The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

Msg

Registered User

09-04-23

Master and Commander made my list. I’m a sucker for any nautical combat or survival or problem solving.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a fine movie but not a favorite.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

09-04-23

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Seen both, loved one, meh about the other. Guess which?

Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro 2006)

It seemed like an odd mix of two genres and to be honest I liked the fairy tale aspect, but didn't care for the one dimensional fascist captain story line.

I'm not sure why a fairy tale in the style of Harry Potter was combined with R rated violence. To me both styles got in the way of each other...An R rated, serious look at fascist Spain during WWII and the resistance fighters that they pursued, would've made for a good serious film.

OR, the fairy tale story with the little girl and the underground secret kingdom would have been cool if done by itself. But the two stories got in the way of each other. I didn't buy the fascist Captain story as it was so cliched and predictable that I was bored with that. But I did really like the story and adventures of the girl. I thought that was all well done. The journey into the dead fig tree with the giant toad, was pretty cool! I wanted more of that kind of stuff.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(Peter Weir 2003)

Based on two novels by Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander and The Far Side of the World, hence the unwieldy title of the film.

This is a film about comradely, friendship and duty...all set aboard a British sailing ship the H.M.S. Surprise. It's the characters and how they interact and show us life abroad ship that makes the film very special. Yes it does have some thrilling moments, many in fact. There's plenty of action and good old ship broadsides with roaring canon blast and shards of ship boards a-flying. But this film has something more, heart and that makes it much better than the average sailing ship movie.

Director Peter Weir went to great lengths to create authenticity and believability in his film. He chose to make a very personal story and the viewer gets a feeling of what it would be like to live, work and fight in the British Navy circa 1805.

The director had his cameramen fly to the replica of Captain James Cook's ship, HMS Endeavour as it was undertaking a historic sailing voyage around the globe. The footage of the stormy seas as the ship sails around the Horn of South America are real.

Russell Crowe does a splendid job here. He's personable, amicable and genuine and he extrudes the idea of a proper British Naval officer. The onboard ship's naturalistic and surgeon, played by Paul Bettley, gives a sense of wonderment to the film. He is scientifically inquisitive and desperately wants to visit the Galapagos islands to discover new species....this brings the two men at odds and adds a good subplot to the already emotion packed film. The naturalistic gives us a window onto the great British naturalist Charles Darwin. I was reminded of his legendary visit to the Galapagos aboard the HMS Beagle.

SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

09-04-23

Pan's Labyrinth was #12 on my ballot. I don't have an official write-up or review of it, but it's an excellent film.

Master and Commander is also really good due to how well it's able to create an immersive environment with its sound design, in addition to the contrast between Crowe's and Bettany's characters.

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SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

09-04-23

My updated ballot:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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.
25.

seanc

Lone Wolf

09-04-23

Master And Commander was my 21. Remember coming away underwhelmed from the theater, which is weird, because both my home viewings I have absolutely loved it. Visually fantastic, really compelling story, and Crowe is wonderful as the lead. Really like Bettany too. Great movie.

Pan�s was a really good first time watch, but I haven�t gone back to it, so who knows how I feel. It was even one of my first purchases when I got a 4K player and I still haven�t rewatched. Oh well, one day.

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rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

09-04-23

Pans is a good one, but not on my ballot.

Haven't rectified seeing Master and Commander yet

Harry Lime

BANNED FROM VIENNA

09-04-23

A couple of very good films. It's been a while since I watch either but I've especially been meaning to give Master and Commander another watch for sometime. Peter Weir is a great filmmaker and you see the efforts in all of his films.

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Msg

Registered User

09-04-23

I like Pan's Labyrinth a lot but it was not in consideration for my ballot. I don't view it as a war film.

Have not seen Master and Commander.

John-Connor

Registered User

09-04-23

Letters from Iwo Jima is great, I have it at #76. I�ve seen The Hurt Locker but it needs a rewatch. Black Hawk Down is good. It reminds me of one of my fav old school Call of Duty multiplayer maps. Jojo Rabbit is my #100, wonderful anti-hate satire. Master and Commander is a top tier nautical warfare film. From that specific period it�s probably the best, had it at #9. Pan's Labyrinth is fantastic, love del Toro's most unique approach to the genre, #85.

SEEN 30/48
BALLOT 10/25

My War Top 100:

27. A Man Escaped
30. War and Peace I
36. Three Kings
47. Judgment at Nuremberg
48. Twelve O�Clock High
68. Hotel Rwanda
70. Hacksaw Ridge
76. Letters from Iwo Jima*
77. Ike: Countdown to D-Day
79. Enemy at the Gates
84. The Hill
85. Pan's Labyrinth*
86. K-19: The Widowmaker
94. Breaker Morant
98. Tropic Thunder
100. Jojo Rabbit*

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Allaby

Guy who likes movies

09-04-23

I really like both Pan's Labyrinth and Master and Commander, but neither made my ballot.

