I know I shouldn't say this, but I did not enjoy Zulu. Besides being slow-moving, the obviously pretend spear thrusts ruined it for me.

Kishke:

That's it, we're not friends anymore:-)

The picture of Mr. Avrech Sr. is incredibly inspiring. Wow.

I take it back!

Shirley Temple was a genius, for sure.

Some under appreciated war movies -

A Walk in the Sun
The Big Red One
The Boys in Company C
The Best Years of our Lives
The Lighthorsemen
(recent) Enemy at the Gates

Adding to the list....

Where Eagles Dare...
Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood star..based on the book by Alistair MacLean.

Kelly's Heroes....
Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Don Rickles...

And...
Victory...
Directed by John Huston...
With Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and soccer great Pele.
As allied POWs prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.

Lance,

I have always enjoyed Victory. That scene where they break the goalies arm still gives me the creeps.

Not that it matters, but that Destination Tokyo poster appears to misspell Tokyo.

I've recently been watching "Combat" and "Rat Patrol" on KDOC, So Cal Chanel 56. I don't know exactly how they're doing it, but the prints look terrific.

They are surprisingly good. I expected them to be cheesey - and they are, on occasion - but they hold up amazingly well.

Recent DVD purchases -

Victory at Sea/The 20th Century
Empire of the Sun
Flyboys
Laurence of Arabia

My favorite movie of all time - the original, uncut "The Stunt Man" - is a quasi-war movie. I wish someone could restore it and release it on blu-ray, it deserves better than it's gotten.

OK, I realize that next to Robert mentioning a favorite movie might be like saying I like Thunderbird Pagan Pink wine in a room full of wine connoisseurs - However....

Two of my favorites are 12 O'Clock High (Gregory Peck of course)

And

Memphis Belle (the 1990s version)

Both honor a group of men (hardly out of boyhood) who had the grueling task of trying to be the 2 out of 3 who would survive the required 25 missions over Europe.

Both movies did not glamorize war but showed it with some realism.

Incidentally I read that 12 O'Clock High was used for many years by the Air Force in training about leadership techniques. Peck's character had to take a demoralized unit and make them a cohesive unit.

And on this day I wish to remember Lewis Puller whose Pulitzer-winning autobiography, Fortunate Son, detailed his horrible battle of losing both limbs and an arm from a Vietnam landmine and his battle - and short triumph over things that would have beaten most of us.

Sadly Puller committed suicide some 25 years later...

"Hanna's War"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOaub9qI_Pk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Szenes

'Glory' of course. That's a full-box-of-tissues movie. A story of mind blowing self sacrifice that makes me want to stop complaining and change the world.

Great post Robert

My favourite war movie of all time has to be "The Great escape". James Coburn, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance and Steve McQueen are all simply magnificent. There is wonderful dialogue, amazing tension and it does not glamorise war and the ending is terribly sad and accurate. Only 3 of the 76 escapees actually make it home. Also, the scene toward the end with McQueen attempting to jump over the Swiss border on his motorcycle is one of the greatest scenes in movie history.

I also love "Zulu" and especially "escape to victory" (correct title) as it combines my two favourite things, soccer and WW2 history. Us smug Europeans love making fun of Stallones attempt at portreying a soccer goalkeeper.

Another absolute great is "Ice Cold in Alex" where the great Johnny Mills has to drive across the Libyan desert in an ambulance from Tobruk to Alexandria whilst avoiding the German army. The entire time all he can think about is having a beer once he reaches "Alex". He also has to figure out if a south African officer travelling with him is on the level. Highly highly recommended.

I'm not very original. I'll almost always watch these again and again if they come up on TCM...

Run Silent Run Deep;
The Dirty Dozen;
The African Queen;
The Longest Day;
The Bridge on the River Kwai; and
Henry V (Olivier's is great, but I prefer Branagh's)

Let's see. I guess my favorite is "Tora! Tora! Tora!" I suppose that pretty much establishes that I put a high premium on historical authenticity.

