The 23 Best War Films

My first list of favorites will gyrate around the topic of war. From the battlefield epics to films that are set in a backdrop of war, this list has them all - the exceptions being the very few that I have not yet been able to see. Once again, this list is more reflective of a seventeen year old's one-sided opinion than it is a mirror of professional critical reception. See where your favorites lie:

23) The Deer Hunter (1978) Director: Michael Cimino, Starring: Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken

More of a powerful character study than a war film, The Deer Hunter lies among one of my favorite films, so it would be a crime to my movie fanhood to keep one of DeNiro's career triumphs off my list. Showing the brutal effects war has on a person and how it may shake the foundation of their existence, The Deer Hunter combines brilliant performances with disturbing images and concepts to create one of the most powerful and evocative dramas in the history of cinema. The Deer Hunter starts off my list at number 23.

22) Three Kings (1999) Director: David O. Russell, Starring: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg

It's weird that this movie is good. It looks almost as if it isn't supposed to be. Divulging into a unique topic for a war film: The Gulf War, Three Kings explores three men who cynically believe they really do not have much to show at the conclusion of the war conflict with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Not looking forward to returning to the hassles of American life, these three men trek down a trail through the Iraqi desert in search of a hidden stash of gold. Darkly comic and very enthralling, I could go as far as saying this movie is a hidden and unexpected masterpiece, providing a new and refreshing subject for the American war movie.

21) Glory (1989) Director: Edward Zwick, Starring: Denzel Washington, Matthew Broderick

A more personal account of the Civil War, which contains action sequences more intense and realistic than those portrayed in films such as Gettysburg and Gods and Generals; films that focused more on historical accuracy. Glory is a film which ties you to the characters on screen and provides a more emotional and powerful depiction of a nation torn apart. Good acting and good effects are the cherry on top of this treat.

20) The Dirty Dozen (1967) Director: Robert Aldrich, Starring: Lee Marvin

The tagline is a turnoff and the screenplay is seriously overrated, but The Dirty Dozen is probably the most significant cult film of the war genre, employing violent sequences which were immensely superior to the film capabilities of the time while influencing the making of the 1981 World War II cult classic, Inglorious Bastards. So, if you like Tarantino's "Basterds" remake this summer, thank Robert Aldrich and his revolutionary take on the World War II conflict from 1967. The Dirty Dozen starts off the list at number 20.

19) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Director: David Lean, Starring: Peter O'Toole

It took me a while to finally experience Lawrence of Arabia, and although the film at times got away from me, one cannot deny how influential and grand its effect has been in the development of cinema. Set in Arabia during World War I, this film is panoramic and a very personal account of military experience, as opposed to the extensive casts we see in most war films. Although more of a biographical experience, Lawrence of Arabia's approach to putting war on the screen is unique and revolutionary.

18) Paths of Glory (1957) Director: Stanley Kubrick, Starring: Kirk Douglas

Stanley Kubrick commands and Kirk Douglas stars in this often raw and messy, but gives an accurate and seriously realistic depiction of the horrors and cynicism involved in World War I. Loosely based on a true story depicting the lives and experiences of four French soldiers, Paths of Glory is a brilliant view of World War I and was extremely technologically stalwart and advanced in regards to cinematography for its time.

17) The Hunt For Red October (1990) Director: John McTiernan, Starring: Sean Connery

The fictional story involving submarines and nuclear war with the Soviets. What could be better? Strikingly original, superb acting, and a fluid adaptation of Tom Clancy's epic novel are what makes this film stand out. One could argue whether or not this is indeed a war flick, but I could shoot right back and say that James Earl Jones plays a role in it. You can't fight a movie with James Earl Jones in it.

16) A Bridge Too Far (1977) Director: Richard Attenborough, Starring: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan

A powerful war epic with stunning effects for even the 70's alone, this story tells the story of the WW2 Allies as they failed to succeed in Operation Market-Garden (their attempt to break German fortifying lines and seize various bridges). Solid acting and one of the prime definitions for a war epic, A Bridge Too Far cuts into this list at 16.

15) Braveheart (1995) Director: Mel Gibson, Starring: Mel Gibson

An unbelievable breakthrough for Gibson as he played the lead role and directed an immensely successful and powerful film on a unique and overlooked topic, William Wallace and the Scottish War of Independence. The costumes, makeup, film editing, sound mixing, and overall authenticity is absolutely flawless in this film. Its only roadblocks are an average script and certain event-less stretches which seemed to act as filler so this film can qualify as an epic. Regardless, Braveheart is one of the highlights in 1990's cinema, and one of the highlights in the history of war films.

