Favorite Scenes from War Movies

original Red Dawn. The scene where the Eckart brothers die always get me. "It's hard being brothers, isn't it?"

Sounds like there are a lot of war movie buffs on this thread. If you have never seen the movie "Das Boot" (The Boat), see it. It's a very real and very gritty look at a German U-boat crew from the perspective of Germans.

While trying to take the hill, they get pinned down and come under heavy fire from both the Cong and friendly fire from choppers. One of the true brutalities of war no one really likes to talk about.

Horatio Hornblower and Master & Commander. Something about those fights between tall ships was just too cool.

Captain Horatio Hornblower with Gregory Peck.

In comment 12971513 Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy said:

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In comment 12971363 Nitro said: Quote: the action scenes in Children of Men (One of the movies of the 21st Century) are pretty breathtaking. Here's part of one, counterinsurgency fighting. Link - ( New Window ) My favorite movie ever. The scene at the end while the bombings were going on was the best thing I've seen this last decade plus.

That long cut scene is masterful. Wouldn't call it a straight up war movie, but I was going to suggest it as well.

Climbing out of the trench after nearly get hit by a grenade for the 2nd time within a few minutes: "That's fuckin twice."

from Gettysburg. When Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain yells "Fix bayonets!" because his men are out of ammunition, and then orders a charge in the face of certain death , I'm moved to tears. I'm so humbled at the bravery of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.

Also, the final scene of Breaker Morant, which is one of my all time favorite movies.

in the hut with the VC forcing the prisoners to play Russian Roulette. Great revenge scene with DeNiro setting up the bad guys.
Also love the final scene with everyone sadly singing God Bless America.

Courage Under Fire, Rules of Engagement, A Few Good Men (law is war)...

AND, last but not least, Rambo ripping heads off with a .50 cal and slicing the leader in half.

Paul begging the dead French soldier to forgive him.

Paul reaching out for the butterfly.

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The final battle - ( New Window )

The final fighting scene in Zulu is most likely my favorite but its hard to choose one over another.

I enjoyed it.

Battle of the Buldge. When the German Colonel is inspecting his tankers for the first time and he tells them sing. I just love the sound of that German song and I have no clue what the song is since its in German.

In comment 12971717 wgenesis123 said:

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Battle of the Buldge. When the German Colonel is inspecting his tankers for the first time and he tells them sing. I just love the sound of that German song and I have no clue what the song is since its in German.

It's the Panzer Lied. It's a real song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdl8pJ8RqTQ - ( New Window )

In comment 12971705 SwirlingEddie said:

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. The final battle - ( New Window )

Zulu is a good film.

Follow the damn rules!!!

And letters from Iwo Jima. The way you saw some of the same things but from both perspectives like in flags when they found the Japanese soldiers who committed suicide and in letters when they actually committed it

In no particular order...

Saving Private Ryan - Opening scene, powerful. Very emotional movie.

Platoon - Airstrike at the end. Good movie.

Patton - Opening speech. My favorite war movie.

Longest Day - The Free French attack on the hotel is well done. Whole movie is very good.

Gettysburg - Chamberlain's defense of Little Round Top.

Midway - They should re-do this one, the CGI would provide a really cool depiction. Not particularly good movie though, but a great story and a good cast.

No favorite scene, just a very powerful depiction of a great story and the most terrible time in modern history.

The scene I liked most was one where James Colburn is at a curb side cafe hiding behind a newspaper while pretending to read while keeping an eye on four German officers. The cafe was run by French resistance fighters and are serving the four officers

As the server walks back he gets a phone call and immediately goes and tells Colburn you have a telephone call. Colburn looks puzzled but gets up and takes the phone. There is no one there. He then sees the two resistance fighters duck behind the bar. So he hangs up the phone and does the same.

Suddenly a car comes steaming down the road, stops, then opens fire on the the German officers and kills them. The resistance fighters and Colburn then pop back up, pour a drink, raise their glasses, klink them together and drink to a job well done. Great scene.

In comment 12971458 widmerseyebrow said:

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Yeah!

In comment 12971341 Eric from BBI said:

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(5) Fredericksburg attack in Gods and Generals

I can't even remember it. I had looked forward to that movie for a long time. I thought the movie was so disappointing that I've never been able to watch it a 2nd time.

and not any particular scene, but Taking Chance as a whole was pretty powerful. But if I had to pick a scene, the arrival at Dover Airfield get to me every time.

