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Memorable war, or wartime films? There is a difference. Casablanca, for example, is not a war film, it is a wartime drama. The effects of the German occupation on very human characters. You see where I'm going, and rather than dabble in semantics, I'll assume through layers of vagueness that the aim was to list your favorite war movies. So lets get on it, in no real order, my three.

1. Apocalypse Now

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning." A movie that resonates vividly in pop culture, Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam epic explores the darker sides of mental instability in battle. Each character is a perfect representation of the types of young men who were sent to fight, and the harrowing mental anguish that affected all of them, no matter their background. Beautifully photographed, extremely well written, but, sadly, overshadowed at the 1979 Oscars by Kramer vs. Kramer. A slow boat ride upon a river of imminent madness. You're doing yourself a dire disservice if you haven't viewed this movie.

2. The Great Escape

Steve McQueen. Charles Bronson. Donald Pleasance. I really could have stopped at Steve McQueen and made my point, but this is such a stellar cast, it would be unfair to focus solely. Based on an actual POW prison break, The Great Escape is arguably, but not to me, the greatest prison escape film ever. I say not to me because with such an ensemble cast, you could assume falters in performance or boring aspects of the story; things easily forgotten. This movie is free and clear of such things. Every actor, just like their character, brings something unique and important in front of the camera.

These are characters you walk away still thinking of, wishing you were The Cooler King or The Tunnel King or the Scrounger. Sadly, emotionally void romances such as Pearl Harbor are more likely to be viewed than sagas such as this. If anything, you can hate or be totally unaware of every actor in this movie, but you must, before you watch anything else, give immense credits to the immaculate editing done by Ferris Webster.

3. Saving Private Ryan

Another WWII drama, from start to finish, it is gripping. The intense, unrelenting opening shots of allied forces storming Omaha Beach, to Tom Hanks firing a service revolver at an approaching tank, the entire film is a testament to the affinity of America's greatest generation. Whether outnumbered, outgunned, or physically drained, they never stopped fighting. Steven Spielberg has a nack for exposing the common man to extraordinary situations and the indominable condition of the human spirit in these times. Diserved and won five Oscars including Best Director for Spielberg, it's probably the greatest WWII film simply for the story. It is a summation of what that generation was about: No matter the odds, no man left behind.

There are honorable mentions such as Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Spartacus, The Dirty Dozen, Patton, Full Metal Jacket, The Bridge on the River Kwai. Why did I choose those three?

Because, for some reason, they're rarely mentioned in these articles.

Learn more about this author, Matt Butler.
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