War Movies

War Movies - picking the absolute best from the greatest hits

- It would be great if you could leave a quick comment about the flicks you voted for—or at least tell us which ones made your cut-

The whole point here is war movies, or anything else that touches on conflict in any way. Naturally, I’ve put together a poll filled with tons of war films—most of them legendary titles that basically defined cinematic history
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War cinema covers a lot of ground: we've got the all-time classics, intense dramas, action-packed adventures, stories about POWs... you name it. I went through all those different angles to grab the heavy hitters, and even some gems that might not always top everyone's list but definitely hold their own. Basically, if it involves combat or the chaos of war, it’s probably in this poll
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You can select multiple options here—meaning you don't have to just pick one. Since there are so many different sub-genres, I figured it makes sense to let you vote for several.



I did my best to pull in all the heavyweight titles by cross-referencing Wikipedia and IMDb so I wouldn't miss any essentials. If I did happen to leave something massive out, don't go too hard on me—just vote for what's on the list, because I'm certain there's plenty of greatness to choose from
. Thanks for understanding beforehand.

Here’s what I voted for:

A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Platoon (1986)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Behind Enemy Lines (2001) — actually, I clicked this one by mistake—I meant to go with Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan instead.
Spielberg's The Pianist (2002)
The Rise of Evil (2003)
Downfall (2004)

In my book, these are the absolute favorites when it comes to war movies, which makes them the best, period.

Tsk, tsk, tsk... wait, where are The Guns of Navarone?

Look, I’m just throwing my vote in for Where Eagles Dare—it’s an absolute war classic, and honestly, most of these newer flicks can barely touch it. And, just to keep this debate short, let's not even get started on Das Boot, U-571, The Heroes of Telemachus, or, if we're feeling generous, The Wild Geese. These modern war movies, like Pearl Harbor, just don't have that certain chemistry you need for a rewatch...

Where are they? Apocalypse Now, Cross of Iron, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory, Brotherhood of War.....? Every single one of those is five times better than Pearl Harbor, Defiant, or even Tears of the Sun?

Out of the options provided, Where Eagles Dare wins hands down.
If the others were actually on the table (instead of just being 😠), I'd probably cast my vote for Full Metal Jacket or Taegukgi.

What kind of mindless & ridiculous polls are these? 🤷 Honestly, I’m feeling pretty deeply offended by the fact that you didn't include Paths of Glory on this 😕

How about Empire of the Sun?
The Bridge on the River Kwai?
Midway?
Flags of Our Fathers?
Full Metal Jacket?
Apocalypse Now?
Good Morning, Vietnam!
The Hurt Locker?
Taegukgi?

If you haven't seen them yet, do yourself a favor and just click here to check them out.

Dennis Doyle3 said:Where are they? Apocalypse Now, Cross of Iron, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory, Brotherhood of War.....? Every single one of those is five times better than Pearl Harbor, Defiant, or even Tears of the Sun?

I have to agree. This is a poorly constructed poll, and I refuse to participate.

goldenhound32 said:I have to agree. This is a poorly constructed poll, and I refuse to participate.

No offense intended toward our esteemed poll-maker, but honestly, these should probably be flagged as spam and wiped from this PDF by default. On top of that, the very first post in this thread is pure misinformation: The poll includes every single movie related to war and combat. You could certainly make a case that they aren't... ☕

p.s. here's some cause and effect for you: since Anderson/monitor isn't doing anything to actually shut down the servers, the constant influx of these pointless threads just makes the whole situation worse. It's not like I have money to throw around—far from it—but I sometimes feel like asking Anderson: is this forum even for sale? 🤷 There would be plenty of takers, and at least the service might actually function properly again. ☕

21 votes in just about 12 hours—which tells me people actually dig this poll. Look, let's cut the off-topic nonsense; if you've got nothing useful to say regarding the actual topic, don't just bark into the void.

What’s eating you, Christian Taylor3? 😕 You not feeling the poll? Then why are you even hanging out here? 🤷 If you think you can do better, go ahead and start a better one, but personally, I think this is great. 21 forum members voted, which means they're fine with it. If you like it, vote. If you don't, just move on. It's not that deep.

Whenever I see a thread I'm not interested in, I just skip it. I don't bother annoying the person who took the time to post it.

