The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

The Battle of Algiers was #6 on my ballot. It's one of the first films I saw which got me to look for other things besides story or character development in film. Yes, there isn't much in the way of character development to the point that the main character leaves the film for various lengthy periods of it. However, I think this is intentionally sacrificed to present the events on a larger scope and from different sides of the conflict and give us a sense of how widespread the terrorist attacks are getting. Due to that being sacrificed, the film is able to maintain a fairly epic scope. I didn't appreciate it nearly enough when I first watched it, but a second and third viewing down the road got me to fully appreciate what Pontecorvo did.

The Pianist didn't make my ballot, but it was definitely somewhere in the running. I think it successfully made Nazi-occupied look like hell with the sudden bursts of violence (even if it's directed in a more direct way, as where Come and See is directed with more subjectivity with the sound effects and close-up shots), it captured the mundanity of living in hiding for extended periods of time, and the arrival of a certain character in the final act felt like a catharsis from all the brutality the film presented earlier. It's a really good film which borders on being a great film.

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My updated ballot:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. To Be or Not to Be (#41)
6. The Battle of Algiers (#24)
7.
8.
9. From Here to Eternity (#30)
10. The Ascent (#33)
11.
12. Pan's Labyrinth (#54)
13. The General (#64)
14. Kanal (#61)
15. Red Angel (#100)
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23. Johnny Got His Gun (#97)
24. Night and Fog (#48)
25. The Deer Hunter (#25)

Seen and liked both, but neither made my ballot.

Seen:55/78

The Battle of Algiers is a masterpiece, #6 on my ballot. The Pianist has excellent and moving storytelling. The musicians perspective gives it an extra layer of emotion. So well directed, it made Brody look like a better actor than he is or brought the best acting out of him. Either way great film, had it at #24.

SEEN 59/78
BALLOT 14/25

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Alright, I got two more!
Here's my ballot so far.

1.
2.
3.
4. Stalag 17 (1953)
5.
6.
7. The Caine Mutiny (1954)
8.
9. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
10. Sergeant York (1941)
11. Breaker Morant (1980)
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.Black Hawk Down (2001)
17.
18.
19.
20.The Pianist (2002)
21.
22.
23.
24. Patton (1970)
25. Windtalkers (2002) One-Pointer

The Pianist is so painful, that I only saw it all the way throughthe once. I remember people seemed to be kind of numb in the theater. I decided to watch it again. I got as far as the Gestapo dumping the old fellow in the wheelchair out the window. Then i was like, "okay, that's enough."
Patton is on my list because I knew I liked it better than the other war movies I had seen, but I don't remember it really clearly.

So I have 8 out of 25.

I have seen 31 of 74.

This is very sad. I thought for sure I would be vindicated with the last half of the list.

Is this a Historical Biopic?
F@ck no.
Not in the least. If anything, it's in the same light as a Shakespearean play where Good ole Willy depicted such English Royalty as Richard III with a hunchback and painted him an utter scoundrel. (He was neither). Or the "Tall Tales" of our Westerns and the folklore of gunslingers, cowboys, lawmen, bounty hunters, and so forth. Historic figures and events are staged in epic pageantry, their mythical proportions ripe with romantic grandeur in both the characters and the events that take place. In short, a Hollywood film to entertain the masses.

It is in that light, that perception, that I have always enjoyed and thoroughly adored this film. From the countless times at the theater, enthralled and captivated in the darkness of the movie theater, to the countless times I have watched this at home since then. I would cheer, laugh, and, in a number of instances, cry. (You must wake, William. -- I don't wanna wake up. I wanna stay here. With you.)
A cinematic epic done beautifully and exquisitely. The cinematography is spot-on throughout the film. Capturing both the action sequences and those special "moments" between characters. And the film is full of them, thereby FAR too many to break down without making this an Epic of a review. The same can be said about the cast. From top to bottom, there is an incredible list of actors/actresses who do truly splendid jobs. I love them all. Along with the pacing, the dialogue, all of it. Making, for me, a sweeping, compelling, and utterly and thoroughly enjoyable film experience.


25. The Deer Hunter (1978) Much like Patton, the decades have slipped by since my multiple viewings of the looooong ass f@ckin wedding and the sh#t they all dealt with afterward.

--Holy crap, I think I found me a sweet Double-Feature, lol.


have not seen either of the last two.



