# War Movies: Search for titles.



## Ohenri (Nov 7, 2002)

Working on this personal project, going on this war movie themed rental binge. Basically doing a touch of research. Anyhow, I was never the massive movie guy, so as per usual, I thought that I would reach out to the ehmac massive.









So, by all means, pls post some of your fave war movie titles. I will take the obvious like the obscure. I just hope that i can find the rental. But I have this rental indie (Queen Video) who is pretty complete - so they should have it. 

Anyhow, pls post away! Many thanks ahead of time. 

H!


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Which war?  

Saving Private Ryan
The Longest Day
Enemy at the Gates
Iwo Jima

[Holocaust Related]
Schindlers List
The Shop on Main Street (foreign)

[Napoleonic]
The mini-series "Sharp"

That's all I can think of for now....


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## Bilbo (Jul 12, 2001)

"Band of Brothers" series is the best in my opinion. Extremely well done.

B


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

The *Best Years of our Lives* not directly a war movies but a very powerful work about the "coming back home".

One of my top 10 movies period. Won a ton of awards.










http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/best_years_of_our_lives/ 

It gets a 100% rating at the RT site.

Good place to hunt.

Gallipoli is also terrific










Also a 100% rating - both are wonderful and disturbing movies.

I've heard Thin Red Line is very good tho I've not seen.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Thought of a few more:

Apocalypse Now
The Bridge over the River Kwai
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
The Dirty Dozen
Stalag 17
Von Ryan's Express
Das Boot


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Wooooo Das Boot scary movie - likely closest to reality ever.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

One of best WWII era movies, and easily the best regarding the Eastern Front:

Cross of Iron
James Coburn; Maximillian Schell; others
Directed by Sam Peckinpah; 1977

" ... A very strong anti-war message film, set during World War II and told entirely from the German perspective. A German Army Sergeant doggedly struggles to keep his platoon intact while surviving the horrors of the Russian front in 1943. ..." R rating.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

E. G. Marshall, Joseph Cotten; Jason Robards, many prominent Japanese actors.
Co-Directed by Richard Fleischer and Kinji Fukasaku; 1970
Japan/US co-production.

The attack on Pearl Harbour as told from both the US and Japanese persepectives. Kicks the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor's ass. G rating.

Original release was in both 70mm and 35mm; the 70mm print included discreet 6-channel sound, which should be on the DVD.

An interesting note is that the Japanese fighter-bombers depicted in the film are actually Canadian Harvard trainers sold as surplus assets from storage hangars in Saskatoon. You will recognize them as the tandem (bombadier/navigator sits behind the pilot) 2-seat aircraft.

[ December 16, 2004, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: gordguide ]


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

This will date me, but this movie is the true story of screen actor Audie Murhpy, the most decorated soldier of WWII.

Murphy plays himself in the title role of the classic.

Cheers


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## Ohenri (Nov 7, 2002)

You guys rawk.... A gang of titles I have never even heard of...
BTW, if you know of any hot docs (umentaries) as well, pls sub those. I'll take'em all!

As well, any war is fine. It's more of a military combat theme that I have in mind. 

many thanks again.

H!


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## robert (Sep 26, 2002)

Any war?
Well, the best of any war would be.....

Waterloo

extremely hard to find, but the battle scenes are glorious. Nothing beats the colourful uniforms of the Napoleonic period.

WWI

Alls quiet on the western front.

Amazing antiwar pic that showed the horror and loss of this tragic war.-you will just shake your head and say holy sh**.

WWII

Kelly's Heros

Makes you laugh. Very good comedy with great actors.

R


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## Brainstrained (Jan 15, 2002)

King Rat - based on James Clavell's book about a Japanese PoW camp, starring George Segal.

Empire of the Sun - By Steven Spielberg and starring Christian Bale, also about a Japanese PoW/internment camp.

Paths of Glory - Written by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas, about the futility of the First World War and the nature of "cowardice" as defined by the military.

A Bridge Too Far - based on the book by Cornelius Ryan and starring a host of Hollywood luminaries, about Operation Market Garden, an attempt to leapfrog German lines and break into Germany.

Battle of Britain - This time lots of British stars, about the early phases of the air war when only the English and the RAF stood between Britain and the Germans.

And I'll second Band of Brothers and Das Boot.

Here's interesting site listing the "Top 50 War Movies". I don't agree with the order, but I think almost all these movies deserve to be here.


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

I'll add some more:

A Bridge Too Far
The Great Escape
The Guns of Navarone

I'll recommend Das Boot as well - it's my favourite in this genre. Harrowing!

U-571 is decent too. Not nearly as good as Das Boot, but it's still well-made and entertaining.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

" ... Audie Murhpy, the most decorated soldier of WWII. ..."

