Ok we have seen several posts about everyone's fav war movies.... but does anyone think an actor gave their best performance of their career in a war movie? I personally think that Tom Hanks playing in Saving Private Ryan was his best bit of acting. I also believe that Mel Gibson in We Were Soldiers gave his best acting in that movie as well. They both seemed very convincing dealing with placing men's lives in the line of fire. I loved both of the roles they played.

HastyP

I think Hanks had a more difficult role in Philadelphia. The Oscars agreed and gave him best actor (as well as with Forrest Gump). Gibson was, well, Gibson. His portrayals in The Partriot and Braveheart had more depth, IMHO.

George C. Scott as Patton defined his later career, even though this was a rehash of his role as Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove.

Some of my favourite performances in war movies are:

Gregory Peck in Porkchop Hill

James Whitmore in Battleground

Maximillian Schell in A Bridge Too Far

Michael Caine in The Eagle Has Landed

Cliff Robertson in The Devil's Brigade

cheers;

Bob

Those are all great choices! My favorite is probably Damian Lewis as Major Dick Winters in Band of Brothers.

Stanley Baker in Zulu.

Agree with all of the above and like to throw in Jan-Michael Vincent as Adrian in 'Tribes' (1970)
and Colin Farrel as Bozz in 'Tigerland' (2000), though neither of those are truly 'war' movies as such.

So, how about Bruno Ganz as der Fuhrer in 'Der Untergang / Downfall' (2004), Jürgen Prochnow as der Alte in 'Das Boot' (1981) and Peter Sellers in 'Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' (1964)...?

great thread, keep 'em coming...

acav

Hi all,, In addition to those already mentioned, lets add:
James Colburn as Steiner in Cross of Iron.
Ed Harris in Enemy at the Gates.
James Mason for his various roles as Rommel.

Keep em comin, Milvehvan

How about R Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket??

R Lee Ermey - yes, wonderful wasn't he?...


Others I'd like to add are:

James Caan in A Bridge Too Far and in Gardens of Stone (great as the grizzled vet in both)

Steven Weber in Hamburger Hill (wonderful to watch him as change as the man who cares too much and then doesn't care anymore)

Andre Braugher in Tuskeegee Airmen (I'd follow this guy to hell and back, superb...)

Angus Lennie in The Great Escape (Ives...the man on the edge...)

Susannah York in The Batlle Of Britain (wonderful in RAF blue.... and silk....)

Robert Wagner in The Hunters (cool, daddy-o, cool....)

Jack Hawkins in The Cruel Sea (leader, father, sailor personified)

Kenneth Moore in SInk The Bismarck (perfect as the man trying to keep it all together and fight the monster of the sea at the same time)



Bob

Some great choices, Bob, and you're right about James Caan in 'Gardens of Stone' - that's a great movie and more people should make an effort to see it...

acav

Yes, an excellent movie. The look of dispair in James Caan's eyes when he realizes he can't talk the young soldier out of volunteering for Vietnam...... truly a perfect movie moment.

I'd also still like to add a few more:

Michael Redgrave in The Dambusters as Barnes Wallis - when he suddenly realizes that he's created a dreadful weapon and young men are going to die using it... there's that one look on his face is when it all becomes real to him.

Burt Lancaster in Go Tell The Saprtans - really trying to believe that he's doing some good and it all means something

Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now - certainly a defining moment in his acting career and brilliantly played. He should have won an oscar for that one IMHO.

Gert Frobe in The Longest Day - small but wonderful role as the frumpy-dumpy German sargent on horseback. When he first sees the invasion fleet the look on his face is priceless.

Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory as Col. Dax - trying desperately to save the unjustly accused and prevent a whitwash of officer corps bungling - superb acting.

Ernest Borgnine in The Dirty Dozen - He'll always be Quinton McHale to me but as General Worden in Dirty Dozen, he was especially good. When he realizes 'The Dozen" are about to capture the headquarters during the war games, the sly little smile tells it all. He knew who the better man was right then and there.

And of course Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles, Harry Dean Stanton, Caroll O'Connor, Gavin MacLeod and just about eveyone else in Kelly's Heroes. This is quite possibly my most favourite war movie of all time. Everyone's brilliant in it.

Anybody else...? Lots of opinions out there I'm sure.....let's hear 'em. Good thread, I like war movies (can you tell...?).



Bob

Gregory Peck as General Savage in "12 O'clock High"

Charlie Sheen in "Platoon"

Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus"

Orlando Bloom in "Kingdom of Heaven"

Steve McQueen in the "Sand Pebbles"

Kirk Douglas in the WWI film "Paths of Glory"

Peter O'Toole in "Laurence of Arabia",

Michael Cain in "Zulu Dawn"

Richard Widmark as the destroyer skipper in the Cold War classic "The Bedford Incident"

Robert Mitchem, Enemy Below
Cliff Robertson , PT109
Any John Wayne movie
Gergorey Peck as H. Hornblower
just to name a few

Charlie Sheen for the antithesis of a team player in Navy Seals.

Charlie Sheen for Oliver Stones stand in, in Platoon.