Also fond of "Gettysburg", in spite of Martin Sheen's awful depiction of Lee.

I kind of liked "Midway" in spite of the unnecessary, asinine, and historical inaccurate (no Nisei from Hawaii were interned on the mainland) love story.

I quite liked "Where Eagles Dare" notwithstanding it being pure fiction.

Also liked "Force 10 from Navarone" (proving I am capable of not taking a movie too seriously.)

"Bridge over the River Kwai." Explanation should not be necessary.

"Great Escape" good, in spite of the silly motorcycle stunts.

"Memphis Belle." Gripping.

"Twelve O'Clock High." Wrenching.

"The Eagle Has Landed." Not sure why I liked it. Probably just for Michael Caine.

"In Harm's Way." "Stalag 17." Otto Preminger occasionally did some very good work.

"Mister Roberts." Fonda at his best.

"The Caine Mutiny." A different kind of Bogart.

"The Devil's Brigade."

"Thirty Seconds over Tokyo." Yeah, I know: The Doolittle Raiders land in a country sharing little but the name with 1942 China, but the first part is very good. I sometimes turn it off after the bombs stop falling.

Ones I really didn't like:

"A Bridge Too Far." I guess this proves I despise Redford more than I like Connery.

"Kelley's Heroes." Vietnam set in Europe.

"Big Red One." I know, that makes me an uncircumcised Philistine. Sorry.

"Battle of the Bulge." I mean the more recent one with Henry Fonda. Eughh.

"Saints and Soldiers." I wanted to like it, but there's no excusing their excusing the Malmedy Massacre.

"Pearl Harbor." Just from the trailers alone.

"Guadalcanal Diary." I know, Philistine. Just too disjointed (read: boring.)

"Run Silent, Run Deep." I would probably have liked it a lot more if I hadn't read the book and known what a terribly inadequate adaption the movie was.

My favorite war time movies:

The Great Escape
Force Ten From Navarone(the first one)
Midway
The Longest Day
Operation Petticoat(the one with Tony Curtis)
Glory
The African Queen

Thanks so everyone for their wonderful responses and contributions.

I just must single out our friend Ted's mention of "Ice Cold in Alex."

Ted is Irish.

Beer plays a huge part in the subtext of this fine film.

Ted is one of, ohhh, about fifty Irishman who have passionately championed "Ice Cold in Alex" on this blog.

Which just goes to show that Irishman + beer + movies are a winning combination:-)

Jack:

It's a foreign poster, German, I believe.

I proudly raise a Guiness to our Irish friends ;)

Kishke:

All is forgiven:-)

Richard R:

Many of the Lighthorsemen are buried in Israel. Their graves are lovingly tended by Jews. My buddy Treppenwitz, David Bogner, a U.S, Navy vet., blogs about it about once a year.

I'm also friends with Simon Wincer, the director of the film, and we've talked about it several times.

I love, absolutely love the film.

I must confess, watching "Ice cold in Alex" does build up a particularly strong thirst in me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvjE3h0Ahz8

I'm surprised you know it, it vanished quickly. Its shape is very different from most modern films, I think because Wincer stuck close to the real story. I just bought it on DVD for my daughter.

On a totally separate topic, I saw an extraordinary show last night at the M Bar on Vine. A tap dancer named Steve Zee with a jazz trio. They say it's going to be a weekly thing next year.

Best war movie? Well, thee best movie (well, thee best after the "The Rules of the Game" which must be held as an exception to the no French movies rule) is Patton. Followed by Patton, Patton, and Patton. History beautifully exploited for purposes of theater with history itself being the beneficiary. Best scenes ever written (excepting of course those written by RA) begin with a turning point of the war with Allies success dependent on change of weather. George C. Scott, who doesn't play but rather inhabits the brilliant if slightly mad Patton, casually approaches the hapless chaplain requesting a prayer for weather in a scene of high if subtle comedy. What follows is film transcending itself into a spiritual tour de force.