We aren't handing out Oscars or some prestigious award here—it's not like the world is going to stage a protest because Full Metal Jacket didn't make the cut. The whole point is just to have a good time. To include every single movie, like Full Metal Jacket, the poll would need to have 100 entries. I narrowed it down to 29 by picking a decent mix of war classics, dramas, and adventures. Obviously, you can't please everyone, but I really don't get the people who show up just to bark like dogs trying to sabotage the fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot—I should probably add battles from Mexico, and I totally missed checking out movies from Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the US, Canada, Spain, and every other country on the planet. Since they probably all have great war movies too, maybe I'll just throw them all in and make the poll 500 movies long. Ha ha ha! 👍

And the absolute kicker, the funniest part of this whole mess, is that Pearl Harbor is actually leading the pack with 11 votes 🤣🤣

Kate Harris4 said:21 votes in just about 12 hours—which tells me people actually dig this poll. Look, let's cut the off-topic nonsense; if you've got nothing useful to say regarding the actual topic, don't just bark into the void.

What’s eating you, Christian Taylor3? 😕 You not feeling the poll? Then why are you even hanging out here? 🤷 If you think you can do better, go ahead and start a better one, but personally, I think this is great. 21 forum members voted, which means they're fine with it. If you like it, vote. If you don't, just move on. It's not that deep.

Whenever I see a thread I'm not interested in, I just skip it. I don't bother annoying the person who took the time to post it.

We aren't handing out Oscars or some prestigious award here—it's not like the world is going to stage a protest because Full Metal Jacket didn't make the cut. The whole point is just to have a good time. To include every single movie, like Full Metal Jacket, the poll would need to have 100 entries. I narrowed it down to 29 by picking a decent mix of war classics, dramas, and adventures. Obviously, you can't please everyone, but I really don't get the people who show up just to bark like dogs trying to sabotage the fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot—I should probably add battles from Mexico, and I totally missed checking out movies from Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the US, Canada, Spain, and every other country on the planet. Since they probably all have great war movies too, maybe I'll just throw them all in and make the poll 500 movies long. Ha ha ha! 👍

I disagree. If we were truly seeing a consensus, I’d expect at least 50 votes within a 12-hour window to call it a success.

Come on, let's stick to the topic. If you don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion, there's no need to just ramble.

I am not rambling; I am providing specific reasons why I believe this poll is fundamentally flawed.

Donna Gray4 said:And the absolute kicker, the funniest part of this whole mess, is that Pearl Harbor is actually leading the pack with 11 votes 🤣🤣

That is spot on.🤣

goldenhound32 said:I disagree. If we were truly seeing a consensus, I’d expect at least 50 votes within a 12-hour window to call it a success.

Come on, let's stick to the topic. If you don't have anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion, there's no need to just ramble.

I am not rambling; I am providing specific reasons why I believe this poll is fundamentally flawed.

Even 50 is a low bar if we're trying to round up to 100. 👍😂

I'm looking at the trend here... 🤣 Look, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I guess—but that's exactly why I'm saying run for the hills, folks. Don't bother voting; this poll is an absolute disaster. 😂

Kate Harris4 said:21 votes in just about 12 hours—which tells me people actually dig this poll. Look, let's cut the off-topic nonsense; if you've got nothing useful to say regarding the actual topic, don't just bark into the void.

What’s eating you, Christian Taylor3? 😕 You not feeling the poll? Then why are you even hanging out here? 🤷 If you think you can do better, go ahead and start a better one, but personally, I think this is great. 21 forum members voted, which means they're fine with it. If you like it, vote. If you don't, just move on. It's not that deep.

Whenever I see a thread I'm not interested in, I just skip it. I don't bother annoying the person who took the time to post it.

We aren't handing out Oscars or some prestigious award here—it's not like the world is going to stage a protest because Full Metal Jacket didn't make the cut. The whole point is just to have a good time. To include every single movie, like Full Metal Jacket, the poll would need to have 100 entries. I narrowed it down to 29 by picking a decent mix of war classics, dramas, and adventures. Obviously, you can't please everyone, but I really don't get the people who show up just to bark like dogs trying to sabotage the fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot—I should probably add battles from Mexico, and I totally missed checking out movies from Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the US, Canada, Spain, and every other country on the planet. Since they probably all have great war movies too, maybe I'll just throw them all in and make the poll 500 movies long. Ha ha ha! 👍

