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Joined: Nov 29 2009 Posts: 3

Hey all,

I've been looking for some good movies as of late but cant seem to find some solid opinions.

War movies based on WW1,WW2 and Vietnam tickle my fancy so any recommendations send my way.

Oh, and I like action

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Band of Brothers series. If you haven't watched it and have the time, please do.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 12:39 am

I'm not sure what my favorite is, but Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket are all excellent movies.

Joined: May 22 2009 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 353

Patton or The Dirty Dozen

Posted: Dec 03 2009 12:57 am

Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan and Full Metal Jacket are all brilliant, brilliant movies. However, my personal favorite will always be Platoon. Sergeant Elias is one of the reasons I joined the Army.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 01:02 am

Forrest Gump, and if you're not gonna let it count then Full Metal Jacket.

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

hamburger hill.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 01:26 am

WWII/European Front
Saving Private Ryan (Obvious)
The Dirty Dozen
Von Ryan's Express
The Big Red One
The Great Escape
Das Boot
Europa Europa
Enemy At The Gates

WWII/Pacific Theater
Midway
Tora! Tora! Tora!
To End All Wars
The Thin Red Line

Vietnam War
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
Apocalypse Now/Redux
The Deer Hunter
Hamburger Hill
Rescue Dawn
Tigerland
We Were Soldiers
Good Morning Vietnam
The Siege of Firebase Gloria

Misc
The Sand Pebbles(this is one of my favorites)
Lawrence of Arabia
Gallipoli
Glory

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - Civil War

The African Queen - WW1

Saving Private Ryan - WW2

Apocolapse Now -Vietnam

Three Kings - Gulf

2010 SLF Tag Champ Joined: Jun 07 2006 Posts: 12294

did anyone mention uwe boll's masterpiece, tunnel rats yet?

Posted: Dec 03 2009 03:49 am

Not a movie per se, but "Tour Of Duty" was a great Vietnam War TV series you can get on DVD.

Joined: Nov 11 2009 Location: Cajun Country Posts: 1511

Blackout wrote:

Forrest Gump, and if you're not gonna let it count then Full Metal Jacket.

Forrest Gump is a great movie. Have you read the book?

Posted: Dec 03 2009 06:52 am

TheThunderThief wrote:

WWII/European Front
Saving Private Ryan (Obvious)
The Dirty Dozen
Von Ryan's Express
The Big Red One
The Great Escape
Das Boot
Europa Europa
Enemy At The Gates

WWII/Pacific Theater
Midway
Tora! Tora! Tora!
To End All Wars
The Thin Red Line

Vietnam War
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
Apocalypse Now/Redux
The Deer Hunter
Hamburger Hill
Rescue Dawn
Tigerland
We Were Soldiers
Good Morning Vietnam
The Siege of Firebase Gloria

Misc
The Sand Pebbles(this is one of my favorites)
Lawrence of Arabia
Gallipoli
Glory

Nice list. I also like Sahara with Humphrey Bogart

Posted: Dec 03 2009 10:46 am

Three Kings
Platoon
Black Hawk Down

Joined: Mar 13 2009 Location: Arlington Posts: 467

All Quiet on the Western Front is a great movie. The original and the remake come close to the emotion of the book. The book rules.

The Longest Day is one of my favorite movies ever. I love catching this on AMC or something and just killing 4 hours to watch it. It's a little goofy at times but it stays with the D-Day theme more so than the 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan.

The craziest war movie I've ever seen is Johnny got his Gun. I always knew it exsisted since the video for One came out by Metallica, but if you haven't seen this movie....Watch it! This is the only 'anti-war'movie that I don't at anytime want to call the main character a pussy. What a horrible situation this guy has to go through. Gut wrenching.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 11:53 am

wow, i think you guys covered everything.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Just out of curiosity, do the following movies count as war movies?

The Matrix Revolutions - Machine War
Star Wars - A New Hope - Galactic Civil War
Raiders of the Lost Ark - WWII
Terminator Salvation - The War Against the Machines
Tropic Thunder - Vietnamese drug cartel
Rambo: First Blood Part II - Vietnam (Cold War)

Personally I would never consider them as strictly War movies because they generally fit a bigger genre better, but I'm curious to know what you guys think.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 01:13 pm

Ah, I almost forgot--for a great Civil War (American) flick, check out "Glory" (but have the tissue box handy.)

For a bit on the English Civil War and the politics thereof, "Cromwell" is great.

Also, Kenneth Branaugh's "Henry V" is as good as it gets in terms of swords-and-armor war movies. Beautiful, brilliant, and will give you goosebumps. (Also, for those who don't know, where "Band of Brothers" took its name from.)

And GP, I would not consider most of the movies you cited "war movies." To me, the war has to be central to the plot and not simply backdrop/setting/character motivation/etc.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 01:26 pm

anyone mention braveheart?

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Matthew Broderick should stick to fruity singing on stage parts and not try to be an actual movie actor. His "southern" accent in "Glory" was awful, the movie has Andre Braugher, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington in it but you would barely know it because they focus on Brodericks bummer of a character and they get as much screen time as, well, black guys in a movie written by white guys about the civil war. It's underlying message was great, but the rest of the movie was embarrassing.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 02:26 pm

^ Yeah, I know. I do like Broderick actually, but I agree that the focus of the movie was wrong. Still, the battle scenes were fantastic and the overall storyarc was great.

I forget if someone's mentioned "All's Quiet on the Western Front" or "Red Badge of Courage." Red Badge is probably the way to go if you want some Civil War action, come to think of it.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

"Red Badge of Courage" was awesome. Also, "The Patriot" was incredible. I don't care what anyone says, Mel Gibson kicks ass. I'd also consider "Braveheart" a war movie for sure.

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

GPFontaine wrote:

Raiders of the Lost Ark - WWII

WWII began in 1939

Raiders happened in 1936

That's right, Indy was kicking Nazi ass even before the Allies declared War!

And I agree with Broderick, I hate him with passion, one of the worst actors I've ever seen. The only 2 movies I like with him in it are Project X and The Cable Guy, both of which actually lack because of him.

Posted: Dec 03 2009 03:08 pm

^ Great point!

I'm shocked by all the Broderick hate! Do I just like him because I have fond memories of all the theatre I've seen and heard him in then or what?

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

The only reason I honestly think he still gets work is because he was Ferris Bueller. And you something? While a lot of people LOVE that movie, I feel they could've made a better casting than him. I never saw how it was so acclaimed, but that's just me. Going to a Cubs game, fancy restaurant and seeing a very outdated song in a parade don't really constitute as an amazing day to me. Broderick has the personality of a wet washcloth, which is why you'll never get depth or emotion out of him. Sure he might raise his voice, but you won't get anger. He might smile, but you won't get satisfaction. But he was Ferris Bueller so he'll keep getting work.