I would like to know what is your list of the best war movies ever made?

My list changes from time to time but I try to be somewhat consistant. I like to have a mix, land, sea, and air.

Battleground
Patton (not really the most accurate, but a great movie)
Twelve O'Clock High
Das Boot
Saving Private Ryan (same comment as Patton)
Breaker Morant (not really a "war movie" but shows some of the effects of war.
Paths of Glory (another movie that shows the effects of war)
Full Metal Jacket
Kelly's Heros ( I just have to throw this one in)

In no particular order ...

1) Black Hawk Down
2) We Were Soldiers
3) Battleground
4) A Walk in the Sun
5) 84 Charlie Mopic
6) The Beast
7) Das Boot
8) Full Metal Jacket
9) Hamburger Hill
10) Cross of Iron

Could also tag on Kelly's Heroes, SPR, Patton, Platoon and a few others.

Cross of Iron

A Bridge too Far

My all time favourite has got to be:

1) Band of Brothers
2) Black Hawk Down
3) Saving Private Ryan

Even though BoB isnt a movie and more of a mini series, it still beats any other movie out there.

i agree with JAZZA

1)band of brothers
2)saving private ryan-classic
3)Black hawk down
4)Full metal jacket

theres others like hamburger hill and tigerland and when trumphts fall or (some name like that) that i havnt seen in a while so i cant rank anymore other then the 4 up on my list

For Civil War
Gettysburg

For World War 2
The Longest Day
Tora Tora Tora

For 'Nam
We Were Soldiers

For Modern
Black Hawk Down

Honorable mention goes to Saving PVT Ryan

Oh for future....Starship Troopers (love those comabat scenes with the bugs !!!!!!!!!!!!)

Agree with the above posts, two others missing that I love are Tae Guk Gi (very emotional as well as brutal combat scenes) and Downfall. While Downfall is not a 'war' movie in the traditional sense, it shows the final days of Hitler and has some of the best acting of the past few years.

Twelve O'Clock High
The Longest Day
Saving Private Ryan
Patton
Black Hawk Down
Dr. Schivago
Sparticus
Gladiator

In alphabetical order:

A Great Shining Lie
Apocalypse Now
Band of Brothers
Black Hawk Down
Born on the Fourth of July
Braveheart
Courage Under Fire
Das Boot
Full Metal Jacket
Gettysburg
Hamburger Hill
Patriot
Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Tears of the Sun
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Great Escape
The Guns of Navarone
The Last of the Mohicans
The Thin Red Line
The Wild Geese
Zulu

Stalingrad (German)
Der Untergang (German)
Das Boot (German)
Band Of Brothers (US)

and

The longest day for being higly entertaining.

For the fun of it:

Kellys Heroes

1/ Das Boot
2/Gallipoli
3/ Band of Brothers
4/ the Great Escape
5/ Where Eagles Dare

Does Dr Strangeglove count as a war movie? :-) :-)

A Bridge Too Far,
Dambusters,
633 Squadron,
Battle Of Britain,
The longest Day,
Saving Private Ryan,
Band of Brothers,

Theres probably more, i just cant think of them at the moment!

I'm sure some are missing and/or mis-titled ...
I would prefer to think of these as "military movies" rather than "war movies" ...
My definition of "great" is that they told a reasonably accurate story and/or portrayed/reflected what I believe to be conditions/history of the time ...

War & Peace
Waterloo
Hornblower series
Sharpe series

Gettysburg
Glory

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (my #1 all-time movie)

Gunga Din
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Zulu

Dawn Patrol
Wings
All Quiet on the Western Front
Paths of Glory
Gallipoli
The Light Horsemen

The Cruel Sea
Das Boot
The Enemy Below (added)
Action in the North Atlantic (added)
They Were Expendable
Air Force
Twelve O'Clock High
Command Decision
Dambusters
633 Squadron
Battle of Britain
The War Lover
The Longest Day (why did I write D-Day ?)
A Bridge Too Far
Hell is for Heroes (added)
Battleground (has to be one of the all-time classics)
Band of Brothers
The Great Escape
The Victors
Tora, Tora, Tora
Wake Island
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (added)
Guadalcanal Diary
Sands of Iwo Jima
Mr Roberts (added)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Rest Years of our Lives (added)
The Caine Mutiny (added)

Tae Guk Gi
Pork Chop Hill
The Bridges at Toko Ri
Men at War

Hamburger Hill
The Green Berets
We Were Soldiers (except the ending).
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket

The Wild Geese
Heartbreak Ridge
The Beast

John

Yes those are some great titles, and I would like to add a two.

Saints and Soldiers
The Great Raid

Memphis Belle

Blackhawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
Gettysburg
We Were Soldiers Once...
Battle of Britain
Bridge Too Far
Longest Day
EDIT-Band of Brothers (I don't own it yet so I've not seen it in its' entirety as a single "movie)

and while not exactly "War" movies...
Braveheart (maybe my all time favorite movie)
Lawrence of Arabia

There are others, too numerous to mention that I really like- and I can't remember all the titles either!

Jim

Memphis Belle? - only the Wyler documentary, that is authentically frightening, specially the part where they'er trying to count the crew parachuting from a falling B-17. The movie is pretty bad with some shocking model work.

I would say there are plenty of very good movies here. The only one I have to disagree with is Apocalypse Now. I know it's generally considered a great movie but I just don't get it. I find it over the top, fairly unrealistic in many ways, and really not as good as most of these others.

Hi there

A film I'd definitely add to the list is "Theirs Is The Glory" - a re-enactment of the battle for Arnhem made immediately after WW2 featuring the veterans themselves. Very gritty - a kind of docu-drama that is in many ways more powerful than "A Bridge To Far".

All the best

Rowan

The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Das Boot
The Cruel Sea
the Enemy Below
Cross of Iron
The Blue Max

David

Please..... make it stop ...

"Battleground"

This film was almost an instant classic when it was released in 1949. The witer was actually in Bastogne during the BOTB. They also hired 20 veteran paratroopers to train the actors and act as extras 50 years before Spielberg and Hanks did it.

Great flick that has held up against all of the CGI Hollywood can thow at it. I remember seeing it when I was about 10 and thinking how sad it was when the trooper got killed trying to get his boots...

Shaun

The Cruel Sea
Dambusters
633 Squadron
Zulu
Ice Cold in Alex
Cross of Iron (the uncut cinema version, not the 'PC' version shown on British TV) - this film showed that war is brutal and nasty, not the way hollywood usually shows it.