Best War Movies of All Time

[biggunsbob]

Yeah it's great seeing all the list... I have forgotten so many...

 

[Michchamp]

Independence day was Scifi that doesnt count

yeah. there are few I was going to say that were also kind of on the border of genres.

If you consider Seven Samurai a war movie, that's easily on my top ten, and one of the greatest movies of all time, period.

In the Valley of Elah is another good movie, but it deals with the aftermath of war here in the States, not really a "war movie."

while I think historical fiction is fine, I have a problem with a war movies that are just completely unrealistic, or packed full of schlock patriotism and overly-villified enemies. For this reason, I couldn't stand The Patriot, or the film adaptation of We Were Soldiers Once and Young. A battle-winning bayonet charge in Vietnam? you kidding me?

 

[KAWDUP]

Independence day was Scifi that doesnt count

Ok replace it with 12 O'clock High.

 

[KAWDUP]

yeah. there are few I was going to say that were also kind of on the border of genres.

If you consider Seven Samurai a war movie, that's easily on my top ten, and one of the greatest movies of all time, period.

In the Valley of Elah is another good movie, but it deals with the aftermath of war here in the States, not really a "war movie."

while I think historical fiction is fine, I have a problem with a war movies that are just completely unrealistic, or packed full of schlock patriotism and overly-villified enemies. For this reason, I couldn't stand The Patriot, or the film adaptation of We Were Soldiers Once and Young. A battle-winning bayonet charge in Vietnam? you kidding me?

The Patriot is there not for any historical accuracy - it was pretty far over the top, but I thought the acting was pretty good in it, and the story was well thought out. Further - who doesn't love ultimate hero and family man, beats arrogant bastards?

What other movies that I mentioned are borderline?

 

[Mitchrapp]

12 O'clock High was a great flick.

 

[Michchamp]

The Patriot is there not for any historical accuracy - it was pretty far over the top, but I thought the acting was pretty good in it, and the story was well thought out. Further - who doesn't love ultimate hero and family man, beats arrogant bastards?

What other movies that I mentioned are borderline?

no, I only thought those two were over the top, not the rest of your list; We were Soldiers Once... was byco's. by borderline I meant some other movies I was thinking of (like Seven Samurai, or Star Trek II) that were really other genres, not exactly war movies. if you can consider either of those war movies, they're both in my top 10

The film adaptation of Last of the Mohicans was pretty inaccurate too. In particular they Hurons appeared to be an unbeatable military machine. they also changed the fact that the British were unarmed by the French when they surrendered fort william henry & when they were attacked by the natives as they marched away were defenseless... I guess that's just PC Hollywood run amok. but I dunno... i still liked it better than those other two.

 

[biggunsbob]

yeah. there are few I was going to say that were also kind of on the border of genres.

If you consider Seven Samurai a war movie, that's easily on my top ten, and one of the greatest movies of all time, period.

In the Valley of Elah is another good movie, but it deals with the aftermath of war here in the States, not really a "war movie."

while I think historical fiction is fine, I have a problem with a war movies that are just completely unrealistic, or packed full of schlock patriotism and overly-villified enemies. For this reason, I couldn't stand The Patriot, or the film adaptation of We Were Soldiers Once and Young. A battle-winning bayonet charge in Vietnam? you kidding me?

Yeah over the top... But I liked how it portrayed hot LZ's because that part was true.. Gibson's acting was a tad over the top but it was ok...

 

[biggunsbob]

I just can't believe that top 50 list had Starship Trooper in it's top 5... I understand the sarcasm of the movie.. But top 5...Not so sure..

 

[Michchamp]

glad no one put Pearl Harbor on their list.

(no, I never saw it. But i did see Team America)

 

[biggunsbob]

Here is a list for everyone..


