MovieChat Forums > Paths of Glory (1957) Discussion > Top 5 War Films You've Ever Seen

Top 5 War Films You've Ever Seen


You can use whatever rating criteria you like; influence, shock factor, whatever... What do you think are the TOP 5 BEST WAR MOVIES THAT YOU'VE EVER SEEN in your opinions... Here are mine:
#1 Apocalypse Now
(Does 'Schindler's List' count as a war movie? I'll assume not...)
#2 Paths of Glory
(Not sure if 'Dr. Strangelove' counts as a war movie...)
#3 The Thin Red Line
#4 Full Metal Jacket
(Do 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' or 'The Pianist' count? I don't know...)
#5 Saving Private Ryan

What do you guys think are your top 5? Also, could somebody clear up my queries please...

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#1 Full metal Jacket
#2 Apocalypse now
#3-#4 i just cant decide between Paths of Glory and Saving Private Ryan so ill call it a tie
#5 inglorious basterds if counts the great escape if it doesnt.

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1. Downfall
2. Apocalypse Now
3. Bridge On The River Kwai
4. Platoon
5. The Deer Hunter

Schindler's list (if it counts it would be #2)

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I presume we're talking twentieth century wars and not earlier ones such as the Hundred Years War. And presuming they don't necessarily have to be movies about the soldiers...

Paths of Glory
Army of Shadows
Au revoir les enfants
Gallipoli
The Great Escape

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[deleted]

1. The Thin Red Line

2. Paths of Glory

3. The Longest Day

4. Apocalypse Now; Redux

5. All Quiet on the Western Front

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10/10
1. Haven (2001, John Gray)
2. Rome, Open City (1945, Roberto Rossellini)
3. The Great Dictator (1940, Charles Chaplin)
4. Wings (1927, William A. Wellman)
5. Foreign Correspondent (1940, Alfred Hitchcock)
6. Operation Dumbo Drop (1995, Simon Wincer)
7. Under Heavy Fire (2001, Sidney J. Furie)
8. The Deer Hunter (1978, Michael Cimino)
9. Gunga Din (1939, George Stevens)
10. Pan's Labyrinth (2006, Guillermo del Toro)

Last night, I finished a music video for #7, Under Heavy Fire. It shows the chaos and the aftermath of the Vietnam war.

Volker Flenske: (While torturing David) I don't know why you're doing this to yourself!

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For me:
Paths of Glory
Come and See
Grave of the Fireflies
Saving Private Ryan
The Deer Hunter

Schindler's List is not about war, in my opinion. Dr Strangelove is ostensibly about war, although really it's about middle-management. Both are about politics and systems rather than the experiences or effects of conventional war.

Lawrence of Arabia may count - but not sure you'd find it in the "War" section in HMV!


The Films of Stanley Kubrick: www.fosk.weebly.com

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What do you think are the TOP 5 BEST WAR MOVIES THAT YOU'VE EVER SEEN in your opinions... - RaoulAkhtar

I don't think I can do this because I've seen a lot--and I do mean a lot--of war films, as epic as The Longest Day and as derivative as Torpedo Run, as recent as The Railway Man and as old as Birth of a Nation.

You say to use whatever rating criteria we choose, but then you start to question if a particular film qualifies as a "war" film, so the question of what exactly is a "war film" needs to be clarified or else be included as part of that open-ended criteria.

For example, one of the greatest war films I've ever seen is The Best Years of Our Lives, which does not contain one frame of combat footage (not even in flashback), yet its subject of the consequences of war on men returning from World War Two, and on their families and friends, is to me integral to what the effects of "war" actually are. Another example is M*A*S*H (and if I had to pick just one film to take with me on a desert island, that would be it), which, again, has no combat footage in it--only the consequences of combat as the M*A*S*H personnel try to stitch up the combatants. (And I do mean the 1970 film, not the subsequent television series inspired by the film.)

Also, you and other posters are sticking to feature films. What about documentaries? I would have to give serious consideration to The World at War and Hearts and Minds, among other documentary series and films.

So, I can't list five without considering it further because more than five come immediately to mind. And, to the point of this forum, although one of those would be Paths of Glory, I don't think it would be Top Five.

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"We hear very little, and we understand even less." - Refugee in Casablanca

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I'm only counting dramatic features, no mini-series (though a couple of them are among the best by my reckoning) or documentaries. However, I do like films that are based on actual events and I am strongly influenced by their historic accuracy. So:

(Not necessarily in order)

Glory
We were Soldiers
Gettysburg
Twelve O'clock High
Blackhawk Down

There are dozens of others that I think are great, that I like, or that I can barely tolerate. Some have very realistic portrayals of war, but are not accurate depictions of any particular war or events within a war. Some are not realistic portrayals of combat at all, but make valid statements worthy of thought. Some are great satires on war and how we treat it. We glorify it too much, but no "anti-war" film seems to convince us to think harder before we get into one. I guess it will always be a problem. After all, the only mistake worse than getting into an unnecessary war (far too many of them) is waiting too long to fight a necessary war.

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