And Kevin Bacon was superb in it.

One of the best movies I've ever seen that no one ever talks about.

In comment 12971732 Ivan15 said:

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Follow the damn rules!!!

Stale thinking, we constantly use war terms to depict football:
prepare for battle
going to war
war face on

So yes it is related. Free you mind.

In comment 12971422 OC2.0 said:

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Mitchum & Jurgens at the end of "The Enenemy Below".

Very good choice.

Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide

It had the words in English, never knew what they were before. It also showed the scene from the movie, the singing is as expected better in the movie.

In comment 12971624 MadPlaid said:

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Horatio Hornblower and Master & Commander. Something about those fights between tall ships was just too cool.

Good one. Was going to say 'HMS Lydia' defeats El Supremo and 'Natividad', but thought I'd get too many "huh?"'s

The first battle sequence in the fog during 'M&C' was the best few minutes ever shot of that type of naval engagement imho. Peter Weir understood that cannon balls smash things and make splinters, in contrast to the rest of Hollywood that thinks they explode.

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in Roman times if the Emperor gave the thumbs up it meant death and thumbs down meant life. Hollywood has reversed it and we know thumbs down to mean death. Spartucus is another great war movie that is to much in favorites to go into or choose. However seeing the legions march into battle in Roman squares was impressive.

Tora Tora Tora.
It may have subtitles for the Japanese, but much better that the modern version which should go nameless!!

that brings to mind a scene from the movie 300 - which overall I think was a missed opportunity - the battle of Thermopylae.

the famous line "Molon Labe" (Come and take them) was screamed by Leonidas to the forces of Xerxes when requested to "lay down your weapons". the # of persian forces were exaggerated historians say, initially it was supposedly 1M Persians but even the revised 150,000 number makes it one of the most remarkable battles in history.

but the scene in the grocery store in The Hurt Locker was about perfect. Not over the top, not clichéd, just dead-on.

The scene with the captain and the chief talking after the boat was saved from sinking down deep and imploding...that was terrific. "All you need is good men. Good men."

A Midnight Clear is one of my all-time favorite movies. Beautifully shot, poignant, incredibly sad.

Generation War, a German WWII miniseries, had some intense battle scenes.

..'The Blue Max' and 2008's 'The Red Baron' were devoid of Hollywood cheese as well.

'TBM' was pre-CGI. 100% real aircraft.

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The night patrol into no man's land in Paths of Glory is harrowing.

Although I know it wasn't entirely without criticism regarding accuracy, I thought Generation War was absolutely incredible.

In comment 12971411 pjcas18 said:

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but the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds where the Jewish Family was hiding under the floorboards of the kitchen while Hans Landa was questioning the French farmer. 10 minutes or however long it was of pure stress and you knew it was going to end badly. It's not my favorite because I liked the outcome (obviously), it was just so well acted.

Excellent pick. Brilliantly directed. The bar scene in that film was dynamite as well.

It's hardly perfect. The characters often lack credibility due to the way they're written. I understand why - they want to have characters the audience sympathizes with, and it's a German show written for a German audience.

I still think it was a gripping show, and it's not as if it ignores German atrocities. Far from it. You can find Friedhelm to be an unrealistic character for WWII Germany, for example, but he still complicitly takes part in numerous war crimes.

It's called "The Conscientious Objector"

Desmond Doss is the only conscientious objector in history to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. And trust me, he earned it in spades. The documentary is about an hour long but is the most incredible story I've come across in a long time.
Desmond Doss - ( New Window )

He to was a conscientios objector.

They replaced Dick York with Dick Sergeant - sheeeah, like we wouldn't notice! Hold on... Dick Sergeant, Dick York......Sergeant York, weird!

In comment 12971773 Rong5611 said:

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No favorite scene, just a very powerful depiction of a great story and the most terrible time in modern history.

My favorite scene from the movie
link - ( New Window )

In comment 12971815 Eric from BBI said:

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One of the best movies I've ever seen that no one ever talks about.

Whether it's because the subject was too much for people or because it wasn't a big production, you are right, not a lot of talk about this small movie that is far more than its production value.

In comment 12971903 Dunedin81 said:

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but the scene in the grocery store in The Hurt Locker was about perfect. Not over the top, not clichéd, just dead-on.

I agree with your assessment regarding that scene, but that was the exception to how cliched and shitty that movie was. But you already knew that based on our previous conversations...:)