Lee03 0 #51 February 7, 2004 I can't vote for the greatest all time, so I will just have to list the ones that I think are the best. On you left off of the list, "The Sands of Iwo Jima" "Saving Private Ryan" "We were soliders Once" "In Harm's Way" "Tora Tora Tora" "Patton" "Midway" "Twelve O' Clock High" "The Great Escape" I loved "Full Metal Jacket" but as stated above, it was a great Boot Camp movie, not a great war movie.-------- To put your life in danger from time to time ... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities. --Nevil Shute, Slide Rule Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #52 February 7, 2004 Jeez. I can't believe that I am the only one who voted for "Bridge on the River Quai." Truly exceptional flick. BTW, We Were Soldiers SUCKED! Read the book. IT was the best war book I ever read... My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shark 0 #53 February 7, 2004 QuoteFor instance, I was particularly amused that all DC-3s in "Pearl Harbor" had the same tail numbers and floater bars. ....and you thought that 10 way speed was a relatively new thing. See, I told you it started in Hawaii in the 40's. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #54 February 7, 2004 Shark . . . 10-way doesn't need floater bars. quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shark 0 #55 February 7, 2004 QuoteShark . . . 10-way doesn't need floater bars. Oh, yeah.... only at Elsinore! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dustin19d 0 #56 February 7, 2004 Has anyone mentioned "To Hell and Back" yet? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #57 February 7, 2004 So many good choices. You made a difficult poll. I voted Saving Private Ryan. The Band of Brothers mini-series was excellent too.So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winsor 236 #58 February 7, 2004 QuoteFor those people who voted for "Full Metal Jacket" (which by the way is one of my favorite movies) it is not a great war movie IMO. It is a great boot camp movie IMO, but not a great war movie. That part of the movie was crap from what I understand. Disclaimer: I am no where near old enough to know what vietnam was like, so bear that in mind. I do know a few Vietnam Vets that were on the front lines and that is where I get my opinion from. They think that that movie was shit as far as depicting what Vietnam was like. Again, just my $.02. The screenplay was written by Michael Herr, who was a journalist in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. His book "Dispatches" gives some insight as to his perspective on the conflict. The Door Gunner scene was right out of one of his running interviews: "If they run, they're VC - if they stand still, they're well-disciplined VC." "You ever shoot women and children?" "Sure." "How could you do that?" "Easy, you just don't lead them as much." The setting in Hue during the Tet offensive makes the story one greatly at variance with most soldiers' and Marines' experience in Vietnam. Most of the guys I know said they spent 12 or 13 months - or however long it was before they got medevaced out - without ever seeing someone (alive) to whom they could point and say "that guy is the enemy." During Tet, however, General Giap decided to bet the ranch on one big attack over the length of South Vietnam. In doing so he suffered a military defeat, but made the outcome of a victory for the North a foregone conclusion. The movie captures the duality of the 19 year old American kids tasked to effect our foreign policy, an unlikely combination of professionalism and adolescence. The troops singing the Mickey Mouse song were mostly a flashback to a Marine named Mayhew, who was given to singing jingles (I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener...) while under attack at Khe Sanh, and later was killed by a sniper after extending in country. The Matthew Modine character gave an accurate account of the role of the PIO, in which I did a stint with the Airborne (mostly I was a grunt). I don't think it's accounting of the "Vietnam Experience" was either universal or meant to be so. I do think that it was an accurate representation of what Michael Herr and I saw of the military and Vietnam. Blue skies, Winsor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
samhussey 0 #59 February 7, 2004 For me it has to be Enemy at the Gates. It paints a horrific picture of the battle that turned WW2 around. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CDRINF 1 #60 February 7, 2004 I've seen several others mention liking "Courage Under Fire." Am I the only one who noticed the major blooper that Meg Ryan is awarded the Medal of Honor for technically commiting a war crime? i.e. she uses an aircraft cleary marked with a Red Cross as a field expedient gunship for something a bit more than self defense. Just wondering. CDR Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winsor 236 #61 February 7, 2004 Quote"Heartbreak Ridge " Yes I enjoy that movie. Kennedy Said "I wish that someone would make a great movie about Carlos Hathcock" "Sniper" included a scenes based on a number of Gunny Hathcock's exploits, but was an embarrassment in general. Hollywood could fuck up a wet dream. Blue skies, Winsor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
