Brandon Webb pics top 10 favorite war movies

[Wildcat]

Some others worth seeing, though not mentioned yet:

The Dam Busters (1955)
Gettysburg (1993)

also: Ghost Soldiers

[teufelhund1918]

Lots of great movies mentioned here that I forgot about. Another oldee but goodee is Zulu with Michael Caine. And a good one, but maybe not much of a war movie is the Naked Prey.

[Hank6046]

If I had to pick top 10:

A Bridge too Far
Bridge on the River Kwai
Full Medal Jacket
Apocalypse Now
The Dirty Dozen
Kelly's Heroes
Patton
The Great Escape
Deer Hunter
Empire of the Sun

I would also like to give an honorable mention to the following:
Band of Brothers, The Pacific and of course, Dr. Strangelove

[SteyrAUG]

Also "When Trumpets Fade" should also be on every list. It had "holy crap" realism like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan but was more of a true story about the events of Hurtgen Forest. Unfortunately Trumpets was a HBO film and Saving Private Ryan was a Hollywood blockbuster that completely eclipsed it.

Stalag 17 should be on every list as well as a Bridge Too Far. The 1995 film Hiroshima is amazingly detailed and accurate. I agree with everyone who mentioned Empire of the Sun, amazing film. Along the same theme I'd recommend "Hope and Glory" (1987) about a British kid growing up during the blitz in London.

I think We Were Soldiers is one of the few honest films about Vietnam, even though it only tells the first half of the story. Platoon is insulting crap that portrays most veterans as drug addicted losers, psychopaths and misfits. I think nobody told Oliver Stone that he was in a "flunkie crew" for a reason.

Also strongly agree with Battle of Britain as it was a powerful film at the time. I love most of the John Wayne films but with the exception of "The Longest Day" I don't think any of them make the list. I'm on the fence with Sgt. York, love the film but not sure it's a top ten film. Not like "All Quiet on the Western Front" which belongs on every list. Interesting note, it's a Carl Laemmle Jr. film so if it feels like an old Universal Horror film (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc.) that is the reason why. I also think that is why it worked so well.

I think Hamburger Hill is an important film that is probably also a top ten film, but so many Vietnam films came out in 1987 I think it got lost in the crowd.

[titsonritz]

If I had to pick top 10:Full Medal Jacket

I can't believe this one has not been mentioned much sooner and repeatedly.

[titsonritz]

Also "When Trumpets Fade" should also be on every list. It had "holy crap" realism like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan but was more of a true story about the events of Hurtgen Forest. Unfortunately Trumpets was a HBO film and Saving Private Ryan was a Hollywood blockbuster that completely eclipsed it.

100%. I like it better the Saving Private Ryan.

[Renegade]

The Great Escape
Apocalypse Now
The Boys in Company C
Black Hawk Down
The Dirty Dozen
Patton
The Longest Day
Green Berets
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Big Red One
Anything with Aldo Ray

[SteyrAUG]

100%. I like it better the Saving Private Ryan.

I actually like Saving Private Ryan as a movie, just as I like a lot of John Wayne movies, and SPR was the first film most people saw with a "modern realism" that helped them understand just how horrible war can be. We need to remember it came out a few years before Black Hawk Down and most people missed When Trumpets Fade. So in that sense it's an important film.

But even though there really were some Fritz brothers that were removed from combat following the death of the Sullivan brothers (and while we are at it The Fighting Sullivans is a very important, but brutal film) there was no Ranger mission and if they were going to make a film about the Rangers they should have told the story of Pointe du Hoc. I also think out tolerance for war fiction with a lesson is lower, we'd rather memorialize real men in film like Hanks and Spielberg did later with Band of Brothers.

There are more than enough real heroes and untold stories of incredible events that we don't need to manufacture them. Hell maybe it's time they made a movie about Capt. James Stewart.

[JediGuy]

Sergeant York
Bridge over (/on) the River Kwai
The Longest Day
The Great Escape

I’ve seen most of the others mentioned, but I don’t know how many times we watched these as kids. Over and over. Formulative. When I was a little older, Blackhawk Down. That was a “watch it once and give it a couple years before watching again.” I agree that, for me more than Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down described war to a teenager.

It would be hard to qualify a top ten.

But, I could mentions a couple I simply did not like.

When Trumpets Fade (only remembered because of others adding here...I really did not like for whatever reason)
Pearl Harbor
Red Tails (it takes a lot for me to not finish something, particularly if I wanted to like it)
Valkyrie (should have been better)
Anything by Oliver Stone

Side note: I wish there were a streaming service like an old AMC or TCM channel.

[titsonritz]

There are more than enough real heroes and untold stories of incredible events that we don't need to manufacture them. Hell maybe it's time they made a movie about Capt. James Stewart.

I'd be game for that.

As much as I enjoy fictional work, I do prefer true events/stories.