I generally detest war films. Here are some that I liked a lot.
Army of Shadows
Les Carabiniers
Loin du Vietnam (though technically a documentary)
Come and See
The Ascent
The Thin Red Line
Paths of Glory
Full Metal Jacket
Try a search on this subject. I think there are other threads here about this.
toy soldiers
William Wellman is my favourite director on the subject of war:
Battleground (1949)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Wings (1927)
others:
Three Kings (1999) d. David O. Russell
Casualties of War (1989) d. Brian DePalma
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (1980 / 2004) d. Samuel Fuller
Cross of Iron (1977) d. Sam Peckinpah
Soldaat van Oranje / Soldier of Orange (1977) d. Paul Verhoeven
The Train (1964) d. John Frankenheimer
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) d. John Huston
They Were Expendable (1945) d. John Ford
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) d. Lewis Milestone
Come and See , Kanal
Please post here:
Boy of Boy no one said “Saving Private Ryan” yet. Anyway close this thread. There is already one like this.
Yup, no Saving Private Ryan, a big reason why I’m lovin’ this thread.
yeah the best part of S.P.R. is when the dude tries to throw the sticky bomb in a sock and blows himself to heck.
Waltz With Bashir is a great one.
I REALLY have to catch up with Waltz for Bashir. Thanks for the reminder.
THE THIN RED LINE is the best war movie I’ve ever seen.
The James Jones novel is the greatest novel about WWII I’ve read. The whole trilogy (From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line, Whistle ) is awesome.
“THE THIN RED LINE is the best war movie I’ve ever seen.”
Yes. “The Thin Red Line” wins, hands down.
As a combat vet myself, I can tell you that 90% of war is sitting around, thinking, waiting, dreaming of the girl back home, contemplating why you are even there. The existential flow of the film is also dead on.
impossible question to answer for well over 90% of us because we’ve never been in a war :D
BUT for me it was Stuart Cooper’s Overloard and Spielberg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST/SAVING PRIVATE RYAN…only picking those films because of the no-nonsense realism of the violence
Trust me, “Private Ryan” is almost pure nonsense. I give props for the opening sequence on Omaha Beach, but the rest of the movie is pure Hollywood nonsense.
I don’t think any war film is an unremittingly intense as HURT LOCKER, J Darko, but I’d second Wellman’s BATTLEGROUND and also suggest Ford’s THEY WERE EXPENDABLE. The latter is fact-based & all the aprticipants (save John Wayne) were in the military in WWII.
Come and See
The Grand Illusion (meditation on WWI, the last gentleman’s war and rightly so)
Paths of Glory
Bridge on the River Kwai
platoon, black book, MASH…
double post
triple post haa
dawn of the dead (1978)
star wars (original trilogy)
children of men
ran
those count as war depiction films? i like these.
Since the name of this thread is “Best War Depiction,” my vote goes to the first 30 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan.” Sorry Elvis is King, but I cannot think of one film that depicted a battle scene so realistically and horrifically. I’m open to other recommendations, however.
Director Ari Folman says it best about his movie WALTZ WITH BASHIR: A lot of movies about how war is bad and meaningless but the protagonists in the movies are cool, the audience relates and wants to be like them. But in his movie, you’ll watch it and you won’t want to be that guy.
(I heard it from the extras on the DVD)
I’m currently trying to finish watching Kobayashi’s HUMAN CONDITION. 9+ hour-long epic. I’ve been anticipating it. See how that goes.
I will give it up for the Omaha Beach sequence of Saving Private Ryan. Absolutely one of the great battle sequences. Unfortunately the movie unravels as soon as that sequence ends.
The battle sequence in Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1966) kicks major ass. And so does the rest of the movie.
Soldier in the Rain
probably the most accurate movie ever made about army life (of course, not war specifically).
how do you make text bold?
Put a * on either side of the word or phrase. i.e. * Soldier in the Rain *, but don"t put a space like I did between the * and the first and last letters.
Private Ryan is just fine after the Omaha beach sequence..stop ur bitching
Thanks for the reminder on Overlord. Never seen it.
J. Darko
The Hurt Locker is the best war movie I have ever seen. Can anyone suggest something to top it?
And please don’t say Apocalypse Now (which made me want to take a machete to myself after sitting through it.)