Personally, my favorite is Patton. SPR and Platoon are close behind. But i think George C. Scott's portrayal of Patton is unforgettable. What is your favorite?

Saving Private Ryan does a better job than any war flick ever has in the "you-are-there" sense of putting you into the action and I've never heard such stunned silence from an audience as the crowd was when we walked out of the theatre. It's a masterpiece.

I really like the first half-hour or so of Full Metal Jacket, but the last hour is pretty standard fare. Platoon is great, but it doesn't draw me in like SPR.
Patton has a tour-de-force performance by George C. Scott, but take that away and it's nothing exceptional.

I'm down with Apocalypse Now. I saw it four times in the theatre and it was a head rush. Despite the muddling performance of a bloated Marlon Brando, it captures the insanity and hypocrisy of war far better than any other film I've ever seen.

Really difficult question since the various films all have a different angle on the subject. Saving Private Ryan is certainly the hardest film to watch, but my personal favourite would have to be Blackhawk Down.
The reason being that BhD has absolutely no plot or story. Its simply a series of interconnected events which make little sense. The film starts with a feeling of power and authority and this is gradually stripped away until the whole film takes on an air of claustrophobia together with a feeling of

I also like the cinematography and art direction. Ridley Scott is a great artist who is a master of his medium.

I am so glad that The Longest Day was put up as a choice. The star filled cast with the likes of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and the great perspective the movie gives make this film one to remember. This movie shows the D-Day invasion and the days following from four different perspectives, the Americans, the Germans, the British, and the Free French. And with the Americans it shows the efforts of both, the 82nd Airborne and the troops who fought on the beach.

Great movie, period.

No doubt Saving Private Ryan was a great Movie, but ANYTIME Patton is on I will take the time to watch it.

I can't believe that you left "Gettysburg" off of the list!

I did put an "other" category. I only put movies off the top of my head and you can only put 10 items for the poll...but yet gettysburg is definately worthy.

R.Lee Ermey should have won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a Marine Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. I'm glad the question was "favorite" and not "best".

Great list to which I would add "A Bridge Too Far"

The Patriot (Mel Gibson) was good....Not enough high quality modern movies depicting our Revolutionary War in an historically accurate (the patriot took a few liberties) as well as entertaining way.

Two of my favorites that you didn't even mention are:

Go Tell the Spartans, stars Burt Lancaster and is focused on the struggle at a MACV outpost in Vietnam in '64. Made in the same year as The Deer Hunter, I think it is a much more realistic and gritty film. See it.

The Lost Battalion, a much more recent A&E movie, is an outstanding rendition of the true WWI story of the 1st Battalion/38th Infantry of the 77th "Liberty" Division. For those who don't know the story, on 2 October 1918, this unit advanced into the Argonne in France. Over the next 6 days they refused to surrender even though they were completely surrounded, under continuous attack, low on ammunition and supplies, with no food, shelter and limited access to water. Of nearly 600 men first trapped, less than 200 walked out. They received 3 Congressional Medals of Honor, and a number of Distinguished Service Crosses, along with many lesser awards. The unit commander, Major Whittlesey, was declared one of the three most important members of the AEF by General Pershing. Two army pilots received CMO's for their involvement in the event; the first attempted air resupply drop in military history. A very graphic depiction of the brutal WWI battlefield, this movie is a tribute to those soldiers.

Blackhawk down was more of a documentary to me than a "movie"- I know a guy that still has a bullet in his neck from Mogudishu, but I saw my grandpaw sweat and blink during SPR- he was at normandy himself- and I have never seen him react to ANYTHING like that- he was made of stern stuff, so I know it must be as powerful to him as to me- so it wins

Well I am a movie fanatic. In fact not to long ago I sat down over the course of several days and made a top 500 movie list..I ranked them....yes im a loser.

Platoon is my favorite War movie and is ranked 28 on my all-time list. Crimson Tide would be number 2 or 41 overall and my number 3 would be Glory which is 42 overall.

Other American war movies that cracked my top 100...as I know your all dying to know.

The Thin Red Line 57 overall
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (I think technically its war) 71 overall
Saving Private Ryan 75 overall
Born on the 4rth of July 82 overall
Three Kings 97 overall

Glory is the movie that I am shocked is not on your list.

Speakin of movies that didn't make this list, and I know it's not on the level of SPR or The Longest Day, but what about Casualties of War?

