What is your favorite WAR movie? Why?

Totally agree, great action movie. Lee Marvin is awesome in this one.

 

My favorite?
Team America - World Police
The only 21st Century film so far
that deals with "War On Terror"
issues in a sensible manner.

 

Apocalypse Now

 

Sgt York...

 

"Casablanca" - No explanation necessary.
"The Great Escape" - There is no one cooler than Steve McQueen as "The Cooler King".
"Platoon" - Most realistic Vietnam War movie. Crazy, chaotic, scary and heartbreaking.
"The Dam Busters" - Childhood favorite that absolutely holds up.
"Sahara" - Bogart in an army tank? Nuff said ...
"Where Eagles Dare" - I have a weak spot for this action packed goofy thing. Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton behind enemy lines disguised as Nazis AND the beautiful Mary Ure.
"Black Hawk Down" - Biased because I worked on it but one of the few that I have worked on that I can watch over and over again.
The use of SRV's cover of Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" when the copters take off is a great moment.

 

My brother is a Vietnam vet and watched "The Green Berets" there.
He said the audience broke into laughter when John Wayne walked into the sunset on the beach ... that's where the sun rises in Vietnam. Some defend the scene saying it could have been a bay or inlet, my brother says "horsesh*t".
Him and his friends say it was an incredibly unrealistic Vietnam War film and was considered a joke by those that were there.
The consensus seems to be that "Platoon" is the real deal.
Your mileage may vary ...

 

I quite understand his position.

Movies can be emotional experiences, if they're any good, but no movies can be a life experience.

It would be a mistake for anyone to expect a mere movie to replicate the real-life experience of combat, captivity, torture, bleeding etc.

 

Full Metal Jacket, because it talks about the dualities of man. Having a peace symbol on one's armor, while still being born to kill.

 

Only four years after WWI, this mocks such serious situations as tearful goodbyes and even corpses on the battlefield. And as for the metaphor of sausages marching off to become cannon fodder. I'll leave that to the postgraduate literature seminars.

 

For what its worth, I started a thread in the Off Topic section on favorite war books if anyone is interested...

 

Glory
Duel at Diablo
Hell is for Heroes
Major Dundee
Platoon
Bataan

 

has every war movie ever made been named yet?

 

The Big Parade (1925)

King Vidor's WWI film that really set up All Quiet On the Western Front a few years later. No glory in war, just loss and sacrifice. Well directed, shot, and acted. A few moving scenes that stay with you after the movie has ended.

 

I agree, but I also read that WWII veterans said that they felt "Saving Private Ryan" came very close to reality.

 

An old Cagney movie from 1952 called What Price Glory. It's something else, some parts are just flat out hilarious and others are quite touching. Highly recommended.

 

Hope and Glory

 

Strangelove. George C. Scott is why. and Platoon.

Patton is excellent.

 

Apocalypse Now, because war is a trip.

 

Three actually!

Paths of Glory (watched in film class!)

Saving Private Ryan (knew of officers who served in similar locale)

The Heavy Water Wars (UK/Norwegian mini-series 2014) several of the key Norwegian mission officers were my Grandfather's schoolmates.

 

Not a movie, but the COMBAT ! TV series.

 

Paths of Glory | 1957 • Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready; directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Sahara | 1943 • Humphrey Bogart; directed by Zoltan Korda.​

 

Just watched "The Longest Day" (1962?) on Netflix, out of the blue when I found it searching John Wayne movies. Lots of stars from that era in this movie!

Quite watchable, but almost 3 hours long!

 

I watched Patton last night. It's one of the best. I never tire of it.

 

Hardly.

 

Stalag 17 was not a war comedy. Although it does have humorous moments.