All About War Movies gave me the idea of a list of the best and worst war movies I reviewed in 2011. To qualify, I could not have seen the movie in the last five years. I saw a lot of war movies in 2011. Few were great and few were terrible.
THE BEST
10. Cross of Iron - great performance by James Coburn as one of my favorite characters - Steiner; gritty combat; very anti-war; set on the Eastern Front in WWII
9. Army of Crime- the best of the French Resistance movies; concentrates on the French Communist Resistance in WWII
8. Beau Geste - old school entertainment; a rare war movie mystery and it works; great cast
7. Battle of Haditha - true story of an atrocity in Iraq seen through both perspectives; thought-provoking and fair-minded
6. The Train - Burt Lancaster at his peak; very suspenseful; Resistance protecting art treasures
5. Born on the 4th of July - Tom Cruise's greatest performance; goes from pro-war to anti-war in a realistic way; true story of Ron Kovic
4. Where Eagles Dare - the best of its type - war/action/adventure; a kick-ass movie with some great twists and a lot of dead Germans
3. Three Kings - a modern war film for modern audiences; great ensemble cast; personalizes the Persian Gulf War
2. Oh, What a Lovely War! - WWI set to period music; a remarkable movie with great songs; very hard on the brass - justifiably so
1. Waltz with Bashir - the most incredible movie I saw last year of any type; set in Israel's invasion of Lebanon; the visuals are jaw-dropping
THE WORST
5. In Harm's Way - bloated star-studded soap opera set around Pearl Harbor; even John Wayne and Kirk Douglas
4. Hanover Street - sappy romance set in WWII with a ridiculous spy plot thrown in
3. Journey to Shiloh - some friends trek to join the Confederate Army; series of lame adventures ensue
2. Tin Drum - a bizarre movie about a malevolent little boy set in WWII; many critics patted themselves on the back for praising this piece of crap
1. Braveheart - my mission to watch the top 100 war movies forced me to watch this abomination again; the small hope that I had been too hard on it in the past did not come to fruition; the most egregious falsification of history ever put on film
Very interesting list, I must say. Even some I haven't watched yet, like Waltz with Bashir. Funny enough I had less of a problem with In Harm's Way, I've seen far, far worse this year.
ReplyDeleteSome are on your list that would have been on my 2010 list if I had made one (nos 10/9/7/5/3). Great movies, all of them
I haven't watched Beau Geste or The Train...
Thanks. I am sure you would like the three you haven't seen yet. I thought you might comment on the lack on non-American movies. I will point out that you only had one American film on your list.
ReplyDeleteI am just gonna HAVE to netflix Tin Drum cause you hate it so much. Not Braveheart tho, cause i dont like that bloated Mel Gibson love fest either. that guy loves to torture himself. Even tho i dont think you liked it much, his Apocolypto was better i thought. that was a movie that transported you to another culture we rarely see on film. ok, so the severed head still seeing as he bounces was typical over the top Gibson...
ReplyDeleteI didnt like Cross of Iron as much but im a Coburn fan so i agree on his character. Memorable antihero role. Little too much Pekinpah slowmo for me. The Train is a very good movie. Well made all around. You can tell it was a project Lancaster really believed in and the face off of the two characters is terrific right down to the end.
Tin Drum! Tin Drum!(i may regret that)
Oh, and i prefer Gunga Din to Beau Geste, but thats just me.