Crtic Cinema Video Library

You Are Here: Critic Cinema > Video Library > War Titles

All Quiet on the Western Front
.
Starring: Ayres, Lew Wolheim, Louis Wray, John Wray, John Alexander, Ben Kolk, Scott Jr., Owen Davis Rogers, Walter Rogers, Walter Gleason, Russell
.
Director: Milestone, Lewis	Rating: Unrated	Running Time: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.2/10 (IMDB)	Black & White Stereo

Amazon.com essential video This 1930 film, No. 54 on the AFI's Top 100 list, still holds up as a surprisingly forceful and honest antiwar drama. Indeed, the modern sensibility is almost as startling as the sometime stagey acting of Lew Ayres, which can be excused by the fact that, three years after the introduction of sound, actors were still applying stage techniques to talking pictures. Ayres plays a German college student during World War I, who is brainwashed into enlisting in the Army (along with the rest of his class) by a zealously inspirational college professor. Once in uniform and on the front lines, however, he quickly discovers that the glory of the Fatherland is of little concern to a soldier dodging bullets and explosions, whose comrades are dying in his arms. As powerful in its way as Platoon almost 60 years later, it remains a classic tale of young soldiers' confrontations with the possibility of imminent and arbitrary death. Director Lewis Milestone shows a surprising range of techniques in this film from the formative years of moviemaking with sound. --Marshall Fine

Apocalypse Now
.
Starring: Brando, Marlon Sheen, Martin Sheen, Martin Duvall, Robert Bodge Forrest, Frederic Hopper, Dennis Glenn, Scott Glenn, Scott Bottoms, Sam
.
Director: Coppola, Francis Ford	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 33 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Basic
.
Starring: Travolta, John Nielsen, Connie Jackson, Samuel L. Nielsen, Connie Ribisi, Giovanni Diggs, Taye Mihok, Dash Connick, Harry Jr. Connick, Harry Jr. Sanchez, Roselyn
.
Director: McTiernan, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com If you thought The Recruit was full of surprises, Basic will spin your head around. Assuming that cleverness is its own reward, this military mystery shares many of The Recruit's strengths and weaknesses, offering multi-layered deception as its dramatic raison d'etre. Copping plenty of machismo attitude befitting a semi-effective thriller from Die Hard director John McTiernan, John Travolta stars as an ex-Army Ranger-turned-DEA agent, recruited by an Army investigator (Connie Nielsen) to solve the fratricide of a reviled Sergeant (Samuel L. Jackson) who was allegedly killed while commanding a Special Forces training mission in the hurricane-swept rainforests of Panama. Two survivors (Giovanni Ribisi in a showboat role, and Brian Van Holt) recall the ill-fated mission as the truth unfolds, Rashomon-style, in a series of repetitive flashbacks. Tricky enough to hold one's attention as it grows increasingly irrelevant, Basic is so enamored of its bogus ingenuity that its ultimate twist is a letdown. A second viewing might prove rewarding, if only to confirm that it all holds together. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Black Hawk Down (3-Disc Deluxe Edition)
.
Starring: Hartnett, Josh McGregor, Ewan Isaacs, Jason Piven, Jeremy McGregor, Ewan Fichtner, William Bremner, Ewen Hartnett, Josh Hartnett, Josh Giovinazzo, Carmine
.
Director: Scott, Ridley	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 24 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down conveys the raw, chaotic urgency of ground-force battle in a worst-case scenario. With exacting detail, the film re-creates the American siege of the Somalian city of Mogadishu in October 1993, when a 45-minute mission turned into a 16-hour ordeal of bloody urban warfare. Helicopter-borne U.S. Rangers were assigned to capture key lieutenants of Somali warlord Muhammad Farrah Aidid, but when two Black Hawk choppers were felled by rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S. soldiers were forced to fend for themselves in the battle-torn streets of Mogadishu, attacked from all sides by armed Aidid supporters. Based on author Mark Bowden's bestselling account of the battle, Scott's riveting, action-packed film follows a sharp ensemble cast in some of the most authentic battle sequences ever filmed. The loss of 18 soldiers turned American opinion against further involvement in Somalia, but Black Hawk Down makes it clear that the men involved were undeniably heroic. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Braveheart
.
Starring: Gibson, Mel Gleeson, Brendan McCormack, Catherine McGoohan, Patrick Lawlor, Sean Marceau, Sophie
.
Director: Gibson, Mel	Rating: R	Running Time:
.
Category: War	User Rating:	Color SurroundSound

