The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

#25. The Deer Hunter (1978) got 20 pts from me being my #6.

I've seen it several times since the school years. Naturally, one of the first titles that came in my mind when the war discussions were launched.
It is just an example for a classic epic work. Great cast, strong well developed story...

+
93/100

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#26. Braveheart, saw it in a theater when it came out. Lavishly funded and well filmed dirty political commission. As a whole, Gibson usually serves well these cartels. Ugh.

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My Ballot
▽
1. Empire of the Sun (1987) [#40]
...
5. Underground (1995) [#43]
6. The Deer Hunter (1978) [#25]
...
8. Ivan's Childhood (1962) [#56]
...
14. Enemy at the Gates (2001) [#88]
15. The Hill (1965) [#94]
...
18. The Hurt Locker (2008) [#58]
...

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Well that's a plus

Braveheart was my number 3! It's a sensational film!

Stalag 17, The Human Condition I & III, From Here to Eternity, Army of Shadows, Patton and The Deer Hunter are all on my top hundred. Goes without saying I think they're all great and worthy of placement. Nice to see they made it this high on the countdown. Braveheart is my #17.

SEEN 57/76
BALLOT 12/25 @Thief

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Braveheart was my #7. Excellent film. Deer Hunter is great too, but just missed my ballot.

Seen: 53/76

I didn't like Braveheart when I first saw it, but granted, it's been years since I've seen it so I barely remember it. Not really keen on rewatching it, but maybe sometime down the road I'll give it another shot.

The Deer Hunter made the tail end of my ballot at #25. It excels at portraying the dehumanizing effect of war and the various long-term effects it has on those who survive it. I think the main criticism the film gets is that it takes too long to get going, but the point of the first hour (as with Cimino's Heaven's Gate to an extent), is to establish the rhythms of the town and give us a sense of what's going to be disrupted. Without it, the final scene (plus some other significant scenes in the final hour) would have nearly no emotional weight. You need to get a feel of De Niro's relationship with his friends before we see it challenged. The second hour doesn't warrant quite as much defending as the emotional intensity of the war scenes, mixed with De Niro's performance, tell you all you need to know about how war is hell. No exposition is necessary for you to figure out that De Niro and his friends won't ever be the same again. Though I had seen parts of the Russian Roulette sequence prior to watching the film, it still managed to disturb me. The only aspect which warrants some defending is the admittedly one-sided depiction of the war. All the Americans soldiers, while not necessarily portrayed as noble, are portrayed in a positive light, while all the Vietnam soldiers (as well as the civilians) are portrayed in an unflattering way. I've always been torn on this aspect. On one hand, given how PTSD is a central theme of the final act, it makes sense to portray their experience in Vietnam as pure, unrelenting terror (including scenes of the Vietnam soldiers/civilians acting noble would've diluted the power of the final third). On the other hand though, it wouldn't have hurt the film to portray bad/unhinged behavior from the American soldiers as well. In short, I'm not as vehement with this criticism as some people are (on a visceral level, I was moved), but I do understand why people would take issue with it. The final hour probably requires the least amount of defending. This is where the carefully constructed portrait of the town and the relationships De Niro had with all the characters from the first hour slowly falls apart and is challenged by his experiences in the war. The reason the final hour holds so much weight is because of the first hour. If it wasn't for that (or if it was shortened), seeing De Niro's PTSD challenge his relations with the same people he was so close to in the first hour would've been too emotionally cold to watch. The first hour was exactly what the film needed to suit the final hour and solidify its status as a great film. Really though, if you look at the film as a whole and consider how the combat scenes during the war (their arrival in Vietnam and the Russian Roulette sequence) last no more than 20 minutes, it should be obvious that depicting wall-to-wall action wasn't the point of the film. In order for one to fully appreciate what Cimino did, you need to look at it through the lens of a non-combat war film.

