What's your favorite war film?

All I can come up with is really good war TV shows. So: Generation Kill, Band of Brothers, Blackadder Goes Forth, Hogan's Heroes. You have me tempted to make a favorite war TV show, OP.

Movies though: Guys! You all forgot about Three Kings. Come on, that movie could have been the defining portrayal of our modern military if Black Hawk Down hadn't come out. It gave us two good Battlefield games and vested in me the idea that DICE may be able to write a much better video game story than they're asked to do.

I'd rather suggest a film that most people probably haven't seen.

It's been awhile but I think it was called "as far as my feet will carry me." It's a film about a German soldier who has to escape from a Russian Gulag after the war and make his way back to his family without being recaptured by the Russians.

Apocalypse Now, The Deerhunter, nothing new here, but those two are pretty much perfect movies.

Star Wars

:)

Das Boot and The Great Escape have been mentioned, and are certainly high up there for me, but I'd also like to toss Dr. Strangelove into the ring. Perhaps not a traditional war movie per se, but it is about war and Peter Sellers is just so great in that. Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!

'Allo 'Allo! ;)

Probably Downfall.

I'm going to cheat and say Band of Brothers, which is a series. It has given me much more perspective on WWII than history class did.

I do find it too bad that so few American movies (if any?) go into detail on the Russian assault. Americans often say 'we won the war' as if they are taught they actually did (I have no idea what is being taught in American schools). The reality is it was a joint effort. Without the UK and France, the US wouldn't have gotten too far. Not to mention the Russians were draining most of the German effort and completely pushed them back almost alone.

I also remember liking Black Hawk Down.

Lawrence of Arabia.

Also, I recently watched The White Ribbon. Its not a war film but is set on the eve of World War I and implies the rise of the Nazi generation, which is rather unsettling.

A lot of great recc's here. Pretty much my top 10 has already been listed so I will try to go off the beaten path a bit as I scroll down the IMDB list. I was surprised by Fury. The trailer played it off as an action film with tanks and Brad Pitt, but that movie is dark and somber. I'd say it stands toe to toe as far as showcasing the sadness and depravity of war with any of the great scenes of Band of Brothers and Ryan beyond storming the beaches.

When you're done with Band of Brothers, Pacific is pretty good, too. Not as good, but it has the kid from Jurassic Park and some awesome bits that make it worth a watch. Black Hawk Down is a super slept on Ridley Scott flick that has some of the most anxiety inducing battles ever. You really feel the stress in everybody's acting. Das Boot is a god damned classic. Rescue Dawn I recall liking if you enjoy that escape from a jungle camp survival thing.

We Were Soldiers and Letters from Iwo Jima are an interesting duo that tries to tell the stories from both sides of that terrible battle. Depending on what you consider Military flicks, Empire of the Sun and Hotel Rwanda are both amazing.

And now for documentary corner!

If you haven't watched the Ken Burns documentary series on WW2, Do it. The stories are told spectacularly, and I was enthralled with that as I was with Band of Brothers. Restrepo is probably my favorite modern documentary. There's a couple series that tell the story of the initial surge into Iraq and how completely nuts it was. I forget the titles but I think they are on HBO and Netflix.

it's been echoed many times already in this thread, but 'the thin red line' is without question my favourite war movie. terrence malick's iconic pacing and landscape cinematography are in full effect, and the journey to the line sequence has to be one of my filmic segments ever. the way the music, images and motion all coalesce- it's pretty overwhelming (and exactly as intended).

i'm glad someone brought this up- i would absolutely classify this as a war movie, but focusing on the psychological toll rather than the experience of 'being in it.' it's also works as a pretty unsettling horror film. i've only seen it once for a vietnam-inspired cultural history class- and i'm not sure i want to watch it again- but it is 100% quality and worth seeing.

The Great Escape, hands down. Love that movie to bits.

Maybe it's because I'm not American but I've never liked Saving Private Ryan.

Hmm, I have seen a lot of war movies, but I can't say that a ton really stick out in my mind. I remember really loving Glory when I first saw it, and it held up when I watched it again a few years ago. I also became obsessed with Andersonville (the prison for Union soldiers in Georgia) after watching the television miniseries in middle school Social Studies. I ended up watching that, reading a lot of other materials, and also reading Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor, which is a great book.

This. The Great Escape is really well done. Also was neat to hear it was based on real people in a war camp.

The Thin Red Line. I don't like any other Terrence Malick film but there's a fantastic scene in it with Jim Caviezel narrating over a bunch of troops walking through a forest, intertwined with scenes of him saying goodbye to his wife before leaving for war. The whole film, while overly long like all Malick projects, makes the whole film worth it.

Saving Private Ryan or Lone Survivor.

Try watching Attack On Titan. I know it's not military vs military, but it's definitely about war, in a way that exudes the same sort of desperate hopelessness as those movies, and the resolve to keep fighting anyway

Platoon. I just love that movie so much, it's one of my all time favorite films just in general.

Also if you want to count it as a war movie, The Deerhunter is fantastic.

There's just lots of really good war movies out there. Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, Full Metal Jacket, Good Morning Vietnam, Das Boot, Band of Brothers...

Not sure if anyone else has listed this, but I find Enemy at the Gates to be a very enjoyable World War 2 movie. It's a movie that primarily takes place during the Battle of Stalingrad, which I find refreshing since most common war movies seem to be about D-Day and the normandy invasion and all that. Also sniper battles!

Ed Harris plays a pretty mean cold-blooded Nazi officer as well. It's certainly a rare gem.

