Your Favourite War Movie

[Grenadier]

Originally posted by AC:


NEXUS, the actor was Curd Juergens. I felt just like you for this scene.

AC

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The actor was Robert Vaughan, fresh from "The Man From UNCLE"


I mentioned "The Bridge" way back in July 2000

No one is mentioning "Enemy at the Gates" or "Pearl Harbor"?

EATG was very accurate, if a bit contrived. The German equipment, normally always a weak point, was very accurately modelled, especially the Ju-88's and the Pz III's

[AC]

Brent, you're right (I checked). Nexus, sorry for the wrong information.

AC

[philbo]

Hi everyone,

In no particular order:

Waterloo
Zulu
Saving Private Ryan
everything else every one mentioned and I'll throw in one that I can't believe no one mentioned.

300 Spartans, an awesome movie, IMO! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">


Phil

[john g]

Originally posted by philbo:
Hi everyone,

In no particular order:

Waterloo
Zulu
Saving Private Ryan
everything else every one mentioned and I'll throw in one that I can't believe no one mentioned.

300 Spartans, an awesome movie, IMO! <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">


Phil

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Zulu is my all time favorite, but no one has mentioned the other Spartans.

Go Tell the Spartans, it must be the least seen and most underrated Vietnam film. It occupies the middle ground between the Green Berets and movies like Platoon and Apocalyse Now.
thanks, John.

[Halgary]

Originally posted by Brent:


No one is mentioning "Enemy at the Gates" or "Pearl Harbor"?

EATG was very accurate, if a bit contrived. The German equipment, normally always a weak point, was very accurately modelled, especially the Ju-88's and the Pz III's

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Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think I saw a T-34/85 in the background in the beginning of EATG? I saw this movie only once, so I could be wrong... Anyway, that would be way before it appeared in the war. Bad mistake <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Pearl Harbor was the only movie I went to the movie theatre to see and did not bother to watch to the end. An hour of Barbies and Kens kissing and the next hour just things exploding... boring! And the plot was over-predictable.

"A Bridge Too Far" is my favourite, followed by finnish "Unknown Soldier" (old version), and "Winter War".

"Full Metal Jacket" was my favourite when I was in the army... Every time I saw it, I always felt better thinking: "Well, it could be worse". And when I started grinning like a maniac, my trainers usually left me alone. They'd seen it too <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Anonymous Sender]

In no kind of order at all...

Europa Europa
Stalingrad (the original)
Winter War
A Bridge Too Far
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Glory

And a few esoteric choice snippets...

the first 30 min of Saving private Ryan
the Imperial assault on Hoth sequence in Empire Strikes Back
the end-of-movie battle between Mordred and Authur in Excalibur
both the first and last encounters between the Aliens and the Colonial Marines in Aliens

heh...ok, I'll stop now...
<img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Panzer Capta]

Winter War (dont miss this one!!!!!!!!)

Saving Private Ryan

Stalingrad

Platoon

Enemy at the Gates

Thin Red Line

A Bridge Too Far

Longest Day

[melcer]

Hard question since I've seen a few..

Since I prefer it intense and as realistic I can imagine (I've never been in combat myself of course) I think my rating would be like:

Winter War (and other finnish war movies)
First 30 min of SPR
Stalingrad

I haven't seen Enemy at the Gates yet so I can't rate it. Pearl Harbour I don't even want to mention. At last I must say that Aliens is one of my favourite movie, all categories, but I don't realy categorize it as a war movie.

Melcer

[Rick Borovec]

Have seen most of all the before mentioned, but here's two that no one has either seen or they have been forgotten:
The Young Warriors - with James Durey(from the Virginian)
663 Squadron - about a bomber squadron

[Zevious Zoquis]

I thought the last 30 minutes of SPR were pretty damn good too. And the middle part was certainly not "bad" by any means. But the first 30 minutes definitely blew me away. I've probably watched that scene a hundred times now (I just got a dvd last week and SPR was the first movie I purchased for it) and it is truly amazing.

I found Enemy at the Gates to be hopelessly silly. The love story element was so clumsy. Thank God Spielburg didn't have Tom Hanks falling in love with a beautiful French peasantwoman played by Julia Roberts in SPR.

