Movie Forums Top 100 War Movies - Group Watch

Pan's Labyrinth is 100% a war film! As is The Devil's Backbone.

I have no opinion on those but just a factoid: Pan's Labyrinth is tagged War at IMDB but The Devil's Backbone isn't tagged War at IMDB, Letterboxd or Rotten Tomatoes so would not be allowed as a ballot choice. I never seen the movie myself.

Keep in mind that those tags don't actually mean anything.

I can't describe either one of those films as a war film without being misleading. I would have to add in that one is a fantasy and one is a horror. Yes, I understand that some movies can be multiple genres, but to me those movies are not at least 50% war, which is what I would need them to be. They just have war elements and that's not enough for me.

The War tag means everything as far as qualifying by KeyserCorleone's ballot submission rules. But yes I've said in the past that those tags aren't always accurate and are mainly used for search and categorization usage.

Casablanca is one of my favorite films ever, but I don't think I'll be voting for it as a war choice.

I trust most people here will construct their ballots based on what they feel deserves to be there as war movies. I'm not too worried about most of these making it on.

Not arguing with those facts but The Devil's Backbone is about an orphan boy in the Spanish civil war! del Toro's best film in my opinion. Definite war film.

Arguing about what qualifies is, as Citizen noted, academic, because the eligibility requirements are already set. But insofar as people are interested in talking about that, it seems obvious the distinction is just about whether something just has to be about or centered around war, or has to depict it more directly.

It's pretty easy to come up with hypotheticals that break our preferred definition, though. Nobody would say a romcom where a news anchor in the background mentions a war in passing would be a "war film" just because a war's happening in the background of that fictional world, for example. And there are films that are 100% about war and its planning that don't depict, say, the frontline of battle.

This is 99% vibes, even if people may use a specific and selectively chosen example fact to justify those vibes, if only because it's usually easy to find another film that has a totally different feel even if it contains a similar reference to (or orientation around) a war.

Like I said, it just comes down to point of view, I think, and the person voting should believe in what they are voting for and that's all that really matters. I think if I was showing my wife The Devil's Backbone tonight and she asked me what kind of movie it was, I could simply say horror without misleading her. I could not simply say war without misleading her. Furthermore, I think about the kinds of movies that the director makes, what is their objective? That's some of the criteria I use.

I think it's as good away as any to have criteria for the countdown. I just wouldn't use those tags for my own personal ballot or in a debate on what constitutes a war film.

That's cool. It's interesting to me how we all see genres differently.

For my own ballot, I just go with my gut feeling if a film is war enough for me. Then I would check to see if it's tagged War at those three sites so that I can include it. If it's not I have plenty more that I like.

I just want people to vote honestly and with their hearts. If someone thinks something is a war film they should vote for it. What has happened in the past which I'm not a fan of, is people voting for a film because they like it, even though they don't see the film as that particular genre. I see that as screwing up the countdown similar to not voting for a film because it doesn't need your vote, putting it too high on your ballot because it does need your vote, limiting votes for the same director, etc. Vote for your top 25 in honest fashion without trying to game the system so we can have a true top 100. It's not about individual members or movies.

This is my preferred method as well.

Raiders of the Lost Ark takes place in 1936, which was a few years before World War II started, so calling it a war film wouldn't be accurate since it doesn't take place during any wars. Top Gun: Maverick didn't directly name a war either (unless I'm misremembering). Casablanca, on the other hand, directly takes place in the middle of WW2 and the plot is specifically about an expatriate trying to help refugees escape from the Nazis to the U.S. If this isn't enough to fit the bill for you then fine. However, like the comedies countdown where certain films were debatable over whether they could be classified as comedies or not (Fargo, for instance), I think people should feel free to vote for whatever they want as long as they genuinely think the film classifies as war.

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I wouldn't call it a war film personally, but are you using criteria that a war film must take place during a war, and not before or after?

I don't think so either, but it is about the training of Navy fighter pilots and there is a conflict. I'd also suspect that we get films on the countdown that are not about a specific war.

I hate the word expatriate here since it's a word that sounds like it has something to do with the military, but I know it's used on the Wiki and IMDb pages. To me it's about Rick running into his old flame and the rest is setting and dressing. Yes for money he helps people flee the Nazis, and that has something to do with war obviously. I don't think that makes the film about war, and I don't think it makes it a war film.

Yep I agree.

My criteria will likely be that it has to take place during the war and that the conflict has to have at least a moderate influence on the story.

I suppose it's a bit more borderline than Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it's not uncommon for the military to be involved in conflicts here and there. That doesn't necessarily mean we're involved in a war though.

If it wasn't for the WW2 aspect of the film, there would be far less conflict in the film and the story would be completely different. Heck, Bogart might not have even encountered his old flame if that was the case. Though it's certainly more of a low key war film than something like Saving Private Ryan, WW2 still has a predominant impact on the characters in the film.

I completely agree with you about Raiders, but I would also say that what happens before actual war can be just as relevant to said war as what happens after, and we know for sure we will have films on the countdown that will be about the after effects of war.

I completely agree, but we know there will be films that show up that aren't about an actual war.

Yea I think every movie has something about it that if you take it out, the film would be very different. I get the war element, but I don't think it's about war.

Come on Saving Private Ryan isn't a war film lol

I'm not participating, but if a thread is starting off with a Wadja film, I'll probably be at least paying attention to the recommendations (okay, I'm only familiar with Ashes and Diamonds, but it's also really well regarded).


But to answer your question, yes I would, but I might penalize how I'd rank/select such films when it comes to my ballot. I think the one sub-genre that probably doesn't get penalized is the prisoner of war film category, which often don't have any battle scenes.


I think, actually, it's about how far away the central conflict/tension of a movie is from the pertinent war. Like, especially with a lot of the famous Vietnam movies, if you think about it, don't have that many battle scenes. If The Deer Hunter makes my ballot, the war scenes actually hurt it, and its depiction of post-war PTSD is the reason why it's there.


While I don't associate Casablanca as a war film, I'd point out, America unexpectedly joining the war greatly affected how it was received at its release. Which might actually be an indicator I'm underselling it as a war movie in my mind. (Bogart can easily stand in as a metaphor for America's isolationism after WW1).

If you see a film here that you're interested in I hope you'll watch it and write a little something about it. I'd love to see what choices you'd come up with for war films and there's no comments here, it's come and go as you please. Easey peasey.


Interesting. I knew that America was following a path of isolationism before Pearl Harbor but I'm curious as to what you mean by "Bogart can easily stand in as a metaphor for America's isolationism after WW1"?

Bogart’s refusal to “stick his neck out for nobody” is a metaphor for America’s refusal to join the war from the onset, instead waiting for an action to bring him to the other side, rather then sitting on the fence.