Greatest War Films

[The Batman]

I was hoping A Bridge Too Far would win it, certainly my favourite by a country mile, Black Hawk Down is $hite and cant believe it was 9th, i thought Platoon would have been higher than 6th. I think Apocalypse Now will win it.

[Rocky]

1st Saving Private Ryan

2nd Apocolypse Now

[Guest WillsbridgeRed]

A bridge too far is a classic epic - Saving Private Ryan has 1/2 hour of very good footage and very good cam work, but the rest of the film is hardly classic!

Where did enemy at the Gates come?

[Jimmy]

Saving Private Ryan was first!!??

I thought it would be around the teens or twenties!

Apocalypse Now is one of the best films of all time and should have won it in my opinion, although i obviously havent seen all of the other films in the list!

Where did The Great Escape and Zulu come?

And did Braveheart feature, i wasnt sure if they classed it as a war film. Not a great fan of it, just wondering!

[Guest Spike]

Saving Private Ryan is by far the best portrayal of war. It doesn't hide the gore, it shows how friends were lost and the tension of being in battle had over the soldiers. The directing is awesome. It's definetly the best war movie and I'm glad it was first as it's also my favourite movie.

[Guest WillsbridgeRed]

You could asy that about any number of war films, apart from the gore - It has to be the most graphic war wilm I've seen, but doesn't come close to showing the waste.

Some of the older epics are so overlooked in polls like these, films like Waterloo and Zulu aren't appreciated by younger viewers, because they havn't got surroundsound and fancy graphics.

[Rocky]

Braveheart was in the top 10 as was Zulu I think..

[Guest WillsbridgeRed]

3 Kings was number 50??????

has the world gone mad, it's one of the worse films I've ever seen!

[bucksred]

where was Das Boot, in the ratings.Thats the best one I've ever seen.

Blackhawk Down is pretty good, and its really how Yank troops work.

As for Private Ryan, a lot of D Day vets said it was very close to how it really was (Part from the Yanks being the only ones there obviously )

[Robbored]

Das Boot (the boat) was a made for TV series.It was never a film.

[Robbored]

Where did "The Sands of Iwo Jima" come?

Thats the film the US Marine Corps still show to rookie recruits.Its supposed to show 'em the spirit of the Corp.

[PhatWill]

Das Boot (the boat) was a made for TV series.It was never a film.

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Yes it was, made in 1981.

[Robbored]

Yes it was, made in 1981.

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I didn't know that! but not the version that was shown in weekly episodes on the BBC?.

[Wardie]

Where did enemy at the Gates come?

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Came in the 20's somewhere i think, that is a great film

[Robbored]

Came in the 20's somewhere i think, that is a great film

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Loosely based on the true story of Vassiji Zaitzev, a peasant farmer who found fame through being a sniper in WW11 and who actually did have an affair with Tanya Chernova, another sniper.

Zaitzev is accredited with around 176 victims but ironically he became blind in later life.

[Guest WillsbridgeRed]

Loosely based on the true story of Vassiji Zaitzev, a peasant farmer who found fame through being a sniper in WW11 and who actually did have an affair with Tanya Chernova, another sniper.

Zaitzev is accredited with around 176 victims but ironically he became blind in later life.

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I think the fact that it was based on true events made it so gripping.

The opening 1/2 hour of that film is far superior to saving Private Ryan.

Easpecially "You will have all the guns and ammunition you need"

Shocking

[The Batman]

1 - Saving Private Ryan - good but not the best

2 - Apocalypse Now - maybe should have won it

3 - The Great Escape - never seen it, but apparently it was a Brit not a Yank

4 - Schindler's List - Arguably not a war film, but still a classic

5 - Full Metal Jacket - never seen it

6 - Platoon - fantastic film

7 - A Bridge Too Far - my personal favourite

8 - Zulu - never seen it

9 - Black Hawk Down - one of the worst films i've ever seen

10 - The Bridge on the River Kwai - never seen it

the full list is on the link below

http://www.channel4.com/film/newsfeatures/...sults/10-6.html

[lukejones2]

Personally I think Schindlers list is the best of those films by a country mile. I wouldnt have thought of it as one of the best war films of all time though.