True, and Murphy was a true war hero, but the Americans give out medals like candy. His film career was hampered because he was so short and didn't last after the hero adulation wore off; screen kisses involved getting him to stand on a box so his eyes and lips were roughly equal to the heroine's.

Victoria Cross; 1856-present: 1,351 awarded.
Victoria Cross with Bar; 1856-present: 3 awarded (second VC).

No obvious number for Purple Heart decorations seems to be available (America's highest honor), but suffice to say that all that is required for the medal is any combat wound that requires medical attention. One solder was issued 9 Purple Hearts for service in Viet Nam.

The Reagan-era invasion of Grenada resulted in more medals than were servicemen involved; hundreds were issued to soldiers who never left base in Georgia.


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Ohenri,

One of the best I've ever seen is the *Sharpe* series. ( wrong spelling in my original post) Incredible look at early 19th century warfare, millitary structure and life. It's a 15 movie series filmed over several years. I hope you can find it to rent, well worth seeing, but start from number one.

Okay, for some reason it won't the link to IMDB search results, so run a search there for "sharpe's"

IMDB


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

"A Bridge Too Far" and "Tora,Tora,Tora " are both excellent.

"The Eagle has Landed" is also very good with Michael Caine as an Otto Scorzeny type, Larry Hagman as a bumbling US colonel and Donald Sutherland as an Irish Nazi sympathizer with an uncanny ability to pacify attack dogs.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Another that comes to mind, and I think is also a true story is 

"Reach For The Sky"

It starred Kenneth Moore and was released in 1956. 

"A story of one man's indomitable courage and endurance. As a young sports-loving pilot officer, Bader loses both legs in a flying accident. Not only does he overcome his devastating differently-abled-ness, he goes on to become a Battle of Britain ace."

Cheers


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## Fink-Nottle (Feb 25, 2001)

Lots of good stuff already mentioned but some to add.

-Master and Commander: authentic and gripping look at life at sea during the Napoloeonic wars
-Captain Hornblower series: more excellent naval stuff from the same period, although not as realistic as 'Master & Commander'
-The Fog of War: A documentary about Robert Macnamara and Vietnam which is eerily relevant today. Well worth seeing.
-Doctor Strangelove: "You can't fight here gentlemen, this is the war room!" and a hundred other memorable lines. Very dark and funny comedy about the cold war.

Cheers!


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## kps (May 4, 2003)

Fink-Nottle,

Did you mean the "Horatio Hornblower" TV series? That was amazing, only the Brits can pull off a historical drama like that. I couldn't wait for the next episode.


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## Ohenri (Nov 7, 2002)

I just recalled one that i have to see (again) as well....

'Glory' - Denzel Washington, Matthew Broderick.

Loved it.

H!


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## agent4321 (Jun 25, 2004)

My recommendation, just finished watching B of B a couple of months ago - it is amazing.


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## Fink-Nottle (Feb 25, 2001)

Hi KPS,

Indeed I do... they were made as a series of TV movies and they are all available on DVD. While not quite as impressive as 'Master and Commander' the production values are still outstanding... certainly better than any other television attempt. And as you say, the series is very entertaining.

Cheers!


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## nxnw (Dec 22, 2002)

I'm not sure I go with the lighthearted war romps and adventure flicks as really being "war movies" like Paths of Glory or Apocalypse Now.

A couple that I did not notice above:
- La Grande Illusion
- The Deer Hunter (I personally think this was overrated, and not so good, but that may be a minority opinion)


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## nxnw (Dec 22, 2002)

Oh yeah:

Mr. Roberts
M*A*S*H
The Civil War (Ken Burns doc)
Patton

and two great silents:

The Battleship Potemkin
Beau Geste


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

A lot of my favorites are already listed. 
I'll add more favorites:

From the Boer War:
Breaker Morant 
One of my favorites. Excellent film and great cast. From Australia. I have a copy on Beta.
"We used Rule .303 Sir!"

Vietnam not Korean War: (corrected! Thx)
We Were Soldiers
Mel Gibson gives a fine performance in this one. Story of the first battle by US troops in the war called a "police action"

Vietnam War
Born on the 4th of July
Tom Cruise showed he could act in this true story, though facts exaggerated by director Oliver Stone.

WWII
Tobruk. Well made film.

Also:
Zulu!
Stars Michael Caine. Victorian era, true story, set in Africa.

[ December 16, 2004, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: ErnstNL ]


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## NBiBooker (Apr 3, 2004)

Quote note:

We Were Soldiers: is Vietnam, not Korea. 

