100 Great War Films for Memorial Day

Our Memorial Day Special - films listed by wars they represent

WAR FILMS for MEMORIAL DAY (111 total)

[Each title links to our review at 1000 Dvds to See]
AA = Academy Award for best picture
* = our pick in each subset

Ancient Wars  - 5
300 (2006)  [photo above]
Alexander Nevsky (1938) USSR, bw
*Gladiator (2000)  AA
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Spartacus (1960)
Troy (2004)

Revolutionary War – 1
Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Civil War -3
Gettysburg (1993)
*Glory (1989)
The Red Badge of Courage (1951) bw

Indian Wars -3
Buried My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)
*Dances With Wolves (1990)  AA
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

Bolshevist Revolution -3
*The Battleship Potemkin (1925) USSR, bw  [photo above]
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Reds (1981)

World War One - 6
A Very Long Engagement (2004) France
All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) bw  AA
Gallipoli (1981)
Grand Illusion (1937) France, bw
*Lawrence of Arabia (1962)   AA  [photo above]
Paths of Glory (1957) bw

World War Two - 35
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Russia, bw
*Band of Brothers (2001) tv [miniseries, 10 hrs]
Black Book (2006) Netherlands
*The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)  AA
Come and See (1985) Russia
The Counterfeiters (2007) Austria
Das Boot (The Boat) (1981) Germany
Days of Glory (2006) Algeria
Defiance (2008)
Downfall (2004) Germany
El Alamein (2002) Italy
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
The English Patient (1996)  AA
Fateless (2005) Hungary-France-UK, bw
The Great Escape (1963)
Ivan's Childhood (1962) Russia, bw
Kapó (1959) Italy, bw
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
The Longest Day (1962) bw
The Night Porter (1974) Italy
The Pacific (2010)
Patton (1970)  AA
Sahara (1943) bw
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Schindler's List (1993) bw  AA
Seven Beauties (1975) Italy
Stalag 17 (1953) bw
They Were Expendable (1945) bw
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The Train (1964) bw
Valkyrie (2008)
When Trumpets Fade (1998)

Civilians in Wartime - 16
A Canterbury Tale (1944) bw [photo above]
A Town Like Alice (1981) Australia
Atonement (2007)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) France, bw
*The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) bw  AA
Casablanca (1942) bw  AA
The Children of Huang Shi (2007) Australia
*The Conformist (1970) Italy
Devils On the Doorstep (2000), China, bw
Goodnight Mister Tom (1998) tv
Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Japan
Hope and Glory (1987)
Mephisto (1981) Hungary
Mrs. Miniver (1942) bw  AA
The Shop on Main St. (1965) Czechoslavakia, bw
Sunshine (1999) Germ.-Austria-Can.-Hung.

Korea -1
MASH (1970)

Cold War -3
*Dr. Strangelove (1964) bw
The Russians are Coming (1966)
Seven Days in May (1964) bw

Vietnam -6
*Apocalypse Now! (1979) [photo above]
Coming Home (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)  AA
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Platoon (1986)  AA

Modern Wars -13
*Battle of Algiers (1965) France, bw
Black Hawk Down (2001)  [photo above]
Ché (2008)
Green Zone (2010)
The Hurt Locker (2009)  AA
Lebanon (2009) Israel
Lord of War (2005)
No Man’s Land (2001) Bosnia
Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) Russia
Restrepo (2010)
*Turtles Can Fly (2004) Iran-Iraq
War Photographer (2001) Switzerland
Warriors (Guerreros, 2007) Spain

Terrorism -4
A Wednesday (2008) India
The Kingdom (2007)
Rendition (2007)
*United 93 (2006)

Asian Wars - 6
*Hero (2002) China
Farewell My Concubine (1993) China
The Last Emperor (1987)  AA
Mongol (2007) Russia
Red Cliff (2008) China
*The Seven Samurai (1957) Japan, bw [photo above]

Other Wars -3
Breaker Morant (1980) 2nd Boer War
*War and Peace (1968) Russia Napoleonic  [photo above]
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) Irish Revolution

Future Wars -4
Aliens (1986) [photo above]
Avatar (2009)
*Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2003) New Zealand  AA
Star Wars Trilogy (1983)

The only films considered were those making my top 1000 at the blog 1000 Dvds to See - I could have thrown in another 100 mediocre war films, but that's not as important as keeping only quality films on my review site.