OT: Happy Memorial Day/Favorite War Movie Thread
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.
Das Boot - awesome
A Bridge Too Far - packed with stars and the story of the ill-fated attempt to end WWII in Europe by Xmas, 1944
I've always had a soft spot for this one.
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.
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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John Wayne being carried to the battle is epic.
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The White Rose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Wei%C3%9Fe_Rose_(film) -
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Seconds_Over_Tokyo -
Downfall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall_(2004_film) -
Tora! Tora! Tora! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tora!_Tora!_Tora! -
Das Boot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Boot
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.
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.
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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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)