Congressional Medal of Honour is the highest U.S. award for an individual, not purple heart. (Purple heart is for being wounded)

Another R. Lee Emery Classic (Corny but funny as hell) The Siege at Firebase Gloria.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

In no order:

Bridge on the River Kwai
All Quiet on the Western Front (also a good book)
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers (mini series)
Three Kings
Zulu
The Thin Red Line
The Battle of the Bulge
Starship Troopers (SciFi counts!)
The Enemy Below
Paths of Glory
Heaven Knows Mr. Allison
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Great Escape
Tora! Tora! Tora!
The Tuskegee Airmen
A Town Like Alice

There are lots more, I just can't think of anything off the top of my head.


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## ErnstNL (Apr 12, 2003)

I thought of 2 more naval films that were really interesting and mostly factual.

Q-Ships
British (and German) ships disguised as merchant vessels, armed with a couple of 4 inch guns and maybe some depth charges. British B/W film has a lot of tension. I haven't seen this film in ten years.

Battle of the River Plate.
The chasing and scuttling of the German heavy battlecruiser/ pocket battleship Graf Spee in Uruguay by British led naval force. Lots of political maneuvering by the German and British in a neutral country.

(Thanks for the correction on We Were Soldiers)


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## jlcinc (Dec 13, 2002)

Just off the top of my head I'd like to add "no man is an island" "Father Goose" a docudrama "Battle of Algiers (1967)" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)" so many others and as soon as I send this they will come to me.

John


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## yardarm51 (Aug 26, 2004)

Dunno if these have been mentioned already... 
Stalingrad (recent version)
A Bridge Too Far

From a Canadian perspective try the CBC 2 episode docu-drama Dieppe. If you can find it I really recommend it. 

Another Canadian connection... Someone mentioned Douglas Bader the pilot who flew during the Battle of Britain despite having two tin legs. During that period he was the commander of 242 Squadron which was the RAF's "Canadian" squadron, made up of mainly Canadian pilots. 
Bader and 242 Squadron 

Ken Burns' "Civil War" documentary is absolutely fasinating but incredibly long. 

"World at War" is one of the most comprehensive documentaries about WWII. It covers all theatres and aspects including the home front. It is a bit older now but well worth watching the whole series. In fact SFU used to have a distance learning course on The Knowledge Network based on this series.

For "fun" war movies you really can't go wrong with "The Dirty Dozen" or "Don't Go Near the Water!". The latter is a film about the Navy's PR dept in the South Pacific during WWII. Hilarious. The book it came from is also awesome.

I've tried to stick to movies that haven't already been mentioned but my all time favourites include "Glory", "Band of Brothers", "Kelly's Heros" and "The Longest Day".

I forgot to mention "The Last Flight of the Memphis Belle". Not the movie with Sean Astin etc but the real thing. There was a camera crew on board with the flight crew for their last flight before becoming the first American bomber crew to finish their tour of duty. Also look for the old Brit film "The Damn Busters".


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

I see someone beat me too Band of Brothers. Hard to believe it was a true story but I guess SOMEBODY had to end up at ALL the major events









I sat through that pretty much straight and I was an emotional wreck at the end. Gripping doesn't tell the half of it.

••

Another true story and one I enjoyed 










Well cast and some of the scenes on the river were horrific.
Remarkable set.


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## SkyHook (Jan 23, 2001)

.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

"Band of Brothers" was fabulous. I will be buying the full DVD Set quite soon. Terrific miniseries.

BTW...has anyone mentioned "The Dirty Dozen"? Lee Marvin was great in that movie..and he WAS a real WW2 hero, after all. (So was Jimmy Stewart, who was in several WW2 movies.)

Now....while I hesitate to ever attempt to correct Gordguide on ANYTHING (this path is littered with the dead bodies of lesser mortals who cannot even come close to Gord's knowledge on almost any subject)...

I would still like to correct GordGuide on a previous statement he made on this thread.

He said that the purple heart was "America's highest honour", if I'm not mistaken.

Not hardly, Gord. The purple heart is awarded for any sort of injury that a soldier might recieve in a theatre of war. Even if he dropped a food tray on his foot in a mess hall miles from the front, and lost same foot due to infection from a dirty fork...he probably got a purple heart. Some guys have several of em.

The highest US military award is the "Medal of Honour". Which is a rare commendation, indeed. If you are one of the few who has recieved this award (and has lived to recieve it in person) then you will be looked upon with a special form of awe by most Americans. Medal of Honour winners are also entitled to special licence plates on their cars and get all sorts of other special considerations.

Most are awarded posthumously. Like the now-defunct British Victoria Cross.

You gotta do something VERY profound to get a "Medal of Honour" from the President of the United States. 

Trust me on this.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

I stand corrected about the "highest" medal.

