Army Times' Top 10 military films

The Incredible Mr. Limpet. ;D

I have to put "Battle of the Bulge" right up there. Semi-star-studded cast, including Henry "GAF Talking Viewmaster" Fonda.

 

Yes, the sun was setting over the ocean, which is east of Vietnam. It wasn't the only sucky part of that movie--the whole thing was pretty much Duke's love letter to McNamara.

The Longest Day MUST be on that list. I thought We Were Soldiers was also good.

 

1. The Longest Day
2. Tora! Tora! Tora!
3. Gettysburg
4. Full Metal Jacket
5. Hunt for Red October
6. Run Silent, Run Deep
7. Das Boot
8. Gardens of Stone
9. Casualties of War
10. Top Gun

I'm partial to Navy films, obviously, but I also like the war/military films that look beyond the actual fighting.

 

Alley, The Longest Day was incredible just for the way it was made. It was the Private Ryan or Band of Brothers of it's day.

The war scenes were coordinated incredibly. Film like Sands of Iwo Jima, the war scenes seemed so fake, but Longest Day seemed very realisitc.

 

Talk about coordination. The scene where Cmdr. Kieffer's French commandos stormed the waterfront, with the aerial shot following the troop movement in a wide shot, was breathtaking.

As an aside...when I was on the USS George Washington leading up to the 50th anniversary of D-Day, we showed that movie on a loop on the ship's CCTV system. I must've seen that film at least 40 or 50 times that year. But it was freaking great.

 

without repeating some great films mentioned on this thread

Fort Apache (John Wayne and Henry Fonda)
Where Eagles Dare (Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton)
They Were Expendable
In Harm's Way
Rio Grande

The Best Years of Our Lives

 

I was also going to mention Gettysburg, but AA beat me to it.

And "Cold Mountain" is a pretty accurate portrayal of the Civil War too, I'd bet.

 

Good memory on Casualties of War. Everybody's forgotten about that flick, but it was very well-done. But, of course, there's no freaking way Army Times was gonna consider a movie about U.S. GIs kidnapping and raping an innocent woman.

 

I was surprised they overlooked Gardens of Stone, too. Rather poignant look at Arlington.

 

Can't believe they put Top Gun on there, that's pathetic. And left off The Guns of Navarone, which is only one of the best movies ever.

 

Oops, I forgot to add my disdain for their omission of Bridge on the River Kwai.

And I just have to emphasize: Top Gun??? Doesn't even belong in top 30.

 

Any war movie with William Holden is golden.