So, with the number of bad war films Iāve complained about in the last few days, in honor of Memorial Day, Iāve made a list of must see ones. These are my favorite war films (with the caveats that Iāve stuck with real wars, wars that include guns, and ones where the war is front and center, not a setting for other drama, thus Iām leaving out things like Casablanca, The African Queen, Beau Geste, and The Sea Hawk).
#11Ā The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The first of multiple āfunā war films on this list, The Dirty Dozen is all about shooting the bad guys and gleeful nastiness. Lee Marvin leads a band of mid-level stars in a big shoot-āem-up that feels like playing army.
#10Ā The Great Escape (1963)
The ā60s saw a stream of epic, multi-star, war movies and this is one of the better ones. It has a few less explosions than the others and a lot more character work. No other escape film can match it. Plus, it has one of the most memorable theme songs in cinema.
#9Ā Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Whoād have thought a film about gasoline could be this exciting. This is the best of the epic, multi-star, war movies of the ā60s. Itās a big, loud extravaganza and a lot of fun. Things donāt tend to have a great deal of emotional weight. Itās more like a war game.
#8Ā All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Most of my list is made up of films that depicts war as either a noble pursuit or a lot of fun. Not here. All Quiet on the Western Front is about the horrors of war and nothingās said it better. The Naziās didnāt like it one bit, and banned the movie and burned the book. Thatās all you need to know.
#7Ā Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Spies in war time with twists and turns. It has Richard Burton to add class and Clint Eastwood to add violence. It may be my favorite performances for both. Donāt worry about the dark reality of war. Where Eagles Dare is not concerned with that.
#6 Stalag 17 (1953)
Itās a dark prisoner-of-war film where the Nazis are taken quite seriously and yet it bounces into pure comedy, before bouncing back into drama. William Holden plays a selfish, cynical hustler who deals with the Germansā¦ And heās the hero. Billy Wilder was the greatest director of the ’50s and this is one of a string of wonderfully twisted films he wrote and directed.
#5 The Dawn Patrol (1938)
The combat scenes are both exciting and tense, but it is the interpersonal drama that elevates The Dawn Patrol. Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and David Niven are all superb. We get the heroics expected in such films, but with that, we are given an image of the pointlessness of war.
#4 Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
I often say that plot is not the most important part of a film, but this film is all plot and it works. Thereās no relationship side-story or character development. This is about sinking the Bismarck, period. And thatās a pretty interesting story.
#3 Sahara (1943)
Yes, itās a wartime propaganda film, but itās such a well made one. Humphrey Bogart at the height of his career is a tough sergeant in command of a tank with crew constructed of soldiers he finds along the way. It is miles more progressive racially and ethnically than our current political world, and it works as well as drama and a character piece as it does as propaganda. It also has a really funny bathing scene.
#2 Zulu (1964)
The perfect war film, Zulu is exciting, emotional, and thoughtful. It threads the needle, being strongly anti-colonial while empathizing with the British soldiers. It handles multiple characters with skill and made me care about all of them. Itās a movie where you want both sides to win and both sides to lose, and you can feel what it would have been like to be at Rorkeās Drift in 1879. Iāve seen it more than any other war film and I never tire of it.
#1 Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To beat Zulu for the top slot, it had to be more than the perfect war film, and it is. This is a film of gods and myths, of belief and fanaticism, and of course, war. It is not just the best war movie ever made, it is one of the finest films of any kind ever made.