Still, they have awarded almost 3x as many as the VC ("more than 3,400" according to the official site).

I just wanted to point out that the sheer number of decorations isn't a fair comparison when the US tends to award a lot of medals compared to almost any other army. Thanks again for righting my factual error.

I can see G drooling at the prospect 

As for war movies, although Stalingrad is a decent movie, it left me disappointed as a war film.

They took two chapters from the book and expanded on that theme to make a love story, ignoring the rest for the most part.

They lost the opportunity to make what could have been perhaps the best war movie of all time. I don't understand why, in the modern world of "narrowcasting", Hollywood today insists on running away from serious films and instead corrupt the story to appeal to everyone's 17 year old daughter. What's worse, they failed even at that.

Alexander (2004) also could have been nominated in this thread, but again they couldn't resist making some kind of soap opera out of it, which, according to the box office, didn't work either.

I don't want to suggest I don't enjoy all kinds of film, but to me a war movie is more than just the setting for a universal theme, it is the theme.

While I'm here, we may as well add:

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

One of the most influential anti-war books of all time is made into an honest film. WWI era.

[ December 17, 2004, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: gordguide ]


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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

just to add to this wonderfull list:

*" Empire of the sun", was mentioned but not in full name, it's good.

* " The killing fields", It's really good.

*" Mediterraneo", not really a War per se film, but it's a must see.(italian)


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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

another one:
*the pianist" , really good


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## gastonbuffet (Sep 23, 2004)

People wake up!!!!!!!

there's major butt kicking in 
* Kill Bill, both volumes,

jokes aside

* full metal jacket", really good
* The deer hunter", really good


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## agent4321 (Jun 25, 2004)

I did a quick scan through the thread and didn't see this suggested yet?!?










ALSO....


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Oh yeah Apocalypse Now - war as ballet or perhaps opera.
Amazing film.........napalm on the treeline to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries....insanity indeed  

If you ever get a chance to see the backstory of the film - it's almost as wild as the film itself and just about destroyed the director.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

I will not try to list the war movies that I like. They've all been mentioned here already. Pretty much.

And...not to belabour a point with Gordguide...but I should like to direct his attention at the total population of the USA. Which is more than three times the number of people in the United Kingdom. Quite a bit more than three times, actually.

Which MIGHT just explain why there are three times the number of major awards for bravery in the US as there are in the UK.

They aren't exactly handing them out in crackerjack boxes down there, Gord.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

One final note here...

In the past three years here at ehmac, and over a grand total of six thousand odd posts...I have only ever managed to catch Gorguide in an error mode twice. Two times. That's IT! And I've been counting...lemme TELL ya!!









So, I am now one SMART guy! I'm walking on AIR!! For the next five minutes or so. Until we move onto the next subject and Gord once again wrenches my britches up round my head!

We will resume normal programming in a moment. 

Please stand by.....


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## Greenman (Feb 22, 2003)

Ohenri, if you're stil looking for documentary titles...

I can recommend....

"I Remain Your Loving Son"

The tragic battle of Beaumont Hamel (WW1) which destroyed virtually the entire Newfoundland Regiment. The story is told through the words of the soldiers and their families using their letters diaries and memoirs


and one very highly recommended.... Aftermath: The Remnants of War 

both are Canadian made documentaries


War Amps site also carry documentaries... 

Cheers!


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## yardarm51 (Aug 26, 2004)

Oops forgot one with a very tenuous Canadian connection... "Devil's Brigade"

About a combined Canadian-US commando unit. One of the members of this unit (in reality) was Stan Waters who later in life went on to become the first (and so far only) elected senator in Canadian history. A great no-brainer action WWII movie.

The Devil's Brigade


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

I've rarely seen such wildly love or hate reviews on RT.
I was quite taken with the movie. 
Reminded me very much of a Atom Egoyan work overlaid with truly shattering look at war in a more contemporary urban milieu.  

I actually would have preferred no name actors in this but still worth the watch.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

" ... Which is more than three times the number of people in the United Kingdom. ..."

But the VC and other awards are given to any commonwealth soldier, MacNutt, and the population under the commonwealth is currently 1.8 billion.

And very occasionally, when they earn it, to soldiers who are not members of the commonwealth. For example, the VC given to the Unknown Soldier of the US WWI army (the only "unnamed" recipient).

VC's have been awarded to members of many non-commomwealth foreign armies, including American (5x, not including the unknown soldier), German (twice), Ukrainian, Swiss and Swedish armies, etc; and to 5 civilians.

Canadians have earned 90 VCs. All things being equal (they're not, but what the hell) we should expect 340 "highest" honors if we issued them as the US army did, based on 10% population.

[ December 20, 2004, 02:15 AM: Message edited by: gordguide ]


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