It’s Veteran’s Day today – the day we remember and honor soldiers and sailors that serve and have served in the military in defense of the United States of America and other countries.
I thought it would be appropriate to put together a list of classic war movies to commemorate the holiday…
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This is by no means a complete list, just some of my favorites and those that came to mind – feel free to add your favorites and nudge my memory over any obvious ones I may have forgotten in the comments below.
Casablanca (1942) – Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman, a classic if there ever was one: Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II, an American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications – and woe unto anyone who thinks of doing a remake of this film!
Flying Tigers (1942) – John Wayne leads a band of American Mercenaries called upon by China to help fight the Japanese two years before Pearl Harbour.
Midway (1976) – All star “real men” cast: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Robert Mitchum in dramatization of the battle that turned out to be the turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) – John Wayne stars in this version of the battle of Iwo Jima.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – William Holden and Alec Guiness (yes, Obi-Wan) in a story about a British colonel who co-operates with the Japanese to oversee his men’s construction of a railway bridge for their captors – while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Caine Mutiny (1954) – Humphrey Bogart in an unusual role as a US Naval captain who shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes his ship, causing his first officer to relieve him of command and face court martial for mutiny.
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – This AWESOME fictional story of a US Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers in World War II stars Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas and other fantastic actors.
Flying Leathernecks (1951) – John Wayne leads “The Wildcats” squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.
From Here to Eternity (1953) – Another star-studded classic with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra. A private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit’s team, while his captain’s wife and second in command are falling in love.
The Great Escape (1963) – Another “must see” WWII film. It stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn as members of several hundred Allied POWs who plan a mass escape from a German POW camp.
Mister Roberts (1955) – Henry Fonda was brilliant in this film starring alongside James Cagney and a very funny Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for his role in this WWII semi-comedy.
Patton (1970) – Probably the crown jewel of George C. Scott’s acting career where he portrays the most famous U.S. General, ever. The film earned 7 Oscars including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture (back in the day when the Oscars actually meant something).
Stalag 17 (1953) -Directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss and Peter Graves. When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Where Eagles Dare (1968) – Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood as allied agents who stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding an American General prisoner… but that’s not all that’s really going on.
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) – Directed by Robert Wise, starring Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden and Don Rickles (yes, THAT Don Rickles) about a U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
The Guns of Navarone (1961) – Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn: A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) – A dramatization of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that allowed it to happen.
What are your favorites? What do you think should be on this list?
Thanks to IMDB.com for help in researching and synopses.
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67 Comments
Okay.”The Longest Day”was how the Normandy Invasion was seen through the eyes of both the Nazis and The Allies.
Granted,FX circa 1962 are a lot different than today’s FX!!!
I rented”Valkyrie”this weekend.Surprisingly,it was very good.
Had Von Stauffenberg;Rommel;Beck and all the others involved
in Valkyrie had risen up against Hitler sooner,maybe the evil
of Hitler coulda been nipped in the bud!!!
Surprisingly,Tom Cruise was very beleivable as Von Stauffenberg.
A good book to read is”Fox on the Rhine”by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson.
A great book in the”Alternitive History”Category without getting into the”Lord of the Rings”Nerdery!!
The plot is this:Operation Valkyrie has succeeded and Hitler has been turned into a Big Mac for Satan!!
However,not all the head Nazis have surrendered or caught,
and Himmler takes over as Fuhrer and instigates a seperate peace with Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Meantime,Rommel and Patton meet and the German Army joins forces with the Western Allies-The US;UK and France-to battle the Waffen SS and The Soviet Union.
Really suspensful and would make a great movie!!!
(Are you listening Sony;Warners;Paramount;Fox;Dreamworks
and Universal??).
Also,this summer,Quentin Tarantino directs and Brad Pitt stars in”Inglorious Basterds”.
It’s a”Dirty Dozen”style movie about how a group of Jewish GI’s are trained and dropped into occupied France to kill Nazis!!!
A couple of overlooked films about the Civil War:”Gods and Generals”and”Cold Mountain”.
Generally derided on it’s release six years ago,the prequel to”Gettysburg”was a very good movie about the lead up to the War Between The States.
And it treated both sides fairly.
Unfortunately,groups like the Southrern Anti Poverty Law Center screamed bloody murder over it because it treated
Robert E.Lee and Stonewall Jackson with respect!!
Now look;while I’m a Great Great Grandson of two Confederates,I’m neither a Yahoo Poser or a White Supremacist!!!
Yes,Slavery was wrong!!!But in all fairness,while most Northerners were opposed to Slavery,quite a number of them
weren’t big on equal rights to both freedmen and slaves!!!
And while the SAPLC has done some notable work in the field
of civil rights,sometimes they tend to go charging after boogeymen rather than confront the real evils!!!
“Cold Mountain”was kinda long,but it treated the South with respect showing how Mountain Southerners were divided between
joining the Confederacy and remaining in the Union as well as showing how both Union Troops and Southern Home Guards
could be cruel!!
Plus Renee Zelwegger was a hoot as the Rock Chunkin’;Shotgun Totin’Hillbilly Gal who stood up to both sides and took Nicole Kidman under her wing!!
And here’s a few movies about the Buffalo Soldiers-the all black 9th&10th Cavalry in the west:
“Sergeant Rutledge”.A forgotten classic by John Ford with Woody Guthrie as a Cavalryman charged with Rape and Murder
and Desertion in the Arizona Territory in the 1880’s.
“Buffalo Soldiers”.A made for TV biopic from Cable’s TNT
about the 9th&10th Cavalry in West Texas and New Mexico
in the late 1870’s/early 1880’s with Danny Glover.
Oh yeah!!How could I leave out these underrated gems by Robert Mitchum:”The Enemy Below”and”The Hunters”!!!
“The Hunters”is an underrated saga about F86 Jet Jockeys in the Korean War.
Sorta like”Bridges at Toko Ri”but with a happier ending.
“The Enemy Below”.A very suspenseful cat and mouse game between a Nazi UBoat Commander(Curt Jurgens.Who ironically was imprisoned in a Concentration Camp for opposing the Nazis)and his American Destroyer Counterpart(Robert Mitchum,who ironically got drafted at the very end of WW2)!!
I’ve got em’both on DVD!!!
Does anyone know the title of a good movie, I believe Tab Hunter was a British sailor who was captured in South America on a German warship, escaped with a 30 06 and shot at Germans trying to repair their ship, and ‘Tabs’ actions delayed the repairs and the whole British Navy responded to help. It might be ‘Empire of the King’
Actually,You Might Be Thinking of “Sailor of the KIng”with Jeff Hunter or “Murphy’s War”with Peter O’Toole.
Hey! What about 1942? I think that’s a good war movie
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