Comments on: The 25 Best War Movies Of All Time

By: Ivan Popov

Ivan Popov — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 23:57:00 +0000

What was the reasoning behind putting the Hurt Locker on the List and omitting Ivan’s Childhood?

By: Haryindey

Haryindey — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 06:03:00 +0000

A bridge too far should be included.

By: Riley Webster

Riley Webster — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:44:00 +0000

Good list, although having Thin Red Line at #1 is mind bogglig to me, and not including Schindler’s List is just obscene, but whatever.

I will point out though that I was hoping against hope that you would have included possibly the greatest war film (and certainly most underrated of any kind of film) ever made – Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition. 9 hours long and it flies by, absolutely breathtaking and powerful and heartbreaking and certainly the most powerful anti-war statement you can imagine. Epic in scope but perfectly realized in the details, it’s everything you can want in a war film, really.

A shame it wasn’t mentioned here, since something like The Playlist is just about the only place I could expect to see it :$

By: David Beard

David Beard — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 15:02:00 +0000

Thin Red Line is great choice for number one. One of my favorites soundtracks by Gavin Greenaway.
The cast, photography, script and soundtrack for Thin Red Line are darkly magnificent. Depicted the barbarity, complexity, detachment, ego and bravery of war. Mesmerizing imagery and sound.

By: blue439

blue439 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 04:56:00 +0000

The Train. I quite liked last year’s Land of Mine.

By: blue439

blue439 — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 04:54:00 +0000

Spartacus. Kubrick was obsessed with war. Also, Pierre Schoendoerffer’s 317th Platoon. Schoendoerffer, like Oliver Stone, was also a soldier in the French Indochina war. Merrill’s Marauders. Objective Burma. Stalingrad. They Were Expendable. Attack! Probably dozens more that deserve mention.

By: normankelley

normankelley — Sun, 30 Jul 2017 21:02:00 +0000

People ought to take a look at an obscure film called The War Lover (1962) directed by Philip Leacock. It featured Steve McQueen playing bomber pilot, Buzz Rickson, who revels in the war’s destruction. At some point, after he pull an impulsive stunt, he is evaluated by other officers, and the psych officer thinks he’s “borderline psychopath.” But the war has use for such men as long they are functional

However, I think it is Steve McQueen pre-channeling Donald Trump as sociopath if Trump had the courage to go to war. A good print has been released on YouTube.

Rickson exhibits the same antisocial traits as Trump: lack of empathy or remorse, bold and recklessness, being disinhibited, impulsive, egotistical, etc. He has contempt for some of crew members (he lies to get one thrown off and crew member dies on another plane) and superior officers. He’s not above egging on a crew member in foisting himself on a chunky pub waitress. Rickson nearly sexually assaults his co-pilot’s English “war girl.” Lt. Boland (played by Robert Wagner), the co-pilot has mixed feelings about Rickson; he knows he’s a good pilot but suspects that he’s a troubled man.

If you want to see how a sociopath like Trump would behaved if he actually had the courage to fight, watch the War Lover.

By: Ethlenn

Ethlenn — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 16:48:00 +0000

“Taegeukgi” should also be mentioned…

By: Chris Parkes

Chris Parkes — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 15:10:00 +0000

GUYS!? How could you not include Casualites of War?! Consideration only?

By: twhlcommish

twhlcommish — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 19:17:00 +0000

“Catch-22” … ??? Not being on a top 25 is just “insanity”.
Altman’s “M*A*S*H” is a major oversight as well. While you state you’d like to reference wars through time and geography, this list is almost exclusively WWII or Vietnam War films… and there have been A LOT OF WARS over the years… “M*A*S*H” at least would have covered The Korean War. And what about the American Civil War? Keaton’s “The General”, or “Birth of A Nation” or “Cold Mountain” !?!?!? (my choice for that war)…
While I love “Empire of The Sun”, you introduce your ‘not including’ list, then start off with what is essentially a POW film (as is “Bridge on The River Kwai”), so these two should have been dropped for the above two (which unbelievably, weren’t even mentioned in the 45 HONOURABLE MENTIONS !!)
I was expecting “Patton” to be there, and surprised (though not necessarily in disagreement with) it didn’t make the cut, considering its accolades.
And while “Dunkirk” is admittedly too new to include on the list, surely “Hacksaw Ridge” should have been in consideration, no? “Master and Commander” … ??? Really? Over such as the films I’ve mentioned? Ugh… I agree wholeheartedly on some of the films and their rankings, others make me wonder about your objectivity when creating this list, and the confusion between what was supposed to be left of the list and what got included. Finally, “Thin Red Line” is an arguably great choice for #1, but “L.O. Arabia” had to be rated much higher, being one of the greatest films of ANY genre, period.

By: THX11384EB

THX11384EB — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 15:14:00 +0000

‘The Thin Red Line’ will never be topped. A masterpiece. Good list overall.

By: Marny Lider

Marny Lider — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 13:08:00 +0000

Sadly no polish movies here… 🙁 Where’s “Canal”?

By: Niall

Niall — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 17:56:00 +0000

As usual this list is ok-ish. But the order doesn’t make much sense. ‘Army of Shadows’ gets across the reality of war more than the ok-ish way over-rated ‘Apocalypse Now’. When it comes to war portraying the horrific nightmarish chaos is very very important. War is no joke. It’s a crime that usually happens because powerful people want resources. ‘The Burmese Harp’ is better than anything on this list. Or the tunnel scene in Kurosawa’s ‘Dreams’. Rossellini’s ‘Germany,Year Zero’ is also very under-appreciated. Dovzhenko’s ‘Arsenal’ and Eisenstein ‘Alexander Nevsky’ and ‘Ugetsu’ and ‘Lotna’ also. And John Ford’s war-related ‘The Long Voyage Home’ is wonderful. Godard’s ‘Les Carabiniers’ sums up war better than almost all of these films. And Jansco’s ‘The Round-Up’ will not inspire you to take up arms, thank God.

By: KG

KG — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 13:36:00 +0000

Your top 3 are pretty impeccable (though I would place them in a different order). Das Boot and Full Metal Jacket deserve higher spots, however.

By: David Hillier's suitcase

David Hillier's suitcase — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 13:15:00 +0000

I reckon Tobias Lindholm’s “A War” deserves a mention.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 11:47:00 +0000

In reply to rickyticki. Thank you for so graciously pointing out this small error. It has been fixed.

By: jmbrr

jmbrr — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 06:59:00 +0000

This is a very good list overall.

By: Joey Lee

Joey Lee — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 06:56:00 +0000

No Man’s Land is a great war movie that’s all about the characters, lots of tension and no action scenes. I love it.

By: Mr. Turner

Mr. Turner — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 05:51:00 +0000

The most obvious ommission (and it’s a towering ommission), is City of Life and Death, which I would easily put in the top five.

By: Kiel Widmeyer

Kiel Widmeyer — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 00:17:00 +0000

Great list. Perfect choice for the number one spot.

By: rickyticki

rickyticki — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:52:00 +0000

“There might have been some better war movies (21, by our count)…” well your count is shit. its 20 y’idiot.

By: harunist

harunist — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:01:00 +0000

Where’s Enemy at the Gates?