The Best War Movies — Tanks for the Memories

Fox news=s via "entertainment Nutz) ^ | May 26, 2015 | 'michael' (not me)

[Michael.SF.]

This list is in no particular order, and comes in various categories. Going back to the Civil War:

GLORY
GETTYSBURG

For the World Wars:

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.
DAS BOOT.
PATTON.
THE GREAT ESCAPE.
SCHINDLER’S LIST.
THE DIRTY DOZEN.

Vietnam War:

FULL METAL JACKET

[Lurker]

Homer was simply brilliant, too. It’s one of my all time favorite movies, not just war movies.

Have a pleasant day.

L

[Rockpile]

I know from countless war movies and TV shows that the Wehrmacht was a gaggle of bungling screwups who couldn’t defeat a girl scout troop.

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Now do I really seriously need a sarc tag?

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On another note, if you see any Dunkirk evacuation footage, see if you can find a British soldier carrying a rifle as they flee onto the boats.

[rlmorel]

You too...good thread.

[Rockpile]

I hated the stupid ‘effing Heartbreak Ridge. The only worthwhile part was a few seconds of the P7s doing a surf and sand.

[oh8eleven]

Now do I really seriously need a sarc tag?
Sorry, but yes, I'm afraid so. It's just incredible what some people believe/post.

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[Rockpile]

One other thing that really sucked about Memphis Belle is that the Group Commander never flew any missions which was total crap of course.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It’s been years since I watched it, so it may be a stinker. My uncle was a bomber pilot in ETO so maybe that’s why I liked it. I never heard a single thing from him about the war.

[Flag_This]

I had very high hopes for that movie... I should probably just get over it. I’ve read a lot about the air war over Europe - your uncle was a hero.

[mad_as_he$$]

+1.

[BBell]

Sutherland is playing more of a fifty's Beatnik, the precursors of the "hippys." It's good entertainment. It probably should be considered a "war comedy."

I liked the way the characters complemented each other.

[samtheman]

I agree on Ryan. I thought it was well done and I found several parts of it extremely suspensful, like facing the horrors of the German machine gun, letting the captured German soldier go only to have him come back and wreak deadly havoc on the heros. Things like that.

[Vinnie]

Looking forward to it coming on TV again.

[rlmorel]

Besides the beach scene, the hand-to-hand knife fight had an impact on most people I know who saw it.

And the way they did the flashback and such of the WWII vet was well done.

The movie wasn’t perfect. But it should have won best picture that year.

“Shakespeare in Love”? Really?

[rlmorel]

In my opinion, “Twelve O’Clock High” was the standard by which all WWII Army Air Corps movies have to be compared to.

[samtheman]

I agree.

[rlmorel]

I haven’t watched television in decades...was there a reason it wasn’t being shown (such as the turd Turner having rights to it or something like that...?)

[TexasTransplant]

**** “Heartbreak Ridge” *****

I watched it like it was an “Every Which Way but Loose” type spoof

Reality never entered that Theater ...

TT

[ProtectOurFreedom]

You are right that it was produced at that point in time when WW II memories had faded enough that satirical and humorous movies could be made. Hogan’s Heroe’s ran from ‘65 to ‘71. Heller began Catch 22 in 1953 and completed it in 1961.

Great list of WW II comedy films at IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/list/ls057372098/.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I’m surprised nobody has nominated “Kanal,” a Polish movie made in 1957 by Andrzej Wajda about the end of the Warsaw uprising in 1944.

I first heard about this (I think) on a FR thread a few months back. It’s available on YouTube and is very good. A couple of IMDB summaries:

1. A symbolic depiction of hell on Earth, set in the last days of the Warsaw uprising in 1944. Lieutenant Zadra is commanding a company of 43 men in a desperate battle amidst the ruins. Facing German offense and cut off from their comrades, Zadra is commanded to retreat his men through the sewer system (’kanal’). Zadra and his men are reluctant to do so, as it would indicate that they have lost the battle, but decide to obey the orders. However, as the men (and women) retreat, it becomes clear that their desperate attempt to flee from the hell of battle will result only in more death and suffering.

2. September, 1944. It’s the 56th day of Warsaw’s uprising against the Nazis. The third Platoon of the Resistance is down to 43 heroic men and women, and they’re penned in. After a last day of fighting, and of good-byes to family, to love making, and to music, a handful of doomed survivors wade into the city’s underground sewers in hopes of escape. Their valor is tested a final time.