Guilty Pleasure: What's your FAVORITE War Movie?

[Tyler Durden]

So I like war movies. CLASSIC war movies (that means WWII). I even like CHARLETON HESTON war movies. Sue me.

I know it's not very PC to like war flicks, but I'm an action junkie and likely undiagnosed Asperger's case, so action psyches me.

I didn't include any Vietnam ones (most of them are great anyhow, but for different reasons). Also, I omitted films like "What did you do in the War, Daddy?" and "Kelly's Heroes:" two triumphs of the humorous antiwar film. Likewise, "The Caine Mutinty" is in a class by itself so it isn't here either.

ALL of these can be found at a GOOD video store, and all of them are available on DVD except "Night of the Generals" and "The Enemy Below" (which will be out for Christmas).


Cast your ballots, or make your suggestions.

[Richardo]

1. Patton.

Didn't even have to look at the poll. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Richardo]

9. My second favorite non-Vietnam war movie is M*A*S*H...

"Hawkeye, did you steal the General's jeep?"
"No sir - it's right over there."

[Richardo]

43. I have to throw "Mr. Roberts" in here as a dark horse...

That was a great flick.

[LadeJarl]

45. hear hear..

George C Scott is HUGE in that movie!

[underpants]

2. Patton if only for the speech

and "Rommel you magnificient bastard!!!"

[demsrule4life]

18. The speech is the movie was cleaned up

the real one is on the net somewhere.

[Zuni]

38. It was actually taken from several speeches

Patton gave speeches in that vain all the time, and some of the best lines were taken from a bunch of different ones. At least that is what i think I read in his biography.

[ginantonic40]

3. Disagree

Das Boot was the greatest sub movie of all time.

[Tyler Durden]

10. Have you seen "The Enemy Below?"

Robert Mitchum is the American destroyer captain, and Kurt Jurgens is the U-boat skipper.

This film is SO GOOD that its script has been re-written for performances as odd as a Star Trek episode.

You like sub films, you HAVE to see this one.

[chiburb]

4. Did you know...

That the only movie shown on Lufthansa cross-Atlantic flights is "The Longest Day"?
They run it backwards and drive the Allies into the sea...

[Az]

5. Kelly's Heroes

Patton?! Come on! They were using Patton tanks to represent both the allied and axis armor. Puhlease. Kelly's Heroes got the tanks right and even got the tactics necissary for a Sherman to pop a Tiger right.

[el_gato]

8. ad my vote to Kelly's Heroes

[Richardo]

11. Man, you're bumming me out with all your negative waves...

Oddball: one of the greatest characters ever.

[Az]

16. Woof woof

Woof used to be my greeting on IRC. Great Oddball lines.

Enough with the negative waves Moriarty!

Its a mutha beautiful bridge.

Wanna hear my other bark?

We load the shells with paint and make pretty pictures.

With all the positive waves how can we go wrong?

[Tyler Durden]

13. I LOVE that film, I just thought it in a different category.

The Shermans playing "All for the love of sunshine..." while shooting up the rail yard is PRICELESS.

[Beaker]

40. Kelly's Heroes, and The Dirty Dozen & The Great Escape

none of my 3 faves made the poll.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

62. No contest, Kelly's Heroes it is!

[tom_paine]

6. Another thing the Busehviks have RUINED for me

I used to enjoy war movies. But now that Amerika is no longer technically free (luckily, tyranny has yet to "trickle down" to our level yet) how can I even look at a war movie without remembering that ultimately, every veteran like myself who swore an oath to protect the Constituttion from all enemies foriegn and DOMESTIC...have failed.

Those brave bastards in the Greatest Generation (WWII) held things off for awhile, and for that I am eternally grateful. But in the end, Imperial Tyranny seems on the road to an easy victory, and it is Amerikan, not German.

And, hey, where the HELL is "Heartbreak Ridge" on that list?!?

[Tyler Durden]

14. Not a WWII war film.

Hey, you can only put in 10 choices.

I agonized for an HOUR over that poll.

[Zuni]

41. I had that feeling earlier this year

military history and war movies used to be some of my favorite distractions, but when Bush started to provoke a war it was no longer entertaining---now that things are somewhat less tense, i can enjoy a book about the Civil War or Private Ryan again. I was really angry about that.
It is sad to think of all those brave boys who died for a cause, wether right or wrong and see a traitor and coward in the top seat in the land. Every time I think of bodies lying on the beach at Anzio, or in the ice in the Chosin resevoir, or at Bunker Hill, or in the hills behing Fredricksburg and see what gutter filth has stolen our country, I cringe.

