The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

That would be the Elvis.

1. The Pianist (2002)
2. Apocalypse Now (1979)
3. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
4. The Great Dictator (1940)
5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
6. The Act of Killing (2012)
7. Downfall (2004)
8. Brothers (2009)
9. Education for Death (1943)
10. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
11. Come and See (1985)
12. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
13. Night and Fog (1956)
14. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
15. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
16. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
17. Underground (1995)
18. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
19. Paths of Glory (1957)
20. Casablanca (1942)
21. Lincoln (2012)
22. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
23. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
24. The Ascent (1977)
25. Saboteur (1942)

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Fwiw, this was my ballot. I believe the bolded weren't in the countdown. I don't know which feels like the bigger miss for the countdown - The Sorrow and the Pity or The Red and the White.

1. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
2. The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
3. The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
4. Waltz with Bashir (2007)
5. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
6. The Third Part of the Night (1972)
7. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
8. The Red and the White (1967)
9. Come and See (1985)
10. Paths of Glory (1957)
11. Fires on the Plain (1959)
12. Grave of the Fireflies (2005)
13. Shoah (1985)
14. The Ascent (1977)
15. The Thin Red Line (1998)
16. Night and Fog (1956)
17. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
18. Ivan's Childhood (1962)
19. Apocalypse Now (1979)
20. The Deer Hunter (1978)
21. Diamonds of the Night (1964)
22. The Burmese Harp (1956)
23. Army of Shadows (1969)
24. Story of a Prostitute (1965)
25. Catch-22 (1970)

And Apocalypse Now is pretty far down on my ballot because, while I really like the movie, and this is probably due to seeing it in 8th grade and knowing it was based on Heart of Darkness then, always read like a great movie for traveling into the darkness of man, but it isn't really a war movie. But it has the pastiche and was good enough that I still included it somewhere on my ballot.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

This quote from The Shawshank Redemption captures my reaction to hosting:

"These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized."

I just finished watching Shoah last night. I watched it in installments, like a TV show. A very powerful film, one that for the most part doesn't construct a story or narrative or even probe the interviewees, it's just a document, a record of witness. A clever idea to position the witnesses' words alongside images of the locations as they are now. Well worth watching, it gave me a new perspective on the Holocaust. What struck me most was the machinery of it all.

Ah...as a former countdown host I can relate to that. I felt just like that guy in the image after the 1930s countdown was done and my hosting job over. The "circus left town", indeed it felt that way.

In former countdowns, we used to get, at the end of everything, the entire list of films voted for, whether they made the Top 100 or not. Will we get that this time or is it a no-go? Just wondering.

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Those are great and I save them for future to-watch films. @Yoda or @KeyserCorleone

I'm curious if anyone else voted for The Travelling Players.

It would be difficult for me to copy/paste the whole list because I'd be copy/pasting other "get code" sections and what not. If we do it, it'll be Yoda's decision.

Yeah I can put it in a spreadsheet like last time, should have it up here by Monday.

Think this is the closest you're going to get to a "25 for 25" perfect ballot. Think at least four here had 22/25.

Not a great list. The two I feel bad about omitting are Zero Dark Thirty and Ran, both would have been top ten. Seen 56/100



1. Black Hawk Down (2001) #55



2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) #6



3. Saving Private Ryan (1998) #8



4. Full Metal Jacket (1987) #7



5. First Blood (1982) #62



6. Platoon (1986) #16



7. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) #66



8. Das Boot (1981) #9


9. Braveheart (1995) #26



10. Patton (1970) #28



11. Restrepo (2010) DNP



12. Downfall (2004) #13



13. Waltz with Bashir (2007) #45



14. Three Kings (1999) #77



15. Paths of Glory (1957) #4



16. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) #10



17. Lone Survivor (2013) DNP



18. Pan's Labyrinth (2006) #54



19. Apocalypse Now (1979) #1



20. The Great Escape (1963) #19



21. Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) DNP



22. The Dirty Dozen (1967) #32



23. The Cranes are Flying (1957) #20



24. Gone with the Wind (1939) #52



25. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) One pointer and probably one point too many

I was one. Did anyone have 23 or more

I had 22. The three that didn't make it were I Accuse, Threads and Incendies. Two of those didn't make it because they were largely regarded as anti-war.

Here's my full list. Pleased to have contributed to the 300+ films ultimately nominated. Had a good time going through my collection and evaluating each with a few different parameters to find the final 25. Of course, on any other given day I'd probably come up with a completely different result. So many movies...

Thanks all for the enjoyable countdown.

1. The Dam Busters (1955)
2. The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
3. Das Boot (1981)
4. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
5. The Longest Day (1962)
6. The One That Got Away (1957)
7. Gift Horse (1952)
8. Paths of Glory (1957)
9. Theirs Is the Glory (1946)
10. The Gallant Hours (1960)
11. Reach for the Sky (1956)
12. The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
13. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
14. Battle of Britain (1969)
15. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
16. Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
17. Retreat, Hell! (1952)
18. The Angel Wore Red (1960)
19. Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst (1957)
20. The Cruel Sea (1953)
21. To Hell and Back (1955)
22. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
23. Waterloo (1970)
24. Decision Before Dawn (1951)
25. The Last Act (1955)

I got 23 out of my 25 on the countdown.

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