14) The Caine Mutiny (1954) Director: Edward Dmytryk, Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Jose Ferrér

One of the best ensemble casts assembled for a war movie in the history of film, The Caine Mutiny depicts a mutiny aboard a fictitious World War II navy destroyer ship. Consisting of an unbelievable cast and probably some of the most impressive naval war sequences of the mid-century, The Caine Mutiny is a classic which cannot be missed.

13) Das Boot (1981) Director: Wolfgang Petersen, Starring: Herbert Gronemeyer

Not only is this the best German film ever to be produced, it is undeniably the best submarine warfare film ever made. Not only does it display some very impressive war sequences and some stellar narratives, this film (which was told from the perspective of the Germans) is simultaneously effective in conveying an anti-war message. One that cannot be missed.

12) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Director: David Lean, Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness

In my opinion, this was the first real influential war film. More dramatic than violent, and more "behind the scenes of World War II" than it is clear-cut battlefield action, this film explores a POW's leadership in destroying a railroad bridge built for Japanese prisoners of war. One of the best death scenes ever shot on film and some terrific war motifs and themes make The Bridge on the River Kwai one of the best wartime films in the history of filmmaking.

11) The Patriot (2000) Director: Roland Emmerich, Starring: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger

Flawlessly captures the sentiments aroused by the American people during the American Revolution; featuring the terrific portrayal of a man who has lost everything and is ignited towards revenge. Surprisingly graphic and intense in its violent nature, The Patriot feels authentic, moving, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. A very complete-in-all-areas type of war flick, and undoubtedly the most epic Revolutionary War film to date.

9) Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) Director Clint Eastwood, Starring: Ken Wantanabe

The film is genuine and unique as it provides an unique and unlikely viewpoint of the Iwo Jima events. That is, the viewpoint of the Japanese, the enemies themselves. The film is very strong in subject material and often disturbing, while the acting, writing, editing, and cinematography also boosts it up. For me, it was a pleasant surprise and one of Clint Eastwood's major directorial feats.

8) We Were Soldiers (2003) Director: Randall Wallace, Starring: Mel Gibson, Sam Elliott

This film is a different take on the Vietnam War, and conveys a deeper message. No longer are Vietnam vets portrayed as dope fiends or rapists, but instead as real human beings. Just like you and I. Except more courageous. Mainly focused on dramatizing the Battle of la Drang in the opening stages of the Vietnam War, this film is charged by a heartfelt performance by Gibson, a beautiful score, and the fact that it has heart and morale. Plus, it is clearly the most historically accurate Vietnam film.

7) Schindler's List (1993) Director: Steven Spielberg, Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes

Is this a true war flick or not? I can't decide, but I don't care, because this film is the most powerful, heart-wrenching film in the history of cinema. Its ability to uplift at one moment and depress you to no end at another moment makes it an authentic and unbelievably heavy biography of Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of thousands of Polish Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. This is one of the best films ever put into production, but I will slide it up to 7 because of the controversy which could arise about whether or not it is indeed a war film.

6) Black Hawk Down (2001) Director: Ridley Scott, Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor

Ridley Scott has proven time and time again that he knows how to make movies. Black Hawk Down explores a new subject for the war film, the Battle of Mogadishu. The film's cinematography is the most impressive and innovative I have ever seen in a war film, some of the sequences are so gut-wrenching and disturbing and alive that you feel you may have a Black Hawk helicopter looming above you yourself. The originality, intensity, and cinematic and visual beauty born from this film make it the greatest war film of the last few years and among the greatest of all time.

5) The Thin Red Line (1998) Director: Terrence Malick, Starring: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, George Clooney

The cast alone speaks for the brilliance of the movie: Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, George Clooney, Jim Caviezel, Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, Ben Chaplin, Nick Nolte, and John C. Reilly. And it pays off, for this film is one that actually requires acting as it is less of an ultra-violent mirroring of the horrors of World War II, and more of a visually poetic and morally complex take on the war genre as opposed to the macho gore fests we often see in modern war cinema. Often overshadowed by Saving Private Ryan (which happened to be made in the same year), this was this film that put the Academy of Arts and Sciences in a trance at the 1998 Oscars, not Saving Private Ryan.



