Best modern day war movies?

[Mind]

Which military movies about modern times do you think are the best? My TOP5:

1. The Hurt Locker (2008)
2. Black Hawk Down (2001)
3. Top Gun (1986)
4. American Sniper (2014)
5. 9th Company (Russia, 2005)

[GaryChildress]

I used to love movies like "A Bridge Too Far" and "The Battle of Britain". They don't make movies that good anymore I don't think.

[MrsWargamer]

In modern film (which is not automatically meaning a modern setting).

Saving Private Ryan was an interesting experience.
We Were Soldiers has been a great film.
Fury was nicely done.
Edge of Tomorrow was certainly a unique angle.
Letters from Iwo is for once not the same ole Nazis and Russians or Americans.
Flags of our Fathers is a good companion to Letters from Iwo.

There have been some more recent times films from foreign sources. Haven't really watched much though.
I tend to avoid most of the last 20 years of film of ANY kind just because it is all CGI, no real acting too often, and no real substance in the film.
When I want to watch a war movie, I rarely get past the 80s.

[Mind]

When I created this theme, basically I was thinking of military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, etc., starting in the 1980s

[ringoblood]

Well, now that you clarified, I go with, Black Hawk Down. As my Number One.

[Kuokkanen]

Not a movie, but still a great one:
Generation Kill

[edit]
I bought & watched 9th Company recently (months ago), and to sum it up: Russian equivalent of American Vietnam movie set in Afghanistan. Average quality, maybe little under of it.

[warspite1]

Warfare post Hiroshima doesn't really pump my nads, but I guess Platoon was as good as any - if only for the music.... the greatest piece of music in a war film. Ever. The intensity of those magnificent violins, and the vibrato sound that brings the strings to their heart-rending crescendo; its not a piece of music - its a truly religious experience. Brings me to tears just about every time I hear it.

Adagio for Strings (Samuel Barber)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECQeLQURNuw

[MrsWargamer]

ORIGINAL: Mind

When I created this theme, basically I was thinking of military action in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, etc., starting in the 1980s

Chances are I couldn't give a damn for anything from Iraq, A-stan, Somalia, Yugo, Chechnya.

I do recall Shake Hands With The Devil, the story of Romeo Dallaire's experiences why running the Peacekeeping mission in Rwanda.

What scares me though, is how close I came to being IN those places. Fate had other plans. But I could have seen time in Cyprus, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda. I'm too old to have been sent to A-stan though. Glad I missed it all.

I prefer my movies to be about times and places I had no contact with.

[Mind]

In fact, the best films about military action in Iraq are Hot Shots!1&2

[Pvt_Grunt]

Hurt locker. It was an actual movie, not just a battle re-creation

[Rising-Sun]

Well for modern, only can think of, that I like most...

Apocalypse Now
Behind Enemy Lines
Black Hawk Down
Crimson Tide
Flight Intruder
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
The Hunt for Red October
The Sum of all Fears
We were Soliders

I got all these as DvD collection.

[ringoblood]

Hurt Locker was Good.
We were Soldiers is my fav, might not be in the Middle East or Central Europe in Modern Day, but i love that movie good war movie and good family movie.[;)]

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Rising-Sun

Crimson Tide
The Hunt for Red October

warspite1

Ah yes, good call, forgot these two gems.

[Kuokkanen]

Some more:
Jarhead
Three Kings
Courage under fire

[edit]
Are those the best... Maybe not, but gives you some more to watch. At least they're better than 9th Company.

[sPzAbt653]

Shot Through the Heart [1998]. The horrors of war are examined from the view points of lifelong friends and expert sharpshooters who end up on opposing sides of the Bosnian War in Sarajevo. Based on a true story.

Lone Survivor [2013]. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings. Based on true events.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi [2016]. Based on the Annex Security Team's defence of the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya against waves of attacks by militants on September 11, 2012.

These are not great war films in the vein of Bridge Too Far or Longest Day type stuff, but war these days is different, and I think these three films represent well.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

Shot Through the Heart [1998]. The horrors of war are examined from the view points of lifelong friends and expert sharpshooters who end up on opposing sides of the Bosnian War in Sarajevo. Based on a true story.

Lone Survivor [2013]. Set during the war in Afghanistan, it dramatizes the Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings. Based on true events.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi [2016]. Based on the Annex Security Team's defence of the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya against waves of attacks by militants on September 11, 2012.

These are not great war films in the vein of Bridge Too Far or Longest Day type stuff, but war these days is different, and I think these three films represent well.

Good point about the last two movies. I thought they were both well done. Honorable mention needs to go to American Sniper and Black Hawk Down in a similar vein.

As a side note, I notice that your username and your username image (your 'avatar') don't match verbatim. Why did you leave out the 'Jg' aspect of the unit avatar in your username?

[RFalvo69]

I’ll throw in The Return of the King.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mind

In fact, the best films about military action in Iraq are Hot Shots!1&2

War! It's fannnn-tastic! [;)]

Any movie that features Charlie Sheen shooting a chicken/arrow into an enemy (and then having said chicken/arrow lay an egg afterwards) should be forevermore honored.

[TheGrayMouser]

1988 “The Beast”. Soviet T-55 tank and crew attempt to reach safety after committing various atrocities in an Afghanistan village .

[sPzAbt653]

Why did you leave out the 'Jg' aspect of the unit avatar in your username?

I didn't want it to be difficult to read.