Mel Gibson directs and stars in this Academy Award-winning epic based on the life of legendary thirteenth century Scottish hero William Wallace. Returning to his homeland following the death of an heirless king, Wallace (Mel Gibson) finds the political landscape precarious. Edward the Longshanks, King of England (Patrick McGoohan), has captured Scotland's throne and threatens the freedom of all Scottish people, as tyrannical policies instituted by the English plague the Scots. Initially, Wallace is content to stand by the wayside, yearning for the simple life of building a home and raising a family. However, when the woman he loves (Catherine McCormack) suffers a cruel fate at the hands of English soldiers, Wallace takes a stand against the new rule. With his fierce patriotism and determination, he gathers an amateur but passionately rebellious army. Although this makeshift force may be outnumbered by the English troops, their desperation and love for their land surpass any military maneuvers, as evidenced in the film's breathtaking battle sequences.

Bridge on the River Kwai - Limited Edition, The
.
Starring: Holden, William Guinness, Alec Hawkins, Jack Holden, William Hayakawa, Sessue Chakrabandhu, M.R.B. Morell, Andr Katsumoto, Keiichiro Katsumoto, Keiichiro Williams, Peter
.
Director: Lean, David	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 42 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Director David Lean's masterful 1957 realization of Pierre Boulle's novel remains a benchmark for war films, and a deeply absorbing movie by any standard--like most of Lean's canon, The Bridge on the River Kwai achieves a richness in theme, narrative, and characterization that transcends genre. The story centers on a Japanese prison camp isolated deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, where the remorseless Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) has been charged with building a vitally important railway bridge. His clash of wills with a British prisoner, the charismatic Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), escalates into a duel of honor, Nicholson defying his captor's demands to win concessions for his troops. How the two officers reach a compromise, and Nicholson becomes obsessed with building that bridge, provides the story's thematic spine; the parallel movement of a team of commandos dispatched to stop the project, led by a British major (Jack Hawkins) and guided by an American escapee (William Holden), supplies the story's suspense and forward momentum. Shot on location in Sri Lanka, Kwai moves with a careful, even deliberate pace that survivors of latter-day, high-concept blockbusters might find lulling--Lean doesn't pander to attention deficit disorders with an explosion every 15 minutes. Instead, he guides us toward the intersection of the two plots, accruing remarkable character details through extraordinary performances. Hayakawa's cruel camp commander is gradually revealed as a victim of his own sense of honor, Holden's callow opportunist proves heroic without softening his nihilistic edge, and Guinness (who won a Best Actor Oscar, one of the production's seven wins) disappears as only he can into Nicholson's brittle, duty-driven, delusional psychosis. His final glimpse of self-knowledge remains an astonishing moment--story, character, and image coalescing with explosive impact. Like Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai has been beautifully restored and released in a highly recommended widescreen version that preserves its original aspect ratio. --Sam Sutherland --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The second disc in this special-edition set includes an exclusive documentary, The Making of the Bridge on the River Kwai, which is filled with details about the extraordinary logistical problems of making a film on such a huge scale, in such a remote location. Also included are a short behind-the-scenes documentary originally released at the same time as the film, and a brief appreciation of the film by director John Milius (Big Wednesday). The final treat is a short instructional movie from... read more