For me, rather than a war film, its a film set in war times. Very subtle difference....

[The Batman]

Personally I think Schindlers list is the best of those films by a country mile.  I wouldnt have thought of it as one of the best war films of all time though.

For me, rather than a war film, its a film set in war times. Very subtle difference....

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i agree with you, in my previous post i say summot similar but you've put it so much better.

[Robbored]

1 - Saving Private Ryan - good but not the best

2 - Apocalypse Now - maybe should have won it

3 - The Great Escape - never seen it, but apparently it was a Brit not a Yank

4 - Schindler's List - Arguably not a war film, but still a classic

5 - Full Metal Jacket - never seen it

6 - Platoon - fantastic film

7 - A Bridge Too Far - my personal favourite

8 - Zulu - never seen it

9 - Black Hawk Down - one of the worst films i've ever seen

10 - The Bridge on the River Kwai - never seen it

the full list is on the link below

http://www.channel4.com/film/newsfeatures/...sults/10-6.html

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Zulu and Bridge over the River Kwai are on terrestial TV almost every xmas! I'm suprised you haven't seen them.Especially Zulu with Michael Caine.

[bucksred]

Loosely based on the true story of Vassiji Zaitzev, a peasant farmer who found fame through being a sniper in WW11 and who actually did have an affair with Tanya Chernova, another sniper.

Zaitzev is accredited with around 176 victims but ironically he became blind in later life.

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Due to a 7.92mm round from a german sniper later during the war.......saved his sight then but Ivan medicine was unable to keep it for good.I beleive that Chernova was also killed later in the war. The German sniper in the film was based on an Army not SS sniper who was killed at Stalingrad, and not a major, as in the film, but a Sergeant Major

Das Boot was a movie, I have the extended version its been out for two or three years on DVD, and yes it was the same film, made into the series, originally for German TV, but after the worldwide success of Heimat (A German only film, turned into a series)-Das Boot was also done this way, and released everywhere.

[Spud55]

Well that was predictable, Saving Private Ryan is a good film and should be up there, but it does only show the gore of war which is horific but thats it.

For titles that show the true waste films like Cross of iron are far, far better.

Bucks red is right about Das Boot, it was a film, a very good one at that then split up into segments for TV as the film is bloody long.

But as with all of these things they are mostly crap, considering Cross of Iron which can easily rank alongside a bridge too far as one of if not the best war film of all time is stuck at 37 because lets be honest the general public know sod all about war films, and there are only a few descent ones that get put high up because some people remember them.

Also we were soldiers should be in there somewhere but i couldn't see it as it's a very good portrayal of the first engagement in the battle of Hydrang Valley, and the pratical use of the new air cavalry. Also shows that the Americans were not always nutters and at times faught superbly and had some great commanders.

[bucksred]

Well that was predictable, Saving Private Ryan is a good film and should be up there, but it does only show the gore of war which is horific but thats it.

For titles that show the true waste films like Cross of iron are far, far better.

Bucks red is right about Das Boot, it was a film, a very good one at that then split up into segments for TV as the film is bloody long.

But as with all of these things they are mostly crap, considering Cross of Iron which can easily rank alongside a bridge too far as one of if not the best war film of all time is stuck at 37 because lets be honest the general public know sod all about war films, and there are only a few descent ones that get put high up because some people remember them.

Also we were soldiers should be in there somewhere but i couldn't see it as it's a very good portrayal of the first engagement in the battle of Hydrang Valley, and the pratical use of the new air cavalry.  Also shows that the Americans were not always nutters and at times faught superbly and had some great commanders.

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spot on about We Were soldiers-excellent film, and based on real events in Viet Nam, in which that whole unit were cut up in a series of ambushes-poor leadership from the top. Cross of Iron is another good picture as is Platoon.

another pair of old but good pictures Ice Cold In Alex, and All Quiet on The Western Front (Original B & W version) Cruel Sea too.

[downendcity]

Thanks for the list. I fell asleep half an hour before the end so missed the top 10 or so.

