what are some of the best anti-war movies?

[w8liftinglady]

"Born on the 4th of July"
add yours.

[phildo]

1. Patton?

:)

[defendandprotect]

82. Isn't that a pro-war movie?

[defendandprotect]

85. "The Americanization of Emily" -- though it cops out at the end --

James Garner and Julie Andrews --
a terrific movie overall --

Most of it is great --
but, the sad cop out at the end ruins it --

[BeyondGeography]

2. The Grand Illusion

All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory...

[devilgrrl]

3. Paths of Glory

eom

[Journeyman]

Lina Wertmuller's "Seven Beauties" . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=33900

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

42. Great film. As are almost all of Lina's.

[Lobster Martini]

4. Without question, "Dr. Strangelove" (n/t)

[defendandprotect]

79. "Strangelove" for the hypocrisy, insanity and sad humor of patriarchy --

[AlCzervik]

5. The Fog of War, Why we Fight.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

65. That was my first thought! Fantastic book too! eom

[Sherman A1]

6. Johnny Got His Gun

I liked Paths of Glory as well.

[w8liftinglady]

8. omg-I loved that movie...and the book

[Terri S]

25. I place that one to the top also

and 'The Execution of Private Slovik', a tv movie in the early 70's starring Martin Sheen about the only American soldier ever executed for desertion.

[defendandprotect]

76. Is that actually a movie? I thought it was a poem or song?

[Sherman A1]

86. Yes, it was also a movie

we read the book in High School and I believe the movie came out about that time as well. Check the IMDB.


:popcorn:

[Chipper Chat]

7. On The Beach

(original 1960s version)

[Joe Fields]

63. that one had a huge impact on me.

[jenmarie]

9. Coming Home

I LOVE that movie! The soundtrack is awesome!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077362/soundtrack

[w8liftinglady]

10. I loved that movie,too...thanks

[defendandprotect]

77. Think "Born on the 4th" is a big challenge to it but "Coming Home" is great!!!

[w8liftinglady]

11. The Deerhunter

http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=deerhunter

[defendandprotect]

78. Too violent in itself; it let go of the more intellectual argument --

[markk]

12. dumb and dumber

[thereismore]

13. Some of the best anti-war movies are war movies, like

Full Metal Jacket, Platoon. Also, All quiet on the Western front.

[Blue_In_AK]

15. Ah, Full Metal Jacket

that's what I was trying to think of. (Great minds think alike, see my post right below yours).

[thereismore]

21. Yep, yep. nt

[BlooInBloo]

22. That's what I woulda said.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

24. Agree with both of you

A former BF and I did a (anti) war marathon back in the '80's at a the theater - Platoon, out for more popcorn, then Full Metal Jacket.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Most of the Vietnam war movies work for me...

Platoon, Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, that one where Vincent D'Onofrio goes crazy ... all of them show the horrors of war. I guess they're classified as "war movies," but they all seem more antiwar to me.

[w8liftinglady]

16. I agree-"Full Metal Jacket" did it for me.

[Pharaoh]

17. full metal jacket

saving private ryan

[MethuenProgressive]

18. Apocalypse Now, MASH, 12 O'Clock High

[ThomWV]

19. Cinderella - it doesn't have jack shit to do with war.

[WatchWhatISay]

20. Bob Roberts

Not specifically antiwar but thats a big piece of it

[defendandprotect]

83. Glad to see someone else is familiar with this gem -- !!!!

[w8liftinglady]

23. I found it odd that one of my cable stations played

"Saving Private Ryan","The Deerhunter",and "Full Metal Jacket" in a row.We watched the whole thing.It had a real effect on me.

[SoCalDem]

26. On the Beach..bar none

[mitchum]

27. "Apocalypse Now" is the best because it not only shows...

that war is bad (Duh!), but it also shows the visceral excitement of war. And the latter is why so many people tragically idealize and romanticize the experience.

[Ezlivin]

28. "The Best Years of Our Lives"

Not exactly an anti-war movie per se, but it does offer a realistic portrayal of veterans coping with readjustment to civilian life.

It makes me tear up every time...

[defendandprotect]

84. Pro the good war, but it was wonderful on the problems of "returning" --

[Totally Committed]

29. "How I won the War", "Dr. Strangelove", "The Blue Messiah",

"M*A*S*H", "Saving Private Ryan", and "South Pacific"... and, my personal favorite -- "Mr. Roberts".

TC

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. "Gallipoli", "Dr. Strangelove", "Catch-22", "All Quiet on the Western Front"

"Fires on the Plain", "Burmese Harp", "Breaker Morant", "Apocalypse Now", "Kukushka", "The Red Badge of Courage"

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." Bertrand Russell

[w8liftinglady]

32. great list...In case you were wondering..I make my kids watch these

and tell them...this is war...not the Rah-rah "support our troops" bullshit we hear around here.People die.Families suffer.

[TahitiNut]

39. Good list.

:thumbsup:

[MassLiberal]

31. "Mrs. Miniver"

Not really out-and-out anti-war, but a wonderful story of a strong woman who holds her family together in England during WWII. Greer Garson is, as usual, amazing.

