• Well one of the things I encounter quite often is a confusion about liking a movie or enjoying a movie and the movie actually being any good. I’m not suggesting that my opinion for example carry more weight than yours or any one elses. But it seemed an interesting exercise to create a list and a list should have some finer level criteria for inclusion.

    I won’t try to deny that “Inglorious Basterds” is a fine film but does it really belong on the same list as “The Longest Day” or “Das Boot” or even a far more inferior film like “Valkyrie” when we talk of Best WWII Film? Which begs the question of what would constitute Best WWII Film in the first place?


  • So giving this more consideration I don’t know that I can make a good case for excluding “Basterds.” It just for me doesn’t ‘fit’ which isn’t very objective.  :roll:

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    @frimmel:

    Well one of the things I encounter quite often is a confusion about liking a movie or enjoying a movie and the movie actually being any good. I’m not suggesting that my opinion for example carry more weight than yours or any one elses. But it seemed an interesting exercise to create a list and a list should have some finer level criteria for inclusion.

    I won’t try to deny that “Inglorious Basterds” is a fine film but does it really belong on the same list as “The Longest Day” or “Das Boot” or even a far more inferior film like “Valkyrie” when we talk of Best WWII Film? Which begs the question of what would constitute Best WWII Film in the first place?

    I don’t know the answer to that question, I believe that it should be established if the list will be selected on the ability of capturing historic accuracy, capturing the human experience of war, or capturing the glory of battle. There may also be something to be said about directorial style and if it is simply entertaining enough. Inglorious Basterds was arguably the most entertaining WWII film ever, but I agree that alone won’t make the cut. Is it possible to name the greatest WWII film? Should we make brackets and vote? Maybe we should start with a list of films that would be a crime if left off. I don’t know……

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    @frimmel:

    So giving this more consideration I don’t know that I can make a good case for excluding “Basterds.” It just for me doesn’t ‘fit’ which isn’t very objective.  :roll:

    A lot of people feel the same way about the thin red line, when I first saw it in the theater it was only a month after I saw Saving private Ryan. Tough movie to follow if your the thin red line and incomparable because of their style and messages. Need less to say I was very disappointed, I labeled it a long winded artsy fartsy waste of my ticket money, but when I watched it for the second time only 1 year ago, I was absolutely blown away. Why Nick Nolte didn’t win an oscar for his roll I have no idea, oh right…… Private Ryan.


  • No brackets. Then you’d have “Stalag 17” up against “The Great Escape” and “The Longest Day” up against “Saving Private Ryan” and IMNSHO that just won’t do.

    I think we’re doing okay with just trying to get folks’ top 5 to 10 for the time being. So…

    Das Boot
    Patton
    The Longest Day
    The Best Years of Their Lives
    A Bridge To Far
    Letters From Iwo Jima
    The Bridge on the River Kwai
    Stalag 17
    Schindler’s List


  • Nolte was the best thing in “The Thin Red Line.” I need to take the time to watch that again. I was disappointed with it as well. Individual parts tended to be pretty spectacular but as a whole it didn’t ‘work.’ I don’t consider it ‘best’ but I wouldn’t say it doesn’t ‘fit’ the same way “Basterds” doesn’t fit.

  • '10

    @frimmel:

    Well one of the things I encounter quite often is a confusion about liking a movie or enjoying a movie and the movie actually being any good. I’m not suggesting that my opinion for example carry more weight than yours or any one elses. But it seemed an interesting exercise to create a list and a list should have some finer level criteria for inclusion.

    I won’t try to deny that “Inglorious Basterds” is a fine film but does it really belong on the same list as “The Longest Day” or “Das Boot” or even a far more inferior film like “Valkyrie” when we talk of Best WWII Film? Which begs the question of what would constitute Best WWII Film in the first place?

    I posted my choices based on at least some degree of realism.


  • saving private ryan or enemy at the gates

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    @450thMSAF:

    saving private ryan or enemy at the gates

    In my opinion, they are two in the same. I would watch either one right now.

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    Right now, it seems to be between Das boot and The longest day.


  • I didn’t see anyone mention the ‘Dirty Dozen’

    Too many movies to group together into one list.

    What about documentaries/propaganda like Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight”
    Just bought those DVD’s from Borders for like $4.


  • @axis_roll:

    I didn’t see anyone mention the ‘Dirty Dozen’

    Too many movies to group together into one list.

    I love “The Dirty Dozen” but it is far from the best WWII film I’ve ever seen.

    What about documentaries/propaganda like Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight”
    Just bought those DVD’s from Borders for like $4.

    I think for our exercise we should stick with dramatizations and leave off anything that is full on propaganda (could “Inglorious Basterds” be considered propaganda?) or straight up documentary.

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    @frimmel:

    @axis_roll:

    I didn’t see anyone mention the ‘Dirty Dozen’

    Too many movies to group together into one list.

    I love “The Dirty Dozen” but it is far from the best WWII film I’ve ever seen.

    What about documentaries/propaganda like Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight”
    Just bought those DVD’s from Borders for like $4.

    I think for our exercise we should stick with dramatizations and leave off anything that is full on propaganda (could “Inglorious Basterds” be considered propaganda?) or straight up documentary.

    I agree.


  • inglorious bastards sucked


  • Two movies (not previously mentioned) which rate well on the realism scale are “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” (1944) and “Battleground” (1949) – coincidentally, both starring the same actor, Van Johnson. “Battleground”, although it depicts a fictional company of the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge, is for the most part very accurate from a historical point of view.  “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” was based on the memoirs of Ted Lawson, the Doolittle Raid pilot played by Johnson; Lawson worked closely with the production crew, which further helped its accuracy.  (As a contrast, compare this film to “Destination Tokyo”, with Cary Grant, made in 1943, which also deals with the Doolittle Raid.  Very entertaining and watchable, but 99% fictional and full of nonsense and inaccuracies.  For example, the references to dates and events made in the film would only make sense if the Doolittle Raid had occurred in 1943 rather than 1942!)


  • @Young:

    I also liked fat boy and little man, with Paul Newman.

    “Fat Man and Little Boy”, actually.

    “Sahara” (1943), with Humphrey Bogart, is another wartime classic.  It was based on a Soviet film (The Thirteen) which was itself based on the film The Lost Patrol (originally made in Britain 1929, remade in the U.S. in 1934).  “Sahara” was itself remade under the same title in 1995, and as “Last of the Comanches” in 1953.  I haven’t seen any of the earlier or later versions, but I’ve watched the Bogart one a dozen times.

  • Moderator

    Non Military would be Schindler’s List. That one is one of my favorites of all time. As far as War (historically accurate), I’m going with The Longest Day.

    GG


  • Any list of this kind is highly subjective, especially given the huge number of WWII films out there.  Breaking the question down into subject categories simplifies the problem a bit, though it still means making difficult choices.  Some examples of category nominations (using films not already mentioned)

    Best submarine movie:

    • The Enemy Below (1957)
    • Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)

    Best convoy / escort movie:

    • The Cruel Sea (1953)
    • Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

    Best film about the responsibilities of command (in both cases, of a bomber group):

    • Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
    • Command Decision (1948)

    Best film about planning and executing an “impossible mission”:

    • The Dam Busters (1954)
    • The Guns of Navarone (1961)

    Best film about the Resistance:

    • The Train (1964)

    Most frightening Invasion-of-England film:

    • Went The Day Well?

  • how bout Memphis Belle?


  • @450thMSAF:

    how bout Memphis Belle?

    The original or the remake?

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