It's not a film , but for me the best portrayal of war was the made for TV series "Band of Brothers". It was a bit of a a Saving Private Ryan spin off but showed the story of an American regiment from initial training , throug the Normandy landings to the end of the war. The best bit is at the end when the old guys who have been giving their recollections during each eposide, are revealed to be the actual charecters portrayed in the series - very touching and brilliant telly!

[Spud55]

Thanks for the list. I fell asleep half an hour before the end so missed the top 10 or so.

It's not a film , but for me the best portrayal of war was the made for TV series "Band of Brothers". It was a bit of a a Saving Private Ryan spin off but showed the story of an American regiment from initial training , throug the Normandy landings to the end of the war. The best bit is at the end when the old guys who have been giving their recollections during each eposide, are revealed to be the actual charecters portrayed in the series - very touching and brilliant telly!

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Probably have to agree there it is an incredible series.

[Guest WillsbridgeRed]

After watching the series on BBC2 I managed to persuade someone to getme the DVD's this Christmas.

I must admit I feel that they seemed to have spent most of the production budget on the first couple of episodes, because it seems to take a nose dive from that point.

Although the battle of foy is very well done.

[Jimmy]

Also we were soldiers should be in there somewhere but i couldn't see it as it's a very good portrayal of the first engagement in the battle of Hydrang Valley, and the pratical use of the new air cavalry.  Also shows that the Americans were not always nutters and at times faught superbly and had some great commanders.

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Ia Drang Valley

spot on about We Were soldiers-excellent film, and based on real events in Viet Nam, in which that whole unit were cut up in a series of ambushes-poor leadership from the top.

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I am currently about two chapters away from finishing the book - 'We were soldiers once ..... and young' - very compelling read. Where the book surpasses others i have read commenting on war is its fast pace and ability to highlight that every soldier that dies is an individual human being.

Due to its high tempo it does begin to give you some kind of impression of how individuals killed in a battle cannot be initially mourned, in a battle their is no time for sentimentality.

The Americans were caught in a hastily arranged ambush when marching from landing zone X-Ray (where the initial fighting took place) to landing zone Albany. They pretty much sprung the ambush before it could be implemented to full effect, however the confusion and death toll that ensued was devastating.

In regards to the leadership of the battalions;

that of Lt. Col. Hal Moore for the battle of LZ X-Ray is portrayed as exceptional. Leading his men with great courage, his comment that he would be the first person to set foot in the Valley and the last person to step out appears to sum the man up well.

The leadership during the fatal ambush on the way to LZ Albany (that of Lt. Col. Bob Mcdade) is open to question on one major incident, one that effectively sealed the fate of the 2nd Batallion 7th Cavalry. Two Vietnamese scouts where captured by a leading element of the batallion, what they (the Americans) did not know at the time was that another scout with the group had escaped to report the American movements to Vietnamese command. Mcdade ordered a meeting of the company commanders at the head of the column. When the attack broke out virtually none of the company commanders where with their respective outfits and thus choas and confusion ensued.

The book is extremely captivating whilst, or perhaps because of its harrowing nature. Personal accounts of soldiers hiding from the Vietnamese in the tall grass, hearing their injured comerades being executed, knowing they have no power to do a thing, are really quite immense.

Those of us who have not fought in a battle will never know what it is like, however as the Wall street journal comments 'This book makes you almost smell it' - i strongly recommend it to all.

[City Exile]

For 'fun' I like some of the oldies - Ice cold in Alex and Tora Tora Tora type stuff. One of my best is Waterloo - when those Frenchies come marching over the hill with drums playing is still one of my top ten clips.

As for 'realism' dull stuff like schindlers list, or the one with the jewish piano player set in Poland? Good stuff.

Depends how widley you define 'war' I suppose. The best war film is of course LOTR final!

[purple_monkey_dishwasher]

My favourite is The Thin Red Line. Truly stunning cinematography (as with all Terrence Malick films), coupled with a very unusual approach to telling the story. Unfortunately, it came out at the same time as Saving Private Ryan so undeservedly disappeared into obscurity.

Did it feature in the top 100?

[ballwinningcentrehalf]

Full Metal Jacket is one of my favourites