10 All-Time Classic War Movies [Videos, LIST]

As we enjoyed the festivities from our Memorial Day weekend, we should remember all those who died serving in the United States Armed Forces. These are the times as you watched the parades or heard the stories from those who served, that you really appreciate the patriotism that this country has. As a host on New Jersey 101.5, I’m eternally grateful to all those who served because I know that if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to speak my mind so freely on the radio and you wouldn’t be able to weigh in with your opinion as well. Memorial Day is also the time of year that you see a lot of war films popping up on tv. Here’s a list of my top war films, feel free to add yours as well by commenting below.

1
The Great Escape

Steve McQueen heads an all star cast including James Garner, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. Who will ever forget McQueen’s motorcycle chase, and taking the ball an glove as he’s sent back into the “COOLER!
2
The Dirty Dozen

Another all star cast , this time headed up by Lee Marvin, John Cassevetes, and Jim Brown who retired from the Cleveland Browns rather than leave the movie set and go to training camp.
3
Saving Private Ryan

This was the first war movie to show the blood and guts of how much hell war actually is and why so many who served refuse to talk about it. Who can not watch the first 20 minutes of that movie and not be changed?
4
MASH

The movie that was so good it inspired one of the greatest television shows of all time. Who will ever forget the football game? The Last Supper and Frank and Hotlips sexual encounter being broadcast throughout the camp…Don’t try that last part in school, you could end up serving time.
5
Stalag 17

A 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor. It was adapted from a Broadway play. This would be the film that inspired Hogan’s Heroes.
6
Judgment at Nuremberg

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazi judges for war crimes including the Holocaust. An incredible cast with Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Judy Garland,and Montgomery Clift. The film was made in 1961 and shows actual historical footage filmed by American soldiers after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. The footage of huge piles of naked corpses laid out in rows and bulldozed into large pits was exceptionally gruesome for a mainstream film of its day.
7
From Here to Eternity

Frank Sinatra won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, it stars Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Cliff, and Frank Sinatra. You’ll love the making out on the beach scene as an added bonus.
8
Kelly's Heroes

An offbeat 1970 comedy/war film about a group of World War II soldiers who go AWOL to rob a bank behind enemy lines. The film stars Clint Eastwood,Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, and Carroll O'Connor, with lesser roles played by Harry Dean Stanton, Gavin MacLeod, and Stuart Margolin. The screenplay was written by British film and television writer Troy Kennedy Martin.
9
The Longest Day

Probably also the longest film, one of the very few 1960s epics made in black and white, with an incredible cast including, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Leo Genn, Peter Lawford, Gert Fröbe, John Wayne, Robert Wagner,Paul Anka and Bobby Darin.
10
All Quiet on the Western Front

This 1930 adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel was the first film to portray war in a negative light.
It's also cool to see how war was portrayed in 1930 when World War 1 was the subject.