There have been some classic wars over the years: The Boer War, The American Civil War, Star Wars - but not all of them have produced great war movies. We've not seen a classic War of the Roses flick yet, nor do we recall a stonking Napoleonic epic. Still, maybe one day. Until then, these are our favourites.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
War: Vietnam: The film centres around two soldiers, one of whom, Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen), is sent into the jungle to assassinate the other, the rogue and presumably insane Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) of Special Forces. Epic, bloody, weird and full-on effective.
Platoon (1986)
War: Vietnam: Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. He has two commanding officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two officers and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. . . .
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
War: World War 2: After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. Honour, duty, betrayal, heroism – it’s all here.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
War: Vietnam: Michael, Nick, and Steven are three buddies from the steel mill town of Clairton, Penn.They are like schoolmates, hanging out in a local bar and enjoying weekends of deer-hunting. Michael and Nick are also both in love with Linda, who seems to juggle both of the men. But their placid life is soon to be changed after they are enlisted in the airborne infantry of Vietnam.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
War: World War II: Never mind the back-story about a troop of soldiers sent into France to save a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed, what really hit home in Spielberg’s war effort was the opening scene on the Normandy beaches: hard, fast, bloody and by all accounts very realistic.
The Great Escape (1963)
War: World War II: Yes, we’ve all seen it over a dozen times, but so what? Still has much to recommend it: a cast of stars the like of which we’ll never see again, cool clothes, memorable lines and Steve McQueen.
Downfall
War: World War II: Ignoring those bloody annoying clips with their own sub-titles imposed, Downfall is an awesome film: Hard-hitting and taking an angle we’d not seen before, you almost felt sorry for the Nazis, if not Hitler.
Breaker Morant (1980)
War: Boer War: Three Australian lieutenants are court-martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers. Often over-looked, Breaker Morant is well worth another look.
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
War: World War II: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as ‘The Basterds’ are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis.
MASH (1970)
War: Korean: It isn’t easy finding humour in war, which is exactly why Robert Altman's Vietnam satire (he avoided any actual references to Korea) is such a classic work. Only miles from total bloody madness, the doctors are more concerned with booze and skirts than the bloody soldiers they operate on.
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