What's your favorite war film?

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liquiddragon

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#1  Edited By liquiddragon

I never use to be that into them but I rewatched Full Metal Jacket and now I've gained a bit of an appetite for w/e reason. My favorite is a toss between Apocalypse Now and The Thin Red Line, maybe Full Metal depending on the day. I know a lot of people will say Saving Private Ryan but besides the D-Day invasion and the Vin Diesel sniper scene, I can't remember most of it. I'll probably go rewatch that. Oh, and I also really like The Letters of Iwo Jima.

Another Kubrick film Path of Glory is quite good as well.

On a side note, I'm watching Band of Brothers for the first time and liking it.

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citizencoffeecake

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#2  Edited By citizencoffeecake

Saving Private Ryan is still really good. Besides that, The Deer Hunter and The Hurt Locker are favorites of mine, and then there's something like Inglorious Basterds which is enjoyable but maybe in a different way.

On the documentary front I cannot recommend Restrepo enough.

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Shindig

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I'm a big fan of Patton. The best part of Full Metal Jacket isn't even Vietnam.

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officer_falcon

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Kelly's Heroes is probably my favorite.

Saving Private Ryan is still a classic though. That opening scene is unforgettable.

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davidh219

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Henry V (1989)

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Atwa

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#6  Edited By Atwa

Apocalypse Now no doubt. I remember liking The Thin Red Line a lot too.

Band of Brothers while not a movie, is just fantastic too.

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cornbredx

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#7  Edited By cornbredx

Full Metal Jacket is only half of a good movie. I'm not a big fan of Kubrick, and I don't really like that movie beyond the brilliant work done by D'Onofrio and R. Lee Emery. Matthew Modine is one of the worst actors to continue to get roles despite the fact that he always sounds like he's reading his lines off the page, and Kubrick himself... I won't go there. I don't have a high opinion of the man.

I really like Saving Private Ryan a lot, even if that one is mostly a pop corn flick. The best to me is probably Glory or something like that, though. I don't know. I like a lot of war movies, but I don't tend to like the most recent modern war films. Maybe it's because of my experience in the army. I'm not sure. Even historical war films can be difficult to watch sometimes, but I really like them. *Paragraph edited for clarification*

Another good war movie, in my opinion, and the movie that put Colin Farrell on the map (at least for me) was Tigerland. It's similar to Full Metal Jacket if the first half of FMJ was the whole movie. It talks about how the Vietnam war affected people who were drafted and how fucked up it was.

I also really like Platoon. Personally I'm more of a Platoon guy than Apocalypse now, but both are fantastic films.

I really like war films about the people being affected by war as well. People don't think about them as much, but I really like them. There was a fascinating one about CNN, I think it was, during the first gulf war. Michael Keaton was in it. There was a scene where the building they're in gets bombed and it's the most accurate, realistic, and chilling thing I've seen in a war film... I think ever. That could be hyperbole, but I thought it was really good at the time (and it came out around when I went to Afghanistan if I recall so that had a lot to do with why I liked it's portrayal I think). I looked it up just now and it's called Live from Baghdad. It was an HBO movie.

This doesn't actually count entirely as a war film, but it is one of my favorite movies so I'll mention it. Jacob's Ladder is an amazing movie as well.

Anyway, I could ramble on all day about movies so I'll just stop there.

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Ry_Ry

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Run Silent, Run Deep

Grave of the Fireflies

Sound of Music

Band of Brothers

I can't really pick.

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Gruebacca

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Of the ones I've seen, Europa Europa stands out to me. All the awful shit Solek goes through and lucks out on is so memorable and sad, and it's that much more mesmerizing that much of it actually happened.

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paulmako

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Apocalypse Now, easily, although it almost doesn't seem like a war film.

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FrostyRyan

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Batman V Superman because I was at war with my sanity during that

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mrpandaman

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I really liked We Were Soldiers.

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hans_maulwurf

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kellys heroes, dirty dozen, a bridge too far and black hawk down. Not really into Vietnam or more recent stuff. Thought defiance was neat, but that's hardly a war movie

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Rigas

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#14  Edited By Rigas

Does Star Wars count?

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paulmako

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Actually I just remembered Beasts of No Nation.

It's 100% Beasts of No Nation.

What a film.

