Good war movies & what you like about 'em

My all time favorite is "They Were Expendable". Just a superb flick on all counts

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That's one of my favorites too. I like the movies depicting the early stages of WWII when we were getting our asses kicked but planning for a return match.

I like "Battle of Britain", especially for aviation related war movies. The Spitfires, Hurricanes and Messershmidt 109's and HE 111's were real. Well the 109's were actually built under license in Spain by Hispano, but they were real 109's. CG stuff just doesn't do it for me even as good as it looks its till looks fake to me.

The "Bridges at Toko Ri" is also a great movie. One of the few Korean War movies made and I think the only one about naval aviators in Korea. The Grumman F9F Panthers, while obsolete compared to the MiG 15 was a neat airplane.

Thanks Bulltaco for mentioning Bridges of Toko-Ri

which was a very good movie and pretty realistic. It did not have a happy ending and that was somewhat unusual in 1954 when it was made. I am a carrier sailor from Vietnam era so should have remembered that one. For you Navy men who may not know (Forgive me straying from subject) the aircraft carrier used in that movie was the USS Oriskany CV-34. The jets I believe were Grumman F9-F Panthers but don't hold me to that absolutely.

Enemy at the Gates

Memphis Belle

The Patriot

Von Richthofen and Brown

I love mentioning that last movie because apparently nobody has seen it but me. Now seems to go by the title of The Red Baron.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0067658/

Anything that Dale Dyle partook in.

Twelve o'clock high


What a terrific movie that was!

A true WW2 story of heroism

that I have to tell. It was brought to mind by the mention of TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH. I know this is strictly not on subject but...this is from an interview of a air crew member with a B-17 squadron out of England in WW2. So, they went on a mission and the plane was shot up by the Germans. The belly gunner's ball turret that he had to climb down into and out of was damaged and he could not get out because the turret was stuck. So, they were going to have to land with him stuck down there. Maybe the problem was also that their landing gear would not come down so they had to do a belly landing. In any event the pilots had to tell him they were going to land with him stuck there and that this was the end for him as the turret would crash on the ground with him in it. So, they all said their good-byes to this man who knew his death was imminent and then they landed with their comrade in that jammed turret.

Wasn't that "stuck bellygunner" incident the same one that got The Gipper in so much trouble when he mistakenly recounted it as fact?

"The Rough Riders" and "we were Soldiers Once.."

And, ALL the WW-2 movies that were actually produced during the war, or VERY shortly thereafter.

I think that the opportunity to see all the equipment, ships, aircraft as they were ( new, in-use, "serviceable" ) then is priceless...

Cosmoline about your question

I do not have any reason to believe this is related to any Gipper incident. I read this I am very positive in a WW2 history and the author was interviewing veterans and this veteran flier or aircrewman on board that flight related to the author of the history.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES should not be forgotten

as it was a very powerful film, at least for its time, about the effects of the war on four men who came home as veterans of WW2. It won an Academy Award for best picture in about 1946. I have to mention that one of the men played a Navy vet who lost both his hands in the war. In fact that man had lost his hands in the war so essentially was playing himself.

Two of my favorites are Patton and The Big Red ONE

I keep re-watching a couple of my favorites over and again...

Das Boot in the original German. Intense.

Band of Brothers is a definite keeper, especially when viewed in Dolby surround. The episode with the concentration camps is something every revisionist historian should experience.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is well worth seeing.

The Killing Fields Need I say more?

I am not saying my favorites are the most accurate or realistic, but I loved them as a child (still love them I suppose). They have already been mentioned, but...

The Dirty Dozen
The Great Escape
Guns of the Navarone

Wasn't that "stuck bellygunner" incident the same one that got The Gipper in so much trouble when he mistakenly recounted it as fact?

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That's the one - except the way Reagan told it, the plane was too shot up to make it, and the pilot stayed in the plane to comfort the gunner as it went down. Of course, he was remembering "A Wing and a Prayer", a pacific-theater bomber movie made during the war.

Santa Fe Trail...

Erol Flynn and Ronald Reagan... 'nuff said.

They've been mentioned, but two of my favorites are: All Quiet on the Western Front, the 1930 version. Some of the old-style acting methods leave a lot to be desired, but it's a very gritty movie for its age. And Bataan (1943.) Robert Taylor never was one of my favorite actors, but I thought he was outstanding in this. Thomas Mitchell, who usually played Irishmen so well, was great as the Jewish soldier, Feingold. Also look out for Desi Arnaz and a very young Barry Nelson, who seems to never change. (Mr. Nelson is probably the only surviving actor out of the whole cast!) Though Bataan was clearly filmed mostly on a soundstage, the action scenes are pretty raw and graphic for the day.

1st: Band of Brothers. If you've not seen it, you're missing out.
2nd: Where Eagles Dare. So it was a little unrealistic, helicopter and all. Great pair of lead actors, I'm always a fan of Eastwood movies (minus Bridges of Madison County). Excellent plot, beautiful Alpine scenery, overall a pretty good adaptation of MacLeans story.
3rd: Das Boot. Has there ever been a more realistic portrayal of life aboard a U-boat?

What's the WW2 movie where the POW's are being held in a castle and build a guilder in one of the towers?

Inspired by a true story after the Great Escape.

Here is a partial list of my favorite war flicks:
Last of the Mohicans
Patriot
The Alamo
Gettysburg
Glory
Zulu
Zulu Dawn
Breaker Morant -Boer War in S. Africa 1898-1900
THe LIghthorsemen
Gallipoli
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Sand Pebbles -Boxer Rebellion in China during the 1920s
Saving Private Ryan
Stalag 17
The Great Escape
The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far -one of my all time favorites
Where Eagles Dare
To Hell and Back
The Memphis Belle
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Kelly's Heros
Sands of Iwo Jima
Midway
Tora Tora Tora
Run Silent, Run Deep
Force 10 from Naverone
Sink the Bismark
Battle of Britain
Tobruk
The Big Red One -Lee Marvin
The Grean Berets
Full Metal Jacket
Boys of Company C
Platoon
Heartbreak Ridge
Blackhawk Down
Red Dawn

If you're including the Indian Wars then there are a ton of Westerns to add.

That's my partial list. There are many more good flicks. Some of the above really take advantage of their 'artistic license' to the point of abuse but I enjoyed the flick.

Jim

Edit to add Patton how could I forget that flick? I've been looking for it in the stores and can't find it.

Has anyone seen "Fire Base Gloria"? I was told that this was good flick of Vietnam but haven't seen it.

Jim

"Desert Rats" made in about 1954 with Richard Burton, Chips Rafferty and Bud Tingwell.

Tells the story of a British officer attached to an Australian battalion during the siege of Tobruk.

The first major defeat suffered by the German Army in World War 2 was at Tobruk.

For the Aussie side how about:
The Odd Angry Shot (Aussie SAS in Vietnam),
The Lighthorsemen (WW1 charge at Beersheba)
ANAZC's (WW1 Series starring Paul Hogan. Damn good show)