10 War Movies That Appeal to the Brain

Star Tribune ^ | November 4, 2005 | Colin Covert

[wallcrawlr]

In a pivotal scene in the new Gulf War film "Jarhead," an audience of young Marines watches the famous "Ride of the Valkyries" scene from "Apocalypse Now" before they leave for the combat zone. Cheering Robert Duvall and his helicopter gunships, they revel in the movie's visceral depiction of destructive power.

• The fact that the film was meant to be antiwar doesn't deter them. "Actually, Vietnam War films are all prowar no matter what the supposed message," Anthony Swofford writes in the grimly candid memoir on which "Jarhead" is based. Marines love them because "the magic brutality of the films celebrates the terrible and despicable beauty of their fighting skills."

• A great war film is one that carries a variety of meanings for different viewers. It must show the gung-ho thrill of battle heroism and the absurdity of squandered lives, the psychological costs of combat and the camaraderie between soldiers, idealism and disillusion, the dignity of the cause and the futility of war.

• Here is a collection of classics worthy of repeated viewing, and often-overlooked treasures.

• "Full Metal Jacket"

• "Saving Private Ryan"

• "Black Hawk Down"

• "Three Kings"

• "They Were Expendable"

• "Das Boot"

• "Apocalypse Now"

• "Zulu"

• "The Battle of Algiers"

• "Starship Troopers"

Why these 10?

"FULL METAL JACKET"

Stanley Kubrick presents his extraordinarily unformulaic war movie in two parts. The prologue shows the boot camp where a leather-lunged drill instructor (Marine Corps vet R. Lee Ermey) turns young American civilians into killing machines. The climax brings them to Vietnam, where their training is all but useless in the chaos of actual combat. A sardonic portrait of militarism from the director of "Paths of Glory,"Dr. Strangelove" and "Barry Lyndon." (1987)

[wallcrawlr]

See article for the rest of the movies. They give a breif commentary on each one.

A couple of my favorites that reflected the dignity of the cause...but not so much the "futility" as the article would hope these films protray.

We Were Soldiers

The Charge of the Light Brigade

[saganite]

They missed the greatest war (anti war actually) film of all time, Paths of Glory. I't a Kubrik film and is far better than Full Metal Jacket. I guess the reason it's not in the top 10 is that it's old and even filmed in black and white.

[giobruno]

Add Gallipoli, and Paths of Glory.

[theDentist]

In no particular order:

The Longest Day
Gettysburg
Saving Private Ryan
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Midway
Tora Tora Tora
The Patriot
All Quiet on the Western Front
Stalag 17
Patton

[giobruno]

Great film, much more important than FMJ. The anthill.

[dakine]

All Quiet on The Western Front

[wallcrawlr]

Paths of Glory.

never heard of it.

thanks for the tip

[saganite]

It might be hard to find since it's old. You won't see it in blockbuster but you may find it at Amazon. If you like Kubrick and Kirk Douglas you'll like the movie. It's always on every list of the most important movies ever made that I've seen. It's Douglas' finest work in my opinion.

[wallcrawlr]

wow...I'm not a war movie newbie....just never heard of it.

I'll look, thanks.

[Yo-Yo]

A Bridge Too Far?

The Dirty Dozen?

Kelly's Heros?

[Rummyfan]

"Starship Troopers"

Startship Troopers was a comic book, and I'm pretty sure the director, Paul Verhoeven, (BASIC INSTINCT, TOTAL RECALL) intended it to be high camp. THEY WERE EXPENDABLE - great!

[saganite]

If you see it freepmail me and let me know what you think.

Warning: it's anti war and there are no heroes exept Colonel Dax, the Douglas character. It's definitely not a feel good movie.

[Millee]

Does Braveheart count??

[skeeter]

I'd add Red Badge of Courage to the list.

BTW Erich Remarque is a relation of mine - gramma claimed he was a real dandy.

[Drew68]

I've always been fond of a little know Vietnam War film that came out in the late 1980s, The Siege of Firebase Gloria. It had some bad acting and dialogue (except, of course, the always superb R. Lee Ermey) but it had some great action sequences that were well directed by Brian Trenchard Smith (who later went on to semi-fame making "Leprechaun" horror films, IIRC).

Another pretty good war movie I've always liked was The Beast, an American production with American actors playing Russian tankers who get lost in an Afghanistan valley and are pursued by a band of Pashtuns bent on revenge.

[holymoly]

I would ad "The Battle of the Bulge" (1965) to any "must see" list, for Robert Shaws' performance as Col. Martin Hessler, if nothing else.

IMO Excellent performances were also given by Robert Ryan and Telly Savalas.

The DVD has several restored scenes, which were removed from the TV & VHS releases of the film.

[holymoly]

I love the dirty dozen. It's been years. Do they show it on television at all?

Tuner Classic Movies seems to run it once or twice a year. I bought the DVD. It's nice being able to watch it whenever I want.

[Gay State Conservative]

Not necessarily in this order:

Saving Private Ryan

Breaker Morant

Bridge On The River Kwai

Das Boot

Patton

Full Metal Jacket

The Great Escape

[VictoryGal]

Starship Troopers was a fairly OK sci-fi book classic, but a horrible movie (IMHO). Can't believe it made the list but Patton and All Quiet on the Western Front didn't.