Seen: 31/48

John Dumbear

Out in God's Country

09-04-23

"Pan's Labyrinth" is my favorite film ever. It blends many genres sans comedy, none to found here. Kind of violated my own rules in saying it's not a pure "war" film. Yet, had to add it and it was my #21.

EDIT: Dear God, my grammar is crap. Never claimed to be a writer.

Last edited by John Dumbear; 09-04-23 at 08:06 PM.

Takoma11

Registered User

09-04-23

Originally Posted by John Dumbear

"Pan's Labyrinth" is my favorite film ever It blends many genres. Sans comedy, none to found here. Kind of violated my own rules in saying it's not a pure "war" film. Yet, had to add it and it was my #21.

Same. A war film . . . . eh, maybe? But I had to put it as my #17. The way that it shows how cruelty and sadism can be rewarded in the context of war, the visual imagination, the clash of realism and imagination. A certain other del Toro WW2-set film did not make my list, as doesn't really feel like a war film either.

I saw this movie in a packed theater and the audience had such an emotional reaction to it. My friends and I drove like an hour just to see it (shout out rural Iowa!), and so it has a special place in my heart.

I liked Master and Commander well enough. Not in a literal way, so please don't worry about me, but the only thing I really remember from it is a visual that I think of when I'm overwhelmed or depressed, which is the guy

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WARNING: spoilers below

holding the cannonball in his arms and stepping off of the edge of the boat

Thief

Master of None

09-04-23

Seen both, love both, but none of them made my ballot. Pan's Labyrinth could've been there, but maybe I didn't really see it as a war film. But it's a fantastic film anyway and worthy of being here, if not higher.

Master and Commander, I saw for the first time a couple of years ago. Really liked it, even though I'm not as head-over-heels for it as a lot of people. But it's a really good film.

Seen: 19/48

My ballot:

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dadgumblah

Registered User

09-04-23

I love both Pan's Labyrinth and Master and Commander:The Far Side of the World but neither made my list. When all is said and done, I'm afraid most of my picks were not "thinking outside of the box" if you will, but I stand by them, despite a couple of painful cuts.

#8Hacksaw Ridge On point #67
#10The Hurt Locker Bombs away! #58
#21Tora! Tora! Tora! In the vanguard #63

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Last edited by dadgumblah; 09-04-23 at 11:44 PM.

StuSmallz

Forum Nomad

09-05-23

Big hurray for Pan's Labyrinth here; I loved it the first two times I watched it the year it came out, both at home streaming on Netflix, and driving to Memphis to see it in a theater before then (me and my mom were silent the whole drive home, since it had had such a big emotional impact on us), and it had just as much impact on me again when I rewatched it for my review earlier this year: https://letterboxd.com/stusmallz/film/pans-labyrinth/

One of my all-time favorites!

PHOENIX74

I forgot the opening line.

09-05-23

54. Pan's Labyrinth - This one is stretching my definition of a "war film" a little bit - I remember the connection the story has to all of the trouble in Spain at the time, and the occasional detour it makes concerning rebels and fascists. I guess one or two of the deciding websites had "war" as one of the genre-definitions and in it got. A great movie though - just a little absurd that it's going to show up forevermore in a "100 Best War Films" list. I see this and immediately think "fantasy".

53. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - Very nice seeing Peter Weir handle a film with such a massive budget during the latter stages of his career. I adjudge this one as okay - good enough to sit on the good shelves of my troublesomely large DVD collection. Done with replica ships, along with blood, sweat and tears - just as a film of this sort should be made.

This countdown is throwing me a constant stream of films I never, ever expected would show. Still only 2 from my list. Score another one for the Napoleonic wars, which are getting a fair representation.

Seen : 30/48
I'd never even heard of : 11/48
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 7/48

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Iroquois

Welcome to the human race...

09-05-23

No votes. I've seen Pan's Labyrinth a couple of times and, like most of Del Toro's directorial output, I like it well enough but don't love it - even so, it is probably my favourite of his films (well, that or Blade II). I've seen Master and Commander a couple of times and definitely understand why it's as revered as it is, but it's never quite clicked for me in a way that makes me think of it as a masterpiece.

Originally Posted by John Dumbear

The worse has already made the list, "Tropic Thunder".

Tropic Thunder isn't good either, but it doesn't pretend to be anything more than a stupid comedy. Jojo Rabbit has ambitions it either cannot or should not reach.

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