[mcscajun]

33. Dr. Strangelove, MASH, Enemy at the Gates, Bridge on the River Kwai

and honorable mentions to Mr. Roberts (for showing the waste that is the death of good men) and 1776 (for a chilling anti-war song.)

[Ian David]

34. Hearts and Minds

I did a paper on this movie in college.



Hearts and Minds (1974)

Director: Peter Davis
Release Date:
17 November 1975 (Sweden) more
Genre:
Documentary more

Plot Outline:
A documentary of the conflicting attitudes of the opponents of the Vietnam war. more

Plot Synopsis:

Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 1 win more

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071604/





Using a variety of sources, including archival newsreel clips along with interviews and footage of the conflict shot by Davis’s own film crew in Vietnam, America and Paris, HEARTS AND MINDS presents a powerful, thought-provoking and deeply moving examination of the effects of the Vietnam War on the nations engaged in the conflict, and exposes many of the truths behind America’s involvement. An unforgettable and unmissible landmark documentary, HEARTS AND MINDS is an enduring work, the power and relevance of which remains undiminished 30 years on.

More:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/info.aspx%3FID%3D2043%26page%3D0&h=190&w=525&sz=34&hl=en&start=6&sig2=1Ckuxn-PRfBNllorsWYgyA&um=1&tbnid=gLDvRNP696ZIqM:&tbnh=48&tbnw=132&ei=SWmZRr7_N6eSeKbhoJ4K&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhearts%2Band%2Bminds%2BPeter%2BDavis%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS212US212

[w8liftinglady]

35. Thanks..I hadn't even heard of this one.

[Ian David]

36. The Day After

The Day After
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Day After is an American television movie which aired on November 20, 1983 on the ABC Television Network. The film portrays a fictional nuclear war between the United States/NATO and the Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact and its effects on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri, and several family farms situated next to nearby nuclear-missile silos. The film was written by Edward Hume and directed by Nicholas Meyer. The film was released on DVD on May 18, 2004.



More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After

[Oeditpus Rex]

71. In a similar vein, 'Testament' is much more powerful, IMO

because it focuses on a family in a Northern California community, with a sensational performance by Jane Alexander, who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Unlike "The Day After," there are no mushroom clouds, but there's a scene that's every bit as chilling. You'll know it when you see it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086429/

Interestingly, it began as a short story by Carol Amen called "The Last Testament," which was rejected by scores of publishers.

Look for a young Kevin Costner in a small, very sad role.

[Ian David]

37. Black Rain

Black Rain (Japanese film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediafilm)

Black Rain (黒い雨, Kuroi ame?) is a 1989 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura and based on the novel of the same name by Ibuse Masuji. The events are centered on the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rain_%28Japanese_film%29

[Ian David]

38. Countdown to Looking Glass

Countdown to Looking Glass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Countdown to Looking Glass is a Canadian made-for-television movie that premiered in the United States on HBO on 14 October 1984 and was also broadcast on CTV in Canada. The movie presents a fictional confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of nuclear weapons from the perspective of an on-going news broadcast.

The film stars Patrick Watson, Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver as three of the newscasters. The film also features real-life newscasters Eric Sevareid and Nancy Dickerson as themselves. Also appearing as themselves are former United States Senator Eugene McCarthy and then-United States Representative Newt Gingrich.

Unlike similar productions such as the previous year's Special Bulletin and the later Without Warning, the producers of this film decided not to make the entire production a simulated newscast, but instead break up the news portions with dramatic narrative scenes involving Shaver. The appearance of real-life newscasters, as well as noted CBC host Watson (although he does not appear as himself in this film) led additional authenticity to the production.

The film ends with the apparent commencement of a full nuclear exchange between America and the Soviet Union and the activation of a fictional version of the Emergency Broadcast System, the then-current warning system that was designed to take over radio and television broadcasts in the event of a nuclear war.

One of the CTV rebroadcasts of the film in the mid-1980s occurred only days before an actual confrontation in the Persian Gulf occurred between American and Soviet ships, although the outcome of the real-life dispute was rather more positive.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countdown_to_Looking_Glass

[Ian David]

40. Fail-Safe (television)

Fail-Safe (television)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fail-Safe is a televised play, based on the Cold War novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, and broadcast in 2000. The play, broadcast live in black and white on CBS, starred George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, and Noah Wyle, and was one of the few live dramas on American television in four decades.

The novel was first adapted into a 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet; the TV version is shorter than the 1964 film due to commercial airtime and omits a number of subplots.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail-Safe_%28television%29

[Ian David]

41. Casualties of War (1989)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097027/

[wtmusic]

43. Fahrenheit 911 nt

[w8liftinglady]

45. yeah,that was great.

[EFerrari]

44. "The World According to Garp"

(You're welcome, Robin.)

[sarge43]

46. Johnny Get Your Gun.

All Quiet on the Western Front

[spanone]

47. Catch-22

[ProudDad]

48. Gallipoli

All Quiet on the Western Front
Dr. Strangelove
The Victors
Born on 4th of July
Paths of Glory
Grand Illusion

And absolutely Catch-22 and Mash

and the rest you folks have posted.

