When I was a tween I had a lot of friends who were really into World War II. They really liked looking over the battles and tanks and weapons, but when I asked them about the war’s history they couldn’t tell me much. So, when I was thirteen years old, I forced myself to read William L Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which started my teen career as an amateur military historian. As a result, I ended up watching a lot of war films. Here’s my list of the ten best war movies ever made!
Let me know what you think of this list. What are the best war movies in your opinion?
10 – Doctor Strangelove
Some would say this doesn’t count, that it’s a comedy, but this portrayal of the Air Force arm of the Nuclear Triad has been deemed fairly accurate. Tackling one of the most terrifying and morbid aspects of combat, nuclear war, by examining the moral, political, and psychological implications of thermonuclear warfare in a way that no other film or story has ever done. If nothing else, this movie is worth it for the performances of Peter Sellers, as not only British office Mandrake, but also the President and the off-kilter Doctor Strangelove. Sellers performance is much talked about, to the point where it overshadows the excellent performances of George C Scott, Slim Pickens, and Sterling Hayden.
9 – The Longest Day
From Generals to grunts, this movie epic replays the D-Day invasion in marvelous detail, with perspectives from all sides: The British, the Americans, the Germans, and even the free French. John Wayne at his best! Richard Burton at his best! Robert Mitchum commanding the forces at Omaha Beach! From the German Generals agonizing over details, to the beach commanders, to a lost paratrooper trying to find the fighting. A grand epic with sprawling battlefields and full detail before the age of CGI. Filmed on location where the actual battles took place, film crews uncovered an actual tank used in the invasion, and ended up using it in the film.
8 – Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is not really one, but two movies, and the real reason to see it is the first part which details bootcamp for a group of new Marine recruits during the Vietnam war. R. Lee Ermey gives one of the most remarkable acting performances in movie history as Sergeant Hartman, a performance that simply has to be seen to be believed. Even the audience snapped to attention when he barked orders! Ermey was originally supposed to be a consultant, not an actor in the film. Kubrick even let Ermey improvise most of his lines as he recalled his own days as a Marine recruit.
7 – Patton
The story of one of the most flamboyant and daring generals in US Military history, George C Scott was born to play the role of General George S Patton. This film details his command during World War II, from North Africa to the very end of the war in Germany. From his pursuit of glory, to his empathy for the soldiers under his command, to his bare faced cruelty and prejudice through his unbridled jingoism. Patton’s own daughter was stunned by the resemblance George C Scott had to her father, and Scott was not even the first actor considered for the role!
6 – Eurpoa, Europa
Based on the fantastic true story of Solomon Perel, a Jewish youngster who managed to elude capture in Nazi Germany by portraying himself to be, not only a German youth, but also by joining the Nazi Youth and eventually fighting in the war. It is one of the most harrowing and fascinating tales of the Second World war, a tale that one can hardly believe it is a true story. At the end, we see Perel himself, singing a Jewish folk song.
5 – Breaker Morant
Based on the true story of Australian officers brought before a “kangaroo court” during the Boer wars in South Africa. Their trial and convictions were not so much a matter of criminal prosecution as they were overt political acts to try and being about a truce in South Africa. Not just about war itself, but the complexities and conundrums faced by officers and soldiers in the face of war and fighting for their lives. The gray areas of morality, the choices and actions taken by soldiers during wartime, and the conundrums of prosecuting soldiers for murder during a war.
4 – The Bridge on the River Kwai
A decent into the jungle: The story of British officers interred in a Japanese prisoner of war camp who go from being forced to build a bridge to being led to build the project by their very own commanding officer. William Holden plays the American who manages to escape, and then reluctantly goes back on a mission to destroy the very thing Alex Guiness’s character was trying to create, with his chilling final line, “My God, what have I done?” One of William Holden’s most compelling performances holds up this move about war and the madness it brings.
3 – All Quiet on the Western Front
One of the original anti-war films, showcasing the struggles, horrors, and moral dilemmas of the common foot soldier. Based on Erich Remarque’s novel about soldiers fighting in the First World War, this film is a triumph of early cinema, as it delves not just into the horror of war, but into the personal lives of the soldiers fighting it. From the plot to the characters to the special effects and cinematic work, this film was far ahead of its time. A film classic that’s required viewing for anyone who wishes to be cinema literate.
2 – Das Boot
An American submarine sailor told me that Das Boot is the most realistic submarine movie ever made, and it shows. Not just the harrowing battles, but also the life and culture of submarine sailors. The intensity and detail is virtually unmatched in other war films. Das Boot is a film from Germany that came about when the subject of World War II was still very much a touchy subject for Germany. Even so, the film never brings itself to lord over the moral quandaries of the Second World War and instead simply shows us the lives of submarine sailors fighting in the Atlantic.
1 – Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Copolla said Apocalypse Now wasn’t about Vietnam, it was Vietnam. They were a bunch of Americans in a foreign land with too much equipment and too much money and they took to long to achieve what they set out to do. From a village actually getting blown to pieces, (No CGI back then,) to actual footage of the star of the movie having a nervous breakdown, the film captures the chaos and insanity of war in a way that no other war movie before or since has ever done.
Honorable mentions: Paths of Glory, Battleground, The Hurt Locker, The Great Escape, Downfall
