Top five war movies - Page 5 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Jeff Lebowski · 08-30-2006, 03:12 AM

Stop cheating folks. You can only list FIVE movies. Must be ranked by number.

Archaea · 08-30-2006, 03:19 AM

I'm not certain how to rank them but I like many of the movies named.

Saving Private Ryan is one of my top five movies period.

Apocalypse Now, though a great movie, is NOT a war movie. It's Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in a war setting. I love this movie and wrote my senior paper about its relationship to Heart of Darkness. It should be disqualified as a war movie.

Tora Tora Tora is a classic WWII movie and should be considered in top five.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a must.

We Were Soldiers is now discredited Mel Gibson's best work and moving for me.

In a way Ben Hur was a war movie as was Gladiator, but both don't count.

Contemporary, "Black Hawk Down" was an eye-opener, a movie I enjoyed. So those are my five, even though I have many others. But I do not wish to cheat.

Sleeping in EQ · 08-30-2006, 01:51 PM

1. Dr. Strangelove
2. Apocalypse Now
3. Fail Safe
4. The Great Escape
5. Stalag 17

My favorites shift a bit with my mood, but I always find those five excellent.

UteStar · 08-30-2006, 02:20 PM

The Patriot is another one of those movies that could have been terrific but I hated the storyline. Mel Gibson was not really a patriot in that movie at all, he was fighting to save his son, not his country. If they would have taken that out of the storyline and have Gibson decide to fight because he loved his country, that would have been a much better story.

I totally forgot about Dr. Strangelove which was a genius movie, no question.

UtahDan · 08-30-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UteStar

The Patriot is another one of those movies that could have been terrific but I hated the storyline. Mel Gibson was not really a patriot in that movie at all, he was fighting to save his son, not his country. If they would have taken that out of the storyline and have Gibson decide to fight because he loved his country, that would have been a much better story.

I totally forgot about Dr. Strangelove which was a genius movie, no question.

Hmm...you sort of got the point and missed it all at the same time on Patriot. I thought that the message was ultimately that family, home (literally where you dwell) and revenge are all motivations that can't easily be put in or taken out of the category of "Patriotism." It was subtle, but I thought at least part of the point of titling the movie that way was to allow you to think about what a Patriot is and realize it is a complex answer.

I liked the movie too, but it was not Gibsons best works, which to me are Brave Heart and We Were Soldiers (best Vietnam war movie IMO). The thing I like about Gibson is that he is not afraid to introduce "patriotic" themes that most of Hollywood would think were jingoistic or hokey. For example, one of the most touching scenes in We Were Soliders is early on when one young man lays dying and with his last breath says that he is proud to have given his life in the service of his country.

Most of Hollywood would think that obsurd, and of course we can debate about the utility of giving a life for any given cause, yet there are many great people in our armed forces who felt and feel that way and see nothing hokey about it. Props to Gibson for being willing to depict those sorts of things.

il Padrino Ute · 08-30-2006, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Stop cheating folks. You can only list FIVE movies. Must be ranked by number.

Sorry.

1. Patton
2. The Enemy Below
3. Tora! Tora! Tora!
4. Stalag 17
5. The Caine Mutiny

Is that better?

Jeff Lebowski · 08-30-2006, 03:33 AM

Casablanca is a great movie, but I never considered it a war movie. It's a love story, isn't it? Should we call "Gone with the Wind" a war movie?

bigpiney · 08-30-2006, 04:12 AM

1. The Dirty Dozen - I just love this movie
2. The Great Escape
3. Goodbye Mr Chips - Not really a war movie, but great none the less.

After that I just don't know, dang I haven't seen many war movies

MikeWaters · 08-30-2006, 04:15 AM

The Seven Samurai.

Sort of war-ish.

Parrot Head · 08-30-2006, 04:22 AM

How about this for a war movie... Braveheart?

08-30-2006, 03:12 AM	#1
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Stop cheating folks. You can only list FIVE movies. Must be ranked by number. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

08-30-2006, 03:19 AM	#2
Archaea Assistant to the Regional Manager Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Orgasmatron Posts: 24,338	I'm not certain how to rank them but I like many of the movies named. Saving Private Ryan is one of my top five movies period. Apocalypse Now, though a great movie, is NOT a war movie. It's Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" in a war setting. I love this movie and wrote my senior paper about its relationship to Heart of Darkness. It should be disqualified as a war movie. Tora Tora Tora is a classic WWII movie and should be considered in top five. All Quiet on the Western Front is a must. We Were Soldiers is now discredited Mel Gibson's best work and moving for me. In a way Ben Hur was a war movie as was Gladiator, but both don't count. Contemporary, "Black Hawk Down" was an eye-opener, a movie I enjoyed. So those are my five, even though I have many others. But I do not wish to cheat. __________________ Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

08-30-2006, 01:51 PM	#3
Sleeping in EQ Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The People's Republic of Monsanto Posts: 3,085	1. Dr. Strangelove 2. Apocalypse Now 3. Fail Safe 4. The Great Escape 5. Stalag 17 My favorites shift a bit with my mood, but I always find those five excellent. __________________ "Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; " 1 Thess. 5:21 (NRSV) We all trust our own unorthodoxies.

08-30-2006, 03:33 AM	#7
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Casablanca is a great movie, but I never considered it a war movie. It's a love story, isn't it? Should we call "Gone with the Wind" a war movie? __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

08-30-2006, 04:22 AM	#10
Parrot Head Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 763	How about this for a war movie... Braveheart? __________________ Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. - Bronco, when asked how to describe PH

08-30-2006, 02:20 PM	#4
UteStar Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,817	The Patriot is another one of those movies that could have been terrific but I hated the storyline. Mel Gibson was not really a patriot in that movie at all, he was fighting to save his son, not his country. If they would have taken that out of the storyline and have Gibson decide to fight because he loved his country, that would have been a much better story. I totally forgot about Dr. Strangelove which was a genius movie, no question.

08-30-2006, 04:12 AM	#8
bigpiney Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Big Pine , CA Posts: 842	1. The Dirty Dozen - I just love this movie 2. The Great Escape 3. Goodbye Mr Chips - Not really a war movie, but great none the less. After that I just don't know, dang I haven't seen many war movies

08-30-2006, 04:15 AM	#9
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,367	The Seven Samurai. Sort of war-ish.