The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

Seen both, neither made my ballot. Both are a 7/10 from me.

Seen:49/70

Okay, two of my votes made it today, which rarely happens. I had The Dirty Dozen as my #18. It's a movie I've watched scores of times since my childhood and it never gets old for me. The top-loaded cast totally works for me, with almost everybody getting a chance to shine (well, at first...poor Trini Lopez ).

1917 is the only film I watched for the countdown and I was totally hooked from minute one. After a short while I totally forgot about the continuous shot deal and was laser-focused on the journey of the two soldiers with a message to deliver a message in war-torn France. George MacKay is an actor I'd only seen in one previous film (Marrowbone) and he's bound to go far in the industry IMO. For a film that was brand-new to me, I loved it right away and don't expect that to change. I had it as my #4.


#4 1917 Forward! #31
#7 The Longest Day Hit the beach! #36
#8 Hacksaw Ridge On point #67
#10 The Hurt Locker Bombs away! #58
#12 Dunkirk Retreat! #47
#18 The Dirty Dozen #32
#21 Tora! Tora! Tora! In the vanguard #63

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Yeah, what he said.


The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes et al. are awesome action movies. But are they great movies? Nope. They are just what I wish action movies still were, at least somewhat rooted in reality.

Heyyy two more from my list.

I love any movie that is just about one mission: assembling a team, training, then doing the job. And Dirty Dozen is a classic example of this.

1917 is relentlessly impressive. Any movie that throws a burning plane at its actors has my attention.

I quite liked 1917, based largely on the performances.

The Dirty Dozen is always responsible for this line of thinking:

The Dirty Dozen?
Yeah, I've seen that!
Wait. . .
. . .
. . . .The Wild Bunch..
I'm thinking of The Wild Bunch.
They aren't dirty, they're wild.
There aren't a dozen of them. They're just a bunch.

Random trivia factoids!

• So far, the film that is present in most ballots is our most recent entry, 1917, which was in 13 ballots. The Ascent, which came in yesterday, was in 12.
• On the other hand, The Human Condition III, which also came in yesterday, was in half of those ballots (6), and still made it to almost the same position.
• So far, the biggest point gap between films has been 9, both between To Be or Not To Be/Empire of the Sun and The Human Condition III/The Ascent.
• The Human Condition III is also the film with the highest IMDb rating (8.8) in the countdown so far, followed closely by Shoah (8.7)
• On the other hand, the film with the lowest IMDb rating (6.9) is still Battle of Britain, with Tropic Thunder (7.1) behind it.
• There are 14 films in the countdown with a 100% RT Score.
• There have been 18 ties so far, which means that the countdown hsa been really, really close most of the time.
• Three of those set of ties have been four-way ties, which are then decided by ballot placement in individual lists.

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32. The Dirty Dozen - I love The Dirty Dozen - it looks like we're getting to that stage of the countdown where I have to bemoan only having 25 slots, and thus having to relinquish movies I really would have liked have on my list. I've seen it around 10 times, and it never gets old - it would be on my Top 50 list around the 26 to 29 spot. Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland - all in their prime, and all in a war film where the rulebook is thrown out the window, and the lowest of the low are given one opportunity to make up for their misdeeds - a suicide mission. Much of the film features the soldiers fighting each other, and especially authority, during a brutal training regime. Just a shame they took Archer J. Maggott (Telly Savalas) with them - and yes, I'd change my name. A classic that serves as inspiration for filmmakers to this day, having the great Robert Aldrich's best ensemble cast. Also has a score that kills. Testosterone-fueled wartime mayhem wrapped in an adventure blanket - a brotherhood of the condemned.

31. 1917 - We debate one aspect of 1917 endlessly - the whole "one shot" real-time concept, but I've never really payed a lot of attention to that part of the film. For me it's not the be all and end all of the film. There are other features of it's cinematography that bring us into the action - despite being quite good looking at the same time. It's simple premise allows us to explore the mindset of two extremely young men - who have the unwanted responsibility of thousands of men's lives on their shoulders. Often a war will whittle down one's needs to simple self-preservation - but it's the witnessing of your friends and fellow countrymen dying violent deaths that stay with veterans the longest. Along the way we're given many examples of the controlled madness that World War I has descended into. I was mightily impressed with 1917, and I've enjoyed watching it multiple times. I was so impressed with it that it managed to snare #20 on my list.

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Seen : 50/70
I'd never even heard of :12/70
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 8/70
Films from my list : 8

#31 - My #20 - 1917 (2019)
#33 - My #2 - The Ascent (1977)
#34 - My #4 - The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
#38 - My #23 - Glory (1989)
#49 - My #24 - The Guns of Navarone (1961)
#51 - My #7 - The Human Condition II : Road to Eternity (1959)
#70 - My #14 - The Caine Mutiny (1954)
#74 - My #16 - Shoah (1985)

Overlooked films : Breaker Morant, Fail-Safe, Night and Fog

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It's the Napoleonic Wars spot on this list that's really surprised me. I had it 8th. Napoleon would have probably dragged the the globe into a World War if technology had of been more advanced.

That he is. Love Lee Marvin 😎

30:


29:

30. Starship Troopers
29. Starship Troopers


Neither of which were eligible for this countdown.


So the next best thing


30. Dr. Strangelove
29. All Quiet on the Western Front (~1930)

Pretty much this, except I almost certainly won't get around to 1917 someday.

Because I'm really not a Mendes fan (I don't know if there's a single Mendes film I've seen that I'm a fan of these days).

29. Are we getting a real clue or is this another bug hunt?

30. Paths of Glory
29. Grave of the Fireflies

I need to rewatch the Dirty Dozen, can't remember it.

1917 is ok but vastly overrated. Take away the long take gimmick (which isn't a single take) and you're left with a very ordinary film with very ordinary performances. Some nice photography from Deakins though.

No votes

30. Paths of Glory
29. The Great Escape

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One could argue that's on the strength of three separate War and Peace entries, which one could make an argument of them counting as one, but still. The Napoleon entry was a surprise, coming out of only two ballots to sneak into the backend, so that helped as well.

30. The Cranes are Flying
29. The Thin Red Line

Yeah, I have nothing for the hints either. I'll just blindly guess:

30. The Best Years of Our Lives
29. The Pianist

Doesn't stop me.

Which was criminal as I had it on my list.

What's that? No, I don't think of it as a war film, what' your point?

Of course I've seen The Dirty Dozen, remember the dad eating sandwiches and crisps watching a war film story? Fits this one too.

I've not seen 1917 though. Being modern and everything. Actually it was on tv a few days ago.

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30. Inglourious Basterds
29. Platoon

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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