BEST MILITARY MOVIES
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
(1930) One of the first Oscar winners, this moving drama casts Lew Ayres as a soldier who gets a rude awakening to war.
“Sergeant York” (1941) Gary Cooper won his first Oscar in the title role of the much-decorated World War I hero.
“Sands of Iwo Jima” (1949) One of John Wayne’s best-known roles sees him playing a relentlessly tough leader of U.S. Marines.
“Stalag 17” (1953) Billy Wilder’s iconic German-prison-camp drama boasts an Oscar-winning William Holden performance.
“From Here to Eternity” (1953) The beach love scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr is a defining image of the James Jones story about relationships at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“The Caine Mutiny” (1954) Humphrey Bogart is chilling as Captain Queeg, whose questionable actions lead to the court martial faced by two of his officers (Van Johnson, Robert Francis).
“The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957) The “epic” phase of director David Lean’s career began with this Oscar-winning adventure of World War II prisoners forced to build the title bridge.
“The Longest Day” (1962) It’s almost easier to pick out which male stars aren’t in the huge cast of producer Darryl F. Zanuck’s D-Day drama than those who are. Turner Classic Movies shows the film as part of a “31 Days of Oscar” day of war movies Sunday, March 12.
“The Great Escape” (1963) In this alltime-great adventure movie, based on a true story, Allied prisoners plot a getaway from a World War II camp.
“The Dirty Dozen” (1967) Director Robert Aldrich’s World War II classic features Lee Marvin as a major given the task of training 12 convicts for a mission that could earn them amnesty if they succeed ... and survive.
“Patton” (1970) Earning him an Oscar for best actor (which he very famously refused), George C. Scott found his signature role in the controversially independentminded World War II general.
“Apocalypse Now” (1979) Reteamed with “The Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola, Marlon Brando makes a strong impression as a renegade colonel targeted for assassination during the Vietnam War era.
“Platoon” (1986) Oliver Stone’s gripping, Oscar-winning Vietnam War drama casts Charlie Sheen as a soldier caught between two very different commanding officers (Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe).
“Saving Private Ryan” (1998) With a pulse-pounding Omaha Beach-invasion opening, this World War II drama earned Steven Spielberg a directing Oscar as Tom Hanks played the leader of a platoon assigned to find a missing soldier.