XBradTC

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XBradTC

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Top Ten War Movies

Update: Ace-alanche! (Sorta, DinT put it up after I begged) I hope you morons will take a look around. The EFP post was popular. The Exurban League, via The Sporting News, has a list of the 25 movies that make men cry. I’m not going to go down that road, but it did get me…

Update: Ace-alanche! (Sorta, DinT put it up after I begged)

I hope you morons will take a look around. The EFP post was popular.

The Exurban League, via The Sporting News, has a list of the 25 movies that make men cry. I’m not going to go down that road, but it did get me thinking about this: What are the Top Ten War Movies? I’ll give you a list, but by all means, let us hear YOUR nominations.

In no particular order:

  1. Apocalypse Now
  2. Blackhawk Down
  3. Hamburger Hill
  4. Full Metal Jacket (if only for Private Pyle)
  5. Saving Private Ryan
  6. The Longest Day
  7. A Bridge Too Far
  8. The Bridges of Toko-Ri
  9. Patton
  10. Gettysburg

Readers may note a bias towards WWII and later in my list. So sue me? Got a better idea? Here’s your chance to be heard.

Honorable Mention? Stripes. I always used to joke that it was the most realistic war movie ever.

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  1. For all my fellow morons… « Bring the heat, Bring the Stupid

    […] funny, I threw the Top Ten list post up just to have something up while I worked on some other stuff. Got more hits than any other […]

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  2. maleesha

    Good list. I think it’s missing Platoon.

    Like

  3. ExUrbanKevin

    Thanks for the link!

    My list:

    Kelly’s Heroes.
    Lawrence Of Arabia.
    Saving Private Ryan.
    Glory.
    The Great Escape.
    The Dirty Dozen.
    The Devil’s Brigade.
    The Eagle Has Landed.
    Blackhawk Down.
    Apocalypse Now.

    More details over at http://exurbanleague.com/2008/07/08/top-ten-war-movies.aspx

    Like

  4. xbradtc

    Maleesha, Platoon was no oversight. I didn’t like it. Not many things by Stone I like, and while I know that Platoon was more about the struggle of good vs. evil, it came pretty close to indicting all veterans of that war as criminals. Stone should have known better, as they were his brothers in arms.

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  5. elguapo

    I’m surprised no one has mentioned a little Korean (War) gem called Tae Guk Gi. If Saving Private Ryan was hailed for its realistic portrayal of WW2 combat, Tae Guk Gi gives it a run for its money with some of the grittiest scenes I’ve ever witnessed in a war movie. The scenes are quite amazing to watch, especially the ones that have 3000 or so extras in them.
    Youtube has most or even all the movie posted on it.

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  6. xbradtc

    Devil’s Brigade rocked, but I’d love to see a more true to life story of the First Special Service Force.

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  7. Patton

    Many, though not most, of the movies on that list wouldn’t have occurred to me, because I didn’t like them, for various reasons.

    However, the mere thought of including Stripes validates the entire thing. Bravo.

    Like

  8. xbradtc

    elguapo, thanks for the heads up. That’s hardcore.

    Like

  9. Holdfast

    I always liked Enemy at the Gates – it came out just after Private Ryan and I thought Enemy was much better – the first 20 minutes of Ryan is great, the rest is pretty much crap.

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  10. John H

    I like old Blue Eyes in Von Ryan’s Express. Interesting story line and a peculiar role for Sinatra.

    For sheer comedy, forget Stripes. Try Operation Petticoat or Father Goose featuring the inimitable Cary Grant.

    Best TV series….Hogan’s Heroes wins hands down. (OK so it’s not a movie….yet)

    Like

  11. xbradtc

    I put Petticoat up on the list at Ace’s. Grant, Curtis, and a bevy of babes. And who can forget Gavin McLoed in his pre loveboat days.

    Loved Father Goose but haven’t seen it in forever.

    Can’t believe we have to put up with crap like “Redacted” and no one makes Hogan’s Heroes.

    Like

  12. MCaldwell

    Good to see “Sergeant York” on here as a Tennesseean! Also really like “The Fighting 69th” with James Cagney and Alan Hale, Sr. “Alamo” with Billy Bob Thorton’s amazing potrayal of David Crockett is decent. As the son of a USMC DI I have to put down “FMJ”, but “Hamburger Hill” and “We Were Soldiers” are both better. Still get a thrill from the “Soldiers” soundtrack: Try listening to “Sgt. MacKinzie” or “Mansions of the Lord” without getting a lump in your throat…

    Like

  13. marley howards

    Thanks for the list, will try to see all of them and see if they are worth the attention.