Bridge Too Far, A
.
Starring: Caine, Michael Connery, Sean Caine, Michael Micklewhite Jr., Maurice Joseph Connery, Sean Connery, Thomas Fox, Edward Gould, Elliott Gould, Elliott Alder, Eugene
.
Director: Attenborough, Richard	Rating: PG	Running Time: 2 Hours 56 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.9/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video This massive 1977 adaptation by director Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) of Cornelius Ryan's novel features an all-star cast in an epic rendering of a daring but ultimately disastrous raid behind enemy lines in Holland during the Second World War. A lengthy and exhaustive look at the mechanics of warfare and the price and futility of war, the film is almost too large for its aims but manages to be both picaresque and affecting, particularly in the performance of James Caan. The impressive cast includes Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, and Liv Ullmann among others. While not a classic war film, it nevertheless manages to be a consistently interesting and exciting adventure. --Robert Lane --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin
.
Starring: Cruz, Pen�lope Cage, Nicolas Hurt, John Papas, Irene Cruz, Penelope Morrissey, David Kralli, Aspasia Yannatos, Michael Yannatos, Michael Sarubbi, Pietro
.
Director: Madden, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com With this lavish follow-up to Shakespeare in Love, director John Madden proves himself a worthy craftsman of literary films, and while Captain Corelli's Mandolin may frustrate admirers of Louis de Berni�res's densely detailed novel, it's a tastefully old-fashioned adaptation, preserving the novel's flavor while focusing on its love story set against the turbulence of World War II. Set on the Greek island of Cephallonia, the drama begins in 1940 with occupation by Italian troops, awkwardly allied with the Nazis and preferring hedonistic friendliness over military intimidation. That attitude is most generously embodied by Captain Corelli (Nicolas Cage), who is instantly drawn to the Greek beauty Pelagia (Pen�lope Cruz) despite her engagement to Mandras (Christian Bale), a resistance fighter whose absence leaves Pelagia needy for affection. Mandras's eventual return--and the inevitable attack by German bombers and ground troops--threaten to stain this Greek-Italian romance with deeply tragic bloodshed. Accompanied by pensive serenades from the captain's cherished mandolin, the film charts the unlikely attraction of Corelli and Pelagia, whose wizened physician father (splendidly played by John Hurt) fears for the worst. Their love is uneasy (and Cage's miscasting doesn't help), but the island's beguiling atmosphere is as seductive to them as it is to the viewer, thus making the outbreak of violence--and a climactic earthquake--jarringly traumatic. Emphasizing nobility in war and the many definitions of love, the story's wartime context intensifies the film's admirable depth of emotion. Faults will be found by anyone who's looking for them, but Captain Corelli's Mandolin remains a sensuous, richly layered film that die-hard romantics will find hard to resist. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Casablanca
.
Starring: Bogart, Humphrey Bergman, Ingrid Henreid, Paul Rains, Claude Veidt, Conrad Hale, Creighton Bois, Curt Seymour, Dan Seymour, Dan Puglia, Frank
.
Director: Curtiz, Michael	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.8/10 (IMDB)	Black & White Stereo

Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition)
.
Starring: Bogart, Humphrey Bergman, Ingrid Henreid, Paul Bogart, Humphrey Lorre, Peter Greenstreet, Sydney Veidt, Conrad Wilson, Dooley Wilson, Dooley Puglia, Frank
.
Director: Curtiz, Michael	Rating: PG	Running Time: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.8/10 (IMDB)	Black & White Stereo

Amazon.com essential video A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. DVD features The two-disc set of this classic boasts new features and a new transfer. In comparing with the previous 50th anniversary edition, the 2003 edition is arguably better, but there is no debate it has a lot more stuff. As the transfer goes, this edition is pristine, the anniversary edition was excellent, and both are far better than anything seen before. The first-rate, 30-minute anniversary documentary is still here; added is a 90-minute biography on Humphrey Bogart made in the mid-'80s. The best... read more Description Considered by many to be the greatest Hollywood movie ever made, this WW2 classic takes place in war-torn Casablanca and tells the tale of mysterious nightclub owner Bogart and his old Flame (Bergman), her husband, underground leader (Heinreid), and other skeletons from his past. Won 3 Oscars - Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.

Charge of the Light Brigade, The
.
Starring: Howard, Trevor Redgrave, Vanessa Gielgud, John Hemmings, David Andrews, Harry Howard, Trevor Redgrave, Vanessa Baker, Mickey Baker, Mickey Britt, Leo
.
Director: Richardson, Tony	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Tony Richardson's film about the colossal Crimean War blunder combines his sociopolitical anger with the splendors of a David Lean epic for a fascinating artifact of that boiling-point protest year, 1968. Like America's contemporaneous Vietnam War, Britain's mid-19th-century conflict with Russia in defense of Turkey made less sense the deeper they sank into it; John Gielgud's Lord Raglan keeps referring absentmindedly to the enemy as "the French"! Aside from a peripheral romantic triangle involving apparently the single sane officer in Her Majesty's army (David Hemmings), his friend (Mark Burns), and the friend's wife (Vanessa Redgrave--Mrs. Richardson), the film is really about the profoundly jingoistic Victorian imagination; transitional animation sequences by Richard Williams seem to plunge us directly into the British national psyche. Somewhat muddled as drama, but irresistibly persuasive in its historical detail and stunning camerawork (David Watkin, Chariots of Fire), The Charge of the Light Brigade is a prime candidate for rediscovery. --Richard T. Jameson From the Back Cover From director Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) comes this brilliant retelling of tragic events during the Crimean War. Starring Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, and David Hemmings, this epic political satire is an "impressive achievement" (Boxoffice) that will forever be revered as movie making at its best. British Captain Nolan (Hemmings) is a devoted officer disgusted with his commander, Lord Cardigan (Howard). Lord Raglan (Gielgud) is a foolish officer with misguided war strategies... read more

