View Full Version : The 20 Greatest War Movies of All Time
riggins44
03-12-10, 11:54 AM
http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/entertainment/2010/03/12/greatest-war-movies-time?test=faces
Saw this today and can't believe some of the movies they left off. Can't believe Patton, Great Escape, Guns of Navarone, Twelve O'Clock High, Battle of the Bulge, Sands of Iwo Jima, Hamburger Hill, and Midway didn't make the list.
Not sure which movies I'd take off, though.
I'd probably replace Schindler's List with Patton, because the former isn't a war movie. But other than that ... there are some pretty good movies on the list.
Another honorable mention would have to go to Gettysburgh.
Lanky Livingston
03-12-10, 01:21 PM
Bridge Over the River Kwai was left off too, excellent movie. EDIT: Nevermind, there it is.
I disagree with Saving Private Ryan in the top 20. It was definitely an awesome movie, but was a little too Hollywood to be considered in the top 20. I also disagree with Schindler's List - fantastic fantastic movie, but not really the same genre, IMO.
I'm very happy they left off A Thin Red Line...that was an 18 hour snoozefest, lol.
Lanky Livingston
03-12-10, 01:24 PM
Not sure which movies I'd take off, though.
I'd probably replace Schindler's List with Patton, because the former isn't a war movie.
Great minds...
MikeSr619
03-13-10, 03:10 PM
saving private ryan has a GREAT intro war scene. just the landing on the beach was enough to carry the movie. but after that i got a little bored.
full metal jacket the same with the boot camp scene being great but the actual Nam parts being stupid and kind of lame.
MASH was a better TV show then movie..
love Love LOVE the dirty dozen..love Glory
Hurt Locker was just average in my opinion and not top of all time.
Deer Hunter and Blackhawk Down rocked..
Hamburger Hill was better then Platoon to me..
my question is...where the hell is Heartbreak Ridge? lol. some of the best one liners come out of that movie...
I'd also have to mention Zulu. Heck, I'd probably put that in my top 10.
servumtuum
03-14-10, 12:09 AM
O.K., I'm going to stick a personal favorite in here-it'll probably seem an odd pick, but I just like this movie a lot.
Go Tell The Spartans-1978 with Burt Lancaster, Craig Wasson, Jonathan Goldsmith, and Marc Singer
How the Hell can you leave off Patton and 12 O'Clock High?
And although it's not a movie, Band of Brothers beats 'em all
Lanky Livingston
03-14-10, 09:50 PM
MASH was a better TV show then movie...
Fail. M*A*S*H the movie is a masterpiece...the TV show was fantastic also, but nowhere near as good.
Any '20 Greatest War Movies' list is doomed to failure.
There are 20 that aren't on the list you could argue belong there. It's like a top 5 fighters of all time list - ridiculous to argue...
As to validate my point, they've already expanded the list to thirty :)
MikeSr619
03-14-10, 10:02 PM
Fail. M*A*S*H the movie is a masterpiece...the TV show was fantastic also, but nowhere near as good.
fail nothing. MASH the television show until just recently had the highest rated episode viewed ever. the movie doesnt even come close to that.
alan alda was amazing on that show. and you had 4 different camps for fans. you had the Henry Blake or Sherman T Potter fans and then you had your Frank Burns or Charles Emerson Winchester III fans.
plus just the still they had made in the swamp alone was worthy of praise.
dont get me wrong though..the movie was cool but the show was just a few steps above it.
One of my favorites, 'Hell in the Pacific'...
Lee Marvin and Toshirô Mifune (both of whom actually served in the Pacific during WWII) star as stranded combatants on a Pacific Isle.
Little dialogue, but a gripping and touching movie about war.
Elephant
03-14-10, 11:10 PM
Guys! I cannot believe no one has mentioned the fantastic job Ben Afleck did in Pearl Harbor! Travesty!
