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As I sit here, laughing my %#* off watching 1941, I am reminded of bar discussions over which war movies were the best. My all-time favorite is and always will be Patton. "no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country, he won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his.'

What are your war movies?

Full Metal Jacket

The Front Line

The Empire Strikes Back

We Were Soldiers

Catch 22
Platoon
Paths of Glory
Waterloo
Das Boot

Big Red One
Thin Red Line
Saving Private Ryan
Hamburger Hill
Glory (some of the most realistic and well done depictions of Civil War infantry movements PERIOD)
Gods and Generals
The Battle of the Bulge
Patton (Rommel you magnificent bastard!)

Now if we expand "War movies" to propaganda films during war time
Lifeboat
Casablance

for two obvious examples.

Ice cold in Alex.
The best beer commercial ever made.

 marv335 wrote:
Ice cold in Alex.
The best beer commercial ever made.

He's not wrong.

Kelly's Heroes

I like where eagles dare

 marv335 wrote:
Ice cold in Alex.
The best beer commercial ever made.

Great advert, shame the beer it was advertising is horse urine.

Anyway in answer to the actual question my favorites are:

Kelly,s Heroes (obviously)
Zulu
Bridge on the River Kwai
A Bridge too Far
Cross of Iron
Patton
Lawrence of Arabia
Glory
Gettysburg
The Great Escape
Black Hawk Down
We Where Soldiers
Where Eagles Dare
The Dirty Dozen
Saving Private Ryan
Full Metal Jacket
Come and See
Stalingrad
Apocalypse Now (not really sure if I would call this a movie, it's more of a decent into madness set during a war)

In addition to the above, and with a little bit of license:
Gettysberg
Tora Tora Tora
Battle of Britain
In Harms Way
The Sand Pebbles
The Great Escape
Hell is for Heroes
The Alamo
The Horse Soldiers
Spartacus
A Bridge Too Far
Last of the Mohicans
The Killing Fields
Battlefield
Band of Brothers (ok its a miniseries)
The Longest Day
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pork Chop Hill
MASH
The Bridges at Toko Ri

Interestingly three of these movies are about units of the 101st in WWII.

Grave of the Fireflies

Brotherhood
Assembly
Stalingrad
Das Boot
Come and See

Apocalypse Now I think is my favorite by far.
Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill and Platoon are also up there along with The Eagle Has Landed.

In no order:

FMJ
Dam busters
Ice station Zebra
Zulu
Henry V
The great escape
Schindlers list

I'm sure there are many many more.

MacArthur (Gregory Peck) is one of my favourites, especially with this line during the Korean war, when he responded to a Washington directive about attacking the Chinese bridges over the Yalu:

"In all my years of military service, I have never learned how to bomb half a bridge!"

It's strange how American posters seem to leave out Zulu. That film is epic! You guys are missing out.

So, my actual favorites are:

Apocalypse Now
Catch 22 (But the book is even better)
Paths to Glory
All Quiet of on the Western Front

None of these movies make war look very good though, so maybe that is why I like them.

Good ones E I forgot about Paths and Catch 22

Does Escape to Victory count as a war movie?

I assume non-brits know what I'm talking about

SlaveToDorkness wrote:Kelly's Heroes

I feel embarassed that I failed to mention this.

A Bridge Too Far
The Longest Day
Hamburger Hill
Full Metal Jacket

I'm a big fan of 'Downfall' and also 'Cross Of Iron' and 'Night And Fog' as well....
For those of you who have not seen 'Night And Fog', it's a pretty harrowing French Documentary made in 1955 about the Holocaust. It's not for the faint of heart, but heres a little snippet...



Not the actual Documentary, because it's age restricted and I don't have a youtube account, but it shows some of the actual film used....

Also:
Restrepo, although thats a documentary
Black Hawk Down

Restrepo was fantastic!
and I can't believe I forgot "A Bridge To Far"

Battle Los Angeles

Empire Strikes Back

Kelly's Heroes
Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
Black Hawk Down
Hurt Locker
Saving Private Ryan
The Eagle Has Landed
Hamburger Hill
Tigerland
All Quiet On The Western Front
Zulu

Most of the good ones have already been listed, so....

The Battle of Britain

The Guns of Navarone

Why in god's name would you put Hurt Locker down as a good, let alone great war movie? I'd have fragged that ladies man just on general military principle. I work with plenty of ex EOD guys and you should listen to them wax eloquent about that film.

As far as great war movies -

The 300 Spartans
A Bridge Too Far
Zulu, and possibly Zulu Dawn
Waterloo
Gettysburg
Charge of the Light Brigade
Gallipoli
Tora Tora Tora
Starship Troopers


..... Mutant Chronicles was fun, but not great.

Second that, The Hurt Locker was dog gak.

Yeah, a lot of people with military backgrounds seem to dislike Hurt Locker haven't seen it myself though (at least it looks that way on DakkaDakka).