Favorite War Movies

[DrRoy]

Something yesterday prompted me to think about how I like a bunch of war movies (and military history), and I searched on "Best War Movies" to see what came up. I won't call them the "best" but here is my favorite dozen in alphabetical order:

A Bridge Too Far
Black Hawk Down
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Dirty Dozen
The Enemy Below
Fury
The Great Escape
Midway
Patton
Run Silent Run Deep
Saving Private Ryan

 

[Gumby]

Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
Enemy at the Gates
The Deer Hunter
Apocalypse Now
Downfall
Legends of the Fall
Cold Mountain

 

[Ronstar]

You guys pretty much summed up my list. A couple more submarine movies - The Hunt for Red October and U571

 

[DuluthGA]

Any John Wayne/Audie Murphy WW2 movie
Enemy at the Gates
Band of Brothers Series
The Pianist

 

[MuirWannabe]

Not mentioned yet:

Kelly’s Heroes
We Were Soldiers
Where Eagles Dare

But I also love most of the ones already mentioned.

 

[Car-Guy]

Probably "We Were Soldiers" since I have watched it the most. Midway (old and new versions) are high on my list. Fury is pretty good too.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

You guys pretty much summed up my list. A couple more submarine movies - The Hunt for Red October and U571

I've slept through The Hunt for Red October multiple times. OTOH, Das Boot is a nail-biter.

 

[MichaelB]

Dirty Dozen
The Great Escape
Bridge over the River Kwai
Catch-22
Dr. Strangelove
Kelly’s Heros

 

[Which Roger]

Tora! Tora! Tora!
My dad took me to see that for my 9th birthday.

 

[Gumby]

Any John Wayne/Audie Murphy WW2 movie
Enemy at the Gates
Band of Brothers Series
The Pianist

I had forgotten about The Pianist. I really enjoyed that too.

 

[easysurfer]

The Dirty Dozen and the recap of The Dirty Dozen in Sleepless in Seattle .

 

[MuirWannabe]

Casablanca. Assuming you consider that a war movie. Lots of these listed are movies that take place during a wartime. But not purely war stories. But there’s no rules I know. Just another something us retired folks can debate.

 

[Gumby]

War affects everyone in society, not just the guys shooting at each on the front lines. I think movies that explore those expanded effects are as worth seeing as the more traditional ones with lots of bullets, explosions and feats of heroism.

 

[REWahoo]

On The Beach
Testament
Dr. Strangelove
All Quiet on the Western Front
Band of Brothers
Saving Private Ryan
All Quiet on the Western Front

 

[Dash man]

All of the above, but I’d include “12 O’clock High.”
The scenes in the club where they turned the beer stein around to indicate a mission the next day, we’re filmed in the “Woody Bar” at RAF Woodbridge where I was stationed in the 80s.

 

[DJRR]

Another vote for:

Where Eagles Dare
Kelly's Heroes

I also like:

Green Berets
Battle of the Bulge
Audie Murphy Story - To Hell and Back
The Navaronne movies

 

[Gumby]

On The Beach
Testament
Dr. Strangelove
All Quiet on the Western Front
Band of Brothers
Saving Private Ryan
All Quiet on the Western Front

I read "On the Beach" when I was about 14, but I've never seen the movie, so I just have the picture in my head. It was a great book and I thought of it often when I was on my submarine.

 

[Bestwifeever]

A more recent war movie--"1917"--made such an impact on DH and me that this thread lured me from lurking

 

[Gumby]

A more recent war movie--"1917"--made such an impact on DH and me that this thread lured me from lurking

We saw that at the theater. I was just as impressed with the fact that the movie appeared as one continuous take as I was with the story. I know it wasn't really one shot, but it was very clever how they did it.

 

[REWahoo]

I read "On the Beach" when I was about 14, but I've never seen the movie, so I just have the picture in my head. It was a great book and I thought of it often when I was on my submarine.

I was about that same age in 1959 when the movie was released. We were deeply into the Cold War at the time and the story had a real impact on my impressionable young mind.

 

[Beststash]

My favorite war movies are:

All Quiet on the Western Front - shows brutality of WWI
The Deer Hunter - great performance by Christopher Walken
Paths of Glory - the mental toll of war, a Stanley Kubrick movie
Apocalypse Now - I think best Vietnam movie, a Francis Ford Coppola movie
Gallipoli - another great WWI movie showing the meaningless of war
Vietnam - series by Ken Burns

 

[REWahoo]

All of the above, but I’d include “12 O’clock High.”
The scenes in the club where they turned the beer stein around to indicate a mission the next day, we’re filmed in the “Woody Bar” at RAF Woodbridge where I was stationed in the 80s.

“12 O’clock High” is a classic.

Considered to be one of the finest war films ever made due to its attention to detail, taut storytelling, realism, and unflinching portrayal of the stress of combat. The film is required viewing at United States military academies and Officer Training Schools due to its depiction of different leadership styles and how difficult, if not impossible, it is to remain professional and detached regarding the men one leads in combat.

Not sure whether it is still used today, but it was definitely a part of the leadership curriculum when I taught at USAF Officer Training School in 1976-77.

 

[Eagle43]

Patton.
George C. Scott's performance was great.

 

[GenXguy]

I couldn't begin to rate my top war movies since I normally only see one time, usually very long ago.

Full Metal Jacket is one I didn't see mentioned.

 

[Aerides]

It's newer, but Dunkirk should make anyone's list.

Also, Inglorious Basterds.