[Ian David]

49. Schindler's List

Schindler's List
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Schindler's List is a multiple Academy Award-winning 1993 film based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. The movie, adapted by Steven Zaillian and directed by Steven Spielberg, relates the tale of Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten-German Catholic businessman who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Final Solution. The title refers to a list of the names of 1,100 Jews whom Schindler hired to work in his factory and kept from being sent to the Nazi concentration camps.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler's_List

[Ian David]

50. Glory

Glory (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Glory is a 1989 Academy Award-winning drama based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the American Civil War. The 54th was one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African American men (apart from the officers). (The first was the 1st South Carolina Volunteers.)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_%28film%29

[Adsos Letter]

51. ..."Go Tell the Spartans..."

[timtom]

52. How I Won the War

Richard Lester's surrealistic view of war, starring a brilliant young Michael Crawford.

Throughout the surrealistic antics come powerful anti-war statements, articulately stated. (Yeah, I know--redundant.)

[Billy Burnett]

53. The Thin Red Line

http://www.foxmovies.com/thinredline/htmls/movie_info.html

[DemoTex]

54. "Hamburger Hill" (Viet Nam battle in 1969)

The story of the pointless carnage on Ap Bai (Hill 937) in the A Shau Valley May 10-20, 1969. The battle for "Hamburger Hill" moved Sen. Ted Kennedy to give an impassioned anti-war speech to the US Senate, which some believe was the turning point in the Viet Nam war.

[Stalwart]

55. Sand Pebbles

Read it on a patrol boat in Vietnam.

[Individualist]

56. On the Beach

[nam78_two]

68. I love the book

One of Neville Shute's most poignant and powerful books.

[HawkerHurricane]

57. Das Boot

[Lithos]

58. Quite a few

Wag the Dog, All Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Grand Illusion, Sophie's Choice

[pnorman]

59. Almost all mentioned on this thread are outstanding.

I'll save them for future reference. Here is my ALL-TIME favorite: Joyeux Noel. Here's the Amazon reference: http://tinyurl.com/29qfas

I'm almost ashamed to mention how many times I've viewed that DVD, a couple of times twice in a day. It's that moving! If/when you get it, after viewing it, go to the menu page and turn on "audio comment". Then view it again. Also, be sure to view that interview with the author. He does NOT believe in God, but he produced a film with DEEP religious overtones. VIEW IT! You won't regret it.

pnorman

[Lisa]

60. Richard Attenborough's "Oh What A Lovely War"

I found the symbolism (based on Edwardian theatre and vaudeville) absolutely chilling -- such as, when the "Smith" family is going for a seaside holiday, and see that surreal gateway marked "World War I". And they all line up to go in, thinking it's going to be an exciting show -- the audience, of course, knows what's going to happen.

Even the credits montage was outstanding (still photos of fancy ceremonial weapons, etc. that get grimmer and grimmer, finally ending up with pictures of brutal "trench clubs" made by the soldiers and used in combat).

Also liked "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", even though it's a bit long at times.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

61. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

[defendandprotect]

81. Slaughterhouse Five . . . . unique in its own class --

[w8liftinglady]

62. thanks to everyone who replied.I'll add these to my list

[Strelnikov_]

64. Threads n/t

[NoodleyAppendage]

74. Agreed. This BBC movie still haunts my thoughts.

The Day After was a wimped out version of what Threads did. Brutal film.

J

[w8liftinglady]

66. allow me to kick.Let's try to watch all the movies listed here

[NoodleyAppendage]

67. The Cranes are Flying (1957)

This great film was on Turner Classics movie channel a couple of weeks ago. It floored me. The plot is simple and direct. The cinematography is stunning.

It was the first (only?) Russian film to win the Golden Palm at Cannes.

8.2 / 10 on imdb.com

J

[CBHagman]

69. King of Hearts.

I can't believe no one else has mentioned it. I saw it at university (back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), and it was a cult favorite even then.

A fable about war, it stars Alan Bates, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Genevieve Bujold.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060908/

[pinto]

73. It ran at a Boston area theater for years.

:thumbsup:

[Skittles]

70. Harold and Maude

yes INDEED

[pinto]

72. The King of Hearts

[CitizenLeft]

75. I know everyone's listing classics...

...but I just watched Robert Greenwald's "Iraq for Sale" on Starz tonight. It was about the war profiteering of Halliburton, CACI, Blackwater, and Kellogg-Brown-Root. WOW.

[Minimus]

90. "We Were Soldiers"

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

80. MASH, Gallipoli, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Dr. Strangelove, Slaughterhouse 5.

[Lilith Velkor]

87. Grave of the Fireflies

:cry:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_fireflies

[terrya]

88. "All Quiet on the Western Front"

[ThomWV]

89. I finally read the book when I was about 40. If you haven're read it you should

It is one of the great books, it really is.

[Forkboy]

91. Stalingrad...the heaviest and most depressing war movie I've ever seen.

I've never seen another war movie that captures the true desperation of war better than this one.I sat silently stunned for about twenty minutes after it was over.