Favourite War Movies

Schindler's List

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:47:08 GMT

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. Oskar Schindler uses Jews to start a factory in Poland during the war. He witnesses the horrors endured by the Jews, and starts to save them. There is no doubt about it: Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List is one of the best motion pictures in cinematic history. Its ability to trigger an emotional response through its brutal depiction of the holocaust is simply unprecedented. Everything from Spielberg's direction to the three lead performances to John Williams' eloquent music is of a very high quality. Schindler's List is a film that must be seen at the earliest opportunity. "This list... is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf."

Saving Private Ryan

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:47:28 GMT

In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, the Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One. Following the Normandy Landings, a group of US soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan hits the ground running. In a 20-minute opening sequence, the horrors of World War II are displayed with unflinching honesty. This sequence depicting combat on Omaha Beach is extensively regarded as the best war scene in cinematic history. What follows is an intricate morality tale as a group of characters embark on a hunt for a single soldier who lost his three others brothers in the war. Foreigners regard this as "American propaganda" - uh-huh, the same can be said for any war movie ever made. Enemy at the Gates could be considered Russian propaganda, for example. These invalid scrutinies are outrageous. Saving Private Ryan is the best combat-driven war movie ever. Period. It's the second best World War II film, behind Spielberg's own Schindler's List. "He better be worth it. He better go home and cure a disease, or invent a longer-lasting light bulb."

Glory

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:54:43 GMT

Their innocence. Their heritage. Their lives. Nothing would be spared in the fight for their freedom. Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates. Glory is a truly excellent war movie. It's a powerful and poignant portrait of the first African American platoon in the Civil War (based on a true story). Director Ed Zwick handles the material excellently, offering a depiction of the Civil War that bursts with utter authenticity. This is a truly excellent war movie that cannot be missed. "Tommorrow we goes into battle, so Lordy, let me fight with the rifle in one hand, and the Good Book in the other. So that if I may die at the muzzle of the rifle... die on water, or on land, I may know that you blessed Jesus almighty are with me... and I have no fear."

The Deer Hunter

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:50:19 GMT

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1978 An in-depth examination of the way that the Vietnam war affects the lives of people in a small industrial town in the USA. Haunting. Memorable. Heart-breaking. Poignant. Utterly brilliant. These words immediately entered my head when I finished watching The Deer Hunter for the first time; teary eyed and devastated. This Oscar-winning masterpiece is the best Vietnam war movie of all time, capturing everything from pre to post-combat (with combat in between, naturally). War movies don't get much more perfect than this. Watch without delay. "A deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don't listen."

Platoon

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:50:28 GMT

The first casualty of war is innocence. A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. Oliver Stone is a very controversial filmmaker. Platoon was based on the director's own experience in the Vietnam War, and it scores as one of the best war movies in history. It's a riveting portrait of the effects the Vietnam War had on those soldiers forced to fight in it. "I love this place at night. The stars... there's no right or wrong in them. They're just there."

Letters from Iwo Jima

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:52:07 GMT

From the director of "Flags of our Fathers" comes the story of the battle for Iwo Jima told through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers. The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it. Director Clint Eastwood rarely, if ever, delivers a faulty product. Letters from Iwo Jima is a mature, powerful war movie. Driven by compelling drama rather than combat, the film presents a stirring portrayal of a battle which marked a turning point in World War II. Truly excellent. "If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island."

Patton

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:54:26 GMT

The World War II phase of the controversial American general's career is depicted. "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." This is a great movie. A sprawling, absorbing three-hour character study concentrating on a distinguished figure in modern history. It's a long movie, but it never necessarily lulls. An essential watch for any film buff. "There's only one proper way for a professional soldier to die: the last bullet of the last battle of the last war."

Grave of the Fireflies

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:54:26 GMT

A tragic film covering a young boy and his little sister's struggle to survive in Japan during World War II. "Why must fireflies die so young? " Grave of the Fireflies may be labelled as a mere piece of Japanese animation, but it's also a powerful anti-war drama. Japan's Studio Ghibli have accomplished truly excellent results with this film, which contains some top-notch animation. Highly recommended!! "September 21, 1945... that was the night I died."

Lawrence of Arabia

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:47:40 GMT

A mighty spectacle of action and adventure! Epic rumination on a flamboyant and controversial British military figure and his conflicted loyalties during wartime service. Ah, the epic. David Lean's name has become practically synonymous with war epics after being responsible for this film in addition to Bridge on the River Kwai. Lawrence of Arabia is a stunning film. Its epic scope is something that has to be seen to be believed. Filmmakers all these years later look back on Lean's classic movie for inspiration, including Steven Spielberg. If you have the patience to sit through this phenomenal four-hour experience, it's worth it. "My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer!"