Cold Mountain
.
Starring: Law, Jude Kidman, Nicole Zellweger, Ren�e Atkins, Eileen Baker, Kathy Gammon, James Kidman, Nicole Winstone, Ray Winstone, Ray Zellweger, Renee
.
Director: Minghella, Anthony	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 34 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Freely adapted from Charles Frazier's beloved bestseller, Cold Mountain boasts an impeccable pedigree as a respectable Civil War love story, offering everything you'd want from a romantic epic except a resonant emotional core. Everything in this sweeping, Odyssean journey depends on believing in the instant love that ignites during a very brief encounter between genteel, city-bred preacher's daughter Ada (Nicole Kidman) and Confederate soldier Inman (Jude Law), who deserts the battlefield to return, weary and wounded, to Ada's inherited farm in the rural town of Cold Mountain, North Carolina. In an epic (but dramatically tenuous) case of absence making hearts grow fonder, Inman endures a treacherous hike fraught with danger (and populated by supporting players including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and others) while the struggling, inexperienced Ada is aided by the high-spirited Ruby (Ren�e Zellweger), forming a powerful farming partnership that transforms Ada into a strong, lovelorn survivor. The film's episodic structure slightly weakens its emotional impact, and it's fairly obvious that director Anthony Minghella is striving to repeat the prestigious romanticism of his Oscar®-winning hit The English Patient. For the most part it works, especially in the dynamic performances of Zellweger and Kidman, and the explosive 1864 battle of Petersburg, Virginia, is recreated with violent, percussive intensity. Those who admired Frazier's novel may regret some of the changes made in Minghella's adaptation (the ending is particularly altered), but Cold Mountain remains a high-class example of grand, old-fashioned filmmaking, boosted by star power of the highest order. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features Anthony Minghella's film receives a classy two-disc DVD debut. There are lots of extras but better still, it has very little padding. A new 70-minute documentary on the making of the film is smart and interesting, often going after elements we normally don't see, including location scouting, dealing with weather, and the preview audiences. Directors Laura Luchetti and Timothy Bricknell don't pander to MTV-style editing, allowing the talent to speak at length. The 20 minutes of deleted scenes... read more

Das Boot - The Director's Cut
.
Starring: Prochnow, J�rgen Gronemeyer, Herbert Wennemann, Klaus Bengsch, Hubertus Semmelrogge, Martin Tauber, Bernd Leder, Erwin May, Martin May, Martin Ochsenknecht, Uwe
.
Director: Petersen, Wolfgang	Rating: R	Running Time: 3 Hours 29 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video This is the restored, 209-minute director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's harrowing and claustrophobic U-boat thriller, which was theatrically rereleased in 1997. Originally made as a six-hour miniseries, this version devotes more time to getting to know the crew before they and their stoic captain (J�rgen Prochnow) get aboard their U-boat and find themselves stranded at the bottom of the sea. Das Boot puts you inside that submerged vessel and explores the physical and emotional tensions of the situation with a vivid, terrifying realism that few movies can match. As Petersen tightens the screws and the submerged ship blows bolts, the pressure builds to such unbearable levels that you may be tempted to escape for a nice walk on solid land in the great outdoors--only you wouldn't dream of looking away from the screen. --Jim Emerson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Deer Hunter, The
.
Starring: Niro, Robert De Walken, Christopher Savage, John Streep, Mary Louise Walken, Christopher Savage, John Cazale, John Dzundza, George Dzundza, George Stoler, Shirley
.
Director: Cimino, Michael	Rating: R	Running Time: 3 Hours 3 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Deer Hunter is simultaneously an audacious directorial conceit and one of the greatest films ever made about friendship and the personal impact of war. Like Apocalypse Now, it's hardly a conventional battle film--the soldier's experience was handled with greater authenticity in Platoon--but its depiction of war on an intimate scale packs a devastatingly dramatic punch. Director Michael Cimino may be manipulating our emotions with masterful skill, but he does it in a way that stirs the soul and pinches our collective nerves with graphic, high-intensity scenes of men under life-threatening duress. Although Russian-roulette gambling games were not a common occurrence during the Vietnam war, they're used here as a metaphor for the futility of the war itself. To the viewer, they become unforgettably intense rites of passage for the best friends--Pennsylvania steelworkers played by Robert De Niro, John Savage, and Oscar winner Christopher Walken--who may survive or perish during their tour through a tropical landscape of hell. Back home, their loved ones must cope with the war's domestic impact, and in doing so they allow The Deer Hunter to achieve a rare combination of epic storytelling and intimate, heart-rending drama. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Enemy at the Gates
.
Starring: Law, Jude Harris, Ed Weisz, Rachel Weisz, Rachel Law, Jude Fiennes, Joseph Mattes, Eva Thomson, Gabriel Thomson, Gabriel Rois, Sophie
.
Director: Annaud, Jean-Jacques	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Like Saving Private Ryan, Enemy at the Gates opens with a pivotal event of World War II--the German invasion of Stalingrad--re-created in epic scale, as ill-trained Russian soldiers face German attack or punitive execution if they flee from the enemy's advance. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud captures this madness with urgent authenticity, creating a massive context for a more intimate battle waged amid the city's ruins. Embellished from its basis in fact, the story shifts to an intense cat-and-mouse game between a Russian shepherd raised to iconic fame and a German marksman whose skill is unmatched in its lethal precision. Vassily Zaitzev (Jude Law) has been sniping Nazis one bullet at a time, while the German Major Konig (Ed Harris) has been assigned to kill Vassily and spare Hitler from further embarrassment. There's love in war as Vassily connects with a woman soldier (Rachel Weisz), but she is also loved by Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), the Soviet officer who promotes his friend Vassily as Russia's much-needed hero. This romantic rivalry lends marginal interest to the central plot, but it's not enough to make this a classic war film. Instead it's a taut, well-made suspense thriller isolated within an epic battle, and although Annaud and cowriter Alain Godard (drawing from William Craig's book and David L. Robbins's novel The War of the Rats) fail to connect the parallel plots with any lasting impact, the production is never less than impressive. Highly conventional but handled with intelligence and superior craftsmanship, this is warfare as strategic entertainment, without compromising warfare as a manmade hell on Earth. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

