View Full Version : Best war film of all time
My nomination is The Eagle Has Landed. Typical of it's genre, not too much attention to detail, goodie baddies and baddie baddies. Michael Caine is well cool, ably supported by an excellent cast.
I went to Mapledurham, the village it was filmed in last year, not much has changed and I could picture it all. Well worth a visit for nuts like me.
Bombardier
02-03-04, 19:24
I dont know about the best war film of all time but it is certainly in the top twenty.
:)
Drone_pilot
02-03-04, 23:29
My favourite has to be ice cold in alex.
Bombardier
03-03-04, 09:16
Ah yes Ice Cold in Alex.... It's 1942 and in the Libyan war zone an ambulance with two frightened nurses, a sergeant major and a fatigued John Mills are desperate to reach the safety of Alexandria. This exciting premise is given a further twist of tension as they pick up a stray South African officer (Anthony Quayle) who is not all he seems to be.
Great fim, good shout Drone_pilot
;)
Yes it's good film. I like scen from this film when they was in mine fild.
For me the best of war film is polish film "Wersteplatte". This film is about defend polish military outpost in Free City Danzing in september 1939. Polish have another good war film. This is "ORP Orzel". This film is about polish submarine. This sub was escaped from Talin in Latvia where was intern to England.
For me the best foreigner film is "A one bridge too far". This film is fantastic.
Derrick Stephenson
08-03-04, 22:48
My all time top10 favourites, but not in any order, are:-
Battle of the River Plate.
Sink the Bismark.
Cockleshell heroes.
The Man who never was.
Zulu.
The Dam Busters.
Full metal jacket.
Good Morning Vietnam!
Braveheart.
Eagles of the Fleet.
Just imagine sitting through them in one session!!!
Derrick.
Bombardier
08-03-04, 22:51
Im getting excited just thinking about it. :)
For good action sequences and realism, two of the latest releases get my vote - firstly, Black Hawk Down for its constant action and the way it was filmed and put together. Secondly, We Were Soldiers Once with Mel Gibson. Take him or leave him but this film was brilliant.
I agree with the other posts above - the older films such as Battle of Britain, River Plate etc are fantastic British films. The Longest Day (somewhat blown away by Private Ryan) and the Dambusters are great films too.
Bill Farnie
21-03-04, 00:57
but one of my all time favorites is " The Enemy Below"
Link to "Eagle has landed". Have just watched "Went the Day Well" and it scared the s*** out of me! So you can imagine the effect this propaganda film had in the UK sixty years ago.
Eagledriver
24-03-04, 04:20
Right on, Zofo. "We were soldiers." is not only one of the best(#1 in my book." but Mel Gibson did a fantastical job of acting in that movie. Took me all the way back to the Nam. :|
"Blackhawk Down" is excellent but it pisses me off to no end (politics of the day, I won't violate the board rules by launching a diatribe)
I have to say "We Were Soldiers" was a fine film, very well done. I actually like Mel Gibson more and more.
While not a movie, "Band of Brothers" is awesome. I have the boxed set and like my favoriet books, made the mistake of loaning it out. It is really well done.
I like "Bridge too Far" also, and for just plain kicks I love "Where Eagles Dare".
"Kelley's Heros" and "The Great Escape" and "The Dirty Dozen" are classics in my opinion, though not exactly war movies, they are enjoyable.
HighlandSniper58
06-05-04, 09:37
A Bridge Too Far.
For my sixpennyworth - I just can not understand why Blackhawk Down was made in the first place. Were I the US, I would not be proud of such an incident, let alone make a film about it. I read the book which was.....well, OK, but the film - awful!
Bill Farnie
06-05-04, 11:49
HighlandSniper58
I agree that the movie Black Hawk Down was not up to par with the book and pretty bad, but most screenplays can't capture the writings of a book in the first place.
The authors intent of writing the book was to simply write a dramatic account of what you call " the incident ". I would call it a battle. The book turned out to be much more. It's about men in combat and the heroism, courage and professionalism they displayed ( especially the men of Delta Force and the Navy Seals ) when the operation went terribly wrong and the brutality of the battle. The people of the United States should be proud of the men of Task Force Ranger.
Everyone has different takes on different things so I can respect your opinion of the book/movie but I feel that "We The People" of the U.S. should be proud of the men involved.
"Sahara" with Humphrey Bogart made in 1943.
Its not the greatest war movie ever, but I like it. I watch it every time its on. It was way before the spectacular special effects, but that doesn't detract from the film.