Apocalypse Now

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:47:56 GMT

The Horror... The Horror... During the on-going Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe. What more is there to say about Apocalypse Now? This monumental achievement in the war genre is infused with riveting performances, hard-hitting action and disturbing images. The production may have been beset with a whole assortment of troubles, but even after all these years this masterpiece looks incredibly self-assured. This film will forever remain ingrained in my memory. From the haunting monologue courtesy of Marlon Brando to the immortal line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", Francis Ford Coppola's tour de force is a phenomenal piece of filmmaking. You're not even close to a film buff unless you've viewed this astounding motion picture. "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army."

Paths of Glory

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:48:09 GMT

Never has the screen thrust so deeply into the guts of war! When soldiers in WW1 refuse to continue with an impossible attack, their superiors decide to make an example of them. In discussions regarding Stanley Kubrick's body of work, Paths of Glory is a film rarely mentioned. This extraordinary war film is a powerful saga of one man brave enough to stand against the corrupt military system. It's a riveting motion picture. "See that cockroach? Tomorrow morning, we'll be dead and it'll be alive. It'll have more contact with my wife and child than I will. I'll be nothing, and it'll be alive."

Black Hawk Down

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:56:47 GMT

Leave No Man Behind 123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis. Director Ridley Scott is renowned for delivering excellent films directed to perfection, and Black Hawk Down is no exception. This sublime, powerful and haunting war movie is overflowing with hard-hitting action and brutal violence. Excellently written, excellently acted. American propaganda this is not. This tells the story like it happened. "Nobody asks to be a hero, it just sometimes turns out that way."

The Pianist

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:48:23 GMT

Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece. A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II. Roman Polanski may be a paeodophile, but he's an undeniably excellent director! The Pianist is about as powerful as Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List; conveying a moving tale about survival during dark days of World War II. Fuelled by Adrian Brody's Oscar-winning performance (he threw everything he had at that role), The Pianist is poignant, powerful and haunting. A masterpiece! "Thank God, not me. He wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe."

The Great Escape

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:49:03 GMT

Put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it... Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp. The Great Escape is such an excellent movie! An enjoyable, topflight World War II blockbuster that entertains all these years on. Brimming with authenticity, terrific acting, focused direction and just about everything else one could ask for, this masterpiece is simply perfect from top to bottom. "I haven't seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over."

Born on the Fourth of July

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:55:28 GMT

A story of innocence lost and courage found. The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for. Director Oliver Stone's second attempt at a Vietnam motion picture is tour de force of monumental proportions. Platoon concentrated on the harsh conditions faced on the battlegrounds, whereas Born on the Fourth of July primarily examines veterans after they returned from the war, and how severely they were affected physically and mentally. Tom Cruise's breakthrough performance is astounding as real-life veteran Ron Kovic who becomes an anti-war protestor after serving his country in Vietnam. "People say that if you don't love America, then get the hell out. Well, I love America."

Downfall

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:48:31 GMT

Traudl Junge (Lara), the final secretary for Adolf Hitler (Ganz), tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. Also known by its foreign title of Der Undertang, this brilliant production places us into Hitler's bunker during his final days. It depicts Hitler as a human being, but never asks us to empathise with him. Bruno Ganz's performance is utterly perfect and chillingly believable, generating a screen persona of utter dread and intimidation. The film itself is powerful and engrossing beyond words. This is an exercise in patience - it's a long movie, yes, but every minute is essential to tell the story accurately. A masterpiece! "The war is lost... But if you think that I'll leave Berlin for that, you are sadly mistaken. I'd prefer to put a bullet in my head."

Gallipoli

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:56:12 GMT

From a place you never heard of...a story you'll never forget. Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I. Gallipoli is an absorbing drama based around the events of World War I, wherein Aussie soldiers endured difficult conditions to fight for their country. The focus is on two major characters. We dig into their private lives before they're shipped off to war where they meet their inevitable fate. Emotional, haunting...remarkable! "The thing I can't stand about you mate is you're always so bloody cheerful."

The Longest Day

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:56:23 GMT

This is the day that changed the world... When history held its breath. The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view. This is a classic war epic done correctly. The PG rating facilitates very little violence and it's tame on the gore front, but the grand scale is phenomenal! 42 famous international stars feature in this excellent tale of D-Day, focusing on all the landings that transpired on that fateful day. "You can't give the enemy a break. Send him to hell."