English Patient, The
.
Starring: Fiennes, Ralph Binoche, Juliette Dafoe, Willem Dafoe, Willem Andrews, Naveen Firth, Colin Wadham, Julian Prochnow, Jurgen Prochnow, Jurgen Merrison, Clive
.
Director: Minghella, Anthony	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 42 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Winner of nine Academy Awards and almost every critic's heart, The English Patient (based on Michael Ondaatje's prizewinning novel of love and loss during World War II) is one of the most acclaimed films of modern times. Hana, a nurse (Juliette Binoche), tends to an archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) who has been burnt to a crisp in a plane crash. As their relationship intensifies, he flashes back to his overwhelming passion for a married woman (Kristin Scott Thomas). Meanwhile, Hana begins a new romance with a man who defuses bombs (Naveen Andrews) and Willem Dafoe almost steals the show as the thumbless thief Caravaggio. The intricately layered flashback narrative, sounding the depths of the lovers' hearts, improves with repeated viewings--especially with the sharp picture and digital sound of the digital video disc.

English Patient, The (Miramax Collector's Edition)
.
Starring: Fiennes, Ralph Binoche, Juliette Dafoe, Willem Hamrouni, Abdellatif Walker, Amanda Smee, Anthony Merrison, Clive Firth, Colin Firth, Colin Eggert, Fritz
.
Director: Minghella, Anthony	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 42 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.0/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

A Farewell to Arms
.
Starring: Cooper, Gary Hayes, Helen
.
Director: Borzage, Frank	Rating: NR	Running Time: 83 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating:	Black & White Stereo

