From the 1861 American Civil War to more current one in Afghanistan and Iraq, battlefields have also given filmmakers ideas for making movies. Depiction of war between two nations or two tribes has always made for entertaining movies.
Over the last few years, war movies have actually created a category for themselves in the minds of the audiences the world over. Every movie fan has their own selection about the best movies made about war. Although the theme is the basically the name, many of the most popular way movies have their own style and loyal fan base so it is difficult to select the best war movies of all time. What we can do is to have a list of what is generally accepted as the best war movies ever made.
A Bridge Too Far
This war movie was produced by the Levine Brothers and directed by Richard Attenborough. Based on the novel, this movie is about Operation Market Garden and its spectacular failure in World War 2. Starring in the movie are some of the best actors during that era including Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins and James Caan.
Apocalypse Now
This Francis Ford Coppola movie revolves around two offices of the US Army in Vietnam. One is the officer turned rogue warlord played by Marlon Brando and the officer tasked to kill him played by Michael Sheen. This movie is famous for its grotesque violence but was nominated for both a Golden Globe and
Oscar just the same
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Definitely one of the best war movies in recent years, Black Hawk Down is based on the Battle of Mogadishu where US forces battled to capture Mohamed Farrah Aiddid, the Somali Warlord. Boasting a star studded cast with the likes of Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore, under the direction of acclaimed director Ridley Scott, this movie won the Academy for Best Sound and Best Editing when it was released.
Glory
Another Civil War movie, this story focuses on the 54ht Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry from the view of its commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw. The film contains a cast of superstars including a young Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick.
Platoon
This film is the first in Oliver Stone’s war trilogy which was famously followed by Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth. With such starts as Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe, this movie was widely acclaimed for its realistic view of war and all its horrors.
Saving Private Ryan
Directed by Steven Spielberg, this has got to be one of the best World War 2 movies of all time.The movie boast extremely realistic war scenes about D-Day and the battle for Omaha Beach. The film was one of the most highly nominated movies in Academy Awards history and finally won 5 Oscars including one for Best Director.
Schindler's List
This movie is the one that got Steven Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director. Shot in black and white, the movie is based on the novel Schindler’s Ark and tells the story of German entrepreneur Oscar Schindler who manages to save thousands of Jews during the atrocities of the Holocaust.