[JTGEN]

In no particular order

-Das Boot (long version or the TV series in fast pace and not in weeks interwalls)
-Winter War
-Apocalypse Now
-Platoon
-Kelly's Heroes
-'Unknown Soldier', both versions
-FMJ
-Thin Red Line
-Japanese series about samurais at war(name?)
-Tora Tora Tora

Also good is the one with german boys waiting for the yanks and the one with snowfight before buldge. I think the recent ones like SPR, Gladiator, Enemy at the gates, Patriot, Braveheart and many other have great scenes, but also have some serious plunders that drop them from being at the top.

Soviets made also in the 1950's some interesting war movies(often war as a backround and the main thing being of something else). Can not remember the names and probably hard to get in US.

What I'am waiting now is the Check/UK movie about air war in WW2.

[AbsntMndedProf]

Two films I forgot to mention, I'm absent-minded after all, are:

1. Fail Safe with Henry Fonda as the President and Larry Hagman as his Russian language interpreter.

2. Doctor Strangelove; Peter Sellers does what few British actors have done well, a Mid-Western accent. The scene with Slim Pickens riding the nuke down to the Soviet missile complex is a hoot!

Eric Maietta

[valdor17]

Originally posted by Huffy:
VALDOR...I think....the movie you are refering to is..."The Bridges at Toko-Ri"...or close to that...not sure.
Huffy

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Nope <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

The movie Philippe Hubert was refering to (from which he remembers Robert Wagner) was The Hunters (1958). Robert Mitchum plays USAF Major Cleve Saville, a WWII fighter ace flying F86s in Korea. Robert Wagner plays USAF Lt. Ed Pell, a hot shot new pilot in Mitchum's squadron. They both ditch behind enemy lines to save a third pilot, Lt. Carl Abbott (played by Lee Phillips.)

Internet Movie Database: The Hunters

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) stars William Holden as Lieutenant Harry Brubaker, a Navy carrier pilot. Robert Wagner is not in the movie.

Internet Movie Database: The Bridges at Toko-Ri

[parusski]

I must agree with those who mentioned:
1. The Bridge-Great Movie

I did not see it listed, but a must see is:
2. A Bridge Too Far

Dasvadonya, dodya

[KG Erwin]

Apart from the usual favorites, I'll mention "El Cid" and "Alexander Nevsky". If anyone's interested, I wrote a brief review on "Nevsky" (Danny Nugteren wrote the last part on the DVD release) in Wargamer's War on Video section. Unfortunately, the still shots are now gone. Check it out and let me know what you think. Glenn.

[ September 10, 2001: Message edited by: KG Erwin ]</p>

[bradmbrown]

I am not sure if one would put this forward as a "war movie."

"Ran" a film by Akira Kurosawa.

A mature and EXCELLENT Japanese adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear."

It is among the best films I have EVER SEEN.
You gotta SEE the battle - scenes!! Holy SMOKES!

ANYTHING by Kurosawa Sama is worth seeing. I believe he is (was? is he passed away?) one of the world's best film directors.

Spielberg can only hope to hold this guy's coat tails and clean his shoes...
sorry... <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Les_the_Sarge_9_1]

Yo Brent

Gee with a 3 digit member number you must have been here a long while. How could you possibly though condone proffering the Pearl Harbour film for anything but a put down.

Not only was the film an affront to anyone that was there, not only was it a lousy excuse of a love story, not only was it a pathetic hollywood spectacle complete with special effects that were both not special or even worth watching (because they were grotesquely inaccurate), they put things in the movie that never happened to entertain people that didnt have a clue what really did happen (and will never know thanks to Hollywood). And the Dolittle raid was sneaked in just for the feel good effect of the attack not ending like it actually did (Pearl was attacked, men died, ships were sunk and the Japanese got away unscratched).

This film was an unmitigated betrayal of the american public. You americans were let down insulted and used. Any american viewing this atrocity should feel soiled in some way. Yeah all this is strong talk, but each time a war movie uses war as just another reason for an action flick it does that to me. I aint even american even.
But I remember watching some recent documentaries on Canada's activities in the war. It wasnt pretty, a lot of vets were irate at what was said too. But I watched the films and they held no punches. It told the truth (in all its ugliness). We allies didnt fight the war entirely by the rules either. But we won. Winning kinda does that.

I have seen a lot of other films that might have been more. But they were often made in an informational vacumn or with technology that was lacking. In todays world that is no longer an excuse. Pearl Habour the film, was just hollywood making money off of your war dead callously. I spit on the producer.