And CR, it's interesting that you've brought up that story of you grandfather. On a similiar note, we took my grandmother (the one who was born and raised in Germany during WW2) to an airshow. She didn't wanna see some of the old bombers cause they brought up memories of Allied sorties, saying "I don't wanna see those planes, they bombed the <crap> out of Germany." Reality bites... what can I say...

The war genre movie that rates highest with me is Black Hawk Down.

Not only was it an incredibly accurate book, but it was successfully translated into an accurate movie; I fairly agree with CR's depiction of it being more of a documentary. Like him, I also know people who were there and lived through that hell that Mark Bowden captured in print. Additionally, as an infantryman, the movie depicts what my job is all about, so you can guarantee a critical eye was cast on the screen when I went to see it.
I make myself watch it every so often, but not for the guilty pleasure of escaping reality for a couple of hours. I watch it to remind myself of the seriousness of my job, especially now that I am an instructor for at least a few more months, and not yet back in the foxhole. The film did a great job of capturing the grit and chaos of battle. Though I enjoy the older big screen epics with William Holden and John Wayne, it's amazing what a far cry from realism they exhibit.

Of the top 5 on my personal list, there would be a four-way tie for second place.

Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down for current films that show the close-up, dirty business of war. Patton and The Longest Day, for classics that really pushed the patriotic "grandeur" of war.

But my personal favorite is one that's not really a war movie at all, insofar as there are not really any battle scenes, but a "true" depiction of prisoners of war - The Great Escape. A great, all-star cast, great performances, and one of the best chase scenes (Steve McQeen's motorcycle escape) for it's day.

Platoon is most likely my favourite US war movie. I liked Saving Private Ryan in that you did feel like you were there, I just felt it was tarnished a little by cheesiness, in particular towards the end.

Another not mentioned is the Thin Red Line, out around the same time as Saving Private Ryan but got nowhere near as much attention as it deserved, in my opinion a better film than SPR.

My favouite was movie is Das Boot. This, for me, brought the spectator much closer to the reality of war and the men that are involved in it than any other.

Das Boot is truly an excellent movie and an even better television series. Perhaps even better than Band of Brothers?.
I'd not mentioned it because I was thinking of American/ English films.

Other non English language war films that deserve a mention are Stalingrad (German) and The Battle of Algiers (French). There is also Battleship Potemkin (Soviet), though I'm not sure it qualifies as a warfilm... (But if it does, then The Sand Pebbles is also an excellent film)

I can't believe there's no mention of Paths of Glory. Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers (which is remarkable, film or no) are spectacular, and in their own ways anti-war demonstrations; but Kubrick's film achieves that aim in an entirely different, and in my opinion better way.

I voted for Platoon. It's the only war movie where I had the surreal feeling of being there(I haven't seen Blackhawk down). I really felt the sense of impending doom as they were about to be overrun.

Here are my 10 alternates:
1. Bridge on the River Kwai
2. To Hell and Back
3. Grand Illusion
4. Zulu
5. The Caine Mutiny
6. Breaker Morant
7. Spartacus
8. Throne of Blood
9. Lawrence of Arabia
10. Stalag 17

For those who wish to jog their memories here is an extensive listing of war movies. They do include a number of films like Casablanca and African Queen which don't honestly qualify in my book.

War movies

Out of that list I voted for Apocalypse Now, although it was a tough choice given some of the other choices.

Also of note are Band of Brothers (even though not technically a movie) and We Were Soldiers.

I had to vote "other". There have been so many, but two of my favorites (for very different reasons) are The Great Escape and Schindler's List. I'd agree with kalabus, in that Glory is an exceptional war movie also. I like movies that go beyond the usual "c'mon boys, let's get 'em" genre (i.e. most John Wayne war movies-not that I don't like John Wayne movies!! I grew up on them).

The Great Escape was like Rebel Without a Cause in WWII. It didn't hurt that it was based on a true story and starred the yummy Steve McQueen. Oh, quit groaning-I'm a red-blooded American girl, ok?

As for Schindler's List - wow, what can you say about this movie? It is so incredibly powerful and moving. Amazing cast, starkly beautiful cinematography, and a riveting, horrific story, again, based on truth. I'm sensing a theme in my favorites...

Strangely enough, I found Apocalypse Now creepy in the way horror movies like the Exorcist are creepy. It made my skin crawl. Normally, anything that evokes a visceral response like that gets an A in my book. But I have no desire to ever see this movie again. I imagine it doesn't help that I saw it when it first came out at the Cinerama Dome in Dolby surround-sound (which was very new at the time). It was like sensory overload.

Edited to add: Whoo hoo!! NiteGuy-I didn't notice you had mentioned The Great Escape. It was a great movie, huh?

