Best Naval Movies

jjlma

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Sep 30, 2013
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just for the fun of it, and to have a non-serious, non-application discussion, what are the best Naval movies you might recommend. Last night watched with DS & family, Crimson Tide(G. Hackman, D. Washington) & Hellcats of the Navy(J. Wayne). Just a good look at Naval movies is what we are looking for. Any comments? thx.
 
Not our Navy, but Das Boot (in German) is one of the all-time best.

I'm also a sucker for WWII movies. Midway is a classic.
 
The Enemy Below with Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens is a very good WWII US destroyer v. German submarine movie.
 
From a Navy wannabe:

Das Boot +1

Master and Commander

K-19: The Widowmaker
 
If you're into SWO stuff, you can't go wrong with "The Caine Mutiny." I highly recommend the book too (the movie's good but the book is excellent), but if you're not a reader (you should be) the movie gets the job done.

"The Bridges at Toko-Ri" is a good one for aviation about the Korean War. It's one of the movies that pretty much defines Naval Aviation.

If you're looking for documentaries, "Speed and Angels" is about the last F-14 pilots and is pretty decent.
 
Tora Tora Tora is another classic.

Agree with Das Boot.

Skip Crimson Tide -- a CO of a sub running around in dress blues and taking his DOG on deployment. :eek::rolleyes:

Hunt for Red October is also quite good, if a bit dated in terms of plot.
 
Certainly agree with many including "Das Boot" which is (intentionally) tough to get through but worth the effort.

I really wanted to chime in on "The Enemy Below" which is excellent. The Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" is essentially a rip off of it. "We build them good in Germany, eh Hiney".
 
Other Documentaries

In the vein of documentaries, PBS had four documentaries a few years back on submarines. The documentaries are currently floating around on Netflix. They highlighted how SSN Virginia is geared towards supporting the challenges of asymmetric warfare in the 21st century, and the challenges/change in submarine mission since the end of the Cold War.
 
For fleet oriented stuff I would say Midway was really good, The Pacific was also excellent. If you're into NSW Lone Survivor was great, see it in theaters while you can.
 
Saw "Tora Tora Tora" in NKP. Was disconcerting when the locals cheered the bombing runs.:thumbdown: "The Cain Mutiny" has always been a classic with some great actors. Annapolis was a joke.
 
NJ-USNA2018hopeful, are you talking about the one with James Franco? If so, it is not worth watching if you are looking for something that is a good representation of life at the Academy. It mainly focuses on him (spoiler alert) training for the brigade boxing tournament, which the end I will leave for you discover on your own. I would not recommend it.
 
Mr. Roberts - Midway - Tora Tora Tora - In Harm's Way - Flag of Our Father's (Marines) - Destroyer (1943 Edward G Robinson)

Too many more to list!
 
Reaching wayyyy back, try Pacific Command the TV series Men of Annapolis, Navy Log, Victory at Sea, vintage movies Hellcats of the Navy, Flying Leathernecks., Run Silent, Run Deep Not sure where you will find some of these, but am sure they are available on video/DVD. Victory at Sea was an award winning series depicting the Navy and Marines in WWII complete with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
 
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