NFL
By: Greg Rector
My top ten war movies are all films that have withstood the test of time. These movies are all classics and almost all of these films I have seen numerous times. So let’s see which “War Movies” have met with my approval. Keep in mind a former Marine Corps scout sniper I have some experience with this topic. Off we go with my top ten war movies.
Number Ten
Saving Private Ryan – Directed by Steven Spielberg
I know many will have this rated much higher than I do. Tom Hanks was brilliant in this movie as he usually is anything he makes. The synopsis of this movie is so straightforward.
Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) takes his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Surrounded by the brutal realities of war, while searching for Ryan, each man embarks upon a personal journey and discovers their own strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency, and courage.
A behind the scenes photo of director Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks & Matt Damon on the set of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998). pic.twitter.com/iNOZL4NGka
— The Retro Reminiscer (@RetroReminiscer) August 3, 2023
While the sniper scene is not real, it certainly got most people’s attention. I know the actual type of shot did not happen on D-Day. It was actually a tribute to Vietnam War veteran Carlos Hathcock who was indeed able to kill an enemy sniper through his scope. In World War Two that scene was impossible.
Despite that fact the opening scenes in Saving Private Ryan are superb and so well shot that you feel like you are in combat. One final aspect of Saving Private Ryan there was the story of the Fighting Sullivans which was made into a film way back in 1944. That movie tells us about the five Sullivan brothers who all died while serving in United States Navy. One reason why brothers are not generally serving together to this very day.
Number Nine
The Great Escape – Directed by John Sturges
This film was my father’s favorite war movie and it certainly has my spot locked into the ninth spot for me. When you see Steve McQueen escape and ride that motorcycle to get away from the Germans or you see James Garner’s character look after the now blind character called “The Forger” played so brilliantly by Donald Pleasance you learn to understand why even soldiers who were prisoners of war had a story to tell.
Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist-type prisoners-of-war are all put in an “escape-proof” camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the movie is played for comedy, as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use planes, trains, and boats to get out of occupied Europe.
Aug. 8 1963 was the premiere of The Great Escape.
John Sturges' grand POW epic has it all: an all-star cast, a breakthrough performance by Steve McQueen, an iconic score by Elmer Bernstein, and plenty of nail-biting suspense. Considered among the best prisoner of war movies. pic.twitter.com/yXEOMfWbLY— Michael W. Freeman (@Freelineorlando) August 8, 2023
Hard to believe the film was made 60 years ago. It’s a solid piece of filmmaking and should be seen by everyone. The Great Escape deserves this spot in my top ten war movies list.
Number Eight
Tora Tora Tora Directed by Richard Fleischer Kinji Fukasaku Toshio Masuda and the legendary Akira Kurosawa
This film tells the story of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, 1941. Unlike Pearl Harbor and other films that deal with the attack, this movie is told more so from the Japanese side of the equation.
This dramatic retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack details everything in the days that led up to that tragic moment in American history. As United States and Japanese relations strain over the U.S. embargo of raw materials, Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda (Tatsuya Mihashi) plans a preemptive strike against the United States. Although American intelligence agencies intercept Japanese communications hinting at the attack, they are unwilling to believe such a strike could ever occur on U.S. soil.
This movie has so much excellent acting in it that you develop an affinity towards some of the Japanese actors. You also see the blunders of some of the United States military who allowed this attack to happen. The three words together mean Tiger Tiger Tiger not Kill Kill Kill as so many believe as well.
GET PEARL HARBOR OUT OF THERE. Put un the proper one, Tora! Tora! Tora!. pic.twitter.com/s8nSqcWX6i
— 「ｓｗａｚｃｈａｉｋａ」 (@Indefinity007) August 2, 2023
Indeed Tora Tora Tora delivers a far better standard than the drivel that was Pearl Harbor or even the other version of what happened on that fateful Sunday morning that saw the long kissing scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity. If you ever want to see Tora Tora Tora and it’s being shown at aa theatre you will see why this movie is on my top ten war movies list.
