Best War Film - You decide

With any war movies I prefer the ones that focus on the human perspective rather than the ones that have large battle scenes and people dying, etc. My main interest is in how the people who had to endure the war survived on a day-to-day basis, rather than in learning about a phenomenon as a whole, i.e. the Holocaust.

That said, movies like The Pianist are interesting, but one movie I really loved was Mrs. Miniver (1942). Call it a propaganda piece, but I think it touched many people who saw it, since it dealt with a regular middle-class family in England who were affected by the war.

Another great movie is The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), which was actually by the same director, William Wyler. It deals with the post-war period when the soldiers return home and have to force themselves to adjust back to "normal" life. It was very well-executed and the acting was superb.

 

Some rare ones there I will check them out. :thumb:

For human perspective in spades on the war from the British angle this is also a gem:
A Canterbury Tale
1944

 

Wow, I think we watched a part of that film during our British Literature class. So it imitates the outline of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", but it actually takes place in the early 1900s?

 

Lol no it takes place during wartime in southern England, click on the link ! (in red)
:ehm:
:lol:

 

I did! :lol: Oh, I didn't read the synopsis, just the stuff that was on that page. So it does take place during the 20th century. Just looking at the title you would think that it takes place during the time of Chaucer!

 

"Pearl Harbour" is all time best in my opinion.The picturisation of the war scene is just superb.And we can't forget "Saving the private Ryan".

 

My favorites are Tora, Tora, Tora and Patton. I love the closing line in Tora, Tora, Tora where the Japanese commander says something along the line of, "I'm afraid we may have awakened a sleeping giant." Patton is great because he is my favorite WW II personality. I often wonder how he would deal with the our war on terrorism.

 

well, i have not seen this movie but have heard a lot about it. I have watched conspiracy and it was really a wonderful movie. I also like pearl harbour.

 

I used to be really critical of the movie Pearl Harbor (the one with Ben Affleck in it) but after seeing it and realizing that the director wanted to portray human relations in the movie, I backed off. However, in my humble opinion, I still think Tora, Tora, Tora is one of the best movies made about Pearl Harbor. For the era that it was made, there were some major stars in it, too.

 

Just saw das Untergang (Downfall) again. What a truly great film:thumb:

 

Wow, too many to choose from, but those that come to mind are

Battleground, Guns of Navarone, Operation Pacific. I've seen so many.

 

[HR][/HR]

Good choice LR, also welcome to war44 ... :thumb:

 

Thank you for the welcome.Among my favorite WWII films

are many dealing with special operations, espionage, and submarines. Among my favorite films is one that technically might not be considered a "war" film, although I do. Foreign Correspondent. 13 rue Madeleine, Cloak and Dagger, Counterfeit Traitor also come to mind.

 

The Longest Day, has to be my favourite, and probably the one i have watched the most! :thumb:

 

Not just for WWII but a few of my favorites.

The Scarlet Coat w/ Cornel Wilde, John Dehner, Goerge Sanders and John McIntire. This is set during the Revolutionary war and is pretty truthful to the real events. This movie is now available on DvD as of last month.

Decision before Dawn w/ Richard Basehart, Oskar Warner, Hans-Christian Blech, O.E. Hasse, Hildegard Knef, Gary Merrill and Wilfrid Seyfarth. Also has the ONLY appearance in filmdom of Klaus Kinski--that I can stand. He is the whining soldier--near the beginning of the movie. This movie is about as correct as you can get--everything in it is the real deal from the medals, slang, locations-rubble--vehicles-weapons--and those who portray German soldiers in it--all were German soldiers in WWII. This is the first movie I ever saw where you see my all time most favorite rifle used--which is the MP-43 (Sturmgewehr 44) the other being briefly seen in: Battle of the Bulge.

Dunkirk w/ Sir John Mills, Lord Richard Attenborough and Bernard Lee.

Sahara w/ Bogie, Dan Duryea, Lloyd Bridges, Kurt Krueger, Louis Mercier, and Bruce Bennett.

This is just a few ;-))