Profpointy
Legendary Member
A couple more candidates in no particular order:
Mainstream historic, or at least semi-historic narratives
Midway - the Charlton Heston/ Henry Fonda one obviously
Tora Tora Tora - outstanding film about the Pearl Harbour attack, even-handed showing the Japanese perspective too; the Jap scenes being directed by well-regarded Japanese directors
Battle of the River Plate - a straightforward narrative of the events
Enemy at the Gates - sometimes maligned but I though it excellent. OK doubtless not true in the details but aligned with real people and events
They were expendable - based on JFK's time serving on a torpedo boat
The Man who never was - about the use of a dead body to give credence to misinformation fed to the Nazis
Pure fiction war related films
Failsafe - Fonda again at his very best. Essentially the same plot as Strangelove but played straight: chilling and horrific
Away all boats - Geoff Chandler captains an amphibious assault ship in the pacific
Hell in the Pacific - Lee Marvin and the great Toshiro Mifuni (of Youjimbo and many other Samurai epics) are pilots on opposite sides who both find themselves washed up on the same desert island. An outstanding movie
and surely Casablanca, arguably one the greatest films ever made counts as a war film?
From those listed by others top spot for me would be a toss up between Ice Cold in Alex, River Kwai or Colone Blimp - all of which are easy 10/10 films
Mainstream historic, or at least semi-historic narratives
Midway - the Charlton Heston/ Henry Fonda one obviously
Tora Tora Tora - outstanding film about the Pearl Harbour attack, even-handed showing the Japanese perspective too; the Jap scenes being directed by well-regarded Japanese directors
Battle of the River Plate - a straightforward narrative of the events
Enemy at the Gates - sometimes maligned but I though it excellent. OK doubtless not true in the details but aligned with real people and events
They were expendable - based on JFK's time serving on a torpedo boat
The Man who never was - about the use of a dead body to give credence to misinformation fed to the Nazis
Pure fiction war related films
Failsafe - Fonda again at his very best. Essentially the same plot as Strangelove but played straight: chilling and horrific
Away all boats - Geoff Chandler captains an amphibious assault ship in the pacific
Hell in the Pacific - Lee Marvin and the great Toshiro Mifuni (of Youjimbo and many other Samurai epics) are pilots on opposite sides who both find themselves washed up on the same desert island. An outstanding movie
and surely Casablanca, arguably one the greatest films ever made counts as a war film?
From those listed by others top spot for me would be a toss up between Ice Cold in Alex, River Kwai or Colone Blimp - all of which are easy 10/10 films
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