Day 23 – Your favorite war movie
Gosh, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen Apocalypse Now or properly watched The Bridge on the River Kwai but of course I have seen my share of war movies. The ones that I thought were quite excellent are Schindler’s List, The Deer Hunter, The Imitation Game, The Railway Man, Atonement or Good Morning Vietnam and probably more that I can’t think of right now. However, when I saw this question, two war movies did immediately spring to mind and again I can’t decide between two classic movies.
First up is The Guns of Navarone with Gregory Peck (yep, him again), Anthony Quinn and David Niven about a group of men that need to disable strategic German guns on the Greek island of Navarone. Stirring stuff which leaves you on the edge of your seat throughout the movie.
And The African Queen with Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart about a gin-swilling riverboat captain who is perusaded by a prim missionary lady to use his boat to attack an enemy warship at the beginning of World War I in East Africa. Even though I’m not a huge Humphrey Bogart fan I love the interaction between him and Katharine Hepburn in this movie.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen either movie but I would again in a heartbeat.
The Book of Esther 
Great suggestions, as always. I tend to forget the old classics, and I definitely would like to see these two again.
BTW, when it comes to home-grown war movies – have you ever seen the German film “Die Brücke”? One of the best anti-war movies ever. It chronicles the story of a group of German teenagers during the war. It was made in 1959, so pretty shortly after the war, and many of the later big German acting stars are in it. It is a timeless film which I was introduced to by my father when I was a teenager, and he also later showed the film to my teenage son (who thinks this is one of the best films he’s ever seen).
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Yes, you´re right, great film, exciting and the defense of the bridge is so useless (Übersetzung für unnütz?)….
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pointless, futile – frustrating, a waste, and a shame…. that is the general comment on war, too, I suppose.
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No, I do not know this movie! Thanks for the tip, Guylty! Will definitely check it out.
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I think it is well worth watching – it really drives the anti-war message home.
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Esther, Du bist wirklich ein Fan der alten Klassiker und ich mag es, wenn Du mich an sie erinnerst 🙂
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Das habe ich an meiner Teenager-Zeit in Deutschland zu danken. Da wurde meine Liebe für Filmklassiker geweckt und das ist nie vorübergegangen. 🙂
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I need to see “Guns of Navarone”! Looks fab for the scenery alone. And… the beautiful Mr. Peck.
If “The African Queen” counts as a war movie, it’s definitely my favorite 🙂
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Well. African Queen does involve a war ship and some pyrotechnics related to war so, yeah, war movie to me. 🙂
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My husband is a huge fan of classic war movies…I’ve seen FAR more than my share. Guns of Navarone is great – so is Bridge over the River Kwai. I think I’ve seen Patton and The Longest Day about fifty times each. I also really liked Gary Cooper in Sgt. York.
I like modern era war films a whole lot less…maybe they are just too graphic for me to sit through – although HBO’s Band of Brothers was good.
Good grief…those Veterans Day and Memorial Day weekend movie marathons clearly leave a mark 🙂
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Yes, they really are very graphic nowadays and that often takes over with the story… don’t like that either. Nice that you have seen all those movie! I remember seeing Sgt York but so long ago, I barely remember it.
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