Working the Memorial Day Weekend with Luke-5/25/15-Best War Movies
Welcome to a special edition of Working the Weekend with Luke. I know it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me here, but with all of the work I’ve been doing on the sports side of things, I didn’t want to overload you or the site itself with too much of myself. I also don’t like putting out an article just to put out an article. But today is a special day. It’s Memorial Day, and I know that a lot of you are celebrating with a BBQ or a party, and I’ve got no problem with that. But at least take a moment today to recognize why we’re all able to do such things. For hundreds of years, men and women far better than me have given their lives and sacrificed so much of themselves to protect the freedoms we all sometimes take for granted. Some made it out of their service alive. Some didn’t. It’s today that we celebrate and remember those brave men and women who paid the ultimate price for their service.
So on this day, as we’re still a media site, I thought I’d take a quick look at some of my favorite war movies. There are obviously a ton of them out there, and a lot of my favorites actually aren’t even about American soldiers. Movies such as Schindler’s List, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Pianist, and The Great Escape come to mind. But today, on this American holiday, I’d like to focus in on those that feature American soldiers as their primary characters. Some of these stories are real. Some are not. But the message gets across in each of these films. I do not pretend to know what it’s like to be in the military. I wouldn’t disrespect anybody like that. But these are movies that spoke to me for some reason or another, so I thought I’d share this list with you today.
PEARL HARBOR
Wait, what?! I kid, I kid. What’s next on my list, The Patriot? This movie is just a terrible waste of a talented cast, minus Josh Hartnett. Seriously, he’s just the worst. The potential was right there in front of them, as obviously this is one of the biggest events in American history, and they threw it away by giving it to Michael Bay. I will admit that some of the action sequences are done somewhat well, but the rest of it is just absolute rubbish. If you’re looking for a real movie about Pearl Harbor, check out Tora! Tora! Tora! It’s fifty times the film that Pearl Harbor is. And just to clarify, The Patriot is just atrocious.
My actual list was quite tricky. Honestly, I could flip-flop quite a few of these, but I just went with my initial thoughts when putting this together this morning. Noticeably absent from my list is American Sniper. The only reason I bring it up is to get ahead of the hate that may come from the omission. I actually thought it was a decent movie, and Chris Kyle is truly an American hero, but as a film, I just don’t think it was a great one. Bradley Cooper did a fine job in his portrayal of Kyle, but it just didn’t match up with some of the greats. I’m sorry for not being sorry, and it’s my list, so suck it up buttercup.
10. (TIE) MASH & GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM
It’s not often that war movies hit the funny bone, but these two got it right. It was difficult to pick between the two, so I figured I’d just go ahead and include them both at the start here. Both have great performances, great actors, and great writing. I would say that both have great stories, but is MASH actually really about anything? It’s a beautiful picture nonetheless.
(9) THE LONGEST DAY
Okay, so this is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the cast, but the presence of American soldiers is heavy in this great ensemble drama from 1962. If you haven’t seen it, it deals with the D-Day landings at Normandy, dealing with many different aspects of the invasion in a docudrama kind of style. And just listen to some of this cast: John Wayne, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Red Buttons. The list goes on and on. If you haven’t seen this, or even heard of it, I highly recommend giving it a look.
(8) PATTON
Is there a more iconic speech in war movie history than that given by George C. Scott as General Patton? I highly doubt it.
(7) THE THIN RED LINE
Sometimes regarded as “the other war movie from 1998”, this underrated flick marked the return of director Terrence Malick after a twenty year absence from making films, and he certainly delivered here. With an unbelievable cast (just look at the names above) that delivers extraordinary performances, this film didn’t even take in 100 million dollars at the box office. However, it has gained a small following over the years, and I certainly had to include it in this list.
(6) FULL METAL JACKET
Naturally, as with most Kubrick films, Full Metal Jacket was a little different. He decided to go with a two-part theme, which actually turned some people off, but I absolutely love the writing of this movie. And while Modine is good, Vincent D’ Onofrio and R. Lee Ermey are especially fantastic here.
(5) GLORY
If it weren’t for the fact that it was hard to get behind Matthew Broderick in this type of role, I might have actually put this movie even higher. I don’t know what it is about this film, but I absolutely love it. It may not get the credit that some of the others on my list do, but it’s amazing. The story is obviously very important to our country’s history, and the scene that you see above is heartbreakingly beautiful. Denzel Washington gives an amazing performance in Glory, and with the addition of Morgan Freeman and the debut in film for a babyface Andre Braugher, this slid into my top five.
(4) THE DEER HUNTER
Certainly, the scene above is what most people talk about when referencing The Deer Hunter, but let’s not forget how awesome the rest of the movie is. De Niro, as usual, was great, but the breakout performance here came from Christopher Walken. A lot of younger folks reading this know Walken from some pretty goofy performances over the past twenty years, but if you want to see the real talent that he possesses, just turn this movie on.
(3) PLATOON
Often called one of the most realistic war movies ever made, Oliver Stone drew on his own experiences in Vietnam to make the best picture that he’s ever done. When you can make Charlie Sheen great, you’ve done a damn good job, but other great performances from Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and John C. McGinley only add to this amazing movie. There’s even a little baby Johnny Depp in there for you. And Forest Whitaker. Never forget Forest Whitaker. Ever.
(2) APOCALYPSE NOW
It’s Apocalypse Now. Do I need to go any deeper than that?
(1) SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
The top spot was hard to pick, as it was a toss-up between Apocalypse Now and this. The only reason I chose to put this at the top was the experience I had at the movie theater. First of all, there’s no discounting that Saving Private Ryan is an exceptional piece of filmmaking. The opening scene itself is about twenty of the best minutes you’ll ever see, and the intensity only continues throughout the movie, while mixing in some great drama and character development. But I digress.
I sat in a packed house for this movie seventeen years ago. I was nineteen years old when this movie was released, so I was actually one of the youngest people in the crowd. It was full of senior citizens that lived during this time, and I could only assume that there were many veterans sitting in this audience. As the movie ended, the people my age or just a little bit older began to get up and exit as you do, but if I see a good film, I usually stay for a second and watch a few credits, collect myself, and make a quick decision on my thoughts about it before I get up. What I noticed was that many of the older folks were not moving. They sat and sat and sat, and it was only then that I began to hear sniffles and saw heads drop. I could only gather that these were men that had served during World War II and were taken back to that time by watching this movie. As much as I wanted to go to each and every one of them and just say “thank you”, I didn’t. I was afraid that I would never be able to say enough words or the right words to people like that. That’s why I put this movie at the top. I watched what a movie could do to grown men who had actually been to war, and while I was sitting there just watching a movie trying to understand what soldiers go through, soldiers were sitting all around me remembering what they had gone through. It was easily the most interesting and rewarding experience I’ve ever had at the movies.
There you have it. Where do you come out on that list? What did I get right? What did I get wrong? Leave your comments below or follow me on Twitter and tweet @THElukenorris. Binge Sports will be back soon with new episodes of the Binge SportsCast, previews of the NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final, and I’m sure something else may come up in there as well. Until then, I wish you a very Happy Memorial Day.