Number Seven
Patton Directed by Franklin J Schaffer
George C Scott was simply magnificent in portraying General George S Patton. General Patton was indeed the finest commanding General in the U.S. Army in the European command. Despite his recklessness with his own actions including slapping a soldier who was suffering “War Fatigue” as it was called then. General Patton led his men first in North Africa and then onto Sicily. After his incident with the soldier General Patton was relieved of his command and sent back to England where he was instrumental in making sure the German military were certain that the Allies would attack at the Pas De Calais instead of Normandy.
Once he does take command of his Third Army you see General Patton at his finest especially as the German military attacked the Allies in the Battle of the Bulge.
“This is a hell of a way to die!” – George Patton. See more famous last words: https://t.co/fnJxA55QEN pic.twitter.com/SKyeraJo9v
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) August 4, 2023
Patton was so well made especially the scenes of the tanks in combat.
When the war ends you also see something wholeheartedly agree with. General Patton despised the Soviet Union and what it stood for. When you see General Patton in the traffic accident that caused his death you feel very sad as the man who loved a good fight lost his life in peacetime and not in combat as he so wanted.
George C Scott ended up winning the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of General Patton. That’s why I have Patton listed in my top ten war movies.
Number Six
Platoon Directed by Oliver Stone
Yes, I understand the hate towards Oliver Stone. But Platoon beats out the hatred towards Stone for me. This is far and away the best work Charlie Sheen ever did in a film. The same goes for Tom Berenger.
Sheen portrays Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, who finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two Sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger in,
Platoon (1986) Directed by Oliver Stone pic.twitter.com/g6oy3OF5Bw— Skip_Bolden 💙 🎬 🎞️ (@BoldenSkip) August 8, 2023
Stone served in Vietnam so he had some direct knowledge of how to shoot combat scenes and he did a damn fine job of displaying how awful a time so many soldiers had in the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone writer and director of Platoon. In 1967, Stone enlisted in the Army and requested combat duty in Vietnam. He was awarded a Purple Heart with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the National Defense Service Medal, and others.
This film made my top ten war movies list simply because of how brilliantly it was filmed.
Number Five
Full Metal Jacket – Directed by Stanley Kubrick
This film means a whole lot to me as a former Marine. The story told by Kubrick has every emotion under the sun involved. from the boot camp scenes right through to the combat during the Tet Offensive, you are drawn into Matthew Modine who plays “The Joker” and the rest of the platoon.
A two-segment look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam-era Marines. The first half follows a group of recruits in boot camp under the command of the punishing Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half shows one of those recruits, Joker, covering the war as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, focusing on the Tet Offensive and what happens to these Marines is simply terrifying for many.
https://twitter.com/Itsonlyme5432/status/1687888238814298112?s=20
If you ever have been in the Marine Corps you ran into this type of Drill Instructor portrayed so beautifully by R. Lee Ermey. The first part of this movie takes all of us back to our own experiences with boot camp. I could have made this film my number one movie in my top ten of war movies but there are better movies ahead of Full MetalJacket.
Number Four
The Longest Day – Directed by 5 different men
This is the story of D-Day and it starred everyone and everyone in Hollywood including John Wayne who portrays a paratrooper commander. We all know one movie had to have “The Duke” on this list right? Here’s a fun fact that many don’t have any idea of.
In the classic movie, THE LONGEST DAY, Dubliner, Richard Todd played the role of Major John Howard, commanding the attack on Pegasus Bridge. Incredibly Todd was a Captain on that actual real life mission. His own character (Capt Todd), was played by another actor in that movie. pic.twitter.com/XJmYkGaMeJ
— RoyK (@roy_kinsella) January 1, 2022
You see these actors portray the days leading up to the D-Day assault and then what happened to them on that great June 6th date which so many of us still hold in such high regard for the sheer brilliance displayed by those men who landed on the Normandy coastline. Be they have come from Poland, Canada, the United Kingdom, or the Americans.
