THE WAR MOVIES

These are my movie recommendations, incomplete and in no particular order. They typically are not suitable for children. Assume a R rating for each one.



WAR MOVIES

Saving Private Ryan. A squad of soldiers are sent to retrieve a lost soldier whose three brothers had already died in the war. 3.5/5

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb. A satiric comedy about the Cold War and the militaristic paranoia it engendered. 5/5

Das Boot (Director's cut). German sailors in a submarine withstand the weather and the enemy in this outstandingly realistic portrayal. 5/5

Black hawk Down. Special Forces soldiers sent to capture rebel leaders become trapped and must fight their way out of Mogadishu, Somalia. 4/5

Jacob's Ladder. Psychodelic film about a Vietnam vet who is convinced he was experimented on during war. 3/5

Full Metal Jacket. Vietnam war film follows soldier through basic training and into The Nam. Stanley Kubrick film. 4/5

Platoon. A young man goes to Vietnam and joins a platoon that becomes like a second family. 5/5

Apocalypse Now. A special forces assassin travels up a river from Vietnam to Cambodia to kill a rogue colonel. 5/5

The Deer Hunter. Three friends go to Vietnam and the war changes them in different ways making their return home difficult. 4/5

Band of Brothers. The 101st airborne's story in WW2 from start to finish. Outstanding stories, cast, and film production make this film series the best war film ever. 5/5

Salvador. A fast-talking, end-of-the-road journalist goes to El Salvaddor to cover the civil war in the 80s. 3/5

Born on the Fourth of July. A young Tom Cruise goes to Vietnam and comes home disabled and confused. 3.5/5

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. A striking and moving documentary documenting letters sent to and from Nam. 3.5/5

The Empire of the Sun. The son of rich British parents becomes lost when Japan invades China in the late 30's and struggles to survive. 5/5

Schindler's List. A German citizen and war opportunist/profiteer seizes an opportunity to save the Jewish workers in his sweatshop during WW2. Spielberg film. 3.5/5

Paths of Glory. Three soldiers in the First World War are accused of cowardice, but their colonel insists on a proper trail and acts as their legal representative. Stanley Kubrick's first big feature film. Exquisite on all levels. 4/5

Patton. The story of the infamous American General as he leads his men from Africa to Italy and then Germany. 3.5/5

A Bridge Too Far. The story of the Allied attempt to secure the various bridges that give access to Germany efore the German Army blows them and halts the Allied advance. 3/5

Twelve O'Clock High. A WW2 story told from the persective of the British-based bomber crews that bombed Germany daily with high losses. 3.5/5

English Patient. A mysterious burn victim during WW2 becomes the center of intersecting stories. Inspired film from an inspired book, romantic and beautiful. 4/5

HISTORICAL ACTION

Lawrence of Arabia. A classic epic about a cartographer who emerges as a natural leader and is sent into Arabia by the British to rally the Arabs against the Turks. 4/5

Master and Commander. A 17th Century British Navy vessel is charged to find and destroy a larger, more powerful ship. 4.5/5

Gladiator. A general in the Roman Legion is framed and sold to slavers where he becomes a gladiator and waits for a chance to return too Rome. 4/5

Rob Roy. A scottish tribesman defies an English Lord bent on suppressing the populous. 4/5

Braveheart. William Wallace makes his life-mission to avenge his wife and push the English out of Scotland with the help of unified clans. 3.5/5

The Mission. A missionary converting aboriginies in the South American returns to his military past to defend the indians from conquistadors. 4/5

Kingdom of Heaven. A blacksmith, in the time of the crusades, is visited by the father he did not know but who is a noble headed to Jerusalem to defend it from Muslim armies. The smith follows his father. Liam Nielsen, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons.