McMaster's Top Ten World War II War Movies
Jul 31 '02 (Updated Feb 14 '06)
The Bottom Line John Wayne, Tom Hanks, Audie Murphy, Tom Sizmore, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Alec Balwin, Charlton Heston, Ben Affleck, Ed Harris, Jargen Prochnow, Robert Redford, and many more greats...!
There have been more movies made about World War II than you can shake a stick at. Most of them were all petty decent movies that just didn't make my top ten list. Make no mistake they are still worth a watch. There were many movies made such as Where Eagles Dare and The Dirty Dozen that I consider to be excellent movies.
John Wayne made some great World war II movies during his career! The Sands of Iwo Jima, Sergeant Stryker, The Longest Day and Flying Leathernecks. I definitely recommend checking out the Dukes World War II performances!
McMaster's Top Ten World War II Movies
10. To Hell And Back (1955)
Directed by Jesse Hibbs
Audie Murphy Plays himself
What better person to act the part of a war hero than a real war hero! Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier in world War II. This is the True Story of Audies Murphy's life, a filmography. The movie starts out with Murphy as a child in Texas where he grew up. Murphy joined the U.S. Army at the age of nineteen. He severed with the 19th Infantry in a multitude of theaters, Africa, Italy, France and Germany.
Murphy was awarded 29 decorations along with Congressional Medal of Honor. During the In the battle of the Colmar pocket Murphy literally stopped a German armored advance supported by German infantry, single handedly! It was estimated that he took out over 240 German soldiers. Everyone should have a look at this classic movie! As a soldier myself I feel obligated to list some of his many awards and decorations as Audie and men like him gave us our FREEDOM:
~AUDIE MURPHY - A REAL MAN - A REAL WAR -
A REAL HERO~
• Congressional Medal of Honor
• Distinguished Service Cross
• Silver Star
• Legion of Merit
• Bronze Star
• Purple Heart
• U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal
• Good Conduct Medal
• American Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• Army of Occupation {German Clasp}
• Combat Infantryman Badge
• French Fourragere
• French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier
• French Croix de Guerre {with Silver Star}
• French Croix de Guerre {with Palm}
• Medal of Liberated France
• Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm
[foot notes]
• Audie Murphy originally declined the opportunity to portray himself in the movie, not wanting people to think that he was attempting to cash in on his role as a war hero.
RUNTIME 1 hour 46 minutes
Rated [not rated]
9. Midway (1976)
Directed by Jack Smight
Charlton Heston as Captain Matthew Garth
Henry Fonda as Admiral Nimitz
Robert Wagner as Lieutenant Commander Blake
Robert Mitchum as Admiral Halsey
I liked Midway for it's historical accuracy. It takes a look at the strategy and pure luck that Admiral Nimitz used to win the South Pacific battle at sea. This battle destroys the back bone of the Japanese navy. The Japanese fleet was larger than the United States fleet because of the brutal attack on Pearl Harbor. The US intelligences was able to break some vital Japanese radio traffic codes! With this information some well thought out strategy and shear luck, the US aircraft carriers find their targets.
{Quotes from Midway}
Captain Garth: How much can you decipher?
Commander Rochefort: Fifteen percent.
Captain Garth: Really decipher?
Commander Rochefort: Ten percent.
Captain Garth: That's one word in ten, Joe! You're guessing!
Commander Rochefort: We like to call it "analysis."
[Foot note]
• Actual battle footage of midway was used in more than one scene.
RUNTIME 2 hours 12 minutes
Rated [PG]
8. Pearl Harbor (2001)
Directed by Michael Bay
Ben Affleck as Rafe
Josh Hartnett as Danny Walker
Alec Baldwin as Jim Doolittle
I enjoyed Pearl Harbor! It was about 1/2 World War II and the other half a gut wrenching love triangle between a beautiful young nurse and two best friends. The scenes of the attack on pearl Harbor are simply fantastic! The chaos and utter destruction that occurred December 7, 1941 is unimaginable until you see this movie! Michael Bay was able to re-create the surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor in such a extraordinary fashion, it will blow your mind!
{Quotes from Pearl Harbor}
President Franklin D. Roosevelt: I like sub commanders. They have no time for bullsh!t, and neither do I.
Danny: You're a rotten drunk... always have been.
Rafe: Well, you're a lousy friend... that's a new development.