[devilgrrl]

7. Also...

Apocalypse Now
The Dirty Dozen
Paths of Glory
Band of Brothers

[GOPisEvil]

12. The Longest Day.

Great movie; better book.

Ooooh...Kelly's Heroes! :thumbsup:

Does AMC or TCM have their war movie marathon over Veteran's Day anymore?

[Kamika]

15. the ORIGINAL apocalypse now

not the "nicer" redux.

Other then that i liked the tv series North and south

[Braden]

17. I love a good war movie

ever seen "when trumpets fade" modern WWII film with some serious anti-war themes.

a Bridge Too Far. Operation MARKET-GARDEN was ultimately the only failure of the Allied European Campaign and made for a great film.

[HEyHEY]

19. Devil's Brigade

Only one that involved Canada

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

21. Canada was involved in the war?

I'm just kidding!!! You know, the whole "Americans-don't-know-anything-about-history-that-doesn't-involve-them" thing.

[5thGenDemocrat]

52. Not true, my Canadian friend

I draw your attention to Corvette K-225:
(1943) *** D: Richard Rosson.
Randolph Scott, James Brown, Ella Raines, Barry Fitzgerald, Andy Devine, Walter Sande, Richard Lane.
First-rate war film with Canadian officer Scott fighting to save prominent Navy destroyer from enemy attack; realistic actions. Produced by Howard Hawks. Look quickly for Robert Mitchum.
John
One of my late mother's very favorites (along with "A Walk in the Sun").

[soleft]

20. Did you ever see a movie called Fireball Forward

I remember seeing it when I was a kid, I think Ben Gazara was in it. He was also in another movie I saw when I was a kid which I just actually ordered from Amazan, it was a scary TV movie called "When Michael Calls" and actually featured a young Michael Douglas.

How strange that Ben Gazara should feature so prominently in my childhood flick memories.

[WoodrowFan]

22. MASH-- Big Red One--Tora Tora Tora--Glory--Kelly's Heros

etc.

[Tyler Durden]

24. Had to stop somewhere...

MASH was Korea, Big Red One and TTT were 12 and 13 on a 10 choice poll.

Kelly's Heroes was left off on purpose, as was What did you do in the War, Daddy.

[GOPisEvil]

23. 30 Seconds over Tokyo; Sands of Iwo Jima

[Zuni]

25. Patton, Bridge Too far

I love that film. Patton was a real SOB, but he was funnier than all hell and a great commander.
A Bridge Too Far, Tora Tora Tora, Stalingrad, Das Boot, Private Ryan, band of Brothers, Force 10 at navarone--all great flicks.

If you like Bridge too Far, longest day, etc--you should read the Cornelius Ryan Books.

[agingdem]

26. Favoite war pic...

It's a tie...M*A*S*H and Kelly's Heroes

[DarkPhenyx]

27. "Tora, Tora, Tora"

Watch it every December 7th.

[Zuni]

37. I love that movie

It is so well made--unlike that Affleck crap film, although Pearl Harbor 2001 did have some good parts.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

56. Freaky Story:

My boyfriend's dad was coming into Pearl Harbor on a ship during the Vietnam War, and they were filming a movie without warning the military. (I think the movie was Tora Tora Tora, but I'm not sure) They went to General Quarters, and were ready for a fight. It was a crazy. And Skip's Dad said it was pretty hairy and scary for about an hour.
Duckie

[number six]

28. Where Eagles Dare...

Come on! It's totally ridiculous, Richard Burton and Clint parachute into Nazi Austria to rescue fake-US general. It doesn't even make much sense.

[Loonman]

29. PLATOON!

That movie is the best Vietnam war movie, ever.

For the bootcamp sequence, I'd say Full Metal Jacket, but the rest of the movie blows.

[chemenger]

30. There were two WWII movies, both starring Frank Sinatra

but I can't remember the titles of either one.
In the one, Frank Sinatra and a group of POWS were being transported by train from Italy to Germany. The POWS took over the train and made their way to Switzerland.

