Best Military Movies?

Taegukgi
Gallipoli
Der Untergang
Stalingrad
Memphis Belle
Twelve O'Clock High

Still dont see why Saving Private Ryan is always a favorite...
 
Still dont see why Saving Private Ryan is always a favorite...
Good action and camera work, and a good message (live a life worth someone dying for).

I just returned from Act of Valor. It was a simple movie with lots of action. It is very much a good vs. bad, old-school war movie, with modern visuals. I liked it.
 
It's Oscar Weekend

I must be in the grip of Oscar weekend. Here are additional films I can recommend in no particular order. Some famous, some obscure.

Midway. Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston, and many more, including Toshiro Mifune, who plays Admiral Yamamoto. “Scratch one flat-top” was a pithy phrase which may have marked the turning point of the Pacific war.

Mister Roberts. Also Henry Fonda, as well as Jack Lemmon (Academy Award for this one), Ward Bond and William Powell.

In Which We Serve. British, 1942, High seas. One of David Lean’s first films. With Noel Coward.

(and now to dry out)

The Desert Rats. WW2 Libya. Richard Burton - one of his first starring roles, James Mason, Robert Newton

Lawrence of Arabia . David Lean’s greatest? Should be a misdemeanor to watch this on a small screen. Historically, a British fleet was shelling Aqaba.

The Hill. Prison camp movie set in WW2 Libya. Starring Sean Connery between his roles as James Bond in Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Lion of the Desert. A 2 a.m type film starring Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed, about Libyan patriot Omar Mukhtar, who led resistance against Italians in the 1920s and 1930s. The film was directed by Moustapha Akkad, born in Syria and educated at USC, who achieved success as exec. producer of the Halloween series. He and his daughter were in Jordan in 2005 to attend a wedding when they were killed by a suicide bomber, an act which helped turn Jordanian opinion against Al Qaeda.

Battle of Algiers. A French-made anti-colonial film about the urban guerilla war between the Algerians and the French.

55 Days at Peking. Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner. Besieged foreign diplomatic enclave during the Boxer Rebellion.

Alexander Nevsky. Russian, 1939. About 13th century Russian resistance to the Teutonic Knights, intended to stir resentment against the Nazis prior to WW2 (released only a few months before the Molotov-von Ribbentrop non aggression pact) Directed by Eisenstein with a score by Prokofiev. The Battle on the Ice is a half hour sequence considered to be among the greatest cinematic battle scenes ever filmed.

Tunes of Glory. Post WW2 barracks film about a Scottish regiment. Alex Guinness considered it to be among his best performances (I could barely recognize him in his character).

Kagemusha. Directed by the great Akira Kurasawa.
 
lest we forget: "Bridge on The River Kwai". I almost got to that place but we were late to RTB. "The Sands Of Iwo Jima". Actually had some marines from the flag raising in the movie. Sort of like "Act Of Valor". They weren't active duty at the time.
 
John wayne!

No list is complete without a John Wayne movie so how about...

The Green Berets
 
"Sands Of Iwo Jima" was better. John Wayne as Sergeant Stryker.
 
"Arrrrrmy Training Sir". "It is alive"

I watched Stripes with my son just before he went off to start his first year at school. He called me one day and told me that while he was in his MS1 class the LTC PMS poked his head in the door and asked real loud..."What kind of training are you doing" My son said nobody said a word so he yelled out.."Arrrrrmy Training Sir" The LTC laughed and said..."Damn Straight" the rest of the class just looked at him like he was nuts. At PT for the next week the LTC and my son kept trading lines from the movie, by the next week almost all the cadets had seen the movie...just so they could understand the jokes.

That movie still makes me laugh.
 