Day 55: The Longest Day
Genre: War dramaDo you 👍or👎this war movie with a large international ensemble cast? #FilmTwitter pic.twitter.com/TGHUeDfXHy
— Edward the Movie Buff 🎥🎞📽🎬💻 (@midgetmoxie) February 24, 2023
Until Schindler’s List was made decades later The Longest Day was the most expensive black and white movie ever made. Yes, it’s been colorized but for me, it ruins the entire effect of the original film. This film is well worth the time and deserves this spot in my top ten war movies list.
Number Three
The Bridge On The River Kwai Directed by David Lean
This film tells the story of British prisoners of war dealing with being held by a group of brutal Japanese soldiers.
First off, what is so amazing about this film is, for the time that it was made, how modern it looks. David Lean certainly had the eye of any modern director and managed to direct a visual masterpiece at a time when many films were still being shot in black and white. That’s why this film is my third favorite movie in my top ten war movies list.
William Holden gives one of his finest performances as a cynic of warfare, citing for us the insanity and absurdity that the combatants often convey. And he hates the war, but he cannot avoid being thrown back into it again and again. We wish he could stay on the beach with his nurse lover, but he is a man destined for tragic doom for his country, whether he wants to or not.
https://twitter.com/MichaelWarbur17/status/1687075277480837120?s=20
Alec Guinness also delivers a fine performance as a bold general whose own pride is, at the same time, his most noble quality as well as his greatest fault. He is uncompromising, yet when the Japanese submit to his demands, he begins overseeing the construction of the bridge with great esteem. Eventually, for him, the bridge becomes a manifestation of his belief in the superiority of the British Army, which he follows like a religion. And in putting all his pride into this bridge, he loses sight of even the British’s own true agenda. Truly, his sense of overwhelming honor is, at the same time, his downfall in a descent to a loss of morality, and a sense of good and evil.
And yes, by the end of this film, we learn a great lesson about the horrors of war. Not only does it take the lives of many good men, but the utter failure and despair that accompany it make it an unbearable existence. And this message has only recently been re-evaluated with the also-brilliant masterpiece “Saving Private Ryan.” But, keep in mind that it took forty years to regain the power that this film inspired so long ago.
Number Two
The Dirty Dozen Directed by Richard Aldrich
During World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.
Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen-1967. pic.twitter.com/cktm6nJdLh
— Huey K. Bridgeforth (@hkb73) August 1, 2023
Lee Marvin was one of my favorite actors to watch so as he plays the commanding officer of a group of misfits and stone-cold killers I absolutely loved watching this movie and have done so many many times. This film is also the movie that James Brown made when he retired from the NFL. Charles Bronson is brilliant in the movie as well as Donald Sutherland. This film easily is a favorite and why it gets my number two spot in my top ten war movies.
Number One War Movie
Lawrence Of Arabia Directed by David Lean
David Lean directed this masterpiece of cinematography and this movie tells us the story of T.E. Lawrence it’s played so well by Peter O’Toole who was starring in this grand epic film in his first ever movie role as well.
Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) pic.twitter.com/EuZOwUFx1m
— 📂 (@kdunstfilms) August 7, 2023
Every piece of this film is just so well done and the story unfolds masterfully. From his funeral service after the First World War in a tragic motorcycle accident, we get the real story told of what this British soldier did to help the Arabian people defeat the Turkish military (Ottoman Empire) and his steadfast determination to allow these people to establish their own nation.
We all realize that aspect failed and you realize the harshness when politics wins out over humanity. This film is very long at 218 minutes and yes there is a break just as fans who went to the theatres in 1962 were given. I have gone to see this last of the so-called “Epic” films many times at a theatre and if you ever get the chance to do so in your hometown I suggest you see this masterful film like that for yourself.
The Honorable Mentions
Schindlers List Das Boot All Quiet on the Western Front The Deer Hunter are all also well worth your time. I didn’t include the more modern movies such as Inglorious Bastards or The Hurt Locker simply because all of these war movies I have in my top ten war movies are movies I have seen on the big screen.