Customer Reviews

Forrest Gump
.
Starring: Hanks, Tom Penn, Robin Wright Sinise, Gary Hanks, Tom Brisbin, David Sinise, Gary Williamson, Mykelti Herthum, Harold G. Herthum, Harold G. Penny, Bob
.
Director: Zemeckis, Robert	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 4 Hours 11 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor Tom Hanks, this unlikely story of a slow-witted but good-hearted man somehow at the center of the pivotal events of the 20th century is a funny and heartwarming epic. Hanks plays the title character, a shy Southern boy in love with his childhood best friend (Robin Wright) who finds that his ability to run fast takes him places. As an All-Star football player he meets John F. Kennedy; as a soldier in Vietnam he's a war hero; and as a world champion Ping-Pong player he's hailed by Richard Nixon. Becoming a successful shrimp-boat captain, he still yearns for the love of his life, who takes a quite different and much sadder path in life. The visual effects incorporating Hanks into existing newsreel footage is both funny and impressive, but the heart of the film lies in its sweet love story and in the triumphant performance of Hanks as an unassuming soul who savors the most from his life and times. --Robert Lane --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Full Metal Jacket
.
Starring: Modine, Matthew D'Onofrio, Vincent Ermey, R. Lee Ermey, Lee O'Ross, Ed Howard, Arliss Harewood, Dorian D'Onofrio, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vincent Jecchinis, Kieron
.
Director: Kubrick, Stanley	Rating: R	Running Time: 117 minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video Stanley Kubrick's 1987, penultimate film seemed to a lot of people to be contrived and out of touch with the '80s vogue for such intensely realistic portrayals of the Vietnam War as Platoon and The Deer Hunter. Certainly, Kubrick gave audiences plenty of reason to wonder why he made the film at all: essentially a two-part drama that begins on a Parris Island boot camp for rookie Marines and abruptly switches to Vietnam (actually shot on sound stages and locations near London), Full Metal Jacket comes across as a series of self-contained chapters in a story whose logical and thematic development is oblique at best. Then again, much the same was said about Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, a masterwork both enthralled with and satiric about the future's role in the unfinished business of human evolution. In a way, Full Metal Jacket is the wholly grim counterpart of 2001. While the latter is a truly 1960s film, both wide-eyed and wary, about the intertwining of progress and isolation (ending in our redemption, finally, by death), Full Metal Jacket is a cynical, Reagan-era view of the 1960s' hunger for experience and consciousness that fulfilled itself in violence. Lee Ermey made film history as the Marine drill instructor whose ritualized debasement of men in the name of tribal uniformity creates its darkest angel in a murderous half-wit (Vincent D'Onofrio). Matthew Modine gives a smart and savvy performance as Private Joker, the clowning, military journalist who yearns to get away from the propaganda machine and know firsthand the horrific revelation of the front line. In Full Metal Jacket, depravity and fulfillment go hand in hand, and it's no wonder Kubrick kept his steely distance from the material to make the point. --Tom Keogh DVD features EDITOR'S NOTE: According to a Warner Home Video technician involved in the production of The Stanley Kubrick Collection, Kubrick authorized all aspects of the Collection, from the use of Digital Component Video (or "D-1") masters originally approved in 1989, to the use of minimalist screen menus, chapter stops, and (in the case of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining on DVD) supplementary materials. Full-screen presentation of The Shining and Full Metal Jacket was also approved by Kubrick, who... read more

Glory (Special Edition)
.
Starring: Broderick, Matthew Washington, Denzel Freeman, Morgan Washington, Denzel Elwes, Cary Freeman, Morgan Finn, John Leitch, Donovan Leitch, Donovan North, Alan
.
Director: Zwick, Edward	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 2 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video One of the very best films about the Civil War, this instant classic from 1989 is also one of the few films to depict the participation of African American soldiers in Civil War combat. Based in part on the books Lay This Laurel by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush by Peter Burchard, the film also draws from the letters of Robert Gould Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick), the 25-year-old son of Boston abolitionists who volunteered to command the all-black 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Their training and battle experience leads them to their final assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, where their heroic bravery turned bitter defeat into a symbolic victory that brought recognition to black soldiers and turned the tide of the war. With painstaking attention to historical detail and richness of character, the film boasts superior performances by Denzel Washington (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher. Directed by Edward Zwick (cocreator of the TV series thirtysomething), this unforgettable drama is as important as Schindler's List in its treatment of a noble yet little-known episode of history. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition. Additional Features Director Edward Zwick's commentary is informative and intelligent; and separate picture-in-picture commentaries by costars Matthew Broderick and Morgan Freeman are worthwhile, but segments of Zwick's commentary are needlessly repeated. The 12-minute "Voices of Glory" gives historical context to readings of actual letters from soldiers in the historic 54th Massachusetts Regiment, and a shorter promotional featurette offers behind-the-scenes clips and interviews. "The True Story of Glory... read more

Gone With the Wind
.
Starring: Leigh, Vivien Harley, Vivien Mary Gable, Clark Gable, William de Havilland, Olivia McDaniel, Hattie Howard, Leslie Stainer, Leslie Stainer, Leslie O'Neil, Barbara
.
Director: Wood, Sam	Rating: G	Running Time: 3 Hours 53 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.1/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com essential video David O. Selznick wanted Gone with the Wind to be somehow more than a movie, a film that would broaden the very idea of what a film could be and do and look like. In many respects he got what he worked so hard to achieve in this 1939 epic (and all-time box-office champ in terms of tickets sold), and in some respects he fell far short of the goal. While the first half of this Civil War drama is taut and suspenseful and nostalgic, the second is ramshackle and arbitrary. But there's no question that the film is an enormous achievement in terms of its every resource--art direction, color, sound, cinematography--being pushed to new limits for the greater glory of telling an American story as fully as possible. Vivien Leigh is still magnificently narcissistic, Olivia de Havilland angelic and lovely, Leslie Howard reckless and aristocratic. As for Clark Gable: we're talking one of the most vital, masculine performances ever committed to film. The DVD release has optional French subtitles and theatrical trailer. --Tom Keogh --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Great Escape, The
.
Starring: McQueen, Steve Garner, James Attenborough, Richard Attenborough, Richard Attenborough, Sir Richard Donald, James Bronson, Charles Pleasence, Donald Pleasence, Donald Jackson, Gordon
.
Director: Sturges, John	Rating: Unrated	Running Time: 2 Hours 52 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges's The Great Escape is both the definitive World War II drama and the nonpareil prison escape movie. Featuring an unequalled ensemble cast in a rivetingly authentic true-life scenario set to Elmer Bernstein's admirable music, this picture is both a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen gives a career-defining performance as the laconic Hilts, the baseball-loving, motorbike-riding "Cooler King." The rest of the all-male Anglo-American cast--Dickie Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, David McCallum, James Coburn, and Gordon Jackson--make the most of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent). Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape attempts, scrounging, forging, and ferreting activities are authentically realized thanks also to technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climax with total conviction, giving us both high action and very poignant human drama. Without trivializing the grim reality, The Great Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight. --Mark Walker

