A Memorial Day salute to all-time favorite war films
As we enjoy the long weekend, I don't want to totally lose sight of the meaning of Memorial Day, and since this is a movies and TV blog, I got to thinking about war movies. I'm not a veteran myself, but my dad is (Korea) and he's a movie buff. (My mom too, and I wouldn't be the movie fan I am today if not for all the movies that I've watched with my parents.) So I asked him what are some of his all-time favorite war movies. His answers are below (comments by me); feel free to post a comment with your own favorite. --David
The Hunt for Red October (cold war): my dad's a Clancy fan so no surprise that this cold-war submarine flick (starring Alec Baldwin before Harrison Ford took over the Jack Ryan character) made the list.
Tunes of Glory (post-WWII): not one I've seen myself, but a well-regarded 1960 pic starring Alec Guinness and John Mills in post-war Scotland.
Das Boot (WWII): one we saw together in theaters, a claustrophobic thriller set aboard a German submarine.
Hope and Glory (WWII): another one we saw in theaters, but a little different. Funny and touching, it tells the story of the British homefront in World War II.
Danger UXB (WWII): a TV series we watched in my mom's post-Brideshead Revisited phase. It also takes place on the British homefront, with a squad in charge of defusing unexploded German bombs ("UXBs").
The Bridge on the River Kwai (WWII, pictured above): an all-time classic, again starring Alec Guiness.
Lawrence of Arabia (WWI): another classic, and one of my favorite "see it on the big screen" movies ever.
Letters from Iwo Jima (WWII): Clint Eastwood's deeply thoughtful look at the Japanese perspective of World War II. Oddly, neither my dad or I has got around to seeing the companion piece, Flags of Our Fathers.
M*A*S*H (Korean War): Robert Altman's black comedy that spurred the long-running TV series.
Gallipoli (WWI): another one we saw in the theaters (this is how we spent a lot of time in the '80s). Not exactly uplifting, but a powerful drama.
Joyeux Noel (WWI): another one from the Great War; glad this list is not only WWII. It's based on a true event, in which opposing armies take a respite for the holiday.
Mrs. Miniver (WWII): more from the British homefront, starring Greer Garson.
A few others we mentioned, and some of my own favorites: Saving Private Ryan, The Clock, Patton, The Great Escape, Stalag 17, Casablanca, The Guns of Navarone, Black Hawk Down, Glory, Breaker Morant, Dr. Strangelove.
sonicfrog on May 27, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Uhm, where are the "Navarone" classics, "Guns of..." and "Force Ten from..."?
tim maguire on May 27, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Lots of greats here. How about Lion of the Desert with Anthonoy Quinn? And since we're throwing in home front movies, I propose Bedknobs and Broomsticks (ok, one for the kids, but still, a fun movie)
Uncle Fester on May 27, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Also:
The Enemy Below, a great submarine movie with Robert Mitchum
The Bedford Incident, an outstanding Cold War navy movie
and, for pure entertainment purposes:
Kelly's Heroes with Clint Eastwood.
Rick on May 27, 2008 at 12:25 PM
There was this little film from a few years back that some critics thought was ok.
It was called PATTON fer chrissakes!
John on May 27, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Nobody seems to have any regard for "We Were Soldiers".
wolfwalker on May 27, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Some items from my own Memorial Day Movie Marathon:
"Twelve O'Clock High"
"Sands of Iwo Jima"
"The Enemy Below"
"Sink the Bismarck"
Terry Baker on May 27, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubrick directed, Kirk Douglas
Eric on May 27, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Bridges at Toko Ri (This was on TCM last night so probably why I am mentioning it)
This film makes me think more about the human cost of war than any of the Anti War films of the past year.
rogera on May 27, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Culloden and Paths of Glory are also good choices.
Dave from Ontario on May 27, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Glad to see Waterloo finally made the list. I would add two eastern front movies from ww2
Stalingrad and
Enemy at the Gates
baconboy on May 27, 2008 at 12:35 PM
My dad did two tours in Vietnam and he always told me that all war films lacked one key element that made it difficult to really understand war -- the smell. He said the smell of war -- the gunpowder, the urine and feces, the fear, the blood, and the death -- were the most indelible elements of the experience and as such no war film could ever really capture the reality of war. Not that we should expect one to, but it's helpful to be reminded of the limitations of the medium.