    Like

  14. Grognerd

    Boys in Company C
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077270/

    anti-war, pro-warrior film

    R Lee Ermey doing a better R Lee Ermey than he did in FMJ

    Like

  15. Clint Alphen

    A glaring omission…”The Guns of Navaronne”

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  16. Cajun

    Great list all, so I’ll just add one that I really liked. If I remember correctly it was called The Boys in Company C. Very good friend who was in Viet Nam says to him it was the most realistic portrayal of life there. I can’t vouch for that, but enjoyed the movie.

    Like

  17. flashman

    No one liked Pearl Harbor? Can’t imagine why…

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  18. Moron Pundit

    Exactly flashman.

    No one liked Pearl Harbor. haha.

    Like

  19. George

    Great list and it just ballooned my netflix queue.

    Another Mitchum one I liked was “Heaven Knows Mr. Allison”.
    Also starred Deborah Kerr. I highly recommend it.

    But then again, I liked everything Mitchum did

    Like

  20. Kramer

    The Michaell Caine movie about Rourke’s Drift is called “Zulu” I believe.

    Like

  21. DJ

    …sorry to complain, but wow, absolutely the worst list I’ve ever seen. ‘Apocalypse Now’ as #1? It’s like watching the fat lady in opera take fifteen minutes to die on stage. Overblown, full of Hollywood conceit and artsy winks at how Marlon Brando is such an artiste.

    Full Metal Jacket? Possible the most pretentious script ever.

    Saving Private Ryan? The only thing that saved anything in that movie was Spielberg’s budget. I hated it. WWII movie based simply on visual effects.

    And seriously, you put up a war movie list but left Platoon off entirely? Lord, how is it possible?

    😛

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  22. jeffsher63

    There are so many good ones, it’s very difficult to narrow it down to 10.

    There is one that I didn’t see mentioned: Enemy at the Gates. Great movie about 2 snipers at the Battle of Stalingrad.

    Like

  23. G. Hamid

    I never see “Go Tell The Spartans” on these lists. I did a year in ‘Nam and thought that movie was very good.

    Like

  24. D Neff

    A list of war movies without the list.

    Schindler’s list.

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  25. Dick Nixon

    Gods and Generals was a pretty darned good one. Seeing the various sides of Stonewall Jackson was pretty cool. And when the Confederates hit the flank of the Union Army at Chancellorsville, the music will make your hair stand up.

    Like

  26. Thomas Rosquin

    Saving Private Ryan floored me the first time I saw it…..I was speechless for the next few days. I absolutely love that movie. I have seen Apocalypse Now at least 5 times and it does not do it for me. I mean it good…..but not #1. And What about The Kingdom. Didn’t think it would be anything special….but it kicked butt!

    GoToTrafficSchool is the best and most convenient way to attend online Traffic School on the Internet.

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  27. GrumpyUnk

    Wow, good list and great additions form the rest of you. Many that I haven’t seen yet. So I’m gonna have to get with it. Thanks.

    Like

  28. Richard

    How about hte French & Indian war? (Last of the Mohicans). I do Prefer the Daniel Day-Lewis version of it though.

    Like

  29. Brandon

    Most war movies are set during world war II so a bias towards them is natural.
    my list would have had mash, but i guess its your list.

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  30. chunque

    I can’t believe you put blackhawk down above full metal jacket.

    http://www.stuffwhitedbagslike.wordpress.com

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  31. David Gillies

    One genre I like is ‘movies set during the war’ rather than war movies per se. In this category there are a few standouts.

    I particularly like:
    Empire of the Sun (semi-autobiographical J. G. Ballard)
    Hope and Glory (semi-autobiographical John Boorman)

    An under-appreciated Vietnam movie is 84 Charlie Mopic.

    For great fun and some excellent special effects (at the time), what about 633 Squadron?

    Like

  32. G

    Come on people, no mention at all of The Big Red One?
    A great unmentioned submarine movie: Run Silent Run Deep.
    Another excellent forgotten film is The Cruel Sea.

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  33. John Rigdon

    One of my favorite Steve McQueen movies that never seems to make any “Top Ten War” list is The War lover (He is a B-17 Pilot in England).
    Then there is the classic Wings, which I think was the first movie to win an Oscar in 1928. Not much interest for that one because it was a silent film, but great flying scenes.

    Like

  34. Phillip

    My Opinion:

    1) Patton

    2) To Hell And Back.

    3) The Patriot (the premise of the Swamp Fox made more people study
    him) and how important he was for oue beginning.

    4) Tora! Tora! Tora!

