1. Kelly's Heroes
2. The Deer Hunter
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. Paul Blart
1. Kelly's Heroes
2. The Deer Hunter
3. Full Metal Jacket
4. Paul Blart
Star Wars
Platoon is my favorite.
As was mentioned, the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan is unrivaled.
The first half of Full Metal Jacket was the most entertaining.
Band of Brothers was amazing but was a TV show, not a movie. When I watched it, so much stuff happened that I knew was historically significant that I assumed the unit was an amalgamation of a bunch of different units. After watching the final episode I hopped on Wikipedia and was blown away to find out that all that stuff really did happen to those same guys.
Not many people mention The Pacific, HBO's companion show to Band of Brothers that followed the Marines in the Pacific. That is almost as good as Band of Brothers.
Thin Red Line
Dunkirk
Not the best, but Enemy at the Gates is really good and tells a compelling story of WWII from the Soviet side.
Two movies from 2001/2002 left a huge impact on me.
I left the movie "Black Hawk Down" embarassed that I had bought a ticket expecting to be entertained by what happened. I was pissed that we had gone into that situation without overwhelming force. To this day, I still believe we shouldn't place our soldiers in a situation where there aren't clear goals and where they have anything less than the best resources we can provide. No U.S. soldier should ever die for vague goals and because higher-ups decided to do things on the cheap. There was a ick-factor to this movie that probably should have been done in more of a documentary format than as an action flick, but it made a huge impact on me.
I never served in the armed services and none of my relatives served in the front lines of Korea or Vietnam. The people I know that did serve in Vietnam never really talked about what occurred, and I never asked them. Mel Gibson's movies often take violence to extreme levels, but I think I needed to see the impact of using phosphorus in "We Were Soldiers" to understand some of the horrors our soldiers endure. It was sobering to say the least. It felt wrong to recommend anyone see this movie for entertainment.
More recently, "Hacksaw Ridge" was equally gruesome but left me determined to completely commit to my values regardless of the personal cost. I found it inspiring where the prior two movies left me angry or stunned. I might have to place my vote for Hacksaw Ridge; though, all three were great films/stories.
Lots of American entertainment war movies in this thread. If you want to watch something closer to the toughest battle ever check The Stalingrad.
Stalingrad is still battle porn. If you want to see what it's REALLY about, try Gallipoli.
Another Option wrote:
I left the movie "Black Hawk Down" embarassed that I had bought a ticket expecting to be entertained by what happened. I was pissed that we had gone into that situation without overwhelming force. To this day, I still believe we shouldn't place our soldiers in a situation where there aren't clear goals and where they have anything less than the best resources we can provide.
So, a company of Rangers (100+ highly skilled soldiers), a Delta Force unit (20+ elite soldiers), 4 covering Blackhawks, a fleet of armored vehicles, and several covering Loaches is not providing the resources needed to capture one guy? Not trying to pick a fight, but honestly, what more could they have done? We can argue the missions purpose, but I think any objective onlooker would say they were equipped for the job. The enemy got one lucky shot off and it changed things drastically, but other than that, the mission was well planned.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Stalingrad is still battle porn. If you want to see what it's REALLY about, try Gallipoli.
Kid, you know nothing about the military history and war movies.
Saving Private Ryan
U571
Glory
Blackhawk Down
Lone Survivor
But, Band of Brothers is better than them all. I know it's a mini series, but honestly, it is by far the best war in the war genre. Hands down.
Dunkirk, Fury, and Hacksaw Ridge did nothing for me. I wouldn't put them in my top 10 war movies that's for sure.
Sorry I don't know any movies with cars and wombats.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
It's older but considered far more historically accurate than 'Pearl Harbor' although that's a pretty low bar.
Some people might find the first part slow as it details a lot of the Japanese strategizing but I found that fascinating.
Some people got offended because it makes the US look inept in their initial lack of preparation....but we kind of were.
My great uncle was there and he always thought this movie really captured the essence of what happened. He also so 'Pearl Harbor' and thought it was trash.
There's some really good stunts, since there's no CGI.
Here's a review:
Huvubuvuv wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:Stalingrad is still battle porn. If you want to see what it's REALLY about, try Gallipoli.
Kid, you know nothing about the military history and war movies.
Son, you're a damn fool.
The Big Red One
Gettysburg
Troy
Bad Wigins wrote:
Huvubuvuv wrote:
Kid, you know nothing about the military history and war movies.
Son, you're a damn fool.
Surprised no one has mentioned GENERATION KILL. Technically it’s a miniseries but it’s one long movie (probably shorter than the Lord of the Rings series)
For a tv series, checkout the World at War:
The best war movie is Idi I Smotri(Come and See), by Elem Klimov. Easily one of the most haunting and disturbing films out there. Can't really watch it more than once. Spielberg reportedly screened it before making Saving Private Ryan, and took the idea to use sound distortion following explosions from it.