OT: Happy Memorial Day/Favorite War Movie Thread

Submitted by MaizeMN on
Happy Memorial Day to my fellow MGoBlog brethren. Thank you to those who have served and to those that continue to do so. While celebrating today, I will also try to remain mindful of the sacrifice that so many have made to make these celebrations possible. On a lighter note, I'm a war flick aficionado, so will have myriad programming choices today. For those of you who also enjoy the genre, what is your all-time favorite war movie? Most underrated? Overrated? My favorites: Patton. Inglorious Bastards keeps moving up on that list. The Outlaw Jose Wales is underrated. And while I generally like Tom Cruise's films, I thought Valkyrie didn't live up to its hype.
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socalwolverine1

May 30th, 2016 at 2:02 PM ^

I like realism in war movies.  My favorite well-acted, gut-wrenching movies or series by war:

Civil War : Glory - Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are superb.

WWI : Gallipoli - simply brilliant, starts out so hopeful, ends so tragically.

WWII : Saving Private Ryan - the instant classic.

WWII : Enemy At The Gates and Stalingrad - two brutal movies about the bloodiest battle in history.

WWII : Das Boot - epic story of warfare and survival on a German U-boat.

WWII : The Pacific - closely mirrors the story of my wife's father, who fought and survived at Guadalcanal (1st Marines), then went on leave to New Zealand and met my wife's mom.  

WWII : Patton - George C. Scott's masterful performance.

Anglo-French Wars : Master and Commander - very realistic battle scenes between tall ships on the high seas in the early 1800s.

Middle Ages : Excalibur - a strangely entertaining movie, but its battle scenes are brutal and well done.

Cold War : Dr. Strangelove - epic anti-war movie, presented as a farcical comedy.

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Mgodiscgolfer

May 30th, 2016 at 10:37 PM ^

Great movie with a great ending, Wife is now demanding We Were Soldiers as a late night film. The late late feature is Das Boot but I am so mad that I forgot Hurt Locker and mentioned Jar Head.

 

 

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BoFan

May 30th, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^

There are probably 100 Great War movies.

My favorite is Lawrence of Arabia

One of my favorites that I didn't see mentioned is Breaker Morant

Two Oscar winners I didn't see mentioned though they are not my favorites:
From Here to Eternity
Gone with the wind

A couple of lesser known that I always liked:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (civil war secondary theme)
Where Eagles Dare (with Eastwood and Burton)

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skurnie

May 30th, 2016 at 6:12 PM ^

I'm sure this has already been covered but Band of Brothers is tops for me (miniseries anyway). The Great Escape and Where Eagles Dare are two of my favorite WWII movies

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Muttley

May 30th, 2016 at 7:27 PM ^

 

 

 



 

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chatster

May 30th, 2016 at 7:53 PM ^

I judge my favorite films as those that I’ll often watch to the end whenever I come across them while channel surfing. For war films, those include (in alphabetical order): Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, Full Metal Jacket, Glory, Inglourious Basterds, M*A*S*H, Restrepo, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Spartacus, The Alamo (1960 version), The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Deer Hunter, The Hurt Locker, The Longest Day, War Horse, Zero Dark Thirty and Zulu.

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I Bleed Maize N Blue

May 30th, 2016 at 10:23 PM ^

Many films I like have been mentioned. I just recorded Patton & watched it for the first time in many years. I recently saw Run Silent, Run Deep (don't remember if I saw it before). Also The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (which I have seen many times).

I will relate a couple movie experiences. When I was at U-M, I saw Das Boot at MLB. It was winter, and the heaters were seemingly working overtime. After the movie was over, I was hot, sweaty & nervewracked. So that auditorium had the appropriate atmosphere.

When I saw Midway as a boy, the next showing was sold out, so we bought tickets to the following one and saw Bambi in the meantime. Sensurround was used for Midway. We could hear the explosions from the adjacent theater.

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Rabbit21

May 30th, 2016 at 11:34 PM ^

I never got that into Midway for whatever reason, but my dad loved all those old manly man movies like Das Boot, The Great Escape, The Battle of the Bulge, Guns of the Navarone, or Where Eagles Dare and made me watch them with him so I have always had a certain affection for those movies and they may have been partly responsible for me deciding to join the Air Force.

As far as modern movies go I really like Blackhawk Down and will always appreciate Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers and The Pacific.



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lmgoblue1

May 30th, 2016 at 11:27 PM ^

at Toko-Ri. Gut wrenching. Patriot. Gut wrenching You watch these and maybe get an inkling of sacrifice. Thank God for better men than me.

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wingverine

May 31st, 2016 at 1:28 AM ^

I haven't seen listed ... The Boys in Company C Dogs of War They were Expendable Uncommon Valor Yes, I know I'm a little late to the party. Hope everyone had a Safe Memorial Day Weekend.

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SaigonBlue

May 31st, 2016 at 1:45 AM ^

1) Hearts and Minds (1974 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary)

2) In The Year Of The Pig (1968 Academy Award nominated documentary)

3) The Anderson Platoon (1967 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary)

4) Winter Soldier (1972)

5) The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara (2003 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary)

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