Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Top 10: Fave War Films

Action movies are fun to watch with over-the-top action scenes and out-of-this world weapons. I always suspend disbelief when I watch films from these genre. I treat them as pure entertainment and don't really care if the plot makes no sense.

My approach on war movies are entirely different since this war did happen and battle scenes with its blood, carnage, and decapitated limbs are all too real, hits too close to home. I take these films more seriously, opting to watch them alone with the curtains drawn and the door locked.

Here then are my 10 favorite war films.

1. Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg's film on World War II is about a band of soldiers sent to find a soldier whose brothers have all died in the war. The first 20 minutes of the film is said to be the grittiest and most realistic depiction of the horror and carnage in Omaha Beach.

2. Apocalypse Now. This war classic from Francis Ford Coppola was shot in the Philippines in the 1970s. Watching a deranged Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz on the latter part of the film is worth the effort of hunting for a longer version of the film, retitled Apocalypse Now Redux, that was released in 2001.

3. Full Metal Jacket. Stanley Kubrick's ultra-violent film follows a group of Unites States Marines from their brutal recruit training to the days spent in the war-torn jungles of Vietnam. This is one of my favorite Kubrick films together with 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange.


4. Platoon. Oliver Stone is at the height of his artistic powers in his Oscar-winning film about the Vietnam War starring Charlie Sheen. This film is way up there with Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and The Deer Hunter (next on the list) as the best Vietnam War movies ever made.

5. The Deer Hunter. Michael Cimino's 1978 Vietnam War film tells the harrowing story of three Russian-American steel workers from a small American town who become prisoners of war and the aftermath after their daring escape from prison. The Russian roulette scenes from prison and later in a Saigon bar is unlike anything I've seen in film.

6. The Thin Red Line. I don't really remember the plot of Terrence Mallick's WWII film which stars a slew of actors like George Clooney, Sean Penn, and Jim Caviezel. I do remember that Mallick photographed the film like he was writing poetry which if you ask me is rather difficult to pull off.

7. Born on the Fourth of July. Tom Cruise gives a bravura performance in Oliver Stone's second Vietnam War film as true-life war veteran Ron Kovic. Kovic gets shot in his teens while fighting the war in Vietnam, rages on his paralysis, and later on channels this rage in protesting the war that has made him wheelchair-bound for life.

8. Three Kings. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube star in David O. Russel's stylishly cool film released in 1999 about a gold heist set during the 1991 Iraqi uprising against Sadam Hussein.



9. The Hurt Locker. Released in 2008 about a squad of American soldiers deployed in Iraq to dismantle bombs planted by insurgents. Scenes where Ssgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) disarm bombs is taut with suspense and aided with minimal and at times zero musical score.


10. The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Winner of the Palm d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, Ken Loach's film is about a pair of brothers fighting together and ultimately against each other for Irish independence. One unsolicited advice if you plan to watch this - make sure the DVD has subtitles, Irish accent is a pain.

21 comments:

DRAKE said...

Bro no.1 din sa akin ang saving private ryan. Astig. yung enemy at the gates maganda sana kaso baduy na sa huli nadisappoint talaga ako ng sobra.

You have a very good taste in movies bro! mukhang magkakasundo tayo. I always look forward to your movie reviews and ratings.Kaya keep it up!!

gillboard said...

how could you miss on black hawk down?! that was good!

The Scud said...

drake, salamat! salamat! pareho tayo ng opinyon on saving private ryan's ending. it's not really surprising since spielberg does not really know how to end his movies. :D

The Scud said...

gillboard, kasama actually black hawk down sa list ko but it had to go when i remembered the deer hunter. it was a toss-up between that and my #10. honorable mention na lang yun. :D

Ely said...

Pareho tau ng number 1! Yung 9-10 sa list mo ndi ko na alam. Hehe. I'd add Behind Enemy Lines on this list.

Raft3r said...

nice list!

kaso di mo sinama yun pelikula ni cesar montano

baka magalit sayo yon
sige ka
hehe

The Scud said...

ely, panoorin mo lahat yan. it would be time and money well spent. :D

The Scud said...

raft3r, naku. the great raid ba yan? di ko pinanood yan. wala ako balak. hehe.

theLastJedi said...

' movies 9 and 10 i haven't seen.. saving private ryan is good but for me, and im giving my unsolicited opinion, the best one ive seen is life is beautiful by roberto benigni. though there's not much bullet's flying, limbs seprating, and bombs exploding, astig ang pagkaka-render ng human side ng war.. again, a tearjerker for me.. =)

wait said...

Full Metal Jacket - Nice Movie
-- may vhs tape kami nyan hehe

The Scud said...

thelastjedi > sa ibang listahan kasama life is beautiful. bakbakan ang post ko - pansinin mo lahat about sa mga sundalo/rebels. :D

The Scud said...

wait > buti naman at hindi betamax. lol.

jayclops said...

Apocalypse Now would be my No. 1. Glad to see Barley and Hurt Locker. The Hurt Locker is one of my faves this year.

Random Student said...

My dad is a big fan of war movies. Napasa n'ya sa 'kin 'yung sense of patronage. #1 din sa 'kin ang Saving Private Ryan kasi ok ang balance of action, plot, and acting brilliance. I have not watched most of the titles in your list, but I'm sure they are classics. I also like Enemy At The Gates with Jude Law. Try it. Inantok ako sa The Great Raid. Sorry Raft3r ha-ha!

The Scud said...

jayclops, astig ang hurt locker. lalo na siguro when you watch it on a THX theatre.

The Scud said...

random student, napanood ko na ata ang enemy at the gates. was that the movie with rachel weisz?

Jerick said...

i was thinking black hawk down too.

The Scud said...

jerick, #11 ko na lang yan. #12 behind enemy lines. :D

Random Student said...

yes, the scud, enemy at the gates has rachel weisz in it. her character had sex side ways with jude in the middle of a crowded make-shift relief center, then of course there's the war in the movie he-he.

Visual Velocity said...

Sa list mo, Born on the Fourth of July at Three Kings lang napanood ko. Meron akong kopya ng The Wind that Shakes the Barley pero hanggang ngayon hindi ko pa rin napapanood, ehehe.

Favorite war movie ko Waltz with Bashir. Mejo mabagal yung pace pero killer yung ending.

The Scud said...

andy > di mo napanood saving private ryan? not a spielberg fan?