Right up there with Richard Dawson in "Hogan's Heroes" :laugh:
Elephant
03-15-10, 02:26 PM
Right up there with Richard Dawson in "Hogan's Heroes" :laugh:
I am glad you saw the humor in that!
Lanky Livingston
03-15-10, 03:27 PM
fail nothing. MASH the television show until just recently had the highest rated episode viewed ever. the movie doesnt even come close to that.
alan alda was amazing on that show. and you had 4 different camps for fans. you had the Henry Blake or Sherman T Potter fans and then you had your Frank Burns or Charles Emerson Winchester III fans.
plus just the still they had made in the swamp alone was worthy of praise.
dont get me wrong though..the movie was cool but the show was just a few steps above it.
I guess its a matter of opinion, but I'm going to respectfully disagree. M*A*S*H the movie was a fantastic dark comedy, and I'm a big fan of that type of humor. The TV show was funny also, but it was more slapstick-type comedy.
MikeSr619
03-15-10, 04:13 PM
I guess its a matter of opinion, but I'm going to respectfully disagree. M*A*S*H the movie was a fantastic dark comedy, and I'm a big fan of that type of humor. The TV show was funny also, but it was more slapstick-type comedy.
I can see your point of view.
what about Born on 4th of July? im not a fan of the anti-war protestors but that movie was pretty powerful.
Elephant
03-15-10, 05:14 PM
As far as war movies go, I do not believe M*A*S*H should be on the list, even though I think it is a good movie and better than what the TV show turned into after Mclean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers were gone. If others are going to exclude movies like Schindler's List because it is not the traditional "war movie", M*A*S*H would have to be excluded as well, so should Casablanca and perhaps the Deer Hunter. The Deer Hunter, as great a movie as it is, was less about the war, although it has one of the most intense war scenes ever, as much as it is was about the town from which they came.
Now, the movie I think was neglected that should definitely be included is The Big Red One. Before Saving Private Ryan came along, I think this movie had some of the best D-day scenes to date.
Somehow managed to overlook this thread until now. After a quick read, some quick comments:
1) M*A*S*H* the movie and the TV serial were great. Differerent vibes, different agendas, both great in their own right.
2) Memphis Belle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS3AQepBW-g). Probably wouldn't include it in a "greatest 30" list (not sure what I'd remove from the existing list), but it was a gripping movie and I think deserving of mention here.
Just for edification: http://www.memphis-belle.com/index.htm
3) War is hell. War movies rock. :cool:
4) I wonder if we can nominate Outlaw Josey Wales (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqV-QKj5RcY)? I mean, it kinda starts as a war film ...
MikeSr619
03-17-10, 03:18 PM
memphis belle!! man that was a great movie. when those guys are trapped in the plane when it crashes and you can hear them screaming..chills.
if you can nominate josey wales (which i fully support) can we nominate gone with the wind?
servumtuum
03-17-10, 03:24 PM
Om, if you lobby for The Outlaw Josey Wales-an extraordinary movie, I agree-I'm going to insist on The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Civil War, y'know? :)
Seems to me we have the making of our very own list ...
BGO's Top 50 "War" Movies :)
MikeSr619
03-17-10, 03:43 PM
heck, we could even put in Dances with Wolves.
Lanky Livingston
03-17-10, 11:21 PM
heck, we could even put in Dances with Wolves.
Know how I know you're gay?
;)
MikeSr619
03-18-10, 12:14 AM
Know how I know you're gay?
;)
because I let you watch me shower in Canton?
in 91 that movie was pretty cool. heck it was cool in 2010 too when it was called Avatar.
Lanky Livingston
03-18-10, 01:02 AM
That was OUR SECRET!!!
Posted via BGO Mobile Device
It seems Spring is in the air. :cool4:
*
And for the record, Dances is a great movie. And I like women.
One of my oddball favorite 'War-themed' movies is a lesser known Clint, 'The Beguiled', which should have been titled 'Hell hath no fury...'
MikeSr619
03-19-10, 12:31 AM
what about braveheart?
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