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Nobody's mentioned "The Bridges at Toko Ri".

1) Zulu: The classic period piece - like our "cowboys versus indians", with great acting -even Richard Burton doing a voice over. Realistic - showing the volley tactics of the British army of its time, and capturing the Brit "grunts" that won an empire.

2) Midway : forget the hokey Heston and son stuff - and reflect back on the pilots getting shot up in their cockpits. How about the scene with Gay in the water watching the 3 Japanese carriers flaming. And of course a good portrayal of the code breaking. "Where we better than the Japanese or just lucky?"

3) Green berets : John Wayne, and "pin silver wings on my sons chest - there he stands america's best!"

ORIGINAL: gunny

I just saw "Hell is for Heroes". And I gotta say for a B&W movie it was pretty well done. Could be a contender for one of my 3 favourites.

ORIGINAL: gunny

I just saw "Hell is for Heroes". And I gotta say for a B&W movie it was pretty well done. Could be a contender for one of my 3 favourites.

Lots of good B&W movies out there:

Attack!
Pork Chop Hill
The Steel Helmet
Sahara
The Purple Heart
A Walk in the Sun
Men in War

Plus the one I never get tired of watching:
Gunga Din

My two cents . . .

1. Cross of Iron: Before there was Stalingrad there was COI -- the German grunts' perspective on the Eastern Front. Detailed, not pretty. Sgt Steiger is one of the greatest "movie characters" ever created. Oddly, the sequel, Breakthrough, is IMHO, the worst war movie ever made.

2. Kelly's Heroes: Because it did a better job using period weapons / vehicles / uniforms than most of the blockbuster epics. Because it had a seriously all-star cast. Because it was a 'cult' film. Because Sgt. Oddball provided the inspiration for my five years in the Armored Cavalry "I just ride 'em. I don't know what makes 'em work." I suspect it wasn't a hit at the time because it didn't fit into a niche as either a true comedy, a war flick, or an anti-war epistle.

3. All Quiet on the Western Front: Either the original B/W or the remake (one of several) with Ernest Borgnine. Gritty "war as seen by the soldier" . . . and, before Galipolli, the only WWI film that was even remotely watchable.

Honorable mention to:
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King: Solely for King Theoden's ride with 6,000 Rohan horse into Sauron's army. [*Not* the subsequent starwars-ish battle with the Oliphaunts.] A harbringer of things to come in films -- technology enabling a new generation of war epics, showing huge swaths of battlefields, and thousands of men at a time. I'm expecting a new wave of Egyptian, Roman, Napoleonic and Civil War battle movies.

Deterrence: A fascinating little made-for-TV movie where an American President, stuck in a roadside cafe during a Colorado blizzard, has to make a real-time decision about using nuclear weapons. Included some subplots that I didn't figure out until I watched it a second time.

ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

Honorable mention to:
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King: Solely for King Theoden's ride with 6,000 Rohan horse into Sauron's army. [*Not* the subsequent starwars-ish battle with the Oliphaunts.] A harbringer of things to come in films -- technology enabling a new generation of war epics, showing huge swaths of battlefields, and thousands of men at a time. I'm expecting a new wave of Egyptian, Roman, Napoleonic and Civil War battle movies.

I agree that much bigger "battle movies" will now be possible.

I only hope that computer animated graphics will used judiciously and sparingly. In "Gladiator" and "Troy" they were used to good effect without looking too cartoonish or unbelievable.

Nothing makes my eyes glaze over faster than to see obvious animated armies/characters on the screen.

1. Battle of Britain. I was 8 when this came out and went to see it at the garrison cinema with my dad. The scene where the German gunner gets shot and his goggles fill with blood was re-enacted hundreds of times in our school playground. Oh, and Susannah York in black stockings - mmmmmm.

2. Hope and Glory. A great look at the Home Front through the eyes of a 10yo kid.

3. The Yangtse Incident. Hurrah for the RN and boo-sucks to everyone else!

ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

My two cents . . .

1. Cross of Iron: Before there was Stalingrad there was COI -- the German grunts' perspective on the Eastern Front. Detailed, not pretty. Sgt Steiner is one of the greatest "movie characters" ever created. Oddly, the sequel, Breakthrough, is IMHO, the worst war movie ever made.

Yes, Stalingrad "borrowed" some of the characters and plot from this movie. Then again CoI, like almost all modern war films borrowed a lot from All Quiet On The Western Front.