1. Apocalypse Now - (1979, Francis Ford Coppola, V) (Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, M. Brando)
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - (1930, Lewis Milestone, WWI) (Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim)
3. Saving Private Ryan - (1998, Steven Spielberg, WWII) (Tom Hanks, Edward Burns)
4. Schindler's List - (1993, Steven Spielberg, WWII) (Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley)
5. Platoon - (1986, Oliver Stone, V) (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen)
6. The Bridge on the River Kwai - (1957, David Lean, WWII) (Alec Guinness, William Holden)
7. Patton - (1970, Franklin J. Schaffner, WWII) (George C. Scott, Karl Malden)
8. The Dirty Dozen - (1967, Robert Aldrich, WWII) (Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas)
9. The Longest Day - (1962,Ken Annakin, WWII) (John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum)
10. From Here to Eternity - (1953, Fred Zinnemann, WWII) (Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift)
11. Sergeant York - (1941, Howard Hawks, WWI) (Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan)
12. The Great Escape - (1963, John Sturges, WWII) (Steve McQueen, James Garner)
13. Battleship Potemkin (1925, Sergei Eisenstein, Odessa revolt-1905) (Alexander Antonov)
14. Das Boot - (1981, W. Ger. Wolfgang Peterson, WWII) (Jurgen Procnow)
15. The Deer Hunter - (1978, Michael Cimino, V) (Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep)
16. Full Metal Jacket - (1987, Stanley Kubrick, V) (Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin)
17. Letters From Iwo Jima - (2006, Clint Eastwood, WWII) (Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya)
18. A Bridge Too Far - (1977, Richard Attenborough, WWII) (Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine)
19. The Guns of Navarone - (1961, J. Lee Thompson, WWII) (Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn)
20. Open City - (1945, Roberto Rossellini, WWII) (Vito Annicchiarico, Nando Bruno)
21. Midway - (1976, Jack Smight, WWII) (Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Toshiro Mifune)
22. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo - (1944, Mervyn LeRoy, WWII) (Van Johnson, Robert Walker)
23. The Thin Red Line - (1998, Terrence Malick, WWII) (Sean Penn, Nick Nolte)
24. Tora! Tora! Tora! - (1970, Richard Fleischer, WWII) (Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten)
25. Black Hawk Down - (2001, Ridley Scott, Somalia) (Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett)
26. Stalag 17 - (1953, Billy Wilder, WWII) (William Holden, Otto Preminger)
27. Battle of Britain - (1969, Guy Hamilton, WWII) (Michael Caine, R. Shaw, Laurence Olivier)
28. The Story of G.I. Joe - (1945, William Wellman, WWII) (Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith)
29. The Desert Fox - (1951, Henry Hathaway, WWII) (James Mason, Richard Boone)
30. Paths Of Glory - (1957, Stanley Kubrick, WWI) (Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker)
31. Wings - (1927, William Wellman, WWI) (Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Gary Cooper)
32. Battleground - (1949, William Wellman, WWII) (Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban)
33. In Harm's Way - (1965, Otto Preminger, WWII) (John Wayne, Kirk Douglas)
34. MacArthur - (1977, Joseph Sargent, WWII, K) (Gregory Peck, Ed Flanders)
35. Pork Chop Hill - (1959, Lewis Milestone, Korea) (Gregory Peck, George Peppard)
36. The Big Parade - (1925, King Vidor, WWI) (John Gilbert, Ren?e Ador?e)
37. Where Eagles Dare - (1969, Brian G. Hutton, WWII) (Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood)
38. The Desert Rats - (1953, Robert Wise, WWII) (Richard Burton, James Mason)
39. Battle of the Bulge - (1965, Ken Annakin, WWII) (Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw)
40. The Blue Max - (1966, John Guillermin, WWI) (George Peppard, James Mason)
41. The Caine Mutiny - (1954, Edward Dmytryk, WWII) (Humphrey Bogart, Jos? Ferrer)
42. The Train - (1965, John Frankenheimer, WWII) (Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield)
43. Back to Bataan - (1944, Edward Dmytryk, WWII) (John Wayne, Anthony Quinn)
44. Many Wars Ago (aka Uomini Contro) - (1970, Francesco Rosi, WWI) (Mark Frechette, Alain Cuny)
45. Guadalcanal Diary - (1943, Lewis Seiler, WWII) (Preston Foster, Anthony Quinn)
46. The Big Red One - (1980, Samuel Fuller, WWII) (Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine)
47. Sink the Bismarck - (1960, Lewis Gilbert,WWII) (Kenneth More, Dana Wynter)
48. They Were Expendable - (1945, John Ford, WWII) (Robert Montgomery, John Wayne)
49. Closely Watched Trains - (1966, Czech., Jir? Menzel, WWII) (Vaclav Neckar, Jitka Bendova)
