About once a year or so, I punch play once again on Band of Brothers. I don't think I'll ever stop watching it. To me, it's the greatest depiction of war and soldiers ever made. But there's a whole bunch of good ones out there. What's on your list?
Best War Movies/Series
- Thread starter Chad Adams
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Band of Brothers is the top of the list!!! There are so many other really good ones. Two I am curious about what @Terry Houin thinks are Act of Valor and Warfare? Both are good and wondered how accurate they are?
I'm a huge fan of Band of Brothers too, but I also like Saving Private Ryan.. it yanks my heart strings, especially the scenes of the family at the cemetery.. "Pacific" ranks up there for me to.
Going old school, I always loved "Schindler's List" and I've actually traveled to his gravesite and placed a stone on it as is the tradition.
Hackaw Ridge is a good movie. Not the best acting but the story is powerful.
All quiet on the Western Front (the new one) is strong
I watched Saving Private Ryan in the theater the night before I shipped off to bootcamp. Ha. An equally awesome/horrible decision.
Crazy_Farmer
Member
Same. I bought the metal tin dvd set when it came out. And I don't think I've missed a year since that I haven't watched it.
Start to finish, perfection.
I really like Hacksaw, probably because it is Pac theater, where the Marine Corps operated. There aren't as many good Pacific theatre movies as invasion of Europe, imo. The newer Midway movie ended up much better than I thought it would be, as well.
I agree about the pacific theater movies. Not sure why they always try to be artsie. I did like letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers
I really liked Pacific as well, but it just didn't deliver the Marine Corps story quite as well as Band of Brothers showed the Army in Europe. And I think that comes from BoB having such a superior source material - the Ambrose book - to start with. Where Pacific tried to piece it together from multiple sources, so it felt a bit disjointed. Where Band of Brothers is incredible for staying with that one unit all the way through, etc. And there are so many incredible Marine Corps stories from the Pacific Theatre to tell.
Two really good ones. And I was surprised when I personally liked Letters from Iwo better than Flags of our Fathers.
Agreed!
Steven Donovan
Well-known member
Not in any particular ranking order -
1. Band of Brothers is definitely a classic. I could be biased, as I was in 2-506 Infantry, 101st Airborne for a few years. That being said, I think it arguably idealizes the "roles" of the NCO/officer a bit too much, and puts officers in very either/or categories - which I think is unrealistic, especially for Lieutenants/Captains. But this is also very much in line with how Stephen E. Ambrose (the author of BoB) thought... he could take a single "viewpoint" a bit too literally (Once an Eagle - though not his work - has a similar either/or problem). An example being the portrayal of Norman Dike. In the series, he is portrayed as "breaking down" during the attack on Foy. In reality, he "broke down" because he was shot in the assault, and not necessarily because he "mentally froze." (He also received 2 bronze stars for heroism in WWII and would fight again in the Korean War). Winters and some of the soldiers had a bit of a chip on the shoulder towards him... and I don't think Ambrose was able to filter out the military unit "tribalism" that can sometimes occur. Compton was shot and legitimately lost his edge - but was still portrayed extremely favorably. Dike was shot and would return to other units in the 101st... but was not given as fair a portrayal. Ambrose made other mistakes. Albert Blithe is portrayed as a shell-shocked private that was eventually killed. The reality is very different. He actually survived the war and would fight in Korea with the 187th Airborne, being awarded a Bronze and Silver Star in that conflict. I love 90% of the series... but, tragically, Stephen Ambrose's mistakes are hard to ignore once they are learned.
2. The Pacific. Flat out, I think the Pacific is actually a much more "historically natural" series than BoB. I think it does a much better job at balancing the reality of the dynamics within "a unit," and being sourced from several direct writings by the specific Marines portrayed makes it a much more genuine work IMHO. @Chad Adams I definitely don't disagree with you on BoB appearing smoother from a storytelling perspective... but, like mentioned, I think the BoB smoothness is a result of the Ambrose "filter" more than it is the actual history. I do agree that the plot of the Pacific is more complex - but I think it also makes it a lot more realistic and grounded.
3. A Bridge Too Far. The more time goes on the more I appreciate it. It seems goofy/fun at first, but I think there is a lot more practical reality and wisdom in that movie than people may realize. Also, many of the soldiers and commanders that actually fought in the battle served as historical advisors.
4. The Battle of Britain (1969).
5. Das Boot. Absolute classic, especially considering how few German point-of-view WWII movies there are (that are actually good).
6. Empire of the Sun. An early Spielberg film that so many people have forgotten. Really powerful and hits like a truck. (If you are a parent, I recommend watching it alone before you watch it with a son).
7. Saving Private Ryan. Still as emotionally/psychologically important as it ever was.
8. All Quiet on the Western Front - any version (a huge influence on Spielberg for SPR).
9. Gettysburg. An American classic.
10. Patton. It can be "pop culture" ish... but the film's portrayal of Patton is considered to be very genuinely realistic (unlike the film's portrayal of Omar Bradley)
11. Zulu (1964). Absolute must watch.
12. We Were Soldiers. This may be weird to say - but this film is a lot "better" than people may realize. Vietnam has a huge amount of "pop culture" films... and WWS actually does a good job trying to be historically accurate.
