i see. haven't seen it tho.

I Was Nineteen (1968)

okay! Harlan County is also on my eternal watchlist Lmao. i really need to get to it some time soon now

Watch it as a double feature with Harlan County USA (1976) if you haven't seen it. In my opinion, the greatest documentary of all time and probably the best depiction of class struggle in all of cinema.
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yes, Matewan has been on my to watch list, like forever. thanks for the reminder!

Oh, and Matewan (1987). It's not actually a war movie, so much as a depiction of events leading up to a battle where the U.S. government sent planes to bomb their own citizens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain
Taylor Brown has a novel about the entire ordeal called Rednecks, and it's actually quite good.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026

Ulzana's Raid came to mind when I realized that some westerns qualify as war movies. And it's one of the few (along with Little Big Man and Dances with Wolves) to not be pro-genocide. And it's also an allegory for Vietnam.
There's also the (historically anachronistic) Civil War scene in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Leone's Duck You Sucker, about the Mexican Revolution (probably his most unseen film apart from the early sword and sandal stuff).
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026

yeah, i think
The Imitation Game
qualifies. i've seen it and liked it! also
Enigma
, made a decade earlier, with Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott, about the same topic.
haven't seen Ulzana's Raid. i'll look into it.

I think I have one. Is The Imitation Game a war movie?
Also, Ulzana's Raid (1972)
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026

I can't think of any decent war movie that isn't anti-war. The best way to deliver an anti-war message is through the showing of the tragedy of war: the killing and maiming of (mostly) young, barely adult men, and of course, innocent civilians. During times of existential conflict, some pro war movies are made, but that's a necessity to stir passions and further motivate people to fight.
Only psychopaths like war. Some soldiers become psychopathic, but almost none start out that way. It develops, as a coping mechanism. A survival instinct.
Ash, and others who've served, know more than anybody about this. Clearly Ash came out with his moral compass intact, but some don't. It's usually correlated with the brutality of the combat they witness.
My recommendations for anybody wanting to understand the true misery of war are Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies, American Sniper, and Saving Private Ryan. There's not much they don't cover between the four of them.
ETA: Schindler's List too, of course. Regrettably, that level of collective psychopathy is not behind us.
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Most likely it's about the military stuff that takes place during the war without showing the fighting. That's usually a hard thing to accomplish. MAS*H is the best at it.
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there are at least as many different reasons as there are movies in this list (ca. 120)

What is it that anyone who hates war movies would find appealing from any of the war movies in the list?

i don't understand this question. what the hell are you even talking about?

I don't understand this thread. What aspect of a war movie are we assuming people don't like, that is also not present in the movies in your list?
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You forgot All Quiet on the Western Front from 1930…the mother of all anti-war movies.
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yes, WP.
i agree with you from the bottom of my heart.
What movies, if any, are more obviously anti war that you think someone who doesn’t like war movies would watch?
List a few if you got any.
all of the above tbh

If the message is that war is bad and we should end them that gets lost being subliminal.
They may not be, “Rah rah, yay for war!” types of movies but they may be sort of showing the glory of it or if they show how it is with the horrors, like All Quiet, then it looks like it is just documenting what war is like.
Those of us who don’t like war movies don’t like war to begin with and never find justifications for it.
America is a pro war country and most Americans have no problem with that **** and those are the types of war movies we are going to get.
Except for Catch 22 I have yet to see any other WWll movie that shows how retarded and bad that war was.
What movies, if any, are more obviously anti war that you think someone who doesn’t like war movies would watch?
List a few if you got any.
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The majority on that list are pro war that justify its OK to murder each other.
eh, please point me to every single movie here that you think is "pro-war" and i will immediately delete them from my list, if i agree with you that is.

I hate war so why would I want to watch any war movies?
The majority on that list are pro war that justify its OK to murder each other.
The only ones that would interest me are those that show how wrong and retarded war is.
Such as Catch 22
Which is a catch 22 because you can’t show how wrong war is in a movie without having it take place in a war.
Another one might be Tropic Thunder which kind of pokes fun at the genre.
Coincidence or did you mean to time this with our American holiday of Memorial Day which is based on remembering those murderers who gave up their lives for corporate greed?
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Lol yes.

i don't like (mainstream US-centric) war movies in general,
why not? dont you know that War, what is it good for? absolutely EVERYTHING! war's benefits trickle down, up, sideways, and forward.
your list is intricate. I would add " The Train" starring burt lancaster. kinda weird film involving priceless works of art and the french underground deteremined to deny Hitler the pleasure! also, two films which deal with " domestic" war need inclusion:
Z
and also
State of Siege
, both by noted hardcore Leftist Costa Gravas
ive seen some of the movies on your listing
Casablanca
is one of my favs. a little too much on the romance, but still a great film. it's also a film almost devoid of action, other than the shootout at Rick's and then Rick plugging major Strasser at the airport. instead, dialog drives the movie. i think only special effect was the airplane taking off with Ilsa and Viktor: it was a tiny model plane.
Potemkin
: naked soviet lies and propaganda aside, great film. the baby carriage sequence gets fast forwarded 60 years into the future as the set-piece in De Palma's " The Untouchables", as Costner and Garcia engage in a shootout against Capone's hitmen.
Tobe
or not to be: i didnt really like it.
hangmen
: i think directed by fritz lang?
rome
man, those Italians in the immediate aftermath really knew how to make movies!
algier
:spellbinding film.
chimes
: another weird Orson film, just like his " the stranger": nazi's in Connecticut!
night porter
: one of dirk bogarde's creepier performances
seven beauties:
wertmuller? fellini? i saw it once but dont remember.
and others….

cool! but as for War and Peace, while i have seen the version with Audrey Hepburn, i was actually referring to the Russian version directed by Sergei Bondarchuk which is 6 and a half hours long:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063794/reference/

I’ve seen most of them, but my personal favorites are
The Four Feathers
Casablanca
Mrs. Miniver
The Best Years of our Lives
Paths of Glory
War and Peace (although it was badly miscast- Fonda, Hepburn, Ferrer, Gassmsn, Ekberg, to name a few)
The Battle of Algiers
Chronicle of the Year of Embers
The Killing Fields (very disturbing and excellent)
Full Metal Jacket
Hope and Glory
Au revoir les enfants
Grave of the Fireflies (I cried)
Black Rain
The Last of the Mohicans (great cinematography, great acting, very strong)
Stalingrad
Cold Mountain (I cried)
Hotel Rwanda
Pan's Labyrinth (SOOOOO good and dark)
The Hurt Locker
All Quiet on the Western Front
Honorable Mention - The Deer Hunter
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