What's the Best War Movie?

[Roadrunner]

Coppolas own words;
“My film is not a movie. It is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.”

First half was a good war movie, the second half was just plain silly

I don't remember, I saw it 30 years ago and quickly forgot about it. Like you when it hit a certain point in the movie my reaction was, "what the f**k?"

About all I remember was how stupid I felt for investing that much time in such a dumb ass movie.

 

[Sunni Man]

Pee Wee Herman's movie the "Big Adventure" was much better than "Apocalypse Now" and far more realistic. ......



.

 

[NoNukes]

I spoke to guys who were there who said that it was not ridiculous enough.
It is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness set in Vietnam, rather than a movie about the Vietnam War.

Yet it's viewed as the quintessential Vietnam War movie by quite a few who are completely unaware of its true origin. I know/knew hundreds of Vietnam vets, not one of them would agree that is wasn't ridiculous enough and to a person (men and women) either walked out of the movie or panned it as a weird flight of fantasy which obviously it was.
Now as a character study it's a great piece of work but as a historically accurate picture of the Vietnam War, it suffers in the extreme.

As I said, it was not about the War in Vietnam, it was an adaptation of a novel set in Vietnam. It was not intended to be historically accurate.

I know that, it's not my point. Talk to people who were never there and never knew anyone that was and their take is that the movie reflected what happened in Nam on a daily basis, especially those who were involved with the anti-Vietnam war movement, they believed it to be a true representation.
It's not Sci-Fi but it is fiction.

I was involved in the anti war movement and I did not think that. Try speaking for yourself and not for others.

Then why do so many perceive it to be a real depiction of the war? I wasn't speaking for you specifically, you are one of the few who actually know the origin of the movie. So I'll toss it back in your court, Try speaking for yourself and not for others.............

Many people do not realize that no movie is true. Some are based on true stories.

 

[NoNukes]

Coppolas own words;
“My film is not a movie. It is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.”

First half was a good war movie, the second half was just plain silly

A lot of people did not like the ending. I think the entire movie was excellent.

 

[longknife]

Victory at Sea! Not a movie, per se, but the narration, music and actual footage of real combat and real bravery is far and away better than any fictionalized movie. I admit the opening of Saving Private Ryan is well done, but reality of D-Day is, well see for yourself:
Google

or google: Victory at Sea, episode 15

I remember being glued to the tube for every episode. What an awesome series.

 

[longknife]

Just finished watching Lost Battalion again.



My orders to Nam were cancelled two weeks before I was supposed to ship out from A School, had a lot of friends who went, some didn't come back. Grew up military and knew a lot of people (many still living) that did one or more tours and as for Apocalypse Now, every Vietnam Vet I ever talked to, including my dad said the movie was absolute bull shit and in no way represented reality in Nam..

I spoke to guys who were there who said that it was not ridiculous enough.
It is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness set in Vietnam, rather than a movie about the Vietnam War.

Yet it's viewed as the quintessential Vietnam War movie by quite a few who are completely unaware of its true origin. I know/knew hundreds of Vietnam vets, not one of them would agree that is wasn't ridiculous enough and to a person (men and women) either walked out of the movie or panned it as a weird flight of fantasy which obviously it was.
Now as a character study it's a great piece of work but as a historically accurate picture of the Vietnam War, it suffers in the extreme.

As I said, it was not about the War in Vietnam, it was an adaptation of a novel set in Vietnam. It was not intended to be historically accurate.

I know that, it's not my point. Talk to people who were never there and never knew anyone that was and their take is that the movie reflected what happened in Nam on a daily basis, especially those who were involved with the anti-Vietnam war movement, they believed it to be a true representation.
It's not Sci-Fi but it is fiction.

I was involved in the anti war movement and I did not think that. Try speaking for yourself and not for others.

At last! Now I see where your posts come from.

 

[longknife]

One of my all-time favorites - The Guns of Navarrone. Awesome acting by great actors. Every time I see an almost teenage Clint Eastwood, I have to laugh.

 

[Ringel05]

Yet it's viewed as the quintessential Vietnam War movie by quite a few who are completely unaware of its true origin. I know/knew hundreds of Vietnam vets, not one of them would agree that is wasn't ridiculous enough and to a person (men and women) either walked out of the movie or panned it as a weird flight of fantasy which obviously it was.
Now as a character study it's a great piece of work but as a historically accurate picture of the Vietnam War, it suffers in the extreme.

As I said, it was not about the War in Vietnam, it was an adaptation of a novel set in Vietnam. It was not intended to be historically accurate.

I know that, it's not my point. Talk to people who were never there and never knew anyone that was and their take is that the movie reflected what happened in Nam on a daily basis, especially those who were involved with the anti-Vietnam war movement, they believed it to be a true representation.
It's not Sci-Fi but it is fiction.

I was involved in the anti war movement and I did not think that. Try speaking for yourself and not for others.

Then why do so many perceive it to be a real depiction of the war? I wasn't speaking for you specifically, you are one of the few who actually know the origin of the movie. So I'll toss it back in your court, Try speaking for yourself and not for others.............

Many people do not realize that no movie is true. Some are based on true stories.

Particularly when the director makes a statement like this:
“My film is not a movie. It is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam.”