RUNTIME 3 hours
Rated [PG-13]
Money Earned
Box Office: $198,000,000
VHS Rentals: $32,000,000
7. Sands of Iwo Jima
Directed by Allan Dwan.
John Wayne as Sergeant Stryker.
John Agar as Private First Class Conway.
John Wayne plays the tuff old sergeant in true Marine Corps style. The movie takes you through Boot camp. Then right in to the Pacific island hoping campaign. The Marines had to fight like hell against the very formidable Japanese Marines for every single island they took. Iwo Jima was one of the last islands and close to Japan. This movie is a tribute to all the Marines to fought and died in the Pacific.
[Foot-notes]
• John Wayne received his first Oscar nomination for his role in Sands of Iwo Jima.
• Allan Dwan uses actual combat footage in this movie.
RUNTIME 2 hours 10 minutes
Rated [PG-13]
6. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Sean Connery as Major General Roy Urquhart
Robert Redford as Major Julian Cook
Anthony Hopkins as Lieutenant Colonel John Frost
A Bridge Too Far is a movie about a mission that British Field Marshall Montgomery came up with to expedite the end of the long and brutal land offensive. It was called Operation Market Garden. Along with that the allied supply lines coming from the Normandy beach head were just to long. The plan was to drop British, Polish and American paratroopers to four key bridges and four smaller bridges. Once the drops were made then start the British 1st Army with the British Armour (XXX corps) up the road and across the intact bridges to the farthest one which was Arnhem. aerial reconnaissance reports were ignored...
Almost everything that could go wrong does go wrong! Aerial reconnaissance reports were ignored. There were two SS Panzer divisions near Arnhem. The aerial photos were looked at and never discussed by the brass. The radios didn't work...Someone neglected to match up the radio crystals. The first nine vehicles of the British XXX corps were took out and stopped on the small two lane road which stopped the entire advance. Some of the bridges were blown up before they were captured although the movie don't show this. Three days after the drops the XXX corps made it to the Nijmegen Bridge where the US paratroopers were holding one side and fighting a tough battle!
The British commander General Horrocks ordered the American paratroops to storm the bridge and take it. The cost was sickening but the bridge was taken. In the mean time the British paratroops in Arnhem were up against a German armored division and getting cut to pieces! Before they escaped capture there were 1,500 men killed and over 6,500 men captured and this was just at Arnhem. So was Market Garden a success? Field Marshall Montgomery said it was a 90% success. While everyone involved knew they had went A Bridge Too Far.
{Quotes from a Bridge too Far}
Corporal Hancock: Sir. {Offers mug of tea}
Major General Urquhart: Hancock. I've got lunatics laughing at me from the woods. My original plan has been scrapped now that the jeeps haven't arrived. My communications are completely broken down. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea?
Corporal Hancock: Couldn't hurt, sir.
RUNTIME 3 hours
Rated [PG]
5. Memphis Belle
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
Matthew Modine as Capt. Dennis Dearborn
Eric Stoltz as Sgt. Danny Daly
The Memphis Belle is a story about a B-17 bomber (The Memphis Belle) and her crew of ten men. They were to be the first B-17 crew to complete their 25 missions and go home! The only thing in their way was their final 25th mission. Their mission was to bomb a Nazi supply factory in the heart of Germany. The Objective was heavily defended with surface to air guns! There is no way out of it, just one more mission and they can go home...
RUNTIME 1 hour 50 minutes
Rated [PG-13]
4. Tora Tora Tora
Tora Tora Tora was based on the attack of Pearl Harbor.
Directed by Richard Fleischer & Toshio Masuda.
Martin Balsam as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel.
Sô Yamamura as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
This movie shows both sides of the pacific war (From the Japanese and American point of view). The battles scenes are really neat for a 1970 film. It is the best film to date on the pacific war as a whole.
The famous quote From The Japanese Admiral Yamamoto
{after bombing pearl Harbor}
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
RUNTIME 2 hours 24 minutes
Rated [G]
3. Das Boot (1982)
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Jürgen Prochnow as Captain Hans-Jürgen Hellriegel
Herbert Grönemeyer as Lieutenant Werner
Das Boot is a movie about a German U-boat and her crew during World War II. Das Boot goes into the misery and life style which the German silent service U-boat crews had to endure while in service. The movie is very intelligent and is not sugar coated at all! Go on a 2 hour ride in a German u-boat and you will never forget it!
{quote from Das Boot)
Captain Hellriegel Our patrol planes! Where are they? Answer that one, Herr Goring! The British have plenty of them! Talking big is all he's good for, That fat slob.
[foot note]
• To help his actors convey the claustrophobic conditions found on a real U-boat, director Wolfgang Petersen insisted on filming within the actual confines of the ship
• 2/3 of the German u-boats deployed for service never returned. Some 40,000 men died serving in German U-Boats.
RUNTIME 2 hours 20 minutes
Rated [R]
2. Enemy At The Gates (2001)
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jude Law as Vassili (Russian Sniper)
Ed Harris as Konig (German Sniper)
Enemy At The Gates is about the German invasion of Russia. The city of Stalingrad Russia is where the German advance came to a screeching halt! The German war machine was halted by the shear numbers of Russian soldiers. 500 Russian soldiers would line up to be issued a weapon. The supply depot would give just 250 rifles out and tell other 250 men to pick a man and follow him until he gets shot then pick up the rifle! The Volga River was the last great natural barrier that kept the Germans at bay. I had no idea the brutality or the scale of the war in Russia until I took a look at this movie.
Vassili makes it through his first battle, which was rare for a Russian soldier in Stalingrad. He is noted very quickly as an expert shot with a rifle. Soon he starts targeting German officers very effectively. With German morale down and casualties at an all time high The Germans send in their best sniper to hunt down and kill this legendary Stalingrad sniper the Russian have. Harris and Law's acting in their two parts were just plain fantastic!
The action scenes in this movie are comparable to Saving Private Ryan.
{quotes from Enemy At The Gates}
Khrushchev You won't give up the bridge! I don't care if you lost half your men. Lose the other half! Lose yourself!
[foot notes]
• German casualties in Russia: 1.44 million casualties
• Russian Casualties: exceeded 17 million
RUNTIME 2 hours 10 minutes
Rated [R]
1. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Saving Private Ryan was the most honored film of 1998 and winner of five Academy Awards® Produced and directed by Stephen Spielberg (Vietnam Veteran).
Tom Hanks as Capt. John Miller
Matt Damon as Pvt. Ryan
Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath
This is by far the best war film to date. The movie is so real and graphic, people were leaving the theater. If you've ever wanted to have some vague idea of what a war is like for a soldier, don't miss this movie! Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) has a mission. The mission is simple, find and bring back Pvt. Ryan (Matt Damon) who was dropped behind enemy lines with the 82nd Airborne. The task of finding Pvt. Ryan gets a little complicated though. Capt. Miller discovers that the paratroopers were scattered to the four winds during the night drop. When his men start dying in this search for one man, it turns into a moral dilemma for everyone involved. All this sacrifice for just one man. The special effects in this will have you ducking in your seat! It is a great movie!
{Quotes from Saving Private Ryan}
Captain John Miller Caparzo, get that kid back up there! Private Caparzo: Captain, the decent thing to do would be take her over to the next town.
Captain John Miller: We're not here to do the decent thing, we're here to follow f@cking orders!
[SSG. Horvath takes a round in the chest]
Captain John Miller: Mike, are you alright?
SSG Horvath: I just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine!
[foot notes]
• All the principal actors underwent several days of grueling army training - except for Matt Damon, who was spared so that the other actors would resent him, and would convey that resentment in their performances.
• The idea of a sniper putting a bullet through another sniper's scope came from the true story of a Marine sniper in Vietnam called Carlos Hathcock who put a bullet through the scope of a Vietcong sniper who was stalking him.
RUNTIME 2 hours 50 minutes
Rated [R]
Money Earned
$375 million
More World War II movies Worth Their Salt
Everyone of these movies are worth seeing in my opinion. A lot of them won academy awards and were Oscar-winning performances.
A Band Of Brothers (2003)
The Great Raid (2005)
The Longest Day (1962)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Dam Busters (1954)
The Great Escape (1963)
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Patton (1970)
Sink the Bismarck (1960)
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Wake Island (1942)
If you found this review helpful you may also like to take a look at my Top Ten War Movies Ever Made review.
More of my Top-Ten Movie Lists
► Top Ten Westerns
► Top Ten Scary Movies
► Top Ten Comedies
► Top Ten War Movies
► Top Ten American Civil War Films
► Top Ten Submarine Movies
► Top Ten Alien Movies
Thanks For the read...
~Mac
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.