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I just watched "Das Boot" again, which in my opinion is simply the best movie about naval warfare (nevermind it's only about subs). It's a shame that the english dubbing is in no way up to the german original though.
Are there any movies like it out there? (without the overdone heroism crap, action scenes that no one really needed except the box office, ... you get my point)

Btw when did the Americans forget how to make really A-class movies? I mean just look at it there is "the longest day", "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the likes of the old days and then theres stuff like the movie which in this forum I'm not allowed to name (which is a good thing. It doesn't deserve a name)

American's haven't forgotten how to make good historical movies. Just like in the past, good ones are made and bad ones are made. In the former category you might consider Glory, Gettysburg, Schindler's List, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Valkyrie. You can quibble with details about each of them, but by and large they are credible efforts to present history in a compelling and truthful manner.

In the latter category you can toss in a bunch of bad ones, including TMTSNBN, The Thin Red Line, and Wind Talkers.

There were many classic WWII movies from the past. Stalag 17, Mister Roberts and Bridge on the River Kwai come to mind in addition to those you refer to, but even in its Golden Era Hollywood was producing historical junk: Battle of the Bulge.

Stalingrad and Der Untergang come to mind, both are German productions though....

Run Silent Run Deep is what I'd consider the American equivalent to Das Boot

True those are all exceptional (even though Gettysburg and Schindler's list are nearly 20 years old now) although i would argue with Valkyrie but that just might be my personal loathing for Tom Cruise. I would also add Gods and Generals come to think of it.
I usually don't bother about details much (as long as its not totally ridiculous) its more the overall spirit in which the movie is presented. But all in all I still think good movies get rarer and rarer .. maybe because they over-saturate nearly everything with action scenes at the cost of depicting the character.
(An example: I liked Departed but when I saw the original Infernal Affairs... the original is so much more. Because they really show how and why the characters behave in the way they do.)
But the majority seems to want that (I can't count the occasions anymore in which I heard statements like "It's a brilliant movie and it has the longest and most expensive car-chase ever produced).

but back to what I actually wanted to say: Any good movies about Naval warfare during WW2 (or the pacific theater for that matter)?
I've seen: Flags of our fathers, Letters from Ivo Jima, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Pacific (Thats no movie but still) and for naval warfare during WW2 I only saw Das Boot (I think)

Movie making, at least in the United States, was at its best from the '30s through the '50s. The '60s and the '70s were an awful interlude (with notable exceptions). But, in my opinion, there have been many, many great movies made in the 90's and '00s.

@LaBaron: German movies seem to be different as they shy away from depicting heroism (which I really like, after spending hours of talking to my grandfather) and rather depict all the little things that happen everywhere and how people react under the stress. Also they show brutality differently .. there doesn't have to be much blood, but some (many scenes) in Stalingrad, Das Boot and der Untergang are just heartbreaking.

@gradenko_2000: ty. I found it on Amazon.de and will have a look

'King Rat' & '12 O'clock High' were very good flicks.

Der Untergang and Stalingrad is as LoBaron says perhaps two of the best war movies ever made. Along with Das Boot that is.

If you move away from WW2 there are some very good war movies about the Vietnam war. I know little about this war besides reading "We were soldiers once" so that might be why I enjoy the movies. That movie sucked though. Come to think of it almost everything with Mel Gibson does... But Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill and Apocalypse now are excellent. Especially Apocalypse Now!

Btw, Anyone seen Galipoli? Been trying to get my hands on that but never found it. Ordered it from Amazon once but they cancelled it. Is it worth trying to find?

War Movies and no one has mentioned Saving Private Ryan?

As far as Naval movies - Operation Petticoat ranks at the top.

Das Boot's ASW scene is probably the closest a layman will ever get to experiencing the claustrophobic terror of a seemingly never ending and punishing Depth Charge attack during WWII.

That alone makes the movie worth seeing.

12 o'clock High is definitely worth watching. That, Das Boot, The Longest Day, and A Bridge too Far are my favorite war films.