Un the other, Frank Sinatra was a medic (doctor) on board a plane, Clint Walker was the CO. The plane crashed on an island in the Pacific where a contingent of Japanese soldiers were stationed (abandoned). Despite the wartime tensions, they became friends until rescue was at hand for the Americans. Sad ending, but a very good movie showing the personal tragedy and sacrifice of war, IMHO>

[dmr]

32. Von Ryan's Express and None But the Brave

Both excellent movies.

Other WWII movies, Stalog 13 and The Dirty Dozen.

[chemenger]

34. Thanks dmr & TD.

eom

[GOPisEvil]

35. Stalag 17!

Stalag 13 was Hogan's Heroes. ;-)

Stalag 17 is a great movie, too! :thumbsup:

[dmr]

42. LOL you're right

and I always seem to get them both confused. I loved watching Hogan's Heroes every Friday night when I was a kid.

[Tyler Durden]

33. Von Ryan's Express...

...remember the other one, but not the name.

[Rowdyboy]

31. Dr Strangelove, The King of Hearts, and On the Beach....

are my three favorites, primarily for their anti-war messages.

on edit: I'm sorry, I didn't read your initial question closely enough. All three of my choices are non-World War II movies.

For WWII, I'd vote "The Longest Day"

[arwalden]

36. Great Escape, U-571, Stalag 17, Dirty Dozen, South Pacific

[underpants]

39. A musical?

oh my not surprised stars

:bounce:

[WilliamPitt]

44. The Big Red One

[VelmaD]

46. All Quiet on the Western Front

How could you leave that out? It left me a shattered mess the first time I saw it in Sophomore English in high school and I still find it difficult to watch.

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

47. "The Blue Max" is my all time favorite.

George Peppard: "Con-FIRMED!"

[Twillig]

63. A beautiful movie that has it all.

"Fabian might have seen it.."

It's a cruel world, Stachel!

George Peppard's best and brightest work.

[jus_the_facts]

48. "The object of war isn't to die for your country....but to make the other

....poor bastard die for HIS!" General Patton :evilgrin:

LOVE George C. Scott!! RIP man! :loveya:

[jus_the_facts]

68. my honorable mentions go to....MIDWAY...and....Battle of The Bulge....

....and....



....mighty fine Classics!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[absyntheNsugar]

49. None of these..."Red Dawn"

Call me goofy but I love this film. I saw it at an impressionable age and just totally got into it ("WOLVERINES!!!!!")

It's so bad its good, and definitely a Pro-Reagan, Arnie Get your gun, Bolshiveks under the bed kinda movie....but not a bad story when it comes down to it, no matter how propagandistic...

[sleipnir]

53. YES!!!!

Another like-minded individual. I LOVE that movie, especially as a kid. I even have the DVD. Though, honestly, it's a good portrayal of guerilla warfare and what goes in the minds of the people caught up in conflict. I think John Milius is a right-wing fanatic, but he wrote a damn good script. It's pretty much pro-patriotic, but highly realistic and very thought provoking. What would you do if a foreign army invaded, fight them or do nothing? How far are you willing to go?

In a way, I do think it's kinda an anti-war film. You get to see how a bunch of ordinary kids lives are destroyed by a war, this kind of movie hits home, becasue it's not some "dark-skinned, foreign speaking Asian kids" fighting and dying. It's your next door neighbor and your high school best friend, which resonates more with an American audience IMO. And you do get it from the side of the invading army with the Russian Major, how he hates to fight as well and just wants to go home.

Not to mention a lot of young hollywood stars before they were famous.


Best line

"Eagle Scout...what is that?" "I think it's an American para-military organization."

[5thGenDemocrat]

50. Lots of good ones -- I'll go with The Longest Day

The father of my good friend, Annie, served as company commander of Co "F", 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division on June 6, 1944. Capt. Finke went AWOL from a military hospital in England (sprained or broken ankle -- accounts differ) to be with his men, went up Omaha Beach and was shot in the head for his efforts.
The wound, thankfully, was a grazing one -- but it knocked him cold and got him sent back across the channel. His heroism that morning earned him a Distinguished Service Cross and he earned a second one five months later at the Rohn River crossing -- making him one of three men of the 16th Regt to receive two during the Second World War.
Anyhow, in "The Longest Day" there is a scene where Robert Mitchum tells the troops huddled at the bottom of a bluff "There's two kinds of men on this beach -- those who are dead and those who are going to die. Now let's get the hell out of here!!" That would've been the 16th Inf Regt, though I have no way of knowing whether or not the captain was one of the guys lying on said beach by that time.
Needless to say, Annie is rightfully proud of her father's service. She remembers very well playing with the bullet-holed helmet and liner (along with her brother, Detmar) as a small child. She also remembers Creighton Abrams as a frequent visitor to the house (Abrams and her father were good friends).
I know I've told that story a couple of times here -- but it seemed worth mentioning on this thread.
John
Heroism shouldn't be forgotten. This coming from a Signal Corps REMF (1974-76).

