it was good compared to most of the "shoot em up" type films.

Now there was a TV Show in the mid 60s that I was fanatical about that had a WW II theme and one of my uncles told me that the show did depict a lot of what went on in North Africa in WW II. The show known as "The Rat Patrol" was one that I just didn't miss way back when I was in Jr. High School. The show was based on many battles the USA was engaged with the Nazis in Northern Africa in the Sahara desert countries. It intrigued me a lot because of a lot of stories that one of my late uncles told me about the WW II battles in North Africa were probably some of the hardest fought battles in many respects in the entire war. Even my uncle stated that some of the Rat Patrol shows had some accuracy in them.

Actually I had two uncles who served in North Africa in WW II and the conditions that they had to deal with in the Sahara desert were demanding and cruel needless to say. It was a part of WW II that you don't hear much about anymore but it was a very vital, strategic part of WW II. And fought in extremely harsh conditions too. As far as I know the Rat Patrol may have been the only prime time TV show about WW II battles in North Africa. But it was always thrilling and never ever boring.

[James Y]

Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Jim

[Extra330SC]

1)Patton
2)Final Countdown
3) Full Metal Jacket
4)Apocalypse Now
5) Battle of the Bulge
6) Das Boot

James

[rangefinder]

My all time favorite war movie (and one of my favorite movies in general) is "Lawrence of Arabia". It's not entirely historically accurate, but it is visually stunning.

It's also a really long movie. The original 1962 release was almost 4 hours long (3:40) and included an intermission. Over the years, it got cut down a lot to reduce the running time. In 1989, a version that mostly restored the original film was released to theaters, and I was fortunate to get to see that in 70mm on a really big screen. In 2012 an even more complete restoration was done for the film's 50th anniversary. I didn't get to see that version at a theater, but do have it on Blu-Ray.

[shunsui]

War movies are great. I agree with all the above but my favorite war movie has to be the first 40 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. The rest of the movie wasn't bad either.

On a lighter note, I have a soft spot in my heart for The Americanization of Emily.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27534776@ ... otostream/

[wrdwrght]

A Walk in the Sun
**** in the Pacific
The Big Red One
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
Hamburger Hill
Platoon

I’m drawn mostly to the character development and the strong sense of loss that comes with small-unit narratives. I also like Lee Marvin...

[z4vdBt]

**** in the Pacific

Excellent choice. Lee and Toshiro.

Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

[Halfneck]

Band of Brothers
The Big Red One
Kelly's Heroes
Hamburger Hill (my old Brigade - 187th Inf)
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Patton
Flying Tigers
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo

Just a few off the top of my head. There's a lot of good ones out there.

[The Mastiff]

There are a lot of really good movies listed here. Some I haven't seen for a while so maybe it's getting to be time. Lawrence of Arabia I have never seen. Maybe it's time.

I have a movie I don't know the name of and haven't seen since the 60's . If it seems familiar please get me the name so I can arrange to watch it again.

It takes place shipboard during a gun battle in WW1 or 2 ( can't be sure). The thing that stands out in my memory is one of the gun crew that grabs the cartridge case and throws it on a conveyor belt after the big gun fires who loses his gloves and has to keep grabbing and throwing the hot spent cases with no protection from the heat. IIRC, it is British and black and white and the movie is pretty old.

If that rings any bells please let me know.'

Also not really war movies as such but right up my alley growing up as a cold war kid :" Bombers B52" , "The Strategic Air Command "( Jimmy Stewart and lots of real B36 film done very well for that time), and "Towards the unknown" which was filmed at Edward AFB and stars some unusual aircraft that never were accepted and purchased by the air force. "X 15" is another good movie.

Joe

[ChrisinHove]

I love those WW2 naval films, possibly because my old man had sailed and worked with guys who had fought at sea: some had been torpedoed several times.

There were quite a few B&W British naval war films made in WW2: I think they must have been easier to make with stock battleship footage, models and indoor/below decks scenes.

Out and out propaganda maybe, but they also showed people “pulling through” defeat, loss, hardship etc, which was very much the message needed.

“In Which We Serve” with Noel Coward is amongst of the best of the genre.

I think “Saving Private Ryan” might be the best war film ever made, though.