Probably Paths of Glory or All Quiet on the Western Front. Das Boot is the best naval film. Saving Private Ryan is iconic (and more influential than CoD 4), Patton is great, Black Hawk Down is way better than every other middle east/africa conflict movie. I guess you could technically count Hotel Rwanda, that's pretty good as well.

I don't consider the Deer Hunter to be a war film, though it's obviously excellent. Apocalypse Now is a good Heart of Darkness adaptation, Heart of Darkness is probably the best 60-80 pages of literature ever written. Doesn't have much to do with war other than the setting.

Edge of Tomorrow's probably the most War-ish good action film.

Starship Troopers is a wonderful dumb action/satirical movie.

Beneath Hill 60.

Top 5 in no particular order

• Patton
• Big Red One
• Heartbreak Ridge
• Stalag 17
• Generation Kill (it's a miniseries not a movie, but it's among my favorites in the genre)

I'd second Von Ryan's Express, The Great Escape, and The Dirty Dozen. I also love Battle of the Bulge and Hell is for Heroes.

There's also a TV movie called A Soldier's Sweetheart with Kiefer Sutherland based on the story "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" from Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. I really liked it when I watched it 10 years ago in high school, but I haven't revisited it since so I can no longer vouch for its quality. The book is still one of my favorites though.

Band of Brothers and The Pacific even though they are not movies but series. Followed by Black Hawk Down.

I liked Brotherhood of war and All quiet on the western front (1979). Two movies about war that isnt 99% propaganda.

Nobody's said Pretty Village, Pretty Flame yet, so I'm going to say Pretty Village, Pretty Flame. As witty and funny as it can be at times, it's still a fairly dark examination of the Yugoslav wars' absurdity. Notable Yugoslav War mentions: No Man's Land and more recently A Perfect Day.

I'll add A Bridge Over the River Kwai. Especially if you like The Great Escape. Maybe not if you're put off by the one sided nature of the portrayal of Allied heroism in WWII.

Maybe not technically a "war film", but "The Act of Killing" is a pretty great documentary. It focuses on people who were involved in the killing of suspected communists in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966. It's a strange, surreal movie about an event that has been largely overlooked. Those of you who mentioned liking movies that focused on how war affects individuals should definitely check it out if you haven't seen it already.

Paths of Glory is a great Kubrick film about the ugly side of World War 1. It is also earlier in his career, so it doesn't have some of his stylistic style (which I consider a positive).

Grave of the Fireflies is, despite not depicting much of war itself, a powerful film about the effects of war on civilians.

I think I would give the nod to Paths of Glory, with Come and See a close second. Das Boot would not be far behind, nor Apocalypse Now.

Dr Strangelove is amazing, too

A lot of good movies and TV-series already mentioned. I'll go ahead and add Max Manus (Norwegian movie also known as Max Manus: Man of War).and The Longest Day to the list. In my opinion Max Manus is one of the best Norwegian movies of all time, although not many (if any) of my fellow Norwegians agree.

Army of Shadows for me. It is a slow burn though so be wary of that.

I really like Platoon, though it has not exactly aged well, especially some of the corny 'letters to grandma' from Charlie Sheen's character. But Willem Dafoe is awesome Keith David is as well. Some strong, disturbing scenes and the typical Oliver Stone over-the-topness, but worth checking out.

@naive_appeaser:You beat me to it. It's completely peerless.

The Act of Killing is incredible. So thought-provoking and haunting. I really want to see The Look of Silence eventually.

@quarters: @yesindeed: They're both great. Not the kind of war films I was inquiring about but definitely worth mentioning.

Has anyone said Flame and Citron yet? It might not technically fall into the genre of a "war film" but it's definitely worth seeing.

Saving Private Ryan without a doubt.

The Hurt Locker was pretty rad too though.

Not a war film but an interesting military movie is Heartbreak Ridge. Instead of the trope of a new recruit finding his purpose through discipline, it is more like an old war horse finding the balance he could never find in his youth.

One of the touch stones I always had with that movie, was reading "Starship Troopers" for the first time as Heartbreak Ridge came out. In my minds eye "Seargenet Zim" always will have Clint Eastwood's face and voice.

Schindler's List for me I think.

My father was an army ranger captain and paratrooper during the vietnam war so I grew up surrounded by war films/books.
Two of his favorites that stand out in memory were Bridge Over the River Kwai and Sands of Iwo Jima.
I have no idea how these hold up since I haven't seen them in years but IMDB seems to like them.
Oldies but goodies, figured some of you folks might want to check them out.

@ravelle: YES!

'Allo 'Allo is brilliant!

To Hell and Back.

Great Escape, Full Metal Jacket, Valkyrie

Saving Private Ryan, Kelly's Heroes, Patton, The Great Escape, Edge of Tomorrow, Starship Troopers and Bridge Over the River Kwai are all amazing.

One that I've not seen mentioned is The Great Raid. It's a great story of a prison rescue that took place in World War 2 and is definitely worth checking out. If you don't cry at the end of the movie, then I don't know if you're alive or not.

Der untergang (Downfall) is probably my favorite. It shows such a unique perspective of the end of WWII. It also does a really good job of showing that even some of the most terrible people in history are still human. Something I think it`s always important to remember.

It`s actually worth it to see it just for Bruno Ganz as Hitler. He is so incredibly good in the role.

I don't have just one. In no order:

• The Hurt Locker
• Saving Private Ryan
• Black Hawk Down
• Enemy At The Gates
• Fury

All Quiet on the Western Front

Apocalypse Now

Kellys Heroes

Cross of Iron

The Odd Angry Shot (Ex digger, so its mandatory)

Wild Geese (its campy Roger Moore at his finest)