@treespider I was originally speaking about movies about Naval warfare/the Pacific Theater, but it soon went in another direction.. (^^,).
I know all the others and have enjoyed most of them.

Private Ryan.. hmm.. I might get stoned for this, but I think its overrated. My reason for saying this is, if i think about the really good movies there are immediately scenes coming to mind that left an impression. All I remember about Pvt. Ryan are some very nice pictures even though I saw it several times.

I am currently re-watching Patton.

Red Tails is awful.

TMTSNBM is awful.

Gettysburg is my all time favorite.

The Pacific and Band of Brothers are very good in my opinion as well.

How about 'Hell in the Pacific'?.

Not really anything to do with the Naval side, but Lee Marvin & Toshirô Mifune's performances are absolutely brilliant, the ideas, the fears, the hatreds, the conflict, & comradeship 'in extremis', are captured brilliantly in microcosm in this film.

simply talking good war movies in general the one that surprised me the most was "Waterloo". An Italian/Russian co-production from 1970 and the movie is really really good.
They used some 17000 to 20000 extras and the effect that creates is insane.

edit: @Empire101 sounds very interesting. will go to my list and will be bought on the next occasion.

ORIGINAL: StK

simply talking good war movies in general the one that surprised me the most was "Waterloo". An Italian/Russian co-production from 1970 and the movie is really really good.
They used some 17000 to 20000 extras and the effect that creates is insane.

edit: @Empire101 sounds very interesting. will go to my list and will be bought on the next occasion.

Waterloo (1970), is a great film![:)]

I'm sure you will enjoy Hell in the Pacific, the two actors are great, and the ending is gut wrenching.

Another truly brilliant war film is 'Battle of Britain', a brilliant taste of WWII aviation combat, with loads of real Heinkels, Spitfires, Stukas, Hurricanes and Me109's.

ORIGINAL: Empire101

ORIGINAL: StK

simply talking good war movies in general the one that surprised me the most was "Waterloo". An Italian/Russian co-production from 1970 and the movie is really really good.
They used some 17000 to 20000 extras and the effect that creates is insane.

edit: @Empire101 sounds very interesting. will go to my list and will be bought on the next occasion.

Waterloo (1970), is a great film![:)]

Another truly brilliant war film is 'Battle of Britain', a brilliant taste of WWII aviation combat, with loads of real Heinkels, Spitfires, Stukas, Hurricanes and Me109's.

warspite1

Two quality choices [&o][8D]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Btw, Anyone seen Galipoli? Been trying to get my hands on that but never found it. Ordered it from Amazon once but they cancelled it. Is it worth trying to find?

warspite1

Galipoli is a very, very good film. Sure there is an irritant - the anti British slant that runs through the film is pathetic - but if you ignore that, it's a very good war film with a tear-jerker of an ending. The film also features a great soundtrack - Albinoni meets Jean Michel Jarre [8D]. Thoroughly recommend this film.

One of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned yet is "The Caine Mutiny" -- sort of the Pacific naval counterpart to "Twelve O'Clock High," though admittedly not quite up to the same standard.

I've always liked "Run Silent, Run Deep," but the more I learn about reality the less I like it's concessions to Hollywood's idea of a good war movie (and I am NOT a great fan of Burt Lancaster). Can't think of my other favorites right now, there are so many of them (and so many duds).

Interesting to see at least one comment that agrees with something I said just last week. My brother and I had a "military movie marathon" day, and I mentioned that most war movies seem to go on too long with the actual battle scenes. The quality of the scenes might be high, as in "Tora! Tora! Tora!", but there comes a point where yeah, we get it, there's a lot of fighting going on. The half-hour of battle scenes in that movie could be cut back to 10 minutes without losing the effect (maybe 15, to keep the Tyler and Welch drama intact). Same goes for "Master and Commander," where the battle on board the Acheron is longer than necessary. Maybe I'm just getting old, but action scenes for the sake of action scenes just don't do it for me anymore.