The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

Zero Dark Thirty was a contender for my list but didn't quite make it.

I haven't seen The Hill yet.

They use a little audio from 9/11 at the very beginning but that's it. The movie picks up 2 years after the events so it's not like you're reliving the moment through photos or video. The one I can't watch anymore is United 93.

So I had Zero Dark Thirty in my top 5 for the 2010 countdown so it makes sense that I had it pretty high here as well, right? Nope. Completely forgot about it. I have a feeling that that's going to happen often in this countdown. Oops!

Me too, but that's because I usually close my eyes when they're on. That's not true.... I almost never put them on.

Finally I have seen one though and it's The Hill. A really good, tough, psychologically brutal film but one I didn't find as hard to watch as that description would make you think. Well worth a look and what a friend of mine would call 'a good little film.

I have ZDT but haven't watched it.

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I see Rotten Tomatoes tags Zero Dark Thirty as 'war', but it's not a war film. I'm not complaining about it being on the countdown as it legitimately qualifies for the countdown per the rules...and the rules are fair...Just saying Rotten Tomatoes got it wrong.

Thanks for explaining. I still don't want to watch it as I just remember the feeling when that pile of shit was still loose and free in the world, so I don't want to recall those feelings. Oh I'm totally with you on not watching to watch United 93...and yet I love those airplane disaster movies.

I think I agree, but I am not sure why. Black Hawk Down is going to make this and I definitely consider that war, even rewatched it for this. 13 Soldiers is in the same boat I believe. What’s the distinction?

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Letterboxd

I've not heard of 13 Soldiers, well until just now...must be a newer film? Black Hawk Down probably will be top 25. I watched it like 20 years ago so I don't remember it.

This from IMDB at least sounds war like:
'The story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.'

My point is, those were operations, not actual wars.

Zero Dark was at least an operation that felt like the culmination of an actual war. Like I said, my knee jerk when it showed was to agree but I’m not sure I am right. 😀

That's why I didn't include Zero Dark Thirty on my ballot. It's not tagged war on imdb or letterboxd and I never go to Rotten Tomatoes.

I rarely go to Rotten Tomatoes unless I'm bored and watch to read some really quick 1 sentence reviews of a movie. But it's cool that it was included as a site for the countdown.

You're right of course, both movies were about military operations. My own criteria was movies had to be about real wars to make my ballot... *now when the countdown is over and I post my ballot I hope I don't have my big old foot in my mouth by not following my own definition of war

#94. The Hill (1965) got 11 pts from me, being #15. on my ballot.

I've discovered this movie couple of years ago upon Sean Connery's passing and saw it twice, mostly because of the great performance by Harry Andrews who lifts the film on much higher level. I think, I wrote about this in the preliminary thread.
Very Good movie as a whole, superb cinematography and acting, a real art of cinema. I think, it is not popularized so much because it is a kind of self-criticism and they need masses to watch mostly bad Germans not this.
- 87/100


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As for Zero Dark Thirty (2012), I've started watching it during the awards season back then but abandoned it after 20 min, tired of those type of political movies, agents and designed activists. Meh

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Technically, the operation in Black Hawk Down took place within the Somali Civil War, so it depends on your perspective.

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I am with you, that’s my point exactly. The operation to kill Bin Laden took place within the timeframe of the war in Afghanistan as well.

I have some movies that are questionable on my list. Just pointing out how it’s interesting how put brain processes these genre classifications.

Zero Dark Thrity is the first film from the list I've seen. I remember thinking it was a little over hyped, and gave it but don't remember much else

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Only seen Zero Dark Thirty out of all the films so far.

It was fine.

HINTS TIME!

92:

91:

Flee
Days of Glory

#92 wild guess-Hotel Rwanda

92. Diamonds of the Night
91. Oppenheimer

This movie wasn't eligible.

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