Best War Movie Ever

Discussions on WW2 and pre-WW2 related movies, games, military art and other fiction.
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Zygmunt
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#136

Post by Zygmunt » 31 May 2005, 11:36

BruceCA wrote:It is "Slaughterhouse Five", directed by George Roy Hill, based on the 1969 novel by Kurt Vonnegut. I loved the book, and loved the movie since I feel it is one of the few movies I've seen that have faithfully translated a book to the screen.
I didn't even realise that they had made a film of it (doesn't surprise me though, now that I think about it). I was impressed by the book too - actually, I've liked everything of Vonnegut's I've read. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Oh, and welcome to the forum from me too :) .

Zygmunt

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Grünherz
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#137

Post by Grünherz » 06 Jun 2005, 11:13

[quote="BruceCA")

PS: I hated the move "Platoon" and felt like walking out of the theater. I'm no raving conservative but I felt that this movie could have been made by the NVA. I have made it a point since to never watch anything by Oliver Stone.
[/quote]

I liked the movie "Platoon". Disturbing as it was. Stone, as I understand, was there.
Tom


Heinrich George
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#138

Post by Heinrich George » 08 Jun 2005, 20:12

Stone was there, 25th Infantry Divison, c. 1967-68, however his depiction is distorted. Hamburger Hill and We Were Soldiers are better combat films.

Some people have referenced Starship Troopers. Actually Heinlein's major influence was the island battles in the Pacific War, e.g., Iwo Jima, Okinawa. The Bugs are stand-ins for the Japanese and the Troopers 23rd Century versions of the USMC.

Someone mentioned a film called "The Ogre." I haven't seen it but it sounds very interesting:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0118043/combined

A few films that haven't mentioned.

Decision Before Dawn - Oskar Werner as a German defector working behind the lines for US intelligence. Very realistic as it was shot in the ruins of Munich, Wurzburg, and Manheim a few years after the war.

Attack - Two sides of the "greatest generation." Heroic Jack Palance versus cowardly Eddie Albert and cynical Lee Marvin. Years ahead of its time.

The Steel Helmet and Fixed Bayonets - Sam Fuller's two films on combat in Korea.

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Carnaro
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#139

Post by Carnaro » 09 Dec 2013, 13:28

An old thread for my new top 10:

1. apocalypse now, by Francis Ford Coppola (redux edition)
2. the pianist, by Roman Polanski
3. black hawk down, by Ridley Scott
4. shindler's list, by Steven Spielberg
5. letters from Ivo Jima, by Clint Eastwood
6. full metal jacket, by Stanley Kubrik
7. die untergang, by Oliver Hirschbiegel
8. gallipoli, by Peter Weir
9. the hurt lockers, by Kathryne Bigelow
10. la grande guerra, by Mario Monicelli

hors concours: Thin red line, by Terrence Malick

max

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WEISWEILER
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#140

Post by WEISWEILER » 28 Dec 2013, 14:06

What about La Grande Vadrouille with Bourville and Louis de Funes? :D

No, for me Apocalypse Now is by far the best war movie ever. The Thin Red Line on second place. Third I'd say Das Boot.

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WEISWEILER
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#141

Post by WEISWEILER » 14 Jan 2014, 10:33

I's like to add here The Deer Hunter and Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence with David Bowie.

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SFAnderson
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#142

Post by SFAnderson » 05 Aug 2014, 01:16

So many great movies mentioned here. It's been said before, but for me Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory is a masterpiece. The final scene alone stands out.

Also, if you can find the original German version of Die Brücke (The Bridge), do yourself a favor and watch it.

BarKokhba
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#143

Post by BarKokhba » 26 Mar 2017, 07:51

I finally found this thread! A few movies that definitely rate, but were not mentioned:
RAN - about the Japanese Warlord period, I think by Akira Kurosawa
DR. ZHIVAGO- by David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, River Kwai) about the Russian Revolution and drop-dead gorgeous Julie Christie
All Quiet on the Western Front (1970's US version)
Guadalcanal Diary- old school war movie based on bestseller
Dances with Wolves- Based on American Indian Wars
Also, anyone see or hear of Attack and Retreat? 1960?About Italians fighting on the Eastern front, with a young Peter Falk?

J. Duncan
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#144

Post by J. Duncan » 26 Mar 2017, 12:59

A+E showed Attack and Retreat 20 years ago and I taped and watched it. It has to do with an Italian platoon in the Russian invasion. It shows the confidence in the beginning with troops taking endless swaths of land...horizons of nothing but sunflowers. Then comes the snow and ice, frozen vehicles and frozen bodies and a desperate scramble to get out alive. Good film. Falk was good in it too but I think it was English dubbed-over the original Italian so it sounds silly in the narrative.

BarKokhba
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#145

Post by BarKokhba » 26 Mar 2017, 17:21

J. Duncan, yup that's the one.
Also, I forgot to add two really great American Civil War movies-
GLORY
GETTYSBURG
Any other 'new' war flicks out there worth mentioning?

BarKokhba
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#146

Post by BarKokhba » 26 Mar 2017, 19:36

Another goody, almost too realistic to enjoy:
Open City, an Italian indy film from 1946, filmed in the ruins of Rome on location. A must see.

SydneyBarrett
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#147

Post by SydneyBarrett » 18 May 2017, 11:40

BALLAD OF A SOLDIER
THE CRANES ARE FLYING
Great movies :)

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B Hellqvist
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#148

Post by B Hellqvist » 25 May 2017, 03:51

SydneyBarrett wrote:BALLAD OF A SOLDIER
THE CRANES ARE FLYING
Great movies :)
While the combat in "Ballad of a Soldier" is just a scene in the beginning of the movie, it's a gem when it comes to movies set in USSR during WW2.

Edwood654
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#149

Post by Edwood654 » 25 May 2017, 04:39

Generations War is absolutely the most realistic ww2 movie ever made hands down. It makes Saving Private Ryan and others look like a cartoon. This German produced movie is a must see movie

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Elliot Parkson
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Re: Best War Movie Ever

#150

Post by Elliot Parkson » 25 May 2017, 09:56

My top 5:

1. Apocalypse Now
2. Letters from Ivo Jima
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. The Thin Red Line (kinda a revelation to me)
At edubirdie.com you can order a very well written essay.

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