war movies anyone?

[virdi]

Does anyone else here like war movies? I just happen to be attracted to them not so much for the gore and violence but for the story within a huge event. Don't get me wrong, I'm anti-war, but there's something there that just gets me interested, maybe it's because I'm so interested in history.

[blinkfan]

Love the war films: Full Metal Jacket,Deer Hunter,Platoon,When Trumpets Fade are all personal favorites.

[virdi]

Sweet first reply. OK I don't really have a favorite but one that I really love is Glory. I loved it since I first saw it in my eighth grade history class.

[blinkfan]

Yes, My dad is quite fond of it. Denzel Washington's performance was excellent.

[sirgallahad2]

I'm quite a fan of war fims myself. I remember Sue doing an article a while back about "Blackhawk Down". The article was about how these movies are about real men and women and how the movies kind of glorify their death. On one hand, yeah War movies do glorify death. The movies show the blood, the sacrifice, the courage, the cowardice, the fear, and the violence. On another hand, these movies tell a story (or at least try to) about history and what these men and women did. Hardly anybody reads books anymore so nobody gets to hear these stories. To quote Alan Rickman from the movie "Dogma" "If they didn't make a movie about it then it's not worth knowing is it?" For example, Until the movie "Blackhawk Down" came out, hardly anybody knew that two men were awarded the posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor during the battle in Somalia. Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randy Shugart were the two Delta Force Operators who secured Blackhawk Pilot Mike Durant's downed aircraft. Gordon and Shugart probably didn't even know Mike Durant from Adam, but they were willing to put their lives on the line to protect him. (The book "In the company of Heroes" was written by Mike Durant and is worth picking up). People need to know what happens and know that these men didn't die in vain. If it takes a movie and big name actors and neato special effects and set-pieces to tell their story then so be it.

[Storm_Rider]

I consider by far the best war movie, the "Band of Brothers" mini-series.

[drew]

Apocalypse Now (not "Redux"), Full Metal Jacket

And of course, "Aliens". I swear to God, it's a Nam movie. Listen to the commentary.

[Al]

"Aliens" doesn't have a commentary, you're thinking of the James Cameron interview in the special features. But, yes, very much a Vietnam-style film.

Big war movie fan, here. Like I mentioned on my bio, the Great Escape is a perennial favorite of mine-- you can't get that many names in the same movie together and not come away with a winner. I also love Black Hawk Down, insofar as you can love a movie like that, and I find We Were Soldiers a vastly underrated movie (it gained even more respect from me when I read the memoir it was based on and saw just accurate the whole thing was). The Guns of the Navarrone, From Here to Eternity, Platoon, Patton, and Bridge over the River Kwai are undeniable classics. To Hell and Back is a phenomenal autobiography of Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated soldier in US history, went on to be an actor, and actually plays himself in the movie!

Moving outside of the US: Ran is Akira Kurosawa's update of King Lear, and is a great war film to boot (inspiring Speilburg's Normandy beach scene in Saving Private Ryan). Gallipoli, about the doomed charge of the Australian army in WWI, is leisurely paced and slow to gather steam but will punch you in the gut by the end. The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven is maddeningly good- maddening because of how severely the Fox suits trimmed it, and because it could have been remembered as, not only one of the best films of 2005, but one of the best films of Ridley Scott's career.

Hmm, that's all I can think of off the top of my head, but, yeah, I do indeed enjoy me some war films.

[sarahbot]

I was really mad about Kingdowm of Heaven. I had no idea it was possible to make a boring movie about the Crusades. Is the director's cut less-borifying? (yeah, i just made that up now)

[Al]

It is, in my opinion, one of the best films he has ever made. I was horribly disappointed in the theatrical version, but knocked off my feet by the director's cut. Nellhows' original post about it here got me curious, but the review at IGN is what ultimately convinced me to give it a shot. If, like me, you really wanted to like Kingdom of Heaven and were severely let down at the finished product, then you have no choice but to check this out.

[pfrsue]

Hmmm... I guess I'll have to rent the KoH director's cut then. I'm intrigued.

[Ms. Jellybean]

Not related to Kingdom of Heaven but related to war movies...

My favorite war movie will always be "Patton." I thought that it would be boring but decided to make myself sit through it at least once and I was very pleasantly surprised. I think I enjoyed it as a character study more than a war movie, though. Patton was interesting anyway, and the movie highlighted the things that made him a unique general.

[drew]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

A war-themed movie, not a "war movie", per se. But it's my favorite comedy of all time.

[RobOfTheDead]

One of my favorite war films is The Thin Red Line. I like its more character driven and philosophical approach than the plot driven Saving Private Ryan. It transcends being a war film and becomes a poignant commentary on humanity. Saving Private Ryan was great but became typical Spielberg melodrama after the opening battle sequence. The Thin Red Line on a whole 'nother level. It's up there with Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, and Tora Tora Tora just to name a few.

[Ellielator]

I don't like war movies at all.