[arwalden]

51. All Ten Episodes Of "Band Of Brothers" (Does That Count?)

It ought to. Best damn movie I've ever seen!

-- Allen

[NashVegas]

55. As Far as I'm Concerned

Yes. Even though it's not technically a movie, nothing's come close.

[neverforget]

70. I talked my wife into watching Band of Brohers with me and she

loves it and she doesn't like war movies!

[Paschall]

54. To add to the list: "Is Paris Burning?"

Gotta love any movie with a Francis Ford Coppola/Gore Vidal screenplay. Especially with a cast including Simone Signoret, Orson Welles, Anthony Perkins, Glenn Ford, Yves Montand, etc.

http://www.foreignfilms.com/films/4296.asp

[JNelson6563]

57. Branaugh's version of Shakespeare's

Henry V. :-)

[FDRrocks]

58. Not PC?

Nothing wrong with liking war movies. I even indulge in a good amount of reading about periods of war. It's not like we're drooling at our fellow comrades getting shot dead. Seems to me that war, by its nature, is just interesting. I don't really find Iraq or Vietnam interesting, maybe b/c they are more recent... or more likely that they were complete bs.

That said... I watch too much History Channel (much of it narrated by CHARLETON HESTON) to pick up a WW2 movie with interest. I vote "Apocalypse Now".

Worst war movie: Battle of the Bulge. Oh.. oh... I mean Pearl Harbor.

[Paladin]

59. "Twelve O'Clock High"

Brilliant movie. That "pretend you're already dead" speech that Gregory Peck delivers to his hard-luck bomber group gives me goose-bumps, just thinking about it.

Close runners-up: "Private Ryan" and "Big Red One."

[Vitruvius]

60. "Enemy at the Gates", based on the book "War of the Rats",

based on a celebrated incident at the battle for Stalingrad.

For more info: http://www.thirdreich.net/Enemy_Gates2.html

[NightTrain]

61. Not only did I watch DAS BOOT in German with subtitles...

...a few years ago, I also saw the director's cut, which was a good 90 minutes longer than the original release. An amazing experience, to say the least!

[catzies]

64. How about "Gone With the Wind" for an unorthodox choice?

The only "war movie" I've ever seen.

No, I take that back:

CASABLANCA is the best war movie I've ever seen. The bar scene with the Nazis singing their song, and being drowned out with singers of "Le Marseillaise" is my favorite moment.

[SiobhanClancy]

67. "Gettysburg" is my choice

With "Glory" a close second. Why not be "unorthodox"...the Civil War certainly counts as "classic" as much as WWII:)

[catzies]

74. My daughter has an Irish name as beautiful as yours, Siobhan,

But hers is the close, Anglicized "Shannon." In Irish it's "Sionnain." :hi:

My grandmother's grandmother and all her family came over from County Galway. So, you, my daughter and I, and Scarlett O'Hara are all Irish lasses. We rule. Or at least, we should.

[kodi]

65. the thin red line is a photographic and cinematic masterpiece

anything else by james jones...like "from here to eternity"

and norman mailer's "the naked and the dead."

i had a grandfather and great uncle who were 19-20 year old marines who hit the beaches a dozen times in the pacific in '42-'45. each told me too many stories of what happened to them during those times not to appreciate the aforementioned films.

[Iverson]

66. Catch-22

After that, what else is there?

[Swede]

69. Cross of Iron Sam Peckinpah's great anti-war epic.

Told from the point of view of a war-weary,burned out German sergeant,played brilliantly by James Coburn. Great cast,a must see.

[regnaD kciN]

71. Lawrence of Arabia

How could you possibly have left that off the poll?

:shrug:

[Narraback]

72. Battle Cry

This movie needs a vote and here it is.

[maveric]

73. Stalingrad

A german movie made in the 90's. One of the most graphically shocking war flicks I have ever seen.

[ScreamingMeemie]

75. The Deer Hunter...not WWII but still my favorite.