Hey, Jack Harper, Nobody. Look, I’m not telling you to stop posting those polls of yours, and honestly, nobody here is actually coming after you for it. At the same time, I think I have every right to point out that this latest poll is just completely pointless, totally biased, and frankly, pretty stupid. And just to be clear, I’m talking about the poll itself, not you. 🙂 It really reminds me of all the recent nonsense from those PR agencies running interference during this whole presidential election race, especially with all the manipulation they pull behind the scenes. By the way, I actually went through some of your recent polls—not because I care that much, but mostly because the movie titles you listed were actually accurate. Don't get me wrong, though; this particular poll feels like pure manipulation, just an attempt to force your own specific taste onto everyone else. In fact, I even noticed yesterday that the very first post in this thread said something along the lines of: So, that’s the whole lineup of war movies we've got to work with. You'll just have to pick from what's on the list.... 😕 Then you went ahead and deleted it—or rephrased it, I guess. 🤷)

Dennis Doyle3 said:Where are they? Apocalypse Now, Cross of Iron, Full Metal Jacket, Paths of Glory, Brotherhood of War.....? Every single one of those is five times better than Pearl Harbor, Defiant, or even Tears of the Sun?

briskhound2 said:Tsk, tsk, tsk... wait, where are The Guns of Navarone?

Look, I’m just throwing my vote in for Where Eagles Dare—it’s an absolute war classic, and honestly, most of these newer flicks can barely touch it. And, just to keep this debate short, let's not even get started on Das Boot, U-571, The Heroes of Telemachus, or, if we're feeling generous, The Wild Geese. These modern war movies, like Pearl Harbor, just don't have that certain chemistry you need for a rewatch...

This poll is pretty bad, man... 👎
There are at least 30 titles missing here... 😉

Weak poll. Doesn't even include some of the best war movies—or honestly, just great movies in general.

PS. Voted for Life is Beautiful, though I wouldn't call it a war movie per se, at least not primarily.
PPS. Tone down those images a bit. 🙂

There are actually some pretty solid non-American movies out there too. For example... The Battle of AlgeriaCheck out this IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946/ — or what else you got? 9th Infantry Check this out on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417397/

Kate Harris4 said:21 votes in just about 12 hours—which tells me people actually dig this poll. Look, let's cut the off-topic nonsense; if you've got nothing useful to say regarding the actual topic, don't just bark into the void.

What’s eating you, Christian Taylor3? 😕 You not feeling the poll? Then why are you even hanging out here? 🤷 If you think you can do better, go ahead and start a better one, but personally, I think this is great. 21 forum members voted, which means they're fine with it. If you like it, vote. If you don't, just move on. It's not that deep.

Whenever I see a thread I'm not interested in, I just skip it. I don't bother annoying the person who took the time to post it.

We aren't handing out Oscars or some prestigious award here—it's not like the world is going to stage a protest because Full Metal Jacket didn't make the cut. The whole point is just to have a good time. To include every single movie, like Full Metal Jacket, the poll would need to have 100 entries. I narrowed it down to 29 by picking a decent mix of war classics, dramas, and adventures. Obviously, you can't please everyone, but I really don't get the people who show up just to bark like dogs trying to sabotage the fun.

Oh, and I almost forgot—I should probably add battles from Mexico, and I totally missed checking out movies from Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the US, Canada, Spain, and every other country on the planet. Since they probably all have great war movies too, maybe I'll just throw them all in and make the poll 500 movies long. Ha ha ha! 👍

Not everyone is out to yell at your poll or sabotage it, so maybe you should dial back the barking a bit yourself. You started the thread, which means everyone here has every right to comment on it. Nobody is claiming you needed to list 100 different war movies; it's just a few of us trying to point out that if you're making a poll about the "best" war films, you really ought to include the best ones. It's like running a poll on the greatest action movies and leaving out Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, but then throwing in Double Team instead. That's just my two cents, anyway. Do whatever you want...

You didn't even mention my top pick for a war movie, Beautiful Village, Beautiful Mountain. Honestly, you're missing a ton of great titles here.
I also have a soft spot for Enemy at the Gates and Saving Private Ryan. I watched Apocalypse Now a long time ago, so I probably should give it another look. As for Full Metal Jacket, I wouldn't call it a "real" war movie, but man, it’s still an excellent film.
But honestly, none of them have the strength of the village.

This poll is lacking—honestly, quite poor. You’ve missed several essentials, specifically from Apocalypse Now / Full Metal Jacket onwards. But even then, there are other masterpieces missing, like the Russian classic Come and See, or perhaps Tarkovsky's childhood of Ivanov.
But let's be real about Pearl Harbor... that whole thing is more pathetic than any cheap soap opera you'll find on TV....And don't even get me started on Beautiful Village, Beautiful Mountain... it's just a massive, collective failure.