War films for the connoisseur (22 titles)
I am big fan of war films, they highlight a time when men and women live in fear of death at any second. Its more subtle than gung ho - seeing people blown up, instead its reliving the heroism that saved the free world from the many oppressive regimes. I have kept off the list what I consider lumbering or flawed films, sadly War films can so easily fall into these categories. I left off Saving Private Ryan because the second half is deeply flawed by Spielberg. Also where is the British and Canadians in this film?
100% from 1 member
Doctor Strangelove
Simply stunning film of black humour as the world will self destruct by mutual consent as USSR and the US aim nuclear missiles at each other in the cold war.
Kubrick at his best.
One of the best anti-war films ever made, filled with superb dialog such as 'You cant fight in the war room!'.
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Doctor Strangelove
on DVD
(1963)
Starring: George C. Scott, Peter Sellers, Sterling Hayden
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Certificate:
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB is the cold war masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick. Based on the novel RED ALERT by Peter George, the film is set at the height of the tensions between Russia and the United States, when all it would take to destroy the world was one ..read more »
74%
from 23,701 members
Downfall
Der Untergang.
Wow this film just blows you away. Listen in DTS and you will be shaking at the end from the intensity of fear and dread and of the huge shelling from the Russians invading Berlin.
You are in the bunker and you may not survive much longer.
Just outstanding.
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Downfall
on DVD
(2004)
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Certificate:
Not since G.W. Pabst's 1956 effort, 'Letste Akt' (The Last Act) has a German film attempted to tackle the subject of their most famous leader, Adolf Hitler. Breaking a long-standing taboo, the director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, has made a film that has sparked much debate in Germany and the rest of the ..read more »
75%
from 30,729 members
Zulu
Archetypal film, with superb acting.
Introduced us to Michael Caine, god bless him.
Stanley Baker is just superb. A film filled with lovely moments just before the spears arrive.
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Zulu
on DVD
(1964)
Starring: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson
Director: Cyril Endfield
Certificate:
Narrated by Richard Burton and starring an outstanding Michael Caine in his first starring role, ZULU is a tense and dramatic war film about the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879--which was part of the Anglo-Zulu War in South Africa--where approximately 150 British soldiers held off 4,000 Zulu ..read more »
73%
from 11,331 members
Stalag 17
Oscar winning performance from William Holden , a powerful film but also with light moments of POW life, The Stalag are being betrayed to the Germans by an informer, an ingenius plot as you would expect from a Billy Wilder film.
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Stalag 17
on DVD
(1952)
Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger
Director: Billy Wilder
Certificate:
Billy Wilder's adaptation of the Broadway hit stars William Holden as the cynical Sefton. Set in the eponymous German prison camp during WWII, the director's broad, black comedy focuses on a group of decidedly unheroic prisoners. While they spend most of their time trying to entertain each other ..read more »
70%
from 1,232 member
Paths Of Glory
Stanley Kubrick's superb film with Kirk Douglas as an WW1 officer trying to save his innocent men from a firing squad. True story that the French Government banned for many years.
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Paths Of Glory
on DVD
(1957)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Certificate:
PATHS OF GLORY is among the most powerful antiwar films ever made. The story takes place in 1916 France, as the French command orders an exhausted unit to wrest control of an anthill from the Germans--expecting a casualty rate of 60 percent. The battle--during which the Germans are never seen, ..read more »
72%
from 4,338 members
The Thin Red Line
Unusual film, very serene interspersed with highpoints of violence and destruction.
Many cameos by famous actors.
You get a real sense of the landscape, very beautiful cinematography.
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The Thin Red Line
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel
Director: Terrence Malick
Certificate:
Terrence Malick returns to Hollywood after a two-decade hiatus with this adaptation of the classic WWII novel by James Jones. The story follows the efforts of an army platoon to capture the Japanese-controlled island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Ocean, which will have a major effect on the outcome ..read more »
63%
from 11,309 members
King Rat
A Japanese POW film with an outstanding, mostly British cast.
B&W
George Segal is the camper fixer, able to supply anything. Has many similarities to Stalag 17.
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King Rat
on DVD
(1965)
Starring: George Segal, Tom Courtenay, James Fox
Director: Bryan Forbes
Certificate:
Inside a Japanese POW camp during World War II, an American prisoner runs a black market operation for the benefit of his fellow captives, and among his "merchandise" he includes rats, breeded to supplement prisoners' food rations.
66%
from 395 members
The Bridge On The River Kwai
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The Bridge On The River Kwai
on DVD
(1957)
Starring: Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins
Director: David Lean
Certificate:
One of the all-time great war films, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is yet another classic from the marvelous David Lean (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DR. ZHIVAGO). The film is an outstanding, psychologically complex adaptation of Pierre Boulle's 1952 novel, a classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to ..read more »
71%
from 14,623 members
Black Hawk Down
Rocket Propelled Grenades a cheap weapon, bought in the local market in Mogadishu, can be used with a modified time fuse to explode near the tail rotor of a Blackhawk heli and bring it down.
Example of how the low tech gangs adapt to fight a high tech invading army. Sadly the same is happening in Afghanistan now with IED's.
This film is really absorbing and you will sweat and have a dry mouth from the heat and dust of the unforgiving Mog.
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Black Hawk Down
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Kim Coates, Gabriel Casseus
Director: Ridley Scott
Certificate:
On October 3, 1993, Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force participated in a covert operation in Mogadishu, Somalia that went horribly wrong. Sent to abduct two lieutenants of a vicious Somali warlord, the soldiers found themselves surrounded by hostile militia. Two Black Hawk ..read more »
68%
from 26,114 members
Che - Part 1
Great movies (part2 aswell).
Del Toro born to play Che.
Deserved the best actor Oscar over Milk by a country mile.
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Che - Part 1
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Kahlil Mendez, Benicio Del Toro, Benjamin Bratt
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Certificate:
Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh delivers this ambitious and sprawling biopic of one of the 20th century's most influential political figures. In the first 126-minute segment, THE ARGENTINE, we meet Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (Benicio Del Toro), a young Argentinean doctor who teams up with Fidel Castro on ..read more »
65%
from 6,899 members
Average rating for this collection:
100% from 1 member
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