winsor 236 #62 February 7, 2004 QuoteSomeone once advised me to -not- watch "Saving Private Ryan". They believed I wouldn't be able to handle it. What is your take on that? Are there people who would actually -not- benefit from seeing it? I have mixed feelings about the film. Though I thought some of the film was very well done, I was left asking "what was the point to all that?" To my way of thinking it conveyed the spontaneous and capricious quality of the violence of combat, and some of the goriest footage was entirely consitent with survivors' accounts of the morning on Omaha. Nobody contests the idea that it was a total clusterfuck. My father, who crewed a couple of LCIs in the Pacific during a string of amphibious assaults termed it "a sensationalistic piece of shit." One of his contentions is that all the camera angles had nothing to do with the viewpoint of anyone that was actually there, and were for shock/entertainment value only. I suppose if it gets across the idea the warfare is absolutely ghastly in any form, and should be considered only as a last resort, its approach can be defended. Spielburg is given to rather shallow, one-sided presentations of very complex subjects - which may account for his success. Blue skies, Winsor Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmcguffee 0 #63 February 7, 2004 QuoteAm I the only one who noticed the major blooper that Meg Ryan is awarded the Medal of Honor for technically commiting a war crime? There were a lot of other tactical issues with the movie that took away some realism and enjoyment for me. Everytime the movie flashed back to the LTC's battle in Iraq the tanks were about 2-3 meters apart during combat (way too close). Little things like that annoy me to the point that I can't enjoy the movie. "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crutch 0 #64 February 7, 2004 My favorite is not on there, although it may not be a "war" movie...The Great Santini with Robert Duvall.blue skies, art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kmcguffee 0 #65 February 7, 2004 QuoteBTW, We Were Soldiers SUCKED! Read the book. IT was the best war book I ever read... That's the first time I've ever heard that. I've read the book three times, loved it, and still loved the movie. It was a little different and left out the LZ Albany ambush and massacre but I still thought it was realistic both on the home front and on the battlefield. Why did you think it sucked? "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #66 February 7, 2004 Boy tuna, I have had to say other in both your movie posts. You suck. Sands of Iwo Jima Flying Leathernecks Diry Dozen and Saving Private Ryan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #67 February 7, 2004 Wrong way, I saw that movie too. If they cut out about one hour of junk the movie would have been a lot better. I liked the premise of it but it just moves so damn slow you feel like you are stuck in a time lock. Saw the dude in the cap too. So much for skilled continuity experts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andybr6 0 #68 February 7, 2004 How about M*A*S*H I always thought that was a good war movie as it shows war in a different way, bit more original than just running around shooting at stuff. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #69 February 7, 2004 QuoteQuote"Heartbreak Ridge " Yes I enjoy that movie. Kennedy Said "I wish that someone would make a great movie about Carlos Hathcock" "Sniper" included a scenes based on a number of Gunny Hathcock's exploits, but was an embarrassment in general. Hollywood could fuck up a wet dream. Blue skies, Winsor Ever read the book Marine Sniper? Great book on Gunny Hathcock. Some great photos in it too. Sniper flat out sucked. Except for Tom Berrenger. One fo the few movies I liked him in. Heartbreak Ridge is one of my favorite movies of all time but it is not really a war movie. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #70 February 7, 2004 QuoteHow about M*A*S*H I always thought that was a good war movie as it shows war in a different way, bit more original than just running around shooting at stuff. I forgot about that movie. Donald Sutherland was hysterical in that. Great war movie. The series was even better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,027 #71 February 7, 2004 QuoteI'm sure I've left some great ones off, but these are all I could think of. Like The Dam Busters The Man who Never Was The Battle of Britain and about 1000 others... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #72 February 7, 2004 It was nice as a movie that focused a lot on the homefront. But, I had issues with "We Were Soldiers" the movie. First, I don't think that the point of the book can be made in anything under a miniseries. There was simply too much going on. Sure, there are important scenes and good things, but the book was nothing short of a play by play with color commentary - only you truly got to KNOW the players. Every time Hollywood gets ahold of a script, it has to do something stupid. LTC Moore never led a charge up the massif. But the movie had to do that. Why? Why did they focus on LT Herrick and his "I'm glad I died for my country?" Feel-good moment? Why not spend 5 minutes developing his character as it was - a highly driven fuck-up who inadvertenly changed the course of battle in favor of the Americans. Then, let the viewer decide their own interpretation. That's why I thought the movie sucked. I guess I just expected too much from it... My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
penniless 0 #73 February 7, 2004 I liked Air America and The Fighting Seabees Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #74 February 7, 2004 Das Boot is very, very good. "Stalingrad" is very good. You left off "Cross of Iron", probably the very best anti-war war film ever, IMHO. mh"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #75 February 7, 2004 "Marine Sniper" is one, there have been others. Yes, that would be tough to do, because the most hair-raising stuff he did (like whacking the NVA General) he did alone. I met him in 1989, BTW. mh"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
