The Movieforums Top 100 War Movies Countdown

HINTS BREAKDOWN


38: A quote from 300: Prepare for glory. One of many famous quotes from that movie. Little Ash was close, but no cigar.



37: Obviously I straight up told you what the hint was already, a movie from a trigoly not featured yet.


Cricket gets another one.

Glory was number 19 for me. I really think there's some great performances in it, Denzel and Freeman being the best but also Broderick was great too.

Rome Open City was ok.

Glory was my 16th. On my list I write: Glory checks all of the appropriate boxes of master war movie making. While it's easy to make little comments about how the music, direction and characters might not QUITE be as good as other master-class war movies, the elements mold together in such an impressive way that Glory makes for a perfect starting point for those who want to start exploring war movies.



I didn't vote for Germany Year Zero but it came close. On my list: While its direction quality has been challenged and met before, its storytelling is nearly top-notch, creating a thorough economic commentary through thick characters and serious heartstring-pulling.

I have rewatched Glory in the last couple years finally. I thought it was pretty good way back, I think it’s pretty good now. Not good enough for my list.

Really like Rome Open City first watch. I gave it a 4/5. It’s been a few years and I don’t remember it at all, so no vote.

__________________
Letterboxd

Glory is one of those movies that really isn't very good, just an extremely average thing, but I'll always watch anyways whenever it's on (and it used to be on all of the time). I think this is because just the basic history behind the story of the film is interesting enough that it doesn't really need a spectacular film to sell it, and it is arguably Washingtons best performance.

plenty of good movies since i last commented. rome, open city, underground, waltz with bashir, hacksaw ridge, jojo rabbit, fail-safe, and sergeant york are all very solid movies that i didn't consider voting for. the general and night and fog join the ranks of a matter of life and death as movies that i certainly would have voted for had i thought of them as war films while i was making my list.

i saw dunkirk twice in the theater and once at home recently and am still bored as shit every time, but i can appreciate what nolan is going for on a formal level so i don't consider myself a total hater. not too into tora! tora! tora!, first blood, all quiet on the western front (2022), or MASH, but they're fine. gone with the wind is what it is. the caine mutiny is one of the few classics i genuinely don't like, even though i'm usually a fan of edward dmytryk.

along with lolita, barry lyndon is the only kubrick i haven't seen yet, but i've been going through his filmography chronologically for the podcast blank check so i will be checking it out soon. i already have my tickets to see it at the alamo drafthouse in two weeks.



1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. The Burmese Harp (1956)
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16. To Be or Not To Be (1942)
17.
18.
19.
20. War and Peace (1966)
21.
22.
23. Ivan's Childhood (1962)
24.
25. The Long Voyage Home (1940)

(i simply listed "War and Peace (1966)" on my ballot so i'm not really sure how it was counted tbh, but either way i would've had a hard time dividing up the four parts)

__________________
letterboxd
criticker

I’ve seen MASH and Glory once and liked them well enough. I should really get around to Empire of the Sun, massive Spielberg blind spot for me. I’ve tried at least twice to watch Last of the Mohicans and just couldn’t focus on it and didn’t get past the first 20 minutes or so. Which is a shame because I love Mann otherwise.

Glory was #70 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1980s while Rome, Open City was #74 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1940s and #93 on the MoFo Top 100 Foreign Films.

__________________
"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

It's been a very loooong time since I last saw Glory. I remember liking it, but I barely remember bits and pieces. Obviously, it didn't make my list.

I haven't seen Rome, Open City.


Seen: 26/64

__________________

Glory was on my shortlist but one of the first I cut to get down to twenty-five. Rossellini's Rome, Open City was one I had to make room for. It was fifteenth on my ballot, giving it eleven of its 115 points. Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves seems to have assumed the mantle as the best example of Italian Neo-Realist Post-War Cinema, and that's fine, it is a magnificent movie. But Roberto Rossellini's work may have faded a bit, with him perhaps better known as Ingrid Bergman's husband and Isabella Rossellini's father. He was one of the masters and for me Rome, Open City is the most powerful of his works.

That makes six of mine to show.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
7. Fires on the Plain (#59)
10. Waltz with Bashir (#45)
14. MASH (#39)
15. Rome, Open City (#37)
16. Letters from Iwo Jima (#60)
21. The Killing Fields (#69)
25. The Wind That Shakes the Barley (DNP)

Seen both and wrote this about them:

That was my favorite scene from the movie. I loved the location and staging of the attack on Fort Wagner. There's something about the tranquility of the ocean and the softness of the sand, that contrasted so poignantly with the men dying in such a lovely spot.

My other favorite scene was the military training camp where the soldiers were drilled in the disciplines of soldiering. That set looked real to me. I haven't read anything about the movie, but I bet that was an actual set, maybe even from the Civil War era. The bricks were weathered and in places the walls had crumbled away. It looked old, very old. Very cool.

I didn't care for Matthew Broderick or his second in command the tall blonde guy...However I did like Morgan Freeman and the actor with the glasses was good too...It really wasn't an actor's movie as much as it was a thematic movie, and a powerful theme it was.

Rome Open City didn't make my ballot, but came very close. A certain other film by the same director and from the same era definitely did because it left a bit more of an impression.

Last of the Mohicans made my ballot, but if I'm being honest, that was recency bias because I watched it right before making my ballot. If I had to make my ballot today, I can pretty much guarantee it wouldn't have a spot. It was a good film, but not top 25.

I haven't seen either of these.
Is that Anna Magnani in Rome, Open City?
I love her.

Rome, Open City was my #10. Great filmmaking.


I think that makes 7/25 from my list now.

'All night long, you check check check!' gotta love Malkovich. Good to see Empire of the Sun this high on the list, been on my War 100 since its release. I currently have it at #74, there are a couple more Spielberg's on there as well.

When one tear rolling down the cheek can have nuclear cinematic impact. It's Denzel's powerhouse performance that elevates Glory above other films on this specific war period. Had it at #16.

SEEN 45/62
BALLOT 11/25

__________________
Entertainment Log
Letterboxd profile

I watched Glory back in middle school (or parts of it; I don't remember if we were showed the full film or not), so I remember next to nothing about it.

Rome, Open City is very good and, though it's a bit obvious about some of its themes, I still found the portrayal of the "race war" Germany was waging on the resistance fighters to be interesting, with some unexpectedly violent images (for the time, at least) to boot. With that being said, I think I prefer the other two films in the trilogy by a bit (Paisan, at least).

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

Glory is a great film that I considered for the list but ultimately decided against it. Still love it though.
Have not seen Rome, Open City so obviously no vote from me.

#8 Hacksaw Ridge On point #67
#10 The Hurt Locker Bombs away! #58
#12 Dunkirk Retreat! #47
#21 Tora! Tora! Tora! In the vanguard #63

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Rome Open City is excellent, but didn't quite make my ballot. I thought Glory was pretty good, but not great.

Seen: 45/64

Rome Open City was one of a few that I was hoping to get to a 2nd time but wasn't able to. I still plan to at some point to refresh my memory.

Seen Glory a couple times and think well of it, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of Broderick.

No votes. Seen both films once and thought they were great, prefer Rome, Open City.

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0