Countdown List Watched 38 out of 78 (48.71%)
1.
2. Rome, Open City aka Roma città aperta (1945) (1945) (#37)
3. Stalag 17 (1953) (#35)
4. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) (#66)
5. Patton (1970) (#28)
6.
7.
8.
9. l'armee des ombres aka Army of Shadows (1969) (#29)
10.
11. M*A*S*H (1970) (#39)
12. The Dirty Dozen (1967) (#32)
13. Glory (1989)) (#38)
14. Johnny Got His Gun (1971) (#97)
15.
16.
17. Braveheart (1995) (#25)
18.
19.
20.
21.
22. 1917 (2019) (#31)
23. Mrs. Miniver (1942) (#85)
24.
25.

One-Pointers Watched 5 out of 24 (20.83%)

Rectification List

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The Battle of Algiers is great and ranked pretty high on my 60's ballot. It was too long since I last watched it to vote for it, but I'm not sure I view it as a war film anyway. I can't remember for sure.

The Pianist is also pretty great but it did not stick with me.

I totally understand this criticism, but on the other hand, I remember that the film is based on a poem that was written to exalt the exploits of William Wallace, so I take it more as a story of the "mythical" aspects of the character and how people saw him than the actual historical figure.

There's this scene in the second half of the film where you see townsfolk "spreading the legend" of William Wallace, and the way it is shot seems to go hand-in-hand with that take:



There's also the fact that I saw the film back in the day when I knew sh*t about Wallace, so initially, I was swept by the whole spectacle of it. If anything, the film prompted me to read more about Wallace and Scottish history, so I take that as a positive.

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I still don't know sh*t about Wallace. Seriously I've never bothered to read about him. But your idea that the movie is about the myth or legend of Wallace as oppose to being his true story, holds water. I have no problems with the film, I loved the battle make up! Just found the first half hour a bit slow. But a good addition to our countdown list.

The Battle of Algiers was my number 10 and The Pianist was my number 19. The Pianist fulfilled the spot, many would likely have Schindler's List in, and while Schindler's List was no doubt a great movie, it didn't reach the emotional heights for me that The Pianist did.

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24. The Battle of Algiers - This one is a bit like a re-creation - going so far as to use some of the real people playing themselves in real locations. I've seen it once, but I think I needed to be more steeped in the events it's portraying - it's uniqueness took me by surprise, playing more like a documentary than any war film I've ever seen. I have it on Criterion, and one day I'll go back and really take it in. Outside of France, we never hear much about the Algerian War of Independence - and watching this is a great way to add some extra historical knowledge to our minds.

23. The Pianist - Seen this a few times - I'll always remember introducing it to my sister, who became quite enthralled with it. There was one moment especially, where Szpilman (Adrien Brody) slips outside of a place he's hiding when liberators come - but he forgets that he's wearing a Nazi greatcoat to keep warm, sure to attract bullets. My sis was screaming at him to take it off. Hadn't seen any of Roman Polanski's movies post-Frantic aside from this. Perhaps I should? I really love Knife in the Water and Repulsion a great deal. Anyway, The Pianist is top stuff - a great film about surviving in Poland at a time when being Jewish meant you were almost surely not going to. Władysław Szpilman's personal story. Beautiful and brutal - worth seeing.

No votes with those two though

Seen : 57/78
I'd never even heard of :12/78
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 9/78

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22:



21:

22. Downfall
21. The Cranes Are Flying

Algiers is great and was my #20. It's a masterpiece and the work gone into it is awe inspiring.

Eugh, see for me that is the epitome of everything cheesy and awful that is Hollywood.

(And believe me, being a Celt myself, I'm on the historical side of Wallace and the Scots.)

The Pianist was #31 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 2000s and #36 on the MoFo Top 100 of the Millennium. The Battle of Algiers was #69 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1960s and #56 on the MoFo Top 100 Foreign Films.

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22. Inglourious Basterds
21. Grave of the Fireflies

People know nothing. The ones that commissioned the movie designed what people to see and what to feel, and audience to be injected with aggression ready to be used for invasion. That's what the movie aiming at. This is an usual approach used by the regime.
It is quite obvious who and why ordered this film. (Using the Soviet know-how ...and Nazi's one but the latter were banned, historically being major competition for occupying the Globe.)
Orwell is dead, long live Orwell...

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22. Thin Red Line
21. Ran

Damn, I thought "The Battle of Algiers" would be in the Top 5. It's in my Top 5 all-time.. and the full movie is down below on the best youtube channel for movies

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