I saw this film and remake this film. It's was very good
I wasn't aware of a remake. I would like to see that too.
Derrick Stephenson
07-05-04, 22:21
Hi, Drywall,
you are of my generation, so you must like 'African Queen', not strictly a war film in the modern sense, but a classic to us 'Old Timers'.
Derrick.
Yes Derrick, I do like that one too. To me a lot of modern movies of all genres (sp?) depend more and more on FX instead of script or plot.
Bill Farnie
07-05-04, 22:31
Yep,
As a wise man once said.....they don't make em' like they used to.
The Greatest War Films Of All Time
1. Band Of Brothers
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. A Bridge Too Far
4. Apocalypse Now
5. Big Red One
6. Memphis Belle
7. Battle Of Bulge
8. Das Boot
9. Longest day
10. Thin Red Line
Honorable Mentions..... Bridge at Remagen ...The Devil's Brigade...Kellys Heroes..Full Metal Jacket
I've seen recently a russian film made in the 60-s "It's so quiet here at twilight" about woman air defence battery. It really makes a man cry.
Intresting if it's available in US?
PS. Do you know this film Polar?
Drone_pilot
21-07-04, 13:49
Hi menel, that sounds like a good film, i wonder if it,s avalable in the u.k.
do you know it's Rusian name.
Drone_pilot
21-07-04, 13:54
while i,m here does anyone remember a film called "Beach red"
i saw it when it came out and for the time (1967) it was quite graphic.
More Info (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061389/plotsummary)
New York Movie Review (http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=84553)
"A ZORI ZDIES TICHIJE" Director Stanisław Rostocki It was nominated for 1973 Oscar (not 60-s but it's black and white).
On our cableTV there's a program Europa Europa about old films. It's sponsored by EU or something like that . Mayby it's available in UK.
Drone_pilot
21-07-04, 21:14
Menel look at this
http://www.polishposter.com/images/1228.jpg (http://www.polishposter.com/)
Click on the image to visit Polish Posters
Ok Polar try this link http://www.polishposter.com/
Hi menel,
I don't remember/watch this film ( because i don't have canal Europa,Europa) but I see a lot of russian war films and I think that they are not good.
Did you like C.K Dezerterzy ?
DP I only see
sorry, this page is not available :?:
Bombardier
21-07-04, 21:29
The links working for me buddy :P
I still see : sorry, this page is not available. :roll:
What is on tat web?
Drone_pilot
21-07-04, 21:41
it's a site with a lot of polish film posters.
I like "Enemy At the Gate" it is based on an historical situation and slips slightly from the true story but otherwise maintains the grittiness that I think was Stalingrad. Too much love stuff. Yuk!
RW
Polar do you remember "posle perwogo ne zakushaju" in "sud'ba cheloweka" ?
I wish they would make a WW1 war movie for a change.Vimy Ridge, The Somme ... and get a really good director..
so far The Lost Battalion has been the best WW1 I have seen.. and it was made for TV
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287535/
gunplumber
05-09-04, 02:40
don't forget ...Cross of iron..
and for the life of me I can't remember the name of the movei..but loved it as a kid...about a P40 pilot that is being chased by a panzer across the desert...the P40 can't fly anymore so he has to drive that damn thing LOL funny but a damn neat movie
Eagledriver
08-09-04, 14:35
Durn, Gunblumber, that does sound like a neat movie. If you remember the name, post it. I'd like to see that one. :mrgreen:
No one seems to have mentioned Ice Cold In Alex...John Mills and Anthony Quayle at their best.....worth waiting for !!
Eagledriver
09-09-04, 13:25
You're right, Sparky. Seems as if we forgot about that one.
My list in no particular order
Battle of the bulge , Great escape , Where eagles dare , Heartbreak Ridge ( purely for the one liners good old Clint Eastwood comes out with) , Full metal jacket.
One of the more sombre films is Schlinders List, very powerfull. One of the few times that people came out of the movie and nobody was speaking !!!!
Band of brothers was a good series
For the Naval it would be rude not to mention the Hunt for Red October
:lol: :lol: :lol:
battleshipbob
25-10-04, 08:28
Hi Guys,
I've seen a lot of my favorite films listed here as well as some that I've never heard of before.
Here's a list of some of my favorites, in no particular order:
Great Escape
We Were Soldiers
The Eagle has Landed
Where Eagles Dare
A Bridge too Far
Saving Private Ryan
THe Dam Busters
Kolditz (I think this was a British T.V. Series, I saw it as a kid)
U-571 (not the best but pretty good anyways)
Das Boot
Zulu
Sahara
That's all I can think of right now
battleshipbob
26-10-04, 23:40
I forgot to add Gettysburg. Probably the best movie I've ever seen about the American Civil War.