[JD Spydo]

Band of Brothers
The Big Red One
Kelly's Heroes
Hamburger Hill (my old Brigade - 187th Inf)
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Patton
Flying Tigers
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo

Just a few off the top of my head. There's a lot of good ones out there.

Very Interesting you mention FULL METAL JACKET :cool: My Brother who did two tours of duty in the Marine Corps told me that the movie FULL METAL JACKET was about the most true Hollywood depiction of what really went on during boot camp and overall training when he was in the armed forces.
The big thing I really like about that movie is that it's one of STANLEY KUBRICK's masterpieces. Every Stanley Kubrick movie I ever saw really stuck with me. And I'm not a big movie goer as a general rule. The recent remake of Pet Sematary was a huge let-down from the original IMO.
But it seemed like every Stanley Kubrick movie stuck with me for many years. I still have vivid memories of CLOCKWORK ORANGE from the early 1970s. During the early 70s that movie really broke a lot of new ground>> and you can sort of say that about FULL METAL JACKET.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Without getting into actual movie names, I like any well-made war movie in which America and the Allies kick Nazi, Axis, and Commie butt, and that have a good amount of knife/blade action in it. To name some movie names, Patton and also much of Inglourious Basterds, along with others.

War Movie quiz question: Who said this line and from what movie does it come from? "This is my rifle and this is my gun. This is for fighting and this is for fun."

[z4vdBt]

There are a lot of really good movies listed here. Some I haven't seen for a while so maybe it's getting to be time. Lawrence of Arabia I have never seen. Maybe it's time.

Bedu?

Turks.

[MacLaren]

The dirty dozen.
Battle of the Bulge
Midway
Patton

[Jazz]

I'm sure there are more, but Saving Private Ryan and Lone Survivor are good.

[TkoK83Spy]

Hacksaw Ridge and Black Hawk Down are also very good.

[Crux]

All of the above.

[Halfneck]

Definitely forgot Blackhawk Down.

That movie resonated with me as I entered service as it was the same time frame. There was a soldier in my Brigade who was there. The scene where they are driving through the town getting shot up and the .50 gunner gets killed - that was his friend. In the movie it shows someone else taking over - one of the Delta guys maybe. In actuality he pulled his friend down an took over firing. Pretty wild listening to him talk about racking back the charging handle and sweeping fire into the crowd from one side of the street to the other. He said he knew he shot civilians doing so, but had no way to avoid it. Chief Durant (the 160th pilot that was shot down an captured) could be seen on base at times. All accounts a nice guy and his unit did right by him - as I heard they paid off his house while he was recovering.

The impact of that mission effected US military policy for years to come. Any soldier that knew the particulars of it resented the Presidential administration at the time.

[rangefinder]

There are a lot of really good movies listed here. Some I haven't seen for a while so maybe it's getting to be time. Lawrence of Arabia I have never seen. Maybe it's time.

I have a movie I don't know the name of and haven't seen since the 60's . If it seems familiar please get me the name so I can arrange to watch it again.

It takes place shipboard during a gun battle in WW1 or 2 ( can't be sure). The thing that stands out in my memory is one of the gun crew that grabs the cartridge case and throws it on a conveyor belt after the big gun fires who loses his gloves and has to keep grabbing and throwing the hot spent cases with no protection from the heat. IIRC, it is British and black and white and the movie is pretty old.

If that rings any bells please let me know.'

Also not really war movies as such but right up my alley growing up as a cold war kid :" Bombers B52" , "The Strategic Air Command "( Jimmy Stewart and lots of real B36 film done very well for that time), and "Towards the unknown" which was filmed at Edward AFB and stars some unusual aircraft that never were accepted and purchased by the air force. "X 15" is another good movie.

Joe

I was just flipping through the channels and saw the very end of a movie called "Okinawa" and there's a character standing on the deck with his hands bandaged up. So I did some quick Googling, and I think this might be the movie you're talking about. It's B/W, but it's a US ship.

From the full synopsis here: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/27518/Okinawa/

During the following attack, Emerson accidentally loses his heavy protective gloves, but continues his job of removing hot empty shells as they come out of the number two gun. His hands severely burned, Emerson collapses after the attack and is taken to sickbay by Grip and Robby.