Dewey Oxenburger (John Candy): My name's Dewey Oxburger. My friends call me Ox. You might have noticed that, uh, I've got a slight weight problem.
Soldiers: Nooo! Noooo!
Dewey Oxburger: Yeah, yeah I do. Yeah, I do. I went to this doctor. Well, he told me I swallow a lot of aggression... along with a lot of pizzas! Ha Ha Ha! Pizzas! I'm basically a shy person, I'm a shy guy. Uh, he suggested taking one these uh, aggression training courses. You know these aggression training courses like EST, those type of things. Anyway, it cost 400 bucks! 400 bucks to join this thing? Well I didn't have the money and I thought to myself, "Join the army"! It's free. So I figured while I'm here I'll lose a few pounds. And you got what, a 6 to 8 week training program here? A real tough one. Which is perfect for me.
[Looks around at all the soldiers and gestures emphatically]
Dewey Oxburger: I'm going to walk out of here a Lean, Mean, Fightin' Machine! Ha ha ha ha!
 
A Bridge Too Far
Battle of Britain
The Longest Day
Blackhawk Down
We Were Soldiers
Gunga Din
Last of The Mohicans
The Patriot
Patton
The Dirty Dozen
Das Boot
Paths of Glory
The Great Escape
Mutiny on the Bounty
We Were Soldiers
Casablanca
Gettysburg
The Fighting Sullivans
Hail the Conquering Hero.
Paths Of Glory
Master and Commander
U-571
Heartbreak Ridge
Game of Honor
The Incredible Mr. Limpett
Band of Brothers
A Few Good Men
Speed and Angels"
Summer of '42
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
The Caine Mutiny
Flags of Our Father
Letters from Iwo Jima
Twelve O'Clock High
Breaker Morant
From Here to Eternity
Taking Chance
The Hurt Locker
The Deer Hunter
MASH
Behind Enemy Lines
The Thin Red Line
The Dirty Dozen
Gallipoli
Full Metal Jacket
Gladiator
Carrier
The Gallant Hours
Men of the Fighting Lady
All Quiet on the Western Front
Command Decision
Saving Private Ryan
Restrepo
An Officer and a Gentlemen
Top Gun
Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb.
Sophie's Choice
Bridge over River Kwai
South Pacific
Joyeux Noel
The Lost Battalion
The Best Years of our Lives
Stripes
Battleship
Taps
Northwest Passage
Sergeant York
Act of Valor
Tora, Tora, Tora
The DI
Sands of Iwo Jima
Battle Cry
Battle of the Bulge
Deer Hunter
Run silent, run deep
Heartbreak Ridge
Zulu
Braveheart
Final Countdown
The Russians Are Coming!
Down Periscope
Operation Petticoat
30 Seconds over Tokyo
Men of Honor
The General’s Daughter
Breaker Morant
Zulu
Taegukgi
Gallipoli
Der Untergang
Stalingrad
Memphis Belle
Twelve O'Clock High
Midway
Mister Roberts
In Which We Serve
The Desert Rats
Lawrence of Arabia
The Hill.
Lion of the Desert
Battle of Algiers
55 Days at Peking
Alexander Nevsky
Tunes of Glory
Kagemusha.
Bridge on The River Kwai
The Sands of Iwo Jima
The Green Berets
Hunt for Red October
Stripes
 
I'm still pushing for "Stripes"....Just saying

That's a fact....Jack

They had some great lines in that movie.

Call me psycho, don't call me Francis. Ok Francis.

Where is your Drill Sargent? Blowwwwwn uppppp Sirrrrrrr.
 
The 300 - Russell Crowe... Teamwork, professional soldiering and tactics. Although weapons not applicable to modern warfare. :rolleyes:
Last of the Mohicans - Just a great movie.
Sand Pebbles - Steve McQueen (sorta war movie)

And for a little comic relief, how about reruns of Hogan's Heroes and F-Troop?:popcorn1:
 
Wild Eagle & Crazy Cat. The best lines. Russell Crowe and 300? "Sand Pebbles" was great and I actually watched it two nights ago. I think that would qualify.
 
That's a fact....Jack

They had some great lines in that movie.

Call me psycho, don't call me Francis. Ok Francis.

Where is your Drill Sargent? Blowwwwwn uppppp Sirrrrrrr.

You are so right, I think I'll have to watch it again soon.
 
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