OK, my list:
Talvisota (Winter War)
Das Boot
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Saving Private Ryan
Full Metal Jacket
Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown Soldier), old b/w version is better but new one is also ok
Enemy At the Gate
Heartbreak Ridge
Hunt for Red October
And Band of Brothers ofcourse even if it's not a movie
Like a lot of you, one of my favorites is A BRIDGE TOO FAR.
I think one of the best parts is when the German soldier (at Arnhem) comes forward with a white flag and says that his general wants to discuss a surrender.
The British 1st Airborne soldier says to the German, "We can't accept your surrender. We don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner. Sorry!"
LOL!
I hope that really happened and wasn't just a movie thing.
My British Airborne brothers have a lot of mettle! laugh;
Ok now my list and they are not all Air Force one's.
A Bridge too Far
The Longest Day (black & white version)
The Battle of Britain
The Dam Busters
Reach for the Sky
The Great Escape
We Were Soldiers
Saving Private Ryan
Schlinders List and as stated by 'Fingers' a very powerfull film.
I would like to offer another movie for consideration:
The Best Years of Our Lives
It is not strictly a war movie, and being an American film, it might not be well known overseas. Made in 1946 it chronicles the re-adjustment problems of three ex-servicmen, one of them a sailor who has lost both hands. It was so powerful that the film was re-released in 1954 when it was realized Korean War vets were having the same re-adjustment problems.
It won 7 academy awards, one for best picture. The actor that played the sailor, Harold Russell, actually had lost his hands in a training accident early in the war and went on to play parts in Army training films. He won an Oscar for best supporting actor and another special Oscar for being an inspiration to handicapped vets. This was the first time two Oscars had ever been awarded to the same actor for the same movie and the first time an Oscar had been awarded to a handicapped person. In fact, this was the first time a real handicapped person had ever played a major role in a movie.
The producer and director, both WWII vets, hired exclusively vets to ensure artistic license would be controlled. The only two males on the movie set not vets were Frederick March and Dana Andrews, the two male leads.
I show it to my History classes as part of the WWII unit, and even in black and white, it is powerful. I identify with many of their problems.
RW
Bill Farnie
16-04-05, 22:36
Great choice rotorwash. One of the best movies I have ever seen....
http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/Frisbee/otherpics/PLX101605.jpg
While not a true WAR movie...more of a Cold War movie...another good one is
ICE STATION ZEBRA from the book by Alistair MacLean.
U.S. Nuclear submarine with a Marine detachment versus Russian paratroopers at the North Pole.
Good action film, I think.
Great film.....
Only one problem. During the film, near the end I think, they showed a flight of Russian Migs, the aircraft they did show was a flight of RAF Lightnings. But still a great film with a very good story line.
Well, now!
RAF Lightnings!
Yeah, near the end of the movie, as the arctic storm is clearing, the Russians send a flight of jet fighters to cover their paratroops.
I didn't know of any other fighters that had the nose cone recessed into the intake, so I assumed those were MiG 21s.
Thanks, Matzos!! :)
Black Hawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
We Were Soldiers
We Were Soldiers
Excellent film about a truly great leader
PaperClipz
04-07-05, 04:18
And the good thing was that, it focuses on how a leader felt...~ No good or bad side..~
Like what Bruce Willis says in his role in Hart's War nearing the end when commented by the German officer that he has won, Bruce replied, 'No, we both lost'....~
ArcticWolf
15-01-06, 22:25
... for me would be Empire of the Sun solthum
Other war films that I like are:
Last of the Mohicans
Saving Private Ryan
(plus all the other ones I cannot remember I've seen... :o)
Dances with Wolves may not count strictly as a 'war film', but I like it too...
I definitley like apoclypse now redux version with the infamous site of surfboards strapped to rocket launchers as well as platoon movies like these really shocked an era in the U.S you didn't expct these things. I would also like to note that black hawk down had supurb tactics and realism it really put the gore back in war movies and showed american soldier spirit and creed under overwhelming odds and showed a lack of testicular growth in politicians hence democrats pulling out after tuff insidence. HMMMMM where have I heard that latley
2nd Lt. McGee
22-01-06, 20:10
uzi, Hey ya'll I just joined, what do ya'll think of the movie Annapolis that's coming out this weekend? It looks like it's going to be more "holly woodified" like most movies.rbo;
mt good friend goes to annapolis toughest school in the world will be intersting though
2nd Lt. McGee
23-01-06, 04:31
I wan't to either go there or West Point. What does mt mean?