Anyway, my faves: Patton, A Bridge Too Far (Anthony Hopkins pre-Hannibal Lecter), Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers..., and the best documentary is Return With Honor about the guys at the Hanoi Hilton.
Paul A'Barge on May 27, 2008 at 12:39 PM
As usual the comments complete the initial post.
+1 on Breaker Morant, Apocalypse Now and Deer Hunter. Also +1 on Bridges at To-Kori. And Patton.
How about From Here to Eternity (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045793/)?
Stephen Gorevan on May 27, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Of course the Tunes of Glory is not a war movie nor does it take place during an armed conflict. The film is a psychological drama taking place inside a Scottish barracks; it is a very great movie nonetheless. I was surprised to see that John Huston's Red Badge of Courage had not yet made anyone's list. This movie starred Audie Murphy as the young lad fighting in the Civil War. The Red Badge of Courage is a very low budget movie but it is quite good, very unusual and well worth seeing.
frank martin on May 27, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Might I also suggest -
Ice Cold in Alex, Pursuit of the Graf Spee and Sink The Bismarck.
Bart on May 27, 2008 at 12:46 PM
I have to vote for Breaker Morant and Paths of Glory. I cannot believe that it has only one mention. This is a top notch movie, and it just came up in a conversation at work the other day. Kirk Douglas is great in this film.
JR in Tennessee on May 27, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Also strangley absent from the list is the classic "In the Army now"(1994) staring Polly Shore. A very very under appreciated film (and actor!) if ever there was one. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110123/
Nicholas on May 27, 2008 at 12:47 PM
A while ago I came across a DVD of "The Beast". It's a film I'd never heard of, with actors I recognised, set during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I don't know if it's an all-time-great war movie but it's certainly very gripping and I think worth watching. Apparently it was also known as "The Beast of War".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716/
Bob Godwin on May 27, 2008 at 12:47 PM
One of my favorites is Battlecry. the central character tom me is Stewart Whitman who played the platoon sargent. Most of the movie was standard fare, but there were two scenes that set it apart. In the opening you had the platoon marching in to the Bastone area all spiff and spify and marching to a common set of rhymes to help keep cadence. At the end of the movie, a thourgholy beat up set of survivors is marching out of the front lines when the see a replacement platoon coming down the road. At that, they buck up and do their best to march, again, to the cadence count.
tom swift on May 27, 2008 at 12:48 PM
War movies - something for everybody. From the sublime - Grand Illusion (1937) - to the ridiculous - Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Bill Kovacs on May 27, 2008 at 12:48 PM
What? Nobody added "The Dam Busters" or any of the John Wayne/Ford cavalry movies. Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande and The Horse Soldiers.
Bob Godwin on May 27, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Boy, did I screw up the spelling.
Robbins Mitchell on May 27, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I would add "Twelve O'clock High", "Fighter Squadron", "Waterloo", and "Battleground"
Kevin O'Brien on May 27, 2008 at 12:50 PM
If you liked Danger UXB, you might like the miniseries Piece of Cake, based on an entertaining novel (as usual, the book's better) about a fictitious squadron in the Battles of France and Britain. Mind you, survivors of the Few hated it. There's some great flying scenes thanks to Ray and Mark (RIP) Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company; the historical accuracy is only so-so (for example, Spitfires didn't engage in France in 1939-40; but there just aren't enough surviving Hurricanes to pull off a Hurricane film).
Another Battle-of-Britain themed film that's quite good is Dark Blue World, but it's partly in Czech. I speak Czech so that didn't bug me, but maybe you don't care for subtitled movies.
If you're up for subtitles or know German, Stalingrad is a good, if depressing, film. It's almost like a German version of a Hollywood Vietnam film, though.
Robbins Mitchell on May 27, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Bob Godwin is thinking of the one I mentioned..."Battleground" with Van Johnson and James Whitmore as Sgt Kinnie counting cadence at the end..."Battlecry" stars Tab Hunter,Van Heflin ,and James Whitmore as Sgt 'Mac'....but it concerns the USMC
willis on May 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM
"This film makes me think more about the human cost of war than any of the Anti War films of the past year."
Does one need a film to remind one of the human cost of war? Is it that easily overlooked. How about a film to remind one of the human cost of not fighting a war. Picture the United States of America cooexisting with the Confederate States of America, or the greater part of the world under Nazi/Imperialist Japanese domination, or even South Korea under the horrendous government of North Korea.