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RonGalaxy

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#16  Edited By RonGalaxy

Full Metal Jacket. It's the only film I've seen that does a good job of showing the nihilism of soldiers fighting really pointless wars. Some people think that only the first third is good, but I could not disagree more.

I think Apocalypse Now is highly overrated and very self indulgent (on Coppola's part)

Fun fact: the sniper scene in saving private Ryan is heavily influenced by the sniper scene from FMJ.

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fisk0

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#17 fisk0  Moderator

I'd probably say Das Boot and Stalingrad (the German 1993 movie). Apocalypse Now is of course up there too, and I remember liking Platoon and The Thin Red Line, but it's been a long time since I last saw those.

Before the Rain (the 1994 movie) was really good too as I recall.

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TheHT

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#18  Edited By TheHT
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RonGalaxy

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Letters From Iwo Jima is also really good. Does a great job of showing another side of ww2, and how war isn't simply "good vs evil".

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nightriff

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Inglorious Bastards

That count?

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hippie_genocide

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Kelly's Heroes, obviously.

Also, Saving Private Ryan, Three Kings, The Great Escape, and Letters From Iwo Jima. Probably a lot more if I really put some thought into it.

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lovcol

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Dr. Strangelove

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kuku

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Schindler's List - i think that's my favourite.

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Polekat

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starship troopers

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Capum15

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#25  Edited By Capum15

Black Hawk Down for me. I always just found the whole of Operation Gothic Serpent super interesting.

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BallsLeon

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A Bridge Too Far

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eladren

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#27  Edited By eladren

If we're talking semi-modern war then: "Das Boot" by a mile, then probably "Platoon".

If everything goes still "Das Boot" but also "Starship Troopers", "Master and Commander" and "Ran"

Edit: totally forgot about "Aleksandr Nevskiy"; that movie is amazing.

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Tennmuerti

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I'm kinda partial to Jarhead

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joshwent

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A movie that all too quickly came and went (at least in the US) was A Very Long Engagement. It was advertized as a romance, which it kind of is, but it's more about a mystery related to a soldier in WWI.

It's directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who did City of Lost Children and Amelie (and Alien Ressurection, FWIW), and it's kind of similarly quirky and stylized, but it's all contrasted by some brutal trench warfare scenes that were incredibly, terrifyingly effective.

If for no other reason than the hipster cred of saying you saw a great French film that no one remembers, check it out!

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veektarius

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Das Boot

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crithon

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haven't seen a war film in a while. But actually I'm in the mood to see Full Metal Jacket.

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Onemanarmyy

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Band of Brothers.

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Captain_Insano

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Great question.

"Gallipoli" by Peter Weir (starring a young Mel Gibson) is an Aussie classic.

Saving Private Ryan probably has the best action sequences. Band of Brothers is also a great series.

Platoon.

In terms of non-fiction, "Restrepo" is a pretty great documentary.

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liquiddragon

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@joshwent: I always wanted to see that, thanks for mentioning it!

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damswedon

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I have a real fondness for Where Eagles Dare the scene wher Clint Eastwood is standing at the top of some stairs mowing down Germans is great.

Also Von Ryan's Express is still a fantastic film.

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OldGuy

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Ringedwithtile

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La Grande Illusion

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monkeyking1969

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#38  Edited By monkeyking1969

I have a fondness for The Great Escape. But, Stalag 17 is more of a thriller in the same vein. Saving Private Ryan is in a league all its own, yet Glory is fantastic too.

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mikemcn

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Black Hawk Down, the only well-done modern war movie i've seen, besides documentaries that is. I've even read the book which does basically what the movie does but in wayyyy more detail. The story of gary gordon and randy shugart, who went back to the helicopter that couldn't get help is incredible. Delta Force dudes are no joke. In a time where wars are fought largely for the wrong reasons, all you can really focus on is the individuals rather than the overall conflict, and thats what black hawk down does so well.

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oraknabo

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Breaker Morant, Grand Illusion, The Human Condition, Fires on the Plain, & Paths of Glory are all really good.

Also - Slaughterhouse Five

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mordukai

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I have a foundness for The Great Escape.

Amazing movie. Inspired Kojima to make MGS. Another great war movie that is very overlooked is Cross of Iron.