Hamburger Hill
.
Starring: Barrile, Anthony Boatman, Michael Swerdlow, Tommy Barille, Anthony McDermott, Dylan Vance, Courtney B. Cheadle, Don O'Reilly, Harry O'Reilly, Harry Quill, Timothy Patrick
.
Director: Irvin, John	Rating: R	Running Time: 94 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Because it was released less than a year after Oliver Stone's Platoon and within months of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this exceptionally well-made film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War was largely overshadowed and overlooked. It's a pity, because in some respects this is the best of the Vietnam films of the late 1980s, at least in terms of the everyday authenticity it depicts. Stripped clean of dramatically extraneous narrative, the movie opts instead for a straightforward approach to its day-by-day account of one of the war's costliest victories--a deadly siege on Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley, where soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy over the course of eleven brutal assaults between May 10th and 20th, 1969. The film specifically follows the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, a mixture of "new guys" and battle-weary "short-timers" who fought against terrifying odds and suffered a 70% casualty rate. From first scene to last, Hamburger Hill traces the rise and fall of their battle experience, from the horror of firefights to the camaraderie of men who've faced death and survived. Racial tensions flare and subside, trusts are established, and courage emerges from unexpected places. Through it all, writer Jim Carabatsos and director John Irvin maintain a purity of focus that pays tribute to the soldier's life without promoting false patriotism or gung-ho theatrics. In addition, the film features a cast full of talented and well-known actors in the early stages of their careers, including Dylan McDermott (from the TV series "The Practice") and Don Cheadle, before gaining fame in Devil in a Blue Dress and Boogie Nights. Color accuracy, image clarity, and the explosive soundtrack have been remarkably preserved in a flawless DVD transfer, lending even greater immediacy to this underrated film. --Jeff Shannon

Hart's War
.
Starring: Willis, Bruce Farrell, Colin Howard, Terrence DaShon Landes, Michael Cochrane, Rory Campbell, Scott Michael Roache, Linus Hauser, Cole Hauser, Cole Shannon, Vicellous
.
Director: Hoblit, Gregory	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Anyone who appreciates subtle tension will enjoy this World War II prison-camp drama, based on John Katzenbach's novel, in which honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways. Bruce Willis plays the ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp, joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant (up-and-coming star Colin Farrell) who'd been captured despite his father's powerful military connections. When a black pilot (Terrence Dashon Howard) from the famous Tuskeegee airmen is falsely accused of murdering a fellow prisoner, Farrell tries his case and discovers the real motivation behind Willis's kangaroo court. While combining elements of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape, director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Frequency) spices this moral dilemma with well-crafted suspense and a rousing dogfight sequence, but the human drama remains muted despite fine, understated performances by Willis, Farrell, and Howard. An escape thriller with an ethical twist, Hart's War works best as a study of heroism under extraordinary circumstances. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.

Last of the Mohicans, The
.
Starring: Day-Lewis, Daniel Stowe, Madeleine Means, Russell Studi, Wes May, Jodhi Waddington, Steven Roeves, Maurice Postlethwaite, Pete Postlethwaite, Pete Studi, Wes
.
Director: Mann, Michael	Rating: R	Running Time: 122 minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.5/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com Wildly romantic, daringly exciting, Michael Mann's film of James Fenimore Cooper's novel created a new babe magnet out of Daniel Day-Lewis, he of the heaving pecs and flowing mane. As Hawkeye, he plays an American settler raised by the Mohicans who is forced to serve as a guide for British adventurism in upstate New York. But the British have been outflanked by the French (and their Indian allies); then British honor is betrayed when a band of renegades assaults them during their retreat. Mann captures the viciousness of this era's hand-to-hand combat in startling battle scenes. But he also invests the film with heartfelt romance, as the feelings swell between Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. The ending is a stunner, a long, nearly wordless sequence of battle and loss. Strong performances all around, particularly by Russell Means as Chingachgook and Wes Studi as the evil Magua. --Marshall Fine --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition), The
.
Starring: Watanabe, Ken Cruise, Tom Watanabe, Ken Watanabe, Ken Goldwyn, Tony Harada, Masato Sanada, Hiroyuki Sugata, Shun Sugata, Shun Fukomoto, Seizo
.
Director: Zwick, Edward	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 34 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Stereo

