[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by OhioBlue

Every one of my top 5 has been mentioned several times over already in this thread, except #2:

Tae Guk Gi (aka The Brotherhood of War)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386064/

Seriously this Korean film impacted me in a way that only Saving Private Ryan duplicated. (That's my clear #1, whether or not it's a fake story). It's a story of two brothers fighting in the Korean War. Wonderful cinematography, compelling human element, emotionally powerful. If you like war movies, give this one a try--you won't be disappointed.

If you watch it, or have watched it, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. I think it's the best war movie that 99% of Americans have never seen.


A couple others that may not meet the definition of a typical 'war movie' but that were great movies about WWII:
Schindler's List
The Pianist

And some others that are good but didn't make my list:
Where Eagles Dare
Guns of Navarone
Force Ten from Navarone (all three by the Tom Clancy of yesteryear, Alistair MacLean. A fantastic author and quick reads)

And the best and original submarine movie--Das Boot.

Also, as for Ran, I'd say that it qualifies as a war movie based solely on the sheer scope of those battle scenes. Incredible, and no CGI there. Good story too, of course Shakespeare had something to do with that and Kurosawa put his stamp on it.

I'll have to check that one out on Netflix.

I'm surprised that no one has said Red Dawn. I'm always surprised to hear how campy people think that one is, but I (we) are at just the age where we are old enough to remember growing up during the cold war and I remember very distinctly being an elementary school child who would look up at the sky and see contrails and worry that maybe nuclear weapons had been launched, and worrying about what would happen to me (growing up near DC) if Russia attacked us.

Red Dawn came at a time that it perfectly captured what I was worried about and when I watch it it brings be right back to that age. People who are too young to remember living under that threat won't quite understand it, the same way my generation can only understand Vietnam intellectually but not emotionally. I liked Rocky 4 quite a bit for some of the same reasons.