 

[AquaAthena]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers: The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it. (138 mins.)

Full Metal Jacket:

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue. (116 mins.)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

 

[PoliticalChic]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

 

[AquaAthena]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

I'll have to check it out.

The veterans I asked were active USMB posters who have left, for the most part. But those two movies came in with the highest recommendations of all the rest depicting the war with Vietnam. So I did watch them, and I could see why.

Unlike American Sniper which I found to be excellent, I had to go through a box of tissues.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

I'll have to check it out.

The veterans I asked were active USMB posters who have left, for the most part. But those two movies came in with the highest recommendations of all the rest depicting the war with Vietnam. So I did watch them, and I could see why.

Unlike American Sniper which I found to be excellent, I had to go through a box of tissues.

"....active USMB posters who have left, for the most part..."

Go ahead, rub it in.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

I'll have to check it out.

The veterans I asked were active USMB posters who have left, for the most part. But those two movies came in with the highest recommendations of all the rest depicting the war with Vietnam. So I did watch them, and I could see why.

Unlike American Sniper which I found to be excellent, I had to go through a box of tissues.

BTW....re:"Apocalypse, Now"....if you have the time and/or the interest I read Frazer's "The Golden Bough," and Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" before seeing it.

In one scene, the camera scans the books that Brando has, and Frazer's book is right there.

You can see it at :33 seconds

 

[AquaAthena]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

I'll have to check it out.

The veterans I asked were active USMB posters who have left, for the most part. But those two movies came in with the highest recommendations of all the rest depicting the war with Vietnam. So I did watch them, and I could see why.

Unlike American Sniper which I found to be excellent, I had to go through a box of tissues.

BTW....re:"Apocalypse, Now"....if you have the time and/or the interest I read Frazer's "The Golden Bough," and Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" before seeing it.

In one scene, the camera scans the books that Brando has, and Frazer's book is right there.

You can see it at :33 seconds

That was interesting. If Netflix has it, I will watch.

 

[AquaAthena]

So many good ones. Full Metal Jacket is a good one.

I asked veterans on USMB a couple of years ( or more ) ago what they thought were the best Vietnam movies depicting the reality of that war and these two seemed to get the most votes:

They Were Soldiers

Full Metal Jacket

Does "Apocalypse, Now" count as a war movie?

Best film I've ever seen.

I'll have to check it out.

The veterans I asked were active USMB posters who have left, for the most part. But those two movies came in with the highest recommendations of all the rest depicting the war with Vietnam. So I did watch them, and I could see why.

Unlike American Sniper which I found to be excellent, I had to go through a box of tissues.

"....active USMB posters who have left, for the most part..."

Go ahead, rub it in.

Can we say, "Detroit?"

 

[NoNukes]

I spoke to guys who were there who said that it was not ridiculous enough.
It is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness set in Vietnam, rather than a movie about the Vietnam War.

Yet it's viewed as the quintessential Vietnam War movie by quite a few who are completely unaware of its true origin. I know/knew hundreds of Vietnam vets, not one of them would agree that is wasn't ridiculous enough and to a person (men and women) either walked out of the movie or panned it as a weird flight of fantasy which obviously it was.
Now as a character study it's a great piece of work but as a historically accurate picture of the Vietnam War, it suffers in the extreme.

As I said, it was not about the War in Vietnam, it was an adaptation of a novel set in Vietnam. It was not intended to be historically accurate.

I know that, it's not my point. Talk to people who were never there and never knew anyone that was and their take is that the movie reflected what happened in Nam on a daily basis, especially those who were involved with the anti-Vietnam war movement, they believed it to be a true representation.
It's not Sci-Fi but it is fiction.

I was involved in the anti war movement and I did not think that. Try speaking for yourself and not for others.

At last! Now I see where your posts come from.

I never lie about my beliefs.

 

[Roadrunner]

Yet it's viewed as the quintessential Vietnam War movie by quite a few who are completely unaware of its true origin. I know/knew hundreds of Vietnam vets, not one of them would agree that is wasn't ridiculous enough and to a person (men and women) either walked out of the movie or panned it as a weird flight of fantasy which obviously it was.
Now as a character study it's a great piece of work but as a historically accurate picture of the Vietnam War, it suffers in the extreme.

As I said, it was not about the War in Vietnam, it was an adaptation of a novel set in Vietnam. It was not intended to be historically accurate.

I know that, it's not my point. Talk to people who were never there and never knew anyone that was and their take is that the movie reflected what happened in Nam on a daily basis, especially those who were involved with the anti-Vietnam war movement, they believed it to be a true representation.
It's not Sci-Fi but it is fiction.

I was involved in the anti war movement and I did not think that. Try speaking for yourself and not for others.

At last! Now I see where your posts come from.

I never lie about my beliefs.

I never believe my lies.

 

[boedicca]

The best war movie is not a movie, it's a miniseries: Band of Brothers.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Guys, can't you just agree to disagree about "Apocalypse Now"? This is just a thread about people opinions. There are no great overriding "truths" here. Hell, somebody posted that "The Longest Day" was a great war movie. I am sure that nobody really wants to hear my opinion about that!

 

[Porker]

My favorite wasn't on the list - A Midnight Clear 1992 - IMDb

But set in Europe during WWII.