Aesop corrects the list posted by Art Of Manliness. His is a good list. I offer these quibbles because, well, you know how I am ...
Glory. What I think is best about this film is how the Fort Wagner scene captures the how the troops knew they were likely doomed, but fought anyway. This scene transcends the obvious "racism bad, mkay?" that hits you between the eyes all through the film - and for once the black soldiers were just soldiers. And yeah, Denzel was pretty awesome.
Stripes. Comedy doesn't get any respect in Hollywood (scan through the list of Bet Picture winners if you don't believe me). But the Queen Anne's Drill scene in this film makes it the best military comedy filk ever made.
Band Of Brothers. Not a film, but made for TV - but simply the best made for TV military show ever made. It's so epic that people make Lego stop action scenes from it. Srlsy:
And if we are talking "epic", we need a shout out to John Banner for his portrayal of Sgt. Schultz in Hogan's Heroes which has become part of the modern vernacular. Sure, it's TV and it's comedy, but it's still epic.
As I said, these are quibbles and you should go read Aesop's list. I agree 100% with his choice of Zulu as #1 - and ASM826 posted a great review of that film last year.
Go, read.
UPDATE 30 May 2021 15:01: Dwight weighs in. Well worth a read.
UPDATE 30 May 2021 23:09: Adam Piggott also weighs in, and brings in some films that others hadn't. I have to agree that Ran should be on the list. And comedy gets if not respect, then at least a head nod from him with Kelly's Heroes.
I've never understood the fascination with "Apocolypse Now."
ReplyDeleteWe like Band of Brothers so much we wore out the DVD box set. We went for Blu-Ray on the replacement.
ReplyDeleteI like stripes because it's set at Ft. Knox, KY. I went through basic and AIT there, when it was the home of the Armor, and it brings back fond and not so fond memories.
ReplyDeleteOh, "Kelly's Heroes" is another I can watch over and over and over again. The action is good, the music is good, the actors are good, and it is both funny and sad and mad.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I think "Apoc-Now" is like "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." One of those things I don't get because I don't get stoned.
It's as good a list as any I suppose. I seem to remember some vets and former POWs being hacked right off about Hogan and Colonel Klink making fun of their war time experiences and circumstances. It caused quite a stir in my community and us kids didn't understand why these ornery old bastids were coming out against (what we saw) as a really great show. By the time I was old enough to understand they were beginning to die off.
ReplyDeleteThe ones in my neighbourhood would watch the shows out of Hollywood and either laugh or snort with disgust. What I wouldn't give to be able to talk to those men and women one more time as an adult. So many of them took their stories with them when they left.
Freeholder, The Queen Of The World was at Ft. Knox and has the same sort of reaction as you.
ReplyDelete;-)
Borepatch, if you post a list as "Best Of", you will inevitably get opinions. That said, I did not find the original list (or Aesop's, for that matter) to be terribly objectionable. I do think that one of the biases was the fact that they were largely WW II based (with a minor stop at WW I and The American Civil War). We now define war as "modern combat", but in some meaningful ways pre-modern warfare was different.
ReplyDeleteBattleground (1949) should be on any "best war flick" list.
ReplyDelete"Battleground" was a product of Dore Schary who fought to have it made.
ReplyDeleteThe studio said that the war was too fresh and no one wanted to relive it.
Men like my dad took their family to see it. They couldn't talk about the war, but they could show it. My dad and a friend of mine (who was also at the attack on Pearl!) were both at the Bulge and said the movie was realistic.
Band of Brothers seemed to gave lifted scenes from it.
One of my favorite war movies is They Were Expendable. Says it all.
Das Boot is my #1 pick, but my reason is personal. I was a submariner and Das Boot is the only movie I've seen that even came close to getting life on a submarine correct.
ReplyDeleteDas Boot is accurate, no question. I'd vote for Saving Private Ryan. We took some WWII vets to see it in NOVA and to a man, they said it was 'accurate' and brought back memories they didn't want to remember. Two of them were at Normandy on D-Day and hit Omaha Beach.
ReplyDelete"Away All Boats" was the first movie to accurately portray the Central Pacific war, and thus, endures itself in my heart.
ReplyDeleteSo many to chose from. So many not to chose from.
Fun to speculate and discuss and debate about, though.
Stripes. "And that's a fact, Jack!"
ReplyDeleteHogan's Heroes was great, too.
So many to choose from.
ReplyDeleteJadotville - "We fired every bullet twice!"
Tora! Tora! Tora! - The first major movie to be sympathetic to both sides.
We Were Soldiers - "Good morning, Sergeant Major!" Make sure you watch the outtakes.
Away All Boats - The book is still better.
Kelly's Heroes - "50 feet of bridge I can get almost anywhere."
All Quiet on the Western Front - How to make an anti-war war movie.
1984 - What, you don't think this is a war movie? You're living it right now, you know.
No one mentioned "The Great Escape" ?? Yeesh ...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/
And then there's this:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/
Um, Brad, check your internet connection.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Escape was on both lists.
Classics of that caliber always rise to the top.
Guilty as charged .. didn't look.
DeleteFor those of you who think I gave your favorite flick short shrift, I did a years' worth of Movie Of The Day back when, and darn near every war movie mentioned was among those flick picks.
ReplyDeleteBut when you have to get down to just the best ten, it gets a wee bit more dicey.
McChuck - as to "Tora, Tora, Tora", I totally agree, and how could I forget it. So much better than that dogsqueeze "Pearl Harbor." One of the best, and now I'll have to bore the wife and watch it.
ReplyDeleteLove all of those.
ReplyDelete