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The Best WAR Movies of all Time

Discussion in 'Pop Culture Board' started by Crown Royal, Dec 6, 2010.

  1. Nax

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    A couple of smaller scale movies that haven't been mentioned so far but are worth watching:
    The Beast
    Set during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, The Beast tells the story of a T62 that is involved in the massacre of an Afghan village. The T62 then gets separated from its unit and the Mujaheddin attempt to exact vengeance on it as the crew fight to keep it operational long enough to get back to base whilst internal tensions rip them apart.

    Bravo Two Zero
    The 'true' (disputed) story of an SAS patrol in Desert Storm that gets dropped off deep in Iraq in an attempt to sabotage the scud missiles that Saddam is shooting at Israel. A combination of poor planning, non-functional equipment and bad luck leads to the patrol being discovered and pursued by the Iraqi army as they desperately try to reach the safety of the Syrian border. Cheaply made but watchable nevertheless.
     
  2. lust4life

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    "The Best Years of Our Lives" portrays issues of adjustment to life after war and is an excellent film, and provides a reminder that vets carry the war with them after the treaty has been signed.

    A lot of y'all dissed "We were Soldiers," but I liked it. Sam Elliot was awesome, even without the 'stache.

    "Fail-Safe" gave a scary look at the Cold war.
     
  3. Nettdata

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    I'll just add a couple of films that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

    The Dam Busters. I've mentioned this before, but this was a damn accurate film recounting the Royal Air Force blowing up some German dams that were producing hydro to create heavy water as part of the German nuclear program. We had one of the original pilots come and show us his copy that MGM gave him while I was at military college, and he recounted the story as we went through the movie. I still watch it a few times a year, and give it a solid 95/100.

    Zulu It's kind of got it's faults, but it's a really entertaining movie about 150 or so British Troops about to be attacked by thousands of African warriors.

    Midway Need I say more?

    All Quiet On The Russian Front. I read and loved the book, and found the movie (even if it was made in the 30's) to be a reasonable representation.


    And, while not really that realistic, I also enjoy most of Alistair MacLean's novels that have been made into movies, such as:

    Where Eagles Dare

    Force 10 from Navarone


    What can I say, I kind of like my war movies a bit old-school.


    Oh, and for a fun frolic through some old-school militaristic satire, you can't beat Catch-22. A phenomenal book that was translated into a movie quite well.

    While I'll put most of the movies I've listed above in my "best war flick" list, if you just want to see some that are fun, I'd recommend:

    Boys From Brazil (not quite war, but post-war).
    The Dogs of War
    The Wild Geese
     
  4. Ton80

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    Just cause I haven't seen it posted yet, but before there was Saving Private Ryan, there was The Longest Day. A 1962 telling of D-day from the Allied and Axis points of view, and one of the first war movies I ever watched. Not the most realistic telling, but highly entertaining, even at 3 hours long.
     
  5. M4A1

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    I haven't seen a movie made yet about Iraq/Afghanistan that has been worth my time. Including Hurt Locker. I was just bored. I go to movies to be entertained, I am not one to look very much deeper or for meaning. So, take my opinion for what it's worth.

    How has no one mentioned that John Wayne Classic:

    The Green Berets.
     
  6. Nettdata

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    Wasn't a big fan of the Green Berets, truth be told. 2 scenes made the highlight reel; bad guy balloon extraction, and Puff the Magic Dragon. Otherwise, meh.
     
  7. lust4life

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    Retreat, Hell! is also a good Korean War flick. Marines, Inchon, Chosin Reservoir.
     
  8. toddus

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    MASH.
     
  9. Arctic_Scrap

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    I didn't see it posted yet but Firebase Gloria was a cool war movie. It's been at least 10 years since I saw it though so maybe it was a cheese ball. I believe it was from the late 80s. It's about a little base that got overrun by NVA[I think?] but in the end the Americans would have been considered victorious though the casualties on both sides were very heavy. I need to find this movie again.

    Looks like someone did mention this one, boo.
     
  10. Omegaham

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    Have you seen Restrepo? Amazing movie.

    The problem is that modern war is actually pretty boring on a large scale. There are no lines of battle, no brave lieutenants screaming "FOLLOW ME" as they charge at the machineguns, etc. It's just "We patrol around and try to cut off all the ways that the enemy can pop up and attack us." It's like a huge national version of Whack-A-Mole. The Taliban know that any sort of efforts to fight conventionally are going to result in them losing badly, so they piddle around and launch mortars and run away.
     
  11. Justadude

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    x2 for Restrepo. In case you missed it Op Rock Avalanche was where SSG Giunta earned the first living Medal of Honor since Vietnam. The Company commander and the journalists rode back by chopper (not criticizing them), when the Joes were walking back they got hit.