For some reason the dubbing of Stalingrad didn't work very well, I prefer the German version with subtitles. I remember reading that the actors went on a starvation diet to more authentically look in bad condition. You've got to respect a director who starves his actors for realism [:)]

Top Three Best War Movies of All Time

Apocalypse Now
Platoon
The Dirty Dozen
......................
Thefilmsdatabase.blogspot.com Offer to Watch Movies Online

Well KG, I am sure that you and EVERYONE knows my FAVORITE movie:

1. Cross of Iron
2. Das Boot
3. Band of Brothers

1/ Apocalypse now - a ton of memorable characters and awesome cinematography

2/ Kelly's Heroes - woof woof

3/ A tie, Saving Private Ryan and Cross of Iron

I could watch any of these movies 5 days in a row

This is a hard one...so many of the films mentioned are good.

In no order...

Das Boot
Cross of Iron (though I prefer the book)
Battle of Britain.

However, that is subject to change depending on my mood.

Some other honourable mentions that I haven't noticed anyone list;

Too late the hero
Play Dirty
The Wild Geese
The Last Valley
March or Die
The Blue Max
Enemy at the Gates
Letters from Iwo Jima

1.  Saving Private Ryan-for weapons effect and sounds-they were spot on-ive fired some of them, and seen many fired from world war two.

2.  Das Boot-Reality in a Sardine Can.

3.  Hamburger Hill- for G.I. language(grunts-line Inf) during that period.



Honorable Mention: The Humping scene(on the jungle trail in the mountains), were the soldier moves by and you can here one unit speaking to the other on the PRC-25/77 radio, with the sounds of the men. That brought back many memories-the movie was Platoon.

Sahara (1943)
The Cruel Sea
Stand by for Action (dumb I know, but I like it)

All Quiet On The Western Front
Paths Of Glory
Letters From Iwo Jima

There are often odd bits in warfilms that don't 'fit' with the story/history/good acting/equipment availability that detract from many of them... I find it relatively hard to enjoy a lot of the Jingoistic John Wayne vehicles, and even some of the John Mills stuff.

I'd like to watch more of the Tsushima film that I've seen a short clip from...
Honourable mentions to:
Der Untergang
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Ran
Das Boot (though the series was better than the Film)...
The Lighthorsemen
ANZACS (TV series)
84 Charlie MoPic
Vietnam (TV series)

In no particular order:

Battle of Britain
Schindlers List
Operation Daybreak

Since many of my own choices for top 3 have already been listed, I'll add one that hasn't made it to the list of honorable mentions: "Breaker Morant".

Probably less a war film, although there is numerous action in it, as it is more about the court marital of Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant for alleged war crimes commited against the Boers, namely a German preacher. Definitely a "guy" film and well worth the effort to see.

ORIGINAL: OldSarge

Since many of my own choices for top 3 have already been listed, I'll add one that hasn't made it to the list of honorable mentions: "Breaker Morant".

Probably less a war film, although there is numerous action in it, as it is more about the court marital of Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant for alleged war crimes commited against the Boers, namely a German preacher. Definitely a "guy" film and well worth the effort to see.

Warspite1

Yup, a good film indeed [:)]

Gettysburg

Zulu

A Bridge too Far

The Cannon fire in Gettsburg was very impressive.

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

Gettysburg

Zulu

A Bridge too Far

1) Ben Hur
2) Spartacus
tied for #3;
3) Ghengis Khan (1965), Seven Beauties, Dr Zhivago, Hero(2002), The Seven Samurai, The Beast, Tora Tora Tora, Kellys Heroes, Das Boot, The Battle of Britain, Shenandoah, Braveheart, The Dirty Dozen, The Blind Swordsman, The Great Escape, Zulu, Apocalypto, A Bridge Too Far, Jeremiah Johnson, Dances with Wolves, The Battle of the Bulge, The Longest Day, The Egyptian, 633 Squadron, Sink the Bismarck, In Harms Way, Waterloo, War & Peace, Stalag 17, Tobruk, Ryans Express, Operation Crossbow, The Counterfeit Traitor, The Train, Ran, 55 Days to Peking, The House of the Seventh Happiness, Bridge over the River Kwai, Failsafe, Aliens, Gettysburg, The Horse Soldiers, Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), The Sea Hawk (1940), Cleopatra (1960)

"Damned flies"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEm5RydYEYM
[:D]