Robert De Niro and the guy who plays Nick (cant remember his name) in Deer Hunter.

Rowan Atkinson for his quintessential portrayal of an English officer, the same kind that would have sent Anzacs over the top at Anzac Cove:p ( Black Adder goes forth.)

and don't forget apocalypse now. brando, duvall, and martin sheen.

martin sheen already mentioned. but what about "Charlie don't surf" what a delivery.

any john wayne. ha ha that's not acting that is just filming john wayne.

susannah york, mmmmm

I have always liked Lee Marvin--Not sure he was ever the "Best" war movie actor--but he always had that no nonsense-straight face--guy you wouldn't want
to pi_s off character.

I'm Surprised no one said Sylvester Stallone for all those wonderful rambo franchise movies he made-and yes-I am kidding

Yes, Lee Marvin. Wonderful in Dirty Dozen, Big Red One and Hell In The Pacific.

I also liked:

Jack Watson as RSM Sandy Young in The WIld Geese

Hardy Kruger as Franz Von Werra in The One That Got Away

Peter Finch as Captain Landsdorff in The Battle Of The River Plate


Here's examples of very good acting in 'not so very good' movies:

Tom Sizemore and Alec Baldwin in Pearl Harbor

George Peppard in The Blue Max

Really good actors in great roles....just not great movies.



Bob

Alright here is my list.

Gregory Peck - 12 O’clock High and Horatio Hornblower

John Wayne – Sand of Iwo Jima

Peter O’Toole – Lawrence of Arabia

Bruno Ganz as der Fuhrer in Der Untergang / Downfall Hands down best Hitler ever, if that is a good thing.

Robert Carlyle - Hitler: The Rise of Evil second best portrayal of the nut job.

Alec Guinness – Bridge on the River Kwai

Ken Watanabe – The Last Samurai

Stanley Baker and Michael Cain – Zulu

Cast of Band of Brothers, I just love that series.

Here are some of my choices. Many of these fine actors made many war movies over their careers. The movies picked are ones that came to me at the moment.

George C Scott - Patton
Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson - 30 Seconds over Tokyo
Charlton Heston - 55 Days in Peking
Robert Taylor - Bataan
John Garfield - AirForce
Richard Burton - Longest Day
Jack Palance - Attack
Jeff Chandler - Away All Boats
Aldo Rey, Van Heflin - Battle Cry
Henry Fonda - In Harms Way
Jimmy Stewart - Strategic Air Command
Edward Woodward - Breaker Morant
Alec Guiness - Bridge on the River Kwai
William Holden - Bridge on the River Kwai
Humphrey Bogart - Sahara, Casablanca
Nick Cage - Captain Corelli's Mandoline
Burt Lancaster - The Train
Alan Arkin - Catch 22
Errol Flynn - Charge of the Light Brigade
Mel Ferrer - Caine Mutiny
Jude Law - Enemies at the Gate
John Voight - Deer Hunter
Denzel Washington - Courage Under Fire
Tyronne Powers - Crash Dive
Gary Cooper - Farewell to Arms
Preston Foster - Guadalcanal Dairy
Cary Grant - Gunga Din
Richard Attenboro - Guns at Batasi
Roberto Benigni - Life is Beautiful
Anthony Quinn - Back to Bataan
Russell Crowe - Gladiator
Liam Nieson - Shindler's List
Audie Murphy - To Hell and Back
Gene Hackman - Uncommon Valor
Frank Sinatra - From Here to Eternity
Brian Donlevey - Wake Island
John Wayne - Sands of Iwo Jima
Michael York - Zeppelin
Ed Harris - Enemies at the Gate
Bruce Willis - Tears of the Sun

Great list Frank, I was hoping someone was going to include Nick Cage in Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I thought he was superb in that film. Also, I didn't think Jude Law was in Stalingrad, are you perhaps thinking of Enemy At The Gates?


Bob

A very young Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun (along with a great performance by John Malkovich).

Boy did this thread go longer than I expected. Lots of good thoughts and actors here. Any others by chance..... I also like Ernest Borgnein in All Quiet on the Western Front.

Richard Todd in The Longest Day and Esmond Knight in Sink the Bismarck! - both were particpants in the real thing, with Knight being badly wounded on Prince of Wales in the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

David

I just saw John Wayne in 'The Wings Of Eagles' on TCM last night. First time I've seen this movie and I have to say how much I loved John Wayne in this. To play such a physically imperfect role for Duke was something I didn't expect to see. It was a really good movie and I thought Duke was perfect in it. The scene at the end when he's saying goodbye to his friends made me choke up. First rate...


Bob

I dont even know the names of the actors; all of them German in the 1996 remake of Stalingrad. The portrayal of their situation and disintegration of their sanity and morale was well portrayed knowing that they were abandoned and all hope was lost. Excellent portrayal and I will definitely give mad props to R.Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket, and Joseph Fiennes character in Enemy at the Gates being overshadowed by Vasily Zaitsev and the portrayal of the torment that he goes through not winning the love of Rachel Wiess.