    5) Breaker Morant

    6) Saving Private Ryan

    7) Gods and Generals

    8) Enemy At The Gate

    9) Zulu

    10) Sgt York

    Like

  35. ColoComment

    I don’t think anyone has mentioned either The Great Escape or Mash (which everyone forgets originated as a movie)?

    Like

  36. The Citizen Cane

    It is impossible to please everyone with a top 5, top 10 or any top list. But it’s hard to make a top 10 list of war movies and leave out “Bridge on the River Kwai” which was one of the great movies of all time, let alone war movies.

    Like

  37. Brandon

    I mentioned mash, but I agree with you since most people I’ve talked to about it were clueless.

    Like

  38. zuhzuhzombie!!

    Apocalypse Now? Really?

    No Bridge Over the River Kwai? Really?

    No Tora! Tora! Tora!? Really?

    Neither of the recent Eastwood films? Really?

    Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down are good action movies, but not very solid war movies.

    Like

  39. The Eighth Art

    Apocalypse Now is a great film. It does such a good job of exploring the mind’s reactions to death and destruction.

    But really, no Glory?

    Like

  40. Blue Hen

    Sink the Bismarck (understated, factual)
    Battle of the River Plate (ditto)
    The Man who Never Was (ditto again)

    These movies approached interesting aspects of WWII, and didn’t succumb to mindlees action or gratuitous love angles. The fact that they wer all British may be the reason. Your thoughts?

    Like

  41. totaltransformation

    Does Braveheart count?

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  42. mikenale

    Platoon

    Red Dawn

    Iron Eagle

    We were soldiers once and young

    War Games (tech)

    Bat21

    First Blood (ok so its a small stallone war!)

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  43. Chuck Moss

    You forgot “IN HARMS WAY.” All those movies are army (except “BRIDGES, Air Force.) –give the Navy a chance! “HARM’S” got it all: John Wayne, Peter Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, battleships, PT Boats, Pearl Harbor…

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  44. xbradtc

    Chuck, how dare you! Bridges of Toko-ri is NAVY. You, know, ships, sailors, stuff like that… Don’t let the squids hear you credit Bridges to the zoomies.

    And, yeah, the list IS biased toward the Army. I am not an equal opportunity guy. There’s a ton of great Navy blogs out there. Let them make their own damn list.

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  45. inbodyexperience

    I agree with G. The Big Red One is one of the best war movies of all times. It’s jsut awesome.

    Like

  46. Top Posts « WordPress.com

    […] Top Ten War Movies Update: Ace-alanche! (Sorta, DinT put it up after I begged) I hope you morons will take a look around. The EFP post was […] […]

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  47. Stefan Fobes

    Add an 11th to that list, the real life possible Iran war. The claims about them, such as Iran funding terror in Iraq, are based on a bunch of lies, See the proof of this here.

    http://warofillusions.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/lies-damn-lies-and-the-case-for-an-iran-war/

    Like

  48. Budahmon

    “Go Tell The Spartans” with Burt Lancaster is a great movie about Nam. It maybe one of the least appreciated films about Nam, but for my money it is the best about that war…..

    Like

  49. xbradtc

    Mr. Forbes, glad to see that we have to put a political stamp on every single thing in the world.

    I would think that if you know anything at all about the history of the relationship between the United States and Iran since the fall of the Shah, you would understand that there has been and continues to be sufficient casus belli for us to attack at any time. For instance, their seizure and occupation of our embassy is certainly one, even before we address the inviolability of accredited diplomatic persons. I suspect that you would condemn the US for any violations of the Geneva Conventions, so why should Iran escape your condemnation for violations of other international treaties of even longer standing.
    If you peruse my posting on EFPs you may learn that even the simplest EFPs require significant machining and engineering to produce. Maybe not at the nation state level, as would be required for nuclear weapons, but more than the insurgents in Iraq generally have access to. Are they coming from Iran? That’s what the smart money says.
    Further, threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz is an act that, while short of war, is not the sign of a good neighbor.
    I can’t think of any particular reason why the US and Iran can’t have a comfortable level of relations except this. Iran’s leadership has gone out of their way to demonize the US (have you seen mass rallies of Americans in the streets shouting DEATH TO IRAN!)
    Should Iran cease its support of Hezbollah and other terror organizations, and make the barest gesture of reparation for our embassy and staff, we would see very quickly a warming of relations.

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  50. Vmaximus

    Good reply Xbrad,
    Along those lines, is the bombing of the Indian embassy in the Stan reason for India to start a war? If so with who? The Taliban? I think that The US and India need a closer relationship. How? I do not know, but it is intuitive if you ask me.

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