what is your best battle or war movie? and why?

Question

ok i am finding a good battle movie to watch.Lol

Answer 1

Here’s a list of my top 20 War Films. These are my all time favorites, although they are about war, I must confess that they are more anti-war than pro, some of them are war related. -

1. The Thin Red Line (1998) by Terrence Malick
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120863/maindetails
Starring- Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, James Caviezel, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, George Clooney, Travolta
Plot Outline: Director Terrence Malick's adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War. Nominted for seven Academy Awards.
Essay-
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/8/thinredline.html
Official Site-
http://www.foxmovies.com/thinredline/
Reviews-
http://www.imdb.com/Reviews/158/15830
http://www.boxoffice.com/scripts/fiw.dll?GetReview&where=Name&terms=THE+THIN+RED+LIN

2. Ran (1985) by Akira Kurosawa
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/
With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare’s King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa’s late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.
Awards- http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/awards
Essay-
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=316&eid=452§ion=essay
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/kurosawa.html#senses
Reviews-
http://jclarkmedia.com/film/filmreviewran.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ran_(1985_film)

3. Full Metal Jacket (1987) by Stanley Kubrick
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/maindetails
Starring: Matthew Modine, Arliss Howard
A group of Marine recruits deal with the hardships of basic training on Paris Island and then struggle to survive while fighting in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.
Essays-
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0027.html
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0104.html
Reviews-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_metal_jacket
http://www.dvdtown.com/review/fullmetaljackethd-dvd/18963/3674/
http://filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/84dbbfa4d710144986256c290016f76e/ca341d66fa45583608256e4f0023790d?OpenDocument
http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com/mainmenu/mainmenu.html

4. Platoon (1986)- Oliver Stone
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Forest Whitaker
Winner of four Academy awards, nominated for nine, the story of a young recruit in Vietnam facing a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Official Site-
http://www.platoondvd.com/subplatoon.html
Reviews-
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19861230/REVIEWS/612300301/1023
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/09/11/platoon_1986_dvd_review.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platoon_%28film%29

5. Paths of Glory (1957) by Stanley Kubrick
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050825/
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Meeker
Plot Outline: When some soldiers fall back under attack, their unit commander tries to shield them from a glory-seeking general who wants to make an example of them.
Reviews-
http://www.filmsite.org/path.html
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050225/REVIEWS08/502250305
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/11/10/paths_of_glory_2005_review.shtml
http://kubrickfilms.warnerbros.com/mainmenu/mainmenu.html

5. Jarhead (2005) by Sam Mendes
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418763/
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx
Based on former Marine Anthony Swofford's best-selling 2003 book about his pre-Desert Storm experiences in Saudi Arabia and about his experiences fighting in Kuwait.
Official Site-
http://www.jarheadmovie.com/welcometothesuck.html
Reviews-
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051103/REVIEWS/51019007/1023
http://www.variety.com/ac2006_review/VE1117928699?nav=reviews&categoryid=1986&cs=1&s=h&p=0
http://movies.about.com/od/jarhead/a/jarhead110405.htm

6. Three Kings (1999) by David O. Russell
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120188/
Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze
In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.
Reviews-
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/10/01/DD50464.DTL
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991004/REVIEWS/910040306/1023

7. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) Oliver Stone
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096969/maindetails
Starring: Tom Cruise, Tom Berenger
Plot Outline: Winner of two academy awards, nominated for eight. The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Reviews-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_on_the_Fourth_of_July
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bornonthefourthofjulyrhinson_a0a905.htm
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/born4thjuly.php

7. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) by Richard Fleischer and Kinji Fukasaku
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066473/
Plot Outline: A dramatization of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that allowed it to happen. As factual as it gets.
Reviews-
http://www.dvdmoviecentral.com/ReviewsText/tora_tora_tora.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tora!_Tora!_Tora!
http://apolloguide.com/mov_fullrev.asp?CID=3179

9. Tigerland (2000) Joel Schumacher
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170691/
Starring: Colin Farrell, Matthew Davis
Suprisingly intelligent, engaging drama takes slighly less cynical look at a disillusioned in boot camp during the Vietnam War
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971.
Official Site-
http://www.tigerlandmovie.com/
Reviews-
http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/5948209/rid/5948210/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/05/02/tigerland_2001_review.shtml
http://www.thezreview.co.uk/reviews/t/tigerland.htm

10. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by John Frankenheimer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056218/
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh
Plot Outline: A former Korean War POW is brainwashed by Communists into becoming a political assassin. But another former prisoner may know how to save him. The Manchurian Candidate is a satirical 1959 thriller novel written by Richard Condon, later adapted into films in 1962 and 2004. Condon lampoons both McCarthyism and brainwashing as the primary targets of his wit. The term "Manchurian candidate," spawned by the book and later films, refers to an individual who has undergone brainwashing and / or mind control with the intent of creating a "Sleeper" personality within that individual.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchurian_Candidate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_%281962_film%29
Reviews-
http://www.greatestfilms.org/manc.html
http://claytonandtheresa.users.btopenworld.com/ManchurianCandidate.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/11/21/the_manchurian_candidate_1962_review.shtml

11. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) by David Lean
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050212/
Starring-Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, William Holden
Winner of seven Academy Awards. The story is based on the building in 1943 of one of the railway bridges over the Kwai Yai at a place called Tamarkan five kilometres from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. This was part of a project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) to support the Japanese occupation of Burma.
Reviews-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_on_the_River_Kwai
http://www.greatestfilms.org/bridge.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/01/23/bridge_on_the_river_kwai_1957_dvd_review.shtml
http://filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/84dbbfa4d710144986256c290016f76e/80896f687c39f8af0825711d00205d9b?OpenDocument

12. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) by Stanley Kubrick
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/
Starring-Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens
based loosely upon the straight-faced thriller novel Red Alert by Peter George. Refashioned as a black comedy from the source material by screenwriter Terry Southern, Dr. Strangelove's subject matter satirizes the fragile nature of the Cold War conflict and the doctrine of mutually assured destruction. The film opens at the fictional Burpelson Air Force Base, where the insane General Jack D. Ripper (named after Jack the Ripper) has just ordered a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The rest of Dr. Strangelove follows the President of the United States, his advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and an RAF officer as they all scramble to recall Ripper's bomber-wing in order to prevent a nuclear Apocalypse.
Reviews-
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19990711%2FREVIEWS08%2F907110301%2F1023
http://www.greatestfilms.org/drst.html
Essays-
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0097.html
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0017.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangelove

13. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) by Barry Levinson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/
Starring: Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker
A comedy/drama film set in Saigon during the Vietnam War, based on the career of Adrian Cronauer, a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio Saigon (AFRS), who proves hugely popular with the troops serving in South Vietnam, but infuriates his superiors with what they call his "irreverent tendency". Cronauer is played by Robin Williams in a career-making role. Most of Robin Williams' humorous radio broadcasts were improvised. Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Reviews-
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19880115/REVIEWS/801150303/1023
http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1367
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/05/10/good_morning_vietnam_1988_dvd_review.shtml
http://claytonandtheresa.users.btopenworld.com/GoodMorningVietnam.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Morning%2C_Vietnam

14. Taxi Driver (1976) by Martin Scorsese's
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepherd, Peter Boyle
A mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out. It is widely considered one of the greatest and most controversial films in the history of American cinema and frequently praised for its strong performances and gritty realism. The film also made stars out of both its lead actors, Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, the latter of whom was only thirteen years old when the movie was released.
Reviews-
http://www.filmsite.org/taxi.html
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=//20040101/REVIEWS08/401010364/1023
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/05/37/taxi_driver.html
http://repcred.com/movies/talkin-to-me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_Driver#Award_wins

15. Casualties of War (1989) by Brian De Palma
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097027/
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, John C. Reilly
A squad of American soldiers loses one of its members in a village which is believed to be an ally to the Viet Cong. In retaliation, the squad kidnaps a Vietnamese girl (Thuy Thu Le) to be their sexual slave, much to the objection of one soldier (Michael J. Fox) who wants no part of it and tries vehemently to stand for the girl's rights.
Essays-
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_n1_v22/ai_15695273
http://www.24liesasecond.com/site2/index.php?page=2&task=index_onearticle.php&Column_Id=43
Reviews-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/casualtiesofwarrhinson_a0a94e.htm

16. Falling Down (1993) by Joel Schumacher
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106856/
Starring: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey
About the character William "Bill" Foster also known as "D-Fens" (named for his license plate), an unemployed American missile engineer played by Michael Douglas making an attempt to "go home" for his daughter's birthday after leaving his car in traffic on the hottest day of the year. As he passes through the city of Los Angeles, California on foot he finds himself alienated, disgusted and angered by what he experiences as he is accosted, overcharged and rejected. He becomes a sort of vigilante as he gradually begins to accumulate weaponry and starts to force people out of his way – with violence, if necessary. Nominated for the Golden Palm.
Reviews-
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=608225
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/fallingdownrhowe_a0af6f.htm
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/f/falling_down.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_Down

