Your Top Five War Movies

Of all the movies listed only one should not be on this thread. It is a great book/story but the movie just sucked and I am a Tom Cruise fan.....Valkyrie, sorry Tom Cruise does nothing for me as an officer in the German army of WWII, sorry! I kept thinking he was going to start running and jumping into his F-16 saying What the Fu$%^^&&!!!!!
 
No order:
Das Boot
Blackhawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
Paths of Glory
Master and Commander

Honorable Mention:
Glory, Platoon, Letters from Iwo Jima/Flags of Our Fathers, Full Metal Jacket (Stan only gets one spot), Crimson Tide

I am excluding things like Schindler's List, Defiance, Spy Game etc, despite the fact that I like them, because I don't consider them to be war movies.
 
Statalyzer, I agree with your assessment of "Sink the Bismark" and your other analysis is spot on. Gettysburg is a great movie for the history buff, but not something to watch with the wife/girlfriend.
 
Band of Brothers would be my favorite but it is a series and not a "movie" by definition. My others not in order:

1. The Longest Day
2. In Harms Way
3. Saving Private Ryan
4. Patton
5. From Here to Eternity

Honorable mention:

Midway
The Great Escape
The Blue Max
Tora Tora Tora
Platoon
We Were Soldiers Once
Black Hawk Down
Full Metal Jacket
Gettysburg
 
I was wondering how many would put In Harms Way on their list, I think it is John Waynes best non western and of course he got snubbed by Oscar voters again.
 
The Great Escape
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Thin Red Line
Enemy at the Gates
Braveheart

Saving Private Ryan is a close 6th
 
As for a good "air force" movie, I am surprised that no one included "12 O'Clock High" with Gregory Peck. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" with Spencer Tracy has also held up very well.
 
If we include Shcinlder's List, can I include Victory?

We Were Soldiers Once
Glory
Blackhawk Down
The Killing Fields
The Patriot

And Red Dawn - screw the fact that had nothing to do with reality.
 
Would Last of the Mohicans be considered a war movie (French & Indian)? If so, that's probably the only one that I would add that I haven't seen mentioned yet.
 
I cant believe nobody has mentioned the hunt for red october for cold war movies...it is one of the best imo.

There are a ton of great war movies, especially WWII.
 
I agree that Last of the Mohicans deserves mention. That was a terrific war movie that made scenes I had tried to imagine in my head more vivid and interesting. I've given my top five from the perspective of a 13-year-old previously.

My adult Top 5
1. Savng Private Ryan
2. Last of the Mohicans
3. Platoon
4. Apocolypse Now
5. Patton

I love Midway and Gettysburg because of how well they convey the drama and history of the time, but as quality movies, they are well behind this Top 5. Although I didn't give a five star grade to the Movie Pearl Harbor, the battle scenes were absolutely magnificent and worth the price of the movie by themselves. The aerial view of Battleship Row was thrilling.
 
In no particular order:

Dirty Dozen
Kelly's Heroes
Saving Private Ryan
We Were Soldiers
Bridge Over the River Kwai

If the second half of Full Metal Jacket had matched the first half, that would be in my top 5.
 
All the movies mentioned are great. The one movie that popped into my mind immediately was Full Metal Jacket. It has been listed many times. For some reason it sticks out in my mind. Probably because it portrays the cruelty of war well. That and I remember Dorian Harewood because he spoke at my church as a kid.
 
A couple other great war movies, maybe not top 5 of course:

Mission Burma! - made during the war
The Lost Battalion - WW1 movie, true story w Rick Schroeder
 
So Sink the Bismarck fails test of time? Well, give me veterans of the London stage eliciting crisp dialogue over the method tripe today. Understatement so refreshing.

No list but two Cold War entries:

Strategic Air Command
Fail-Safe
 
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