Best war film

[arranandy]

I like the old classics, for instance, The dambusters, The Cruel Sea, Battle of the River Plate. Full of all those brilliant old British character actors.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

In no particular order...
Waterloo
Battle of Britain
Zulu
The Great Escape
Saving Pte Ryan
Breaker Morant
Ice Cold in Alex
The longest Day
Went the day well
A bridge too far
Where Eagles dare
The heroes of telemark

 

[stevenb]

Tough call.
On a imaginative scale it'd be Aliens.

On a realistic scale. Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down.
The Pianist is also an excellent film.

 

[Toshiba Boy]

Das Boot for me too.

What was the name of the film set (IIRC) in Stalingrad (true story I think) based on the personal duel between the 2 top snipers from the German and Russian armies? Another excellent film, bringing the horrors of such conflict to a very "one on one" personal basis (apologies if this has already been named).

 

[mondobongo]

Enemy at the Gates

Jude Law played Vasily Zaitsev

 

[domtyler]

Das Boot for me too.

What was the name of the film set (IIRC) in Stalingrad (true story I think) based on the personal duel between the 2 top snipers from the German and Russian armies? Another excellent film, bringing the horrors of such conflict to a very "one on one" personal basis (apologies if this has already been named).

That's "Enemy at the Gates" which I enjoyed, but someone else said was a poor performance from Jude Law. I thought he was not bad but it was the cinematography and story line that did it for me. I would give it a good 6 or 7 out of 10.

 

[bugslop]

What an excellent topic!

letters from iwo jima
saving private ryan
a bridge to far
band of brothers?
come and see (russian)
beast of war
cross of iron

infact all of them when the better half lets me watch them

 

[mikeitup]

What was the one with Matt Damon shot down in Bosnia? That was good.

Das Boot and Zulu for me too.

Not Escape to Victory though.

It was Owen Wilson ; Behind Enemy Lines.

Taegukgi (brotherhood) excellent Korean War Movie.

 

[bugslop]

Good movie. Not pleasant to watch. "Come and See" wasn't it?

Been a while since I saw it

A little strange, but a good down to earth war film.

 

[Melvil]

What an excellent topic!

letters from iwo jima
saving private ryan
a bridge to far
band of brothers?
come and see (russian)
beast of war
cross of iron

infact all of them when the better half lets me watch them

Is letters from Iwo Jima better than Flags of our Fathers?

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Does anyone else notice that in the "older" war films, especially the naval ones, Gordon Jackson (the butler in upstairs, downstairs) is in all of them, and always cops it ?

 

[SamNichols]

Is letters from Iwo Jima better than Flags of our Fathers?

Yes, much better. Flags is dire, Letters is just about bearable. And I use 'bearable' in the loosest sense of the world, as I despise Clint Eastwood's directorial credits almost as much as his acting (his partnership with Clyde excluded, of course).

Band of Brothers was great, if slightly bewildering (far too many characters all vying for attention, with the added bonus of seeing Simon Pegg in a tiny role, and David Schwimmer bellowing a lot).

Schindler's List is a modern classic, and Neeson is great as the eponymous hero. Probably the last great film that Spielberg made (Saving Private Ryan's first 1/2 an hour was epic, the rest was a bit lacklustre imo).

Gladiator, does that count as a war film? It's got a war at the beginning, anyway. Great film, but meant Russell Crowe now officially cannot act.

And, finally, I put in a vote for the Crusade sequences of Robin hood Prince of Thieves. Kevin Costner, the acting machine, hard at work as ever

 

[papercorn2000]

I don't see Bridge on the River Kwai getting a mention - shame on you all!

Apart from that, not much to disagree with. I don't see any of the fair sex contributing here.

 

[stephec]

You can't beat Von Ryans Express for entertainment.

Others that have already been mentioned -

Battle Of Britain
The Dambusters
The Eagle has Landed

 

[bugslop]

Is letters from Iwo Jima better than Flags of our Fathers?

Similar story, different sides. Just shows some of the japs had it rough too.