Amazon.com While Japan undergoes tumultuous transition to a more Westernized society in 1876-77, The Last Samurai gives epic sweep to an intimate story of cultures at a crossroads. In America, tormented Civil War veteran Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is coerced by a mercenary officer (Tony Goldwyn) to train the Japanese Emperor's troops in the use of modern weaponry. Opposing this "progress" is a rebellion of samurai warriors, holding fast to their traditions of honor despite strategic disadvantage. As a captive of the samurai leader (Ken Watanabe), Algren learns, appreciates, and adopts the samurai code, switching sides for a climactic battle that will put everyone's honor to the ultimate test. All of which makes director Edward Zwick's noble epic eminently worthwhile, even if its Hollywood trappings (including an all-too-conventional ending) prevent it from being the masterpiece that Zwick and screenwriter John Logan clearly wanted it to be. Instead, The Last Samurai is an elegant mainstream adventure, impressive in all aspects of its production. It may not engage the emotions as effectively as Logan's script for Gladiator, but like Cruise's character, it finds its own quality of honor. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features No actor works harder to open a movie than Tom Cruise. His enthusiasm is throughout the DVD extras as he mirrors his samurai character by constantly talking about "loyalty" and "discipline" while working on the film. However as a post-movie experience, the top-line extras with Cruise and director Edward Zwick are repetitive and underwhelming, with too many clips from the film we assume DVD viewers have just seen. The History Channel show is also a pre-release promotional device that misses an... read more Description Epic Action Drama. Set in Japan during the 1870s, The Last Samurai tells the story of Capt. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), a respected American military officer hired by the Emperor of Japan to train the country's first army in the art of modern warfare. As the Emperor attempts to eradicate the ancient Imperial Samurai warriors in preparation for more Westernized and trade-friendly government policies, Algren finds himself unexpectedly impressed and influenced by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.

Patriot, The
.
Starring: Gibson, Mel Ledger, Heath Richardson, Joely Cooper, Chris Karyo, Tcheky Wilkinson, Tom Ledger, Heath Saacs, Jason Saacs, Jason Symansky, Adam
.
Director: Emmerich, Roland	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 45 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.8/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clich�s and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop. On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Additional Features Like the movie itself, there's little in the supplementary materials for The Patriot that requires more than one viewing, but they're interesting while they last. "The Art of War" featurette purports to be a study of the film's elaborate battle logistics, but it offers only a cursory appreciation of sequence planning and stunt work. The "True Patriots" featurette is much better, examining the painstaking efforts toward authenticity in production design, artillery, and costuming. The visual... read more

Pearl Harbor
.
Starring: Affleck, Ben Beckinsale, Kate Beckinsale, Kate Affleck, Ben Beckinsale, Kate Hartnett, Josh Gooding, Cuba , Jr. Aykroyd, Dan Aykroyd, Dan King, James
.
Director: Bay, Michael	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 3 Hours 3 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 5.5/10 (IMDB)	Color DTS Surround Sound

Amazon.com To call Pearl Harbor a throwback to old-time war movies is something of an understatement. Director Michael Bay's epic take on the bombing that brought the United States into World War II hijacks every war movie situation and clich� (some affectionate, some stale) you've ever seen and gives them a shiny, glossy spin until the whole movie practically gleams. Planes glisten, water sparkles, trees beckon--and Bay's re-creation of the bombing itself, a 30-minute sequence that's tightly choreographed and amazingly photographed, sets the action movie bar up quite a few notches. And in updating the classic war film, Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace (Braveheart) use that old plot standby, the love triangle--this time, it's between two pilots (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) and a nurse (Kate Beckinsale) who find themselves stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, during what they thought would be a nice, sunny tour of duty. Then, of course, history intervened. For the first 90 minutes of the movie, Affleck and Beckinsale find a nice, appealing chemistry that plays on his strengths as a movie star and hers as a serious actress--he gives her glamour, she gives him smarts. Their truncated romance--the beginning of which is told in flashback so we can get right to the point where he has