13. Black hawk Down. This film is an interesting one. Yes, there are some adjustments from the real story... but I think there is something very powerful about this film. For me, this movie has "felt" different depending on what phase of life I was in. Before I joined the military, I watched it all the time. After being in Afghanistan, it definitely "hit" differently.
14. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. An absolute classic. While its fiction, it is easily one of the best - and probably most authentic - naval war films ever made. Probably one of Russell Crowe's best films.
15. The Bridge on the River Kwai. Classic.
16. Lawrence of Arabia. A true military epic.
17. Letters from Iwo Jima - the specific version with the natural language Japanese and English, with English subtitles for the Japanese. The version with English voiceover for the Japanese characters is a lot worse.
There are so many good ones... but these are probably the ones I have found the most impactful.
1. Band of Brothers is definitely a classic. I could be biased, as I was in 2-506 Infantry, 101st Airborne for a few years. That being said, I think it arguably idealizes the "roles" of the NCO/officer a bit too much, and puts officers in very either/or categories - which I think is unrealistic, especially for Lieutenants/Captains. But this is also very much in line with how Stephen E. Ambrose (the author of BoB) thought... he could take a single "viewpoint" a bit too literally (Once an Eagle - though not his work - has a similar either/or problem). An example being the portrayal of Norman Dike. In the series, he is portrayed as "breaking down" during the attack on Foy. In reality, he "broke down" because he was shot in the assault, and not necessarily because he "mentally froze." (He also received 2 bronze stars for heroism in WWII and would fight again in the Korean War). Winters and some of the soldiers had a bit of a chip on the shoulder towards him... and I don't think Ambrose was able to filter out the military unit "tribalism" that can sometimes occur. Compton was shot and legitimately lost his edge - but was still portrayed extremely favorably. Dike was shot and would return to other units in the 101st... but was not given as fair a portrayal. Ambrose made other mistakes. Albert Blithe is portrayed as a shell-shocked private that was eventually killed. The reality is very different. He actually survived the war and would fight in Korea with the 187th Airborne, being awarded a Bronze and Silver Star in that conflict. I love 90% of the series... but, tragically, Stephen Ambrose's mistakes are hard to ignore once they are learned.
2. The Pacific. Flat out, I think the Pacific is actually a much more "historically natural" series than BoB. I think it does a much better job at balancing the reality of the dynamics within "a unit," and being sourced from several direct writings by the specific Marines portrayed makes it a much more genuine work IMHO. @Chad Adams I definitely don't disagree with you on BoB appearing smoother from a storytelling perspective... but, like mentioned, I think the BoB smoothness is a result of the Ambrose "filter" more than it is the actual history. I do agree that the plot of the Pacific is more complex - but I think it also makes it a lot more realistic and grounded.
3. A Bridge Too Far. The more time goes on the more I appreciate it. It seems goofy/fun at first, but I think there is a lot more practical reality and wisdom in that movie than people may realize. Also, many of the soldiers and commanders that actually fought in the battle served as historical advisors.
4. The Battle of Britain (1969).
5. Das Boot. Absolute classic, especially considering how few German point-of-view WWII movies there are (that are actually good).
6. Empire of the Sun. An early Spielberg film that so many people have forgotten. Really powerful and hits like a truck. (If you are a parent, I recommend watching it alone before you watch it with a son).
7. Saving Private Ryan. Still as emotionally/psychologically important as it ever was.
8. All Quiet on the Western Front - any version (a huge influence on Spielberg for SPR).
9. Gettysburg. An American classic.
10. Patton. It can be "pop culture" ish... but the film's portrayal of Patton is considered to be very genuinely realistic (unlike the film's portrayal of Omar Bradley)
11. Zulu (1964). Absolute must watch.
12. We Were Soldiers. This may be weird to say - but this film is a lot "better" than people may realize. Vietnam has a huge amount of "pop culture" films... and WWS actually does a good job trying to be historically accurate.
13. Black hawk Down. This film is an interesting one. Yes, there are some adjustments from the real story... but I think there is something very powerful about this film. For me, this movie has "felt" different depending on what phase of life I was in. Before I joined the military, I watched it all the time. After being in Afghanistan, it definitely "hit" differently.
14. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. An absolute classic. While its fiction, it is easily one of the best - and probably most authentic - naval war films ever made. Probably one of Russell Crowe's best films.
15. The Bridge on the River Kwai. Classic.
16. Lawrence of Arabia. A true military epic.
17. Letters from Iwo Jima - the specific version with the natural language Japanese and English, with English subtitles for the Japanese. The version with English voiceover for the Japanese characters is a lot worse.
There are so many good ones... but these are probably the ones I have found the most impactful.
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Great list, great take as well. We Were Soldiers is one of the best all-time to me. Incredible story.
Steven Donovan
Well-known member
The newer Midway movie is actually very historically accurate... it's an interesting film. I would honestly call it a "documentary" that was converted into a "movie."
safetekk
Well-known member
Not exactly a movie but the Pacific War in Color docuseries is one of my favorites. During my naval career I did short deployments to most of those islands, and at the time didn't recognize the significance of the sites involved in the island hopping campaign. Was always on missions or alert with no time to explore. That series filled in a lot of blanks.
Hell yeah! When's movie
night at the Hammer Household?!
Hell yeah! When's movie
LOL. I could sit down and watch all of those movies in a row.
My wife would absolutely hate it.