The Longest Day, for sure. I've been to the Normandy beaches twice since seeing it, and Saving Private Ryan really made me think about this. But, especially for its day, having the Germans actually speak German rather than the horrible German accent, plus the 3 points of view - wow. Not to mention Sean Connery actually playing a Scotsman for once!

Big shout out for 3 Kings and Blackhawk Down, but not as powerful for me.

I chose "Other" for Terrence Malick's haunting and utterly brutal The Thin Red Line. I have yet to see a war film truly capture the feeling of war as well as Malick's did.. There are a ton of movies which capture the look and sound of war, but Malick's film was able to recreate what it feels like to be in battle. That lost aimlessness, unable to reach out to your loved ones as they drift away from you and find other loves, the quiet moments which allow introspection, turned bloody and gruesome within a few seconds.

Wait, I've never been in a war. How can I know how it feels? Oh well, then the cinematography is by far the most breathtaking of any war film.

I love Three Kings as well. David O. Russell is a genius and a visionary. Out of all the war films I've seen, his is the most unique. Does Schindler's List count as a war film? I don't usually think of it when I think of war films, but I suppose it is. I guess then Spielberg's film. It is my choice as best film ever made. But this is favorite war movies, right? I can't say I enjoyed watching Schindler's List.

*edited to complete a thought*

The Pianist was a good, but very sobering war movie. It was like watching Schindler's List without Schindler. Extremely depressing, but a true story based on the life experience of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish musician living in Poland during WWII.

I cant hardly watch war movies but "We were Soldiers" probably struck me most since a good friend was a medi-vac heli-pilot in the very regiment depicted in the movie and I watched it with him as he tried to hide his emotion and tears at some points and he was explaining to me what went on throughout.

Edited to add: The Pianist was truly moving.

Like kalabus I have running list of "top" movies - though mine only runs to 350 at the moment. I haven't actually ranked them all, though for a couple of other sites I've had to rank a top twenty or top forty - and the one that comes out nearest the top in those is Apocalypse Now - though not necessarily because it's a great war movie. The only other US war movies which make the top forty list would be Dr. Strangelove and Slaughterhouse Five - though they're only peripherally war movies, really. Judgement at Nuremburg also makes the shortlist, but it's even more peripheral.

Further down the list are Born on the Fourth of July, The Caine Mutiny, From Here To Eternity, M*A*S*H, Salvador, and Stalag 17 - though a few of them are kinda peripheral, too.

Top non-US war movies would be La Grande Illusion, Empire of the Sun, Das Boot, The Battleship Potemkin, and - the best war movie of all time - All Quiet on the Western Front.

Of those mentioned, I have only seen the Pianist, Midway, Patton, and Schindler's list. like someone else said, I cannot bring myself to watch most war movies.
Having been in a war, I don't care to dwell on it.
A story I read in Reader's Digest a long time ago relates the devastation that an old man displays on learning that an old army buddy had died, and that he was the last of their unit still living. His family could not understand his emotions, saying something like, "Dad, you didn't get this worked up when Mom died". His response was, "Your mom didn't face death with me for weeks on end at Guadacanal".
I may have the details wrong, but the gist of it is, those who were there are usually reluctant to talk about it, much less want to relive it in blazing color on the wide screen.

I forgot about Stalag 17 entirely. Good movie. Dated, but effective. Did anyone else think that the blowfish character from Finding Nemo was inspired by the character from that film nicknamed Animal?

I can't remember the name of the film, but I remember watching an old Pacific theatre flick along time ago and maybe someone here can help me out. It was black and white, and the only scene I remember was when one soldier amongst a platoon of GIs pinned down by a Japanese machine gun bravely volunteers to blow it up with a grenade. He proceeds to make his way to the Japanese pillbox, being shot about 40 times in the process, but still manages to pull it off. (I didn't see the point in watching U.S. war movies for a few years after that. It took Full Metal Jacket to bring me back,.

One of the best best War movies - All Quiet On The Western Front

I just love Full Metal Jacket. The basic training part with the drill instructor was just something else. His wisecracks and how he made Leonard suck his thumb with and march around with his pants down, was just too funny!


BTW-You forgot Hamburger Hill!

It's got to be the Great Escape (although not listed as a choice). The film has everything: humor, adventure, ingenuity, and most of all boldness. Stalag 17 a close second, and how can you have any such list without including Saving Private Ryan?

I love the movie Midway because it is about the battle that turned the tide of the Pacific war in WWII