I can sit and watch 'A Bridge to Far' army; again and again, I find it an excellent film and always see things in it I missed the first time around.
I wan't to either go there or West Point. What does mt mean?
It was a typo i meant my
"A Walk in the Sun" is a good one about the Italian campaign. Some WWII cliches, but still very enjoyable.
"The War Lover" with Steve McQueen.
"12 O'Clock High"
"Sahara"
Almost any British war film made during WWII or shortly thereafter.
'All Quiet on the Western Front" the B&W version only
solthum
TankBuster
23-02-06, 17:56
The great raid
Sands of Iwo jima
Saving Private ryan
Black Hawk Down
The Battle of Brittan
We were soildiers
Hunt for red october
A bridge too Far
Those rule!
Today I watched 'Downfall', a German-language film with subtitles, about the last days of Hitler & Nazi Germany. The film was based on the real events of that time and centred in and around the Reichschancellery bunker, mainly from the point of view of Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary. The real Traudl Junge also gives some personal testimony at the start and end of the film.
I thought it was an excellent film while being historically accurate and quite powerful in places. Well worth a look if you can see it. (Y)
Eagledriver
25-02-06, 11:37
Here's 2 more:
Tears of the sun
Wind talkers.
Band Of Brothers is the best movie ever303_no4
Capt. Cheatham
29-07-07, 22:44
unworthy; When I first saw 'Das Boot' when it was first released in US theaters, it was subtitled, & everything was spoken in German and I thought it was excellent. When I bought the VHS tape when it came out, it had been dubbed in English, which in this case, I thought really detracted from the realism of the film. From what I understand, this was originally a German TV series, but still, I think it is one of the best classic war films ever made.
sal; Also, 'All Quiet On The Western Front' made in 1930 is one of my all time favorites. Even the remake with Richard Thomas is surprisingly good.
unworthy; Absolute best propaganda film ever made, is 'Triumph Of The Will' by Leni Riefenstahl. So many of the images from this film are still used in documentaries today.
solthum I have to say, as bad as most of the war movies made from 1941-45 were, I just love watching them. 'Wake Island', 'Guadalcanal Diary', 'Bataan', 'Sahara', 'Action In The North Atlantic', etc., are so one sided but are so much fun to watch. I can only imagine going to the movies as a kid during the war, and watching these old movies.
med; Absolute best weekly TV war series has to be 'COMBAT!' ... Vic Morrow is the only actor that could have portrayed Sgt. Saunders. The series was repeated on Encore several years ago, and I tried to tape all of them. No blood n guts, no profanity. And the first shows were actually drawn from the wartime experiences of the crew & actors.
I just posted this to another thread in the forum, but it belongs here as well. Some of the British films mentioned here, I have never even heard of. I wish that I had an opportunity to see some of these films, but doubt there is much chance as here in the US, as everything is profit motivated, so finding sponsorship is doubtful.
uzi,
There are so many, as for the best, hard choice, even given realism and accuracy as a criteria, it's hard because some technically sound films are badly acted. I must say Cross of Iron, is on my list, as any movie that shows the gritty reality of warfare, I don't believe war should be candy coated.
I hope some of those Polish and Russian films see the light over here at sometime. Downfall is on TV here tonight but I'm working so I'll have to wait 'til they rebroadcast it. sal;
Capt. Cheatham
30-07-07, 01:39
uzi,
...I must say Cross of Iron, is on my list, as any movie that shows the gritty reality of warfare, I don't believe war should be candy coated.... sal;
Bob, if you get a chance, try to find a copy of the book. If you liked the movie, the book is even better. Great accounts of the fighting on the Eastern Front.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o248/gg32068/CrossofIron.jpg
http://www.deutschesoldaten.com/books/cross.htm
Check out the above link on the real Sgt. Steiner
Thanks Capt.
I have read it, several times, I loaned the book out years ago and it never came back, only hope it made some rounds. It's not a loss if it gets read by others. (Y)
Cheers Bob
Capt. Cheatham
31-07-07, 00:16
Thanks Capt.
I have read it, several times.....
I shudda known! hel;
Schindler's List starring Liam Neeson. very difficult for me to watch the Nazi's murdering the jews.
saving pvt ryan
das boot
the cruel sea. staring the late Jack Hawkins. an excellent all british film. the reverse of das boot. english corvettes hunting german Uboats.
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