50. The Dawn Patrol - (1938, Edmund Goulding, WWI) (Errol Flynn, David Niven)
51. Sahara - (1943, Zoltan Korda, WWII) (Humphrey Bogart, Lloyd Bridges)
52. In Which We Serve - (1942, Noel Coward, David Lean, WWII) (Noel Coward, John Mills)
53. The Young Lions - (1958, Edward Dmytryk, WWII) (Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift)
54. Battle Cry - (1955, Raoul Walsh, WWII) (Van Heflin, James Whitmore, Anne Francis)
55. Flags of Our Fathers - (2006, Clint Eastwood, WWII) (Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford)
56. Soldier of Orange - (1978, Netherlands, Paul Verhoeven, WWII) (Rutger Hauer)
57. Halls of Montezuma - (1950, Lewis Milestone, WWII) (Richard Widmark, Karl Malden)
58. The Fighting Sullivans - (1944, Lloyd Bacon, WWII) (Thomas Mitchell, Ward Bond)
59. The Bridges at Toko-Ri - (1954, Mark Robson, K) (William Holden, Mickey Rooney)
60. Destination Tokyo - (1943, Delmer Daves, WWII) (Cary Grant, John Forsythe)
61. Kelly's Heroes - (1970, Brian G. Hutton, WWII) (Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland)
62. The Bridge at Remagen - (1969, John Guillermin, WWII) (George Segal, Robert Vaughn)
63. Sands of Iwo Jima - (1949, Allan Dwan, WWII) (John Wayne, John Agar)
64. To Hell and Back - (1955, Jesse Hibbs, WWII) (Audie Murphy, David Janssen)
65. The Lost Patrol - (1943, John Ford, WWI) (Victor McLaglen, Boris Karloff)
66. Von Ryan's Express - (1965, Mark Robson, WWII) (Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard)
67. Wake Island - (1942, John Farrow, WWII) (Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey)
68. The Boys in Company C - (1977, Sidney J. Furie, V) (Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens)
69. Objective, Burma! - (1945, Raoul Walsh, WWII) (Errol Flynn, Henry Hull)
70. Twelve O'Clock High - (1949, Henry King, WWII) (Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe)
71. Operation Pacific - (1951, George Waggner, WWII) (John Wayne, Patricia Neal)
72. Gallipoli - (1981, Australia, Peter Weir, WWI) (Mel Gibson, Mark Lee)
73. Flying Leathernecks - (1951, Nicholas Ray, WWII) (John Wayne, Robert Ryan)
74. Memphis Belle - (1990, Michael Caton-Jones, WWII) (Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz)
75. Run Silent, Run Deep - (1958, Robert Wise, WWII) (Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster)
76. The Tuskegee Airmen - (1995, Robert Markowitz, WWII) (Laurence Fishburne, Allen Payne)
77. Kanal - (1957, Andrzej Wajda, WWII) (Wienczyslaw Glinski)
78. Courage Under Fire - (1996, Edward Zwick, Iraq'91) (Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan)
79. The Sand Pebbles - (1966, Robert Wise, China uprising 1926) (Steve McQueen)
80. 633 Squadron - (1964, Walter Grauman, WWII) (Cliff Robertson, Harry Andrews)
81. Casualties of War - (1989, Brian De Palma, V) (Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox)
82. Cross of Iron - (1977, Sam Peckinpah, WWII) (James Coburn, James Mason)
83. Force 10 From Navarone - (1978, Guy Hamilton, WWII) (Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford)
84. Hell Is For Heroes - (1962, Don Siegel WWII) (Steve McQueen, James Coburn)
85. Too Late the Hero - (1969, Robert Aldrich, WWII) (Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott)
86. Merrill's Marauders - (1962, Samuel Fuller, WWII) (Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Claude Akins)
87. Enemy at the Gates - (2001, Jean-Jacques Annaud WWII) (Joseph Fiennes, Ed Harris)
88. A Midnight Clear - (1992, Keith Gordon, WWII) (Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise)
89. Dunkirk - (1958, Leslie Norman, WWII) (John Mills, Richard Attenborough)
90. The Green Berets - (1968, Ray Kellogg, V) (John Wayne, David Janssen)
91. The Story of Dr. Wassell - (1944, Cecil B. DeMille, WWII) (Gary Cooper, Laraine Day)
92. Three Kings - (1999, David O. Russell, Iraq'91) (George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg)
93. Operation Crossbow - (1965, Michael Anderson, WWII) (George Peppard, Sophia Loren)
94. The Naked and the Dead - (1958, Raoul Walsh, WWII) (Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson)
95. Jarhead - (2005, Sam Mendes, Desert Storm) (Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal)
96. King Rat - (1965, Bryan Forbes, WWII) (George Segal, Denholm Elliott)
97. Heartbreak Ridge - (1986, Clint Eastwood, Grenada) (Clint Eastwood, Mario Van Peebles)
98. Stalingrad - (1992, Joseph Vilsmaier, WWII) (Dominique Horwitz)
99. Torpedo Run - (1958, Joseph Pevney, WWII) (Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine)
100. A Walk in the Sun - (1945, Lewis Milestone, WWII) (Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges)