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My updated ballot:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. To Be or Not to Be (#41)
6.
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)

Anyway, from the last four I've seen all but The Human Condition I. Not a huge fan of Braveheart, and while both Patton and The Deer Hunter are fine films, neither made my list.

My ballot so far:

1.
2.
3. Braveheart (1995)
4.
5.
6.
7. 1917 (2019)
8. Fires on the Plain (1959)
9. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
10.
11.
12.
13. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
14.
15. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
16. Stalag 17 (1953)
17.
18.
19. Glory (1989)
20. Shame (1968)
21. Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
22.
23.
24. From Here to Eternity (1953)
25. The Lucky Ones (2008)

All but 22 and 23 will make it

Haven't seen The Deer Hunter.

I wrote this about:Braveheart (1995)

The Deer Hunter and Braveheart are two of my least-liked Best Picture winners of the last fifty years.

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I forgot to rewatch Braveheart for the ballot, so I left it where it was and it became my number 19. At least at the time, it gave me everything I asked for in a historical war movie. But I have minimal interest in watching it again as I have so much to do.

The Deer Hunter was a pretty fun psycho-drama, but it was seriously slow. And if that torturer said "Mow" one more ****ing time, I was gonna suck myself into the movie and bite his throat.

My Ballot:
6. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
7. Napoleon (1927)
9. Grand Illusion (1937)
11. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
15. Army of Shadows (1969)
16. Glory (1989)
17. The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
19. Braveheart (1995)
20. Waltz with Bashir (2007)
22. Shame (1968)
23. Tropic Thunder (2008)

Hints


24:


23:

24. Dr. Strangelove
23. All Quiet on the Western Front

Yeah, I'm just throwing stuff out there.

26. Braveheart - I've seen Braveheart and I think it's okay. I'm not a big fan of Mel Gibson though - it's a feeling that falls just short of 'hate', but easily falls within the 'dislike' zone. Now, while Tom Cruise has an uncanny ability to rise about my dislike and be the leading man in films I really like a lot, there's something about Mel Gibson that just seeps into all of the film he's appearing in. He contaminates a movie, whereas Cruise becomes invisible. So, although I don't find Braveheart objectionable, I never really got as much out of it as most other people do. Exceptions are Signs, to a certain degree Ransom, Lethal Weapon and anything he made before 1983. William Wallace is a really interesting historical figure though.

25. The Deer Hunter - I've probably seen The Deer Hunter at some stage of my life, but too long ago to count the film as comprehensively 'seen' - although I've seen the 'Russian roulette' scenes countless times for some reason. Seems it's time for the big epic war films. Will Lawrence of Arabia make the top 10? What about Apocalypse Now, The Thin Red Line or Das Boot? We'll see I guess.

Seen : 55/76
I'd never even heard of :12/74
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 9/74

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The Deer Hunter was my #20.
It's a movie I'm very mixed on. All the scenes in the US work, and you get a strong before and after effects of PTSD and the war. Everything in Vietnam doesn't make a lick of sense - i.e. the war scenes were bad enough in this movie, I nearly left it off of the ballot (also once you learn the original script wasn't a Vietnam movie, but rather a couple of guys going to Vegas and getting involved with an underground Russian Roulette gambling tournament, it's something you can't unsee). Though I was also strongly considering The Best Years of Our Lives for me ballot, and that's purely "life after the war" type of war movie, and well, those coming home scenes for De Niro are powerful, to the point, for that subgenre (how war affects the lives of the soldiers), I decided to go with this one but low. (So I'm saying I like the first hour a lot more than second hour. Kind of surprised to see that people thought it was slow and the weak part of the film).


Braveheart - this was a movie I liked as a teenager when it came out. I suspect I wouldn't like it much now. Mixture of changed tastes, but also the wariness one has for "based on true stories" that can get triggered would probably happen as an adult.

24. Spartacus
23. Downfall

24. The Great Dictator
23. Born on the 4th of July

The Deer Hunter is pretty great but just missed out on my list

Braveheart is an absolutely terrible film.