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maginnovision

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#42  Edited By maginnovision

For newer ones I'd say American Sniper, Fury or '71. For older ones Great Escape, Full Metal Jacket, or Jacob's ladder. I don't really pick favorites but those are the first 3 I thought of for newer/older.

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StarvingGamer

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Watership Down

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sweep

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#44 sweep  Moderator

Black Hawk Down.

Does my heart good to see the Kelly's Heroes love in this thread. I used to watch that film whenever I would visit my grandparents as a kid, as it was the only movie they had on VHS. Such a great film.

Good Morning Vietnam is pretty fantastic, as is M.A.S.H. I like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Thin Red Line... Master & Commander doesn't get enough love, either. There's a lot of scenes I like in Saving Private Ryan but, not being American, I find it pretty difficult to buy into the "leave no man behind" and "he died a hero" stuff as that all seems slightly melodramatic and propaganda-ish to me.

No Caption Provided

Another film that was hugely underrated was Kingdom Of Heaven. If you haven't seen it for a while, track down a Blu-Ray copy of the Directors Cut. It goes into so much more detail about the crusades + factions of crusaders. Really nicely done.

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BoFooQ

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hamburger hill, its a dark look at war cause like in most of these movies not everyone makes it back. However, in hamburger hill the stupidity of war is shown has the troops fight over the same hill the whole movie. There's no real way to tell at the end if any side actually advanced.

Also love, saving private ryan, hunt for red october, wag the dog, and first half of full metal jacket.

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Giantstalker

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For some reason the war film I return to most often is Patton, I dunno if I'd call it the "best" but it's a fascinating character study about someone very much devoted to war. I think what makes it stand out the most for me is George C. Scott's portrayal of the man, it's a powerful performance. Great soundtrack also

In terms of more modern stuff, I really enjoyed Fury. It's a bit of a one note film but the director really makes the most of it in a way that I appreciated, kinda like End of Watch (not a war movie).

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cornbredx

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@sweep: "leave no man behind" is a real US Military tradition. I know for a fact as I was in the military. In most cases we kept to it in my experience.

More importantly, though, that movie in particular is about an actual law in the US that if a parent has, say for example 4 boys, and 3 of them die at war one of them has to be sent home. That's a real law and the best part of that movie is the idea that these guys died just so he wouldn't. A sacrifice story is always a fun one.

I've seen similar things happen for real (not for that law but for other reasons), but I can understand how you'd think it's propaganda. It doesn't really have anything to do with propaganda (I'm not a big fan of how gung ho my country is in films sometimes either, mind you) but I suspect you were never in the military so you never saw or experienced that kind of camaraderie. I can only speak to my experience, though. It's a real thing the US military does, but more importantly the law that movie is based on is a real thing (Sole Survivor Policy).

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sweep

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#48 sweep  Moderator

@sweep: "leave no man behind" is a real US Military tradition. I know for a fact as I was in the military. In most cases we kept to it in my experience.

More importantly, though, that movie in particular is about an actual law in the US that if a parent has, say for example 4 boys, and 3 of them die at war one of them has to be sent home. That's a real law and the best part of that movie is the idea that these guys died just so he wouldn't. A sacrifice story is always a fun one.

I've seen similar things happen for real (not for that law but for other reasons), but I can understand how you'd think it's propaganda. It doesn't really have anything to do with propaganda (I'm not a big fan of how gung ho my country is in films sometimes either, mind you) but I suspect you were never in the military so you never saw or experienced that kind of camaraderie. I can only speak to my experience, though. It's a real thing the US military does, but more importantly the law that movie is based on is a real thing (Sole Survivor Policy).

Sure, but that seems slightly idealistic. Especially when you consider the brutality of a war like Vietnam, the whole "leave no man behind" thing just doesn't seem to fit at all. Anyway, no disrespect to you or your army, it's just a hard pill to swallow from my perspective.

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Naive_Appeaser

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#49  Edited By Naive_Appeaser

Come and See

Definitely the most brutal and uncomfortable depiction of war I've ever seen. Unfortunately not many people seem to have heard of it.

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SchrodngrsFalco

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#50  Edited By SchrodngrsFalco

Saving Private Ryan for sure. I love everything about that film and every moment.

I'm not a big movie guy so I haven't seen too many war movies, really.