Best war film ever? "Band of Brothers"

Surprised nobody has mentioned Stalingrad. Personally I rate this film very highly- in many regards it is even more unflinching than Stalingrad. On a more personal level it is more personally interesting as my Grandfather fought there for six weeks in the unit protrayed (which in reality was the 339th Pioneers) before being injured and evacuated- less than three days before the Russians encircled the place.

 

its on my list to see at some time... is it available to rent on DVD?

 

if you do, make sure you get one in german language with english subtitles, as the English dubbed version is terrible.

 

Actually I quite enjoyed 'Enemy at the Gate' too.

My opinion about Apocy Now? The orginal version is good though not a personal fave. The Redux is not fun at all, most of the added footage (the plantation) just drags. Folks wondered why the excellent documentary 'Into the heart of darkeness' wasnt included. Well I can guess the reason, as it shows Cuppola ranting and raving in a right old tantrum on the plantation set stating quite catagorically that (iirc) "this whole thing is a mess, its crap, these scenes will NEVER see the light of day!" He was right.

I guess another lucrative session at the money trough can solve those sort of feelings.

 

P.S. I'm clearly not the only person to have been impressed by "Band of Brothers". When shopping in France last weekend, I found that the French Army had an information/recruiting booth in the shopping centre. And the main image was one of soldiers silhouetted against a skyline, exactly as in the BoB opening titles.

 

Nobody like the Deerhunter? I found it one of the most disturbing films I have ever watched. What about Schindlers list, it may not be strictly a war film, but it's certainly about war

 

So disturbing that we're probably doing are best to forget them, if you see what I mean!

 

Vote of confidence for (in no particular order, except #1!):

Apocalypse Now
The Deerhunter
Ice Cold In Alex
The Cruel Sea
Das Boot
The Great Escape
Cross Of Iron - A rare film to have no women in the cast (token appearance), i.e. Lurv interest.
Windtalkers - Some of it was pants, but the action scenes were impressive. I don't fancy a blast of the old flamethrower much...
A Bridge Too Far
There were a whole pile of British made WW2 films that were great.

 

On a different tack, would it be acceptable to include Dog Soldiers - Superb British horror film with a large injection of humour. They were certainly at war

 

Humour and pathos in "Life is Beautiful" - a wonderful story and full of the things in life that you might never think are important when civilians are faced with the horrors of being prisoners of war. A film that is full of emotions.

I am surprised that nobody appears to have mentioned Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" which depicts the horrors of training and then the war in Vietnam.

The best war film - definitely Band of Brothers IMO