10 Greatest Civil War Movies
1. Glory - (1989, Edward Zwick) (Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington)
2. Gettysburg - (1993, Ronald F. Maxwell) (Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger)
3. North and South - (1985, Richard T. Heffron, TV) (Patrick Swayze, James Read)
4. The Red Badge of Courage - (1951, John Huston) (Audie Murphy, Bill Mauldin)
5. Shenandoah - (1965, Andrew V. McLaglen) (James Stewart, Doug McClure)
6. Gone With the Wind - (1939, Victor Fleming) (Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh)
7. Andersonville - (1996, John Frankenheimer, TV) (Frederic Forrest, William H. Macy)
8. Ride With The Devil - (1999, Ang Lee) (Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich)
9. Gods and Generals - (2003, Ronald F. Maxwell) (Jeff Daniels, Robert Duvall)
10. The Horse Soldiers - (1959, John Ford) (John Wayne, William Holden)

18 Greatest Comedy/Satire War Movies
1. M*A*S*H - (1970, Robert Altman, K) (Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland)
2. Dr. Strangelove - (1964, Stanley Kubrick, Cold War) (Peter Sellers, George C. Scott)
3. Mister Roberts - (1955, John Ford, WWII) (Henry Fonda, James Cagney)
4. Catch-22 - (1970, Mike Nichols, WWII) (Alan Arkin, Richard Benjamin)
5. Operation Petticoat - (1959, Blake Edwards, WWII) (Cary Grant, Tony Curtis)
6. Good Morning, Vietnam - (1987, Barry Levinson, V) (Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker)
7. Stripes - (1981, Ivan Reitman, Cold War) (Bill Murray, Harold Ramis)
8. Private Benjamin - (1980, Howard Zieff) (Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan)
9. Tropic Thunder - (2008, Ben Stiller) (Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.)
10. The Secret War of Harry Frigg - (1968, Jack Smight, WWII) (Paul Newman, Sylva Koscina)
11. Operation Petticoat - (1959) (Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Gavin MacLeod)
12. Top Secret! - (1984, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, WWII) (Val Kilmer)
13. How I Won the War - (1967, Richard Lester, WWII) (Michael Crawford, John Lennon)
14. What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? - (1966, Blake Edwards, WWII) (James Coburn)
15. McHale's Navy - (1964, Edward J. Montagne Jr., WWII) (Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway)
16. Wake Me When It's Over - (1960, Mervyn LeRoy, WWII) (Ernie Kovacs, Dick Shawn)
17. Sailor Beware - (1951, Hal Walker, WWII) (Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis)
18. Operation Snatch - (1962, Robert Day, WWII) (Terry-Thomas, Lionel Jeffries)

 

[biggunsbob]

Crap I forgot
Letters From Iwo Jima and Iron cross

 

[Michchamp]

another one I wasn't sure about the genre: Father Goose.

not exactly a war movie, more a romantic comedy, but set against a war backdrop. still a great movie though (despite it being technically a romantic comedy, which normally i can't stand)

 

[biggunsbob]

Dr Strangelove made the comedy list of war movies..
I liked Glory also..My wife mentioned courage under fire..
I see it made the list of top 100.

 

[KAWDUP]

Crap - I forgot Midway. That hits my top 20 overall. The Duke and Henry Fonda and an ensemble cast.

Outstanding list - and a couple a pretty good ideas for ones you haven't seen.

What is the highest ranked one you haven't seen yet? Mine is 13 Battleship Potemkin - going to have to take a look at that one.

Next is #20 Open City - anyone seen that one?

 

[Thumb]

Well I have never seen Lawrence of Arabia. Just one of those things I have never gotten around to. Might be the best War Movie I have never seen.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Crap - I forgot Midway. That hits my top 20 overall. The Duke and Henry Fonda and an ensemble cast.

Outstanding list - and a couple a pretty good ideas for ones you haven't seen.

What is the highest ranked one you haven't seen yet? Mine is 13 Battleship Potemkin - going to have to take a look at that one.

Next is #20 Open City - anyone seen that one?

Mine is the one on the top, oops :hehe:

 

[KAWDUP]

Mine is the one on the top, oops :hehe:

I could understand that - that is one friggin' weird movie. What is the next one?

 

[Mitchrapp]

I could understand that - that is one friggin' weird movie. What is the next one?

13. Never even heard of that.

 

[Michchamp]

13. Never even heard of that.

I've never seen it either; it was a Soviet movie, and considered one of the greatest & most influential movies ever, even among western directors.

there was some movie poll from the 50's of influential European & American directors I remember reading, and they all cited it as one of their greatest movies ever.

 

[Michchamp]

highest I've never seen is 2. then 4, 9 - 11, and a couple more in the teens.

I never saw Letters from Iwo Jima or Flags of Our Fathers, but I read the book in the latter case. I'll try to see them; Eastwood has usually made good movies. though... while I remember the book being ok, it did get a little too into slobbering over "the Greatest Generation" which gets annoying.

delete: sorry for dragging politics into it