Elizabeth:

I've never really thought of "Rules of the Game" as a war movie. I've always classified it as a prison movie. Spectacular performance by Erich Von Stroheim, born Erich Oswald Stroheim, the son of observant Austrian Jews, hence the Von is a complete fiction.

Patton is a great great film from a brilliant script by Francis Ford Coppola and yes, George C. Scott's performance is a towering achievement in movie history.

My comment is a little late but... One of my favorite war movies is "Go For Broke;" the story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during WWII. My uncle proudly served in that unit because he loved his country and wanted to prove his loyalty. He also enjoyed his brief sojourn into the Hollywood film industry when he was cast as an "extra" in the movie.

That film always reminds me of both the sacrifices demanded, and prejudices created, by war.

Dear Robert,
I guess I must be awfully naive but I didn't know if you were kidding when you called Rules a prison film (or thought I suggested it as a a war film).
Not to digress too much but I'm still waiting for a contest based on everyone's top ten films. It seems to me that the real question is whether any 'war movie' would make in on any list of top ten films. Hence, Patton as not just a war film, but my pick for second best film following "Rules".
Thanks for your notes on the not very von Stoheim. But I have a question (this may seem off topic but it relates to war movie versus top movie) 'You seem to distinguish both of these films by characterization rather than plot. Some years ago I attended a very good story telling seminar by R McKee who suggested film was either action or character driven. ( He implied or I inferred that character driven plots tend to softer or 'women's films".. as in yuck) I know he trains a lot of studio writers and I though ye gads no wonder there are so many lousy and meaningless films. Classical theater demands all action (and plot) must be a function of characterization. From Hamlet to Man in a Glass Booth magnificent plots (whether perfect or imperfect) derive their power and momentum from the engine of characterization. Do you agree or disagree? (presuming there is a genre of very good plot driven films like Spy Games which function mostly as mental teasers)
Thanks,
Elizabeth

Elizabeth:

When soldiers are imprisoned as POW's and planning an escape for most of a film, it's a prison move. Witness Stalag 17, or The Great Escape. In Hollywood we have rigid categories because that's how audiences see movies.

McKee kind of states the obvious, again and again and again. In doing so he wrings a great deal of creativity out of some promising writers and reduces the process to a paint by numbers exercise. Thus, when a story veers from his rigid paradigm, screenwriters have no idea what to do. It's not a good situation and I warn writers from taking it to heart.

I strongly recommend Lajos Egris' "The Art of Dramatic Writing." It's my secret weapon.

Are you referring to Renoir's film? The French 'fin de siecle' satire?
I don't recall a prison break...

Elizabeth:

Sorry, got mixed up. I was thinking of Renoir's "Grand Illusion," definitely a prison movie.

I'm very weak on French movies.

I know I'm posting kind of late on this, but I don't get over to check your blog as much as I would like to (and it's great). My favorite war movies tend to be the older ones: "Twelve O'Clock High" is about at the pinnacle along with William Wellman's "Battleground" (I think, given the conventions of the time, great humanistic portrayals of American GIs in "the Bulge" - you can't help but care for them). I'm also a big fan of John Ford's "They Were Expendable" in which the sacrifice of Americans in Bataan is not forgotten. I have a weak spot for "In Harm's Way" - man, can't they make movies like this any more? John Wayne, Patricia Neal and Burgess Meredith are all "effortlessly" great in this one, and if I could pick an old movie to "spruce-up" with modern visual effects wizardry, this would be the one - so there would be a reasonable looking Pearl Harbor attack scene along with Japanese cruisers with actual sailors on board (they used lifeless models) (and I'd tone down the explosions on the American cruiser that no one, not even John Wayne could survive). Also, I'd like to see film restorations of "Memphis Belle", "Combat America" and "Report From the Aleutians." "Send them to Hell.... That is all" (yeah, I'm a sucker for "The Longest Day", too).

Thanks for posting about "Dark Blue World"- it's a wonderful movie! If you liked "DBW", you should also "Czech out" Zelary, a similar Czech war film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288330/.