17. Jacob's Ladder (1990) by Adrian Lyne
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099871/
Starring- Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Matt Craven, Ving Rhames
Tagline: The most frightening thing about Jacob Singer's nightmare is that he isn't dreaming.
A traumatized Vietnam War veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him.
Reviews-
http://uashome.alaska.edu/%7Ejndfg20/website/jacobsladder.htm
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19901102/REVIEWS/11020301/1023
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/jacobsladderrhinson_a0a9b3.htm

18. Apocalypse Now (1979) Francis Ford Coppola
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078788/
Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper
Set during the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now tells the story of Captain Willard, a taciturn American soldier who is sent to infiltrate the compound of rogue United States Army Special Forces Colonel Walter Kurtz, and terminate Kurtz's command "with extreme prejudice". The narrative of his journey upriver and its culmination are studded with increasingly surreal and phantasmagoric events, some of which, while bizarre, are based on real stories told to the filmmakers by Vietnam veterans. As the film continues, it turns more and more nonlinear and hallucinatory. Much like the novel on which it is based, many critics see the film's subtext as a journey into the darkness of the human psyche. Winner of the Palme d'Or.
Today, the film is regarded by many as a masterpiece of the New Hollywood era. It is on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list at number 28. Kilgore's quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" was number 12 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list. In 2002, Sight and Sound magazine polled several critics to name the best film of the last 25 years and Apocalypse Now was named number 1.
Reviews-
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010810/REVIEWS/108100302/1023
http://film.guardian.co.uk/Film_Page/0,4061,554580,00.html
http://www.greatestfilms.org/apoc.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypse_Now

19. Schindler's List (1993) by Steven Spielberg
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
The tale of Oskar Schindler, a German Catholic businessman who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust. The title refers to a list of the names of 1,100 Jews whom Schindler hired to work in his factory and kept from being sent to the concentration camps.
Schindler's List consistently ranks amongst the finest movies of all time. It is currently ranked as 9th best film by the American Film Institute, and, as of July 25, 2006, rated number six on the top 250 films on the Internet Movie Database with a 8.8/10 rating.
Official Site-
http://www.schindlerslist.com/
Reviews-
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/s/schindlers.html
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19931215/REVIEWS/312150301/1023
http://www.greatestfilms.org/schi.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List

20. Life is Beautiful (1998) by Roberto Benigni
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/
Starring- Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp.The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score and Best Foreign Language Film, and Benigni won Best Actor for his role. The film was additionally nominated for Academy Awards for Directing, Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay, and is ranked 77th on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 rated films as of July 2006.
Reviews-
http://artsandfaith.com/t100/2005/entry.php?film=95
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/10/30/DD61426.DTL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_is_Beautiful

Answer 2

The Crossing. It stars Jeff Daniels as George Washington and it's about the crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolution. Great movie!
Also good:
Enemy at the Gates (WWII from the Russian perspective)
Memphis Belle (WWII, based on a true story of an American bomber crew)
U-571 (WWII submarine flick)
The Patriot (American Revolution)

Answer 3

based loosely upon the straight-faced thriller novel Red Alert by Peter George. Refashioned as a black comedy from the source material by screenwriter Terry Southern, Dr. Strangelove's subject matter satirizes the fragile nature of the Cold War conflict and the doctrine of mutually assured destruction. The film opens at the fictional Burpelson Air Force Base, where the insane General Jack D. Ripper (named after Jack the Ripper) has just ordered a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The rest of Dr. Strangelove follows the President of the United States, his advisors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and an RAF officer as they all scramble to recall Ripper's bomber-wing in order to prevent a nuclear Apocalypse.

Answer 4

Last Samurai, Gladiator, Bands of Brothers, Troy, Lord of the Rings

Answer 5

Tenko, Dam Busters or Bridge over the River Kwai Factual and real, they show what happened in three separate parts of WW2.They're not just a figment of someone's imagination like sci fi

Answer 6

Troy is excellent! Das Boot is great as well! Also try Platoon..one of the best war movies ever!

Answer 7

The Patriot..outstanding fighting scene!!!if you want some drama included....try the war classic Saving Private Ryan!

Answer 8

Troy is the most artistic war movie ever. its a mix of engaging characters, visual grandeur n dramatic intelligence. a rare war movie which combines strong feelings of love, hatred, ancient beauty n violence.

Answer 9

war movie ? Jarhead
I think it's a great movie about the war when the main character don't shot one time.

Answer 10

i suggest you watch some classic war movies like The bridge over the River Kwai. so you can have some info about the past.

Answer 11

Lord of The Rings, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy, what else?