4) Full Metal Jacket (1987) Director: Stanley Kubrick, Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey

Stanley Kubrick makes his second appearance on the list with Full Metal Jacket, a film which follows a squad of US Marines from the first stages of training to their partakings in the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive. Employing by far the most stellar soundtrack for a war film of all time, while also maintaing a slightly comic edge which counterbalances some serious graphic violence, Full Metal Jacket is a triumph, both entertaining and intense. Although very Hollywood-esque, Kubrick has created a cult classic which is the most fluid blend of intense violence, comedic one-liners, and strikingly impressive art direction and cinematography. Full Metal Jacket is a cult classic for a good reason and is a terrific representation of the revolutionary director that Kubrick was.

3) Platoon (1986) Director: Oliver Stone, Starring: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe

When you think of a Vietnam movie, what comes to mind? I'm guessing Platoon. This was the first Vietnam movie to give audiences an accurate and realistic depiction of what Vietnam really was. But not only does this film accentuate violence and the hauntings Oliver Stone clinged on to after his term in Vietnam, but instead it is filled with a certain prose and inspiring power which is hard to pull from many war films. The acting is superb, the influential effect on later war films is grandiose, and it is able to be powerful and epic in merely 2 hours running time, more than a half hour shorter than the average war film length.

2) Apocalypse Now (1979) Director: Francis Ford Coppola, Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando

An epic war film set during the Vietnam War, undoubtedly this is the most unique and unconvential war film ever made. Telling the tale of an army captain sent into the jungles of Cambodia in pursuit of assassinating an A.W.O.L. Colonel who is believed to have gone insane. Although it steals many of the overused elements of the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now is often to be seen as rather unrealistic and exaggerated in order to accentuate the horrors and unknowns of the Vietnam War. Conspicuously original, unique, powerful, and severely disturbing; Apocalypse Now is the most relentless and confident war thriller in history, and can even be classified as a horror flick if need be.

1) Saving Private Ryan (1998) Director: Steven Spielberg, Starring: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon

This movie set the bar way too high for modern war cinema. Modern World War II movies such as Windtalkers and Flags of our Fathers aren't necessarily bad movies, they just can't reach the expectations created by the most epic, influential, and holistically realistic and relevant war movie ever made. This movie (while historically accurate and providing a sickeningly realistic and gory image of D-Day) is powerful, well-acted, and so technologically and cinematographically enhanced (even for the late 90's) that at times it really feels as if World War II is occurring before your eyes. Conveying a pretty powerful message and nearly forcing you to tears with Tom Hanks' death in the closing minutes of the movie, Saving Private Ryan is unbeatable in all aspects of a war film.

Honorable Mentions:

M*A*S*H (1970) Director: Robert Altman, Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould

What kept it off: Too silly.


Patton (1970) Director: Franklin J. Schaffner, Starring: George C. Scott

What kept it off: Where are the guns and explosions?


Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) Director: Richard Fleischer, Starring: Martin Balsam

What kept it off: Too boring.


All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) Director: Lewis Milestone, Starring: Louis Wolheim, John Wray

What kept it off: Haven't seen a minute of it.

The 23 Best Actors/Actresses To Never Receive a Nomination

While ruminating over the triumphs and disappointments of the 81st Annual Academy Awards (the triumphs being Slumdog's sweeping of the affair, the disappointments being the depression induced by Mickey Rourke's Best Actor snub), I thought of an interesting subject for a post. Who are the best actors and actresses in Hollywood to never have received the honor of a simple Oscar nomination? A generous slab of names came to mind. I will sort them in two categories: actress and actor. These actors and actresses might not have ever performed in an Oscar-bait or overtly exceptional role or on the other hand they might only have one top-notch Oscar-worthy performance to date; but nonetheless they are some of the most talented stars out there who have not yet been put on the spotlight by the Academy. Also, as a sidenote, I might be rather modern with my selections (keep in mind I am seventeen years old and my film expertise revolves generally around the last 30 or so years).

The Best of Never-Nominated Actresses

23. Jacqueline Bisset (Under the Volcano, Murder on the Orient Express)
22. Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies)
21. Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, I Heart Huckabees)
20. Embedth Davis (Check her out in: Schindler's List, Junebug)
19. Cameron Diaz (Check her out in: Being John Malkovich, There's Something About Mary)
18. Drew Barrymore (Check her out in: Riding in Cars with Boys, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind)
17. Claire Danes (Check her out in: Igby Goes Down, Romeo and Juliet, Shopgirl)
16. Mary-Louise Parker (Check her out in: The Client, Friend Green Tomatoes, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
15. Marilyn Monroe (Check her out in: Some Like It Hot, The Misfits)
14. Monica Bellucci (Check her out in: Irreversible, The Passion of the Christ)
13. Natasha McElhone (Check her out in: The Truman Show, Ronin, Mrs. Dalloway)
12. Audrey Tatou (Check her out in: Amélie, Dirty Pretty Things)
11. Madeline Stowe (Check her out in: 12 Monkeys, The Last of the Mohicans, Short Cuts)
10. Isabella Rossellini (Check her out in: Blue Velvet, Immortal Beloved)
9. Thandie Newton (Crash, W., Interview with the Vampire)
8. Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hudsucker Proxy, Dolores Claiborne, Road to Perdition)
7. Maggie Gyllenhaal (Check her out in: Secretary, SherryBaby, The Dark Knight)
6. Andie MacDowell (Check her out in: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sex Lies and Videotape, Short Cuts)
5. Maria Bello (Check her out in: A History of Violence, The Cooler, Thank You For Smoking)
4. Christina Ricci (Check her out in: Monster, Sleepy Hollow, The Opposite of Sex, The Addams Family)
3. Scarlett Johansson (Check her out in: Match Point, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation)
2. Charlotte Rampling (Check her out in: The Verdict, Swimming Pool)
1. Mia Farrow (Check her out in: Rosemary's Baby, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo)

Honorable Mentions:

Meg Ryan (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally)
Demi Moore (Ghost, G.I. Jane, St. Elmo's Fire)
Cybill Shephard (Taxi Driver, The Last Picture Show)


The Best of Never-Nominated Actors

23. Ray Liotta (See him in: GoodFellas, Narc, Field Of Dreams)
22. Guy Pearce (See him in: Memento, L.A. Confidential)
21. Jeff Daniels (See him in: The Squid and the Whale, The Purple Rose of Cairo)
20. John Goodman (See him in: The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona)
19. Antonio Banderas (See him in: The Mask of Zorro, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia)
18. Alan Rickman (See him in: Love Actually, Die Hard, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Prince of Thieves)
17. Christopher Plummer (See him in: The Insider, Syriana, Inside Man)
16. Jeff Goldblum (See him in: The Fly, The Big Chill, Igby Goes Down)
15. John Turturro (See him in: Quiz Show, O Brother Where Art Thou, Miller's Crossing)
14. Ewan McGregor (See him in: Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge, Black Hawk Down)
13. Steve Martin (See him in: Roxanne, Pennies From Heaven, All Of Me)
12. Danny Glover (See him in: The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon, The Royal Tenenbaums)
11. Richard Gere (Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman, Chicago)
10. Alfred Molina (See him in: Frida, Magnolia, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
9. John Cusack (See him in: The Grifters, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity)
8. Dennis Quaid (See him in: Far From Heaven, Great Balls of Fire, Breaking Away)
7. Kevin Bacon (See him in: The Woodsman, Mystic River, JFK, Apollo 13)
6. Steve Buscemi (See him in: Fargo, Ghost World, Reservoir Dogs)
5. Martin Sheen (See him in: Apocalypse Now, Badlands)
4. Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Man on the Moon, The Truman Show)
3. Donald Sutherland (See him in: Ordinary People, MASH, JFK)
2. Bruce Willis (See him in: Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense)
1. Gary Oldman (See him in: The Contender, Immortal Beloved, JFK, Sid and Nancy)

Honorable Mentions:

Matthew Broderick (See him in: Election, Glory, You Can Count On Me)
Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, Stigmata)
Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Nil By Mouth, The Departed)

What do you think? Feel free to comment if you think I left anybody out or you believe a different order would better suffice.

Welcome

Welcome to "Talking Movies"

Here you will find an array of often very opinionated and in-depth film discussion, from one point of view: mine. I'm seventeen years old, but I'm already an avid film watcher and analyst as my personal collection is nipping at the heels of 100 films. Feel free to comment with your opinions to the topic being discussed in each entry. Enjoy.