[Closed] Greatest War Movie

Went the Day Well

Blackadder Goes Forth

Flags of our Fathers / Letters from Iwo Jima.

I really can't think of anything better than the Thin Red Line.

Fury

It wouldn't be STW if someone didn't say "it's bridge ON"

And 2nd Kajaki

arrpee - Member
Blackadder Goes Forth

This is a good point. Take away the humour (Which would be a shame, but!) and you are left with something that perfectly portrays the camaraderie, futility and madness of war, especially the final scene which is utter bloody perfection.

*Edit - Good to see someone else agreeing with Kajaki. Brutal, harrowing, and not an easy watch. But....war isn't an easy, nice thing. It's not all about heroics and action heroes. It's about real people thrust in to the maelstrom of something utterly terrible. Kajaki is a brilliant portrayal of that maelstrom.

Obviously not a film but not much comes close to Band of Brothers.

There is a Danish Film about the German invasion of Denmark that is pretty good and one about the Russian war with Georgia(?) 7day war(?) that are pretty good especially from a slightly historical point of view.

There is an American film documentary called the 'Hornets Nest' shot by a father and son team embedded with front line troops which give the most eye opening perspective of what it is actually like in combat and the grim reality of how quickly it can go badly and how fast lives end.

Platoon for me too.

A little know Vietnam film which I always enjoy is 84 Charlie Mopic.

Platoon is up there but my fave is Hamburger Hill.

It wouldn't be STW if someone didn't say "it's bridge ON"

Thank you for saving me the effort.

Glory is a very good War film, well worth a watch if you have not seen it.

Another film I remember well as a kid was an Israeli movie about the Entebbe Raid, a military action rather than a war movie per se. Hadn't realised that the present Prime Minister of Israel's older brother led and died during the course of the raid - the only Israeli military casualty.

I grabbed a £3 copy of Hamburger Hill in Tesco a week or two ago.

Downfall is probably my favourite but there are some great mentions above.

Valkyrie failed to disappoint me in the way I thought it would along with Jarhead (the Iraq bomb disposal one - have I remembered the name right?) but neither up to some of the others above.

Whoever put Zulu up that wouldn't have occurred to me but good call.

Basically there is no best, far too many good ones to have one favourite.

The Iraq bomb disposal was "Hurt Locker"

Aliens

i could never choose one

The Beast (of War) is worth a watch, much better tank film than Fury.

Aces High.

Saw this the other week and forgot how moving it is. Also seems to have stayed relevant, which I guess is why all these films are so popular and long lasting.

Saw Kajaki on the tele and it was gripping and grim. But somehow, I couldn't connect. The dodgy CGI Chinooks didn't help, but something else didn't click with me. Can't put my finger on it though.

The original Memphis Belle is good. Incredible to see real bullets flying towards the camera.

I was going to suggest [i]The Bridge On The River Kwai[/i]. I was taken to see it in the local cinema by my dad, at the time I had no idea of the significance, but I was very young, I'm not sure if it was when it was released, but that would have meant I was three!
But he died when I was thirteen, so who knows, but I later learned he was a PoW in Changi, and only a couple of weeks ago I found a load of old photos, one of them was his ID photo taken in Japan, and his berth card on HMS Formidable which took him to Sidney along with 1300 Aussie troops who'd been liberated at the same time, so that film is more than a little personal.

Battle of Britain is brilliant for the Aerial battles and Susannah York in stockings (when you're an 8 year old school boy that is).

I like Black Book too, Kalaji as mentioned above I think is superb.

Kelly's hero's just for Donald Sutherland.

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Not the best but got to go first on one film 🙂

The Dam Busters is easily my favourite, but Where Eagles Dare and The Great Escape are not too far behind.

I'd also highly recommend a little known, very low budget, film called Went the Day Well? very chilling in a rather understood way. Well worth checking it out.

Blackadder Goes Forth

The opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan pretty much left me cold. Felt rather like they were trying a bit too hard.

On the other hand, I can't watch the final scenes of Blackadder without my eyes watering.

In Order

Platoon
Jacobs Ladder
Casualties of War
First Blood

Edit * nearly forgot "Good Morning Vietnam"

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especially the final scene which is utter bloody perfection

Absolutely. I still remember watching the last 5 minutes leading up to that scene for the first time too. After laughing throughout every episode, the jokes suddenly begin to ring hollow and the laughter dies in your throat. You can even hear it in the studio audience's reaction.

The Dam Busters is easily my favourite

Rather surprised no one has mentioned Downfall yet.

I agree with Murray about the Clint eastwood movies , a different perspective

And I'd add The killing fields

Good call for Jacobs Ladder, I'll add Birdy to the list.

Apocalypse Now is my favourite film but I never really thought of it as a war film Given it is based on Heart of Darkness I think of it more as an expose of colonialism and as psychological thriller showing how people can be brutalised.
So my favourite war film is probably Das Boot.

Rather surprised no one has mentioned Downfall yet.

+1 for 'Cross of Iron' ... "Demarcation ..." 😥

and also 'Das Boot' - although to be fair this was a 6hr+ mini-series cut down into a film.

Killing Fields is also very good - screenplay by Withnail & I writer and director Bruce Robinson.

I would also include 'In Which We Serve', 'The Cruel Sea' and 'Angels One Five' for some WWII nostalgia and propaganda.

Rather surprised no one has mentioned Downfall yet.

It has been mentioned

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned more often 🙂

+137 for Das Boot, no punches are pulled in depicting the tension, fear and squalor experienced by German submariners during WW2.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Das Boot.

Yes I was going to say Das Boot too.
Or "Oh what a lovely war".

Best Cold War movie - Dr. Strangelove.

Enemy at the Gates was pretty good I thought.

Re Downfall:-

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned more often

Good as it is, it's still nowhere near as funny as the Hitler on Strava spoof of it.

Hacksaw Ridge (though not a great movie) has a great true story behind it. Reminded me of the Godfreys George Cross episode in Dads Army.

Best Cold War movie - Dr. Strangelove.

Beat me to it! Though I would suggest The Lives of Others.

ransos - Member

Best Cold War movie - Dr. Strangelove.

Beat me to it! Though I would suggest The Lives of Others.

Shut your mouths. Rambo III or gtfo.

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A few others honorable mentions:

The Cockleshell Heroes
Empire of the Sun

Enemy at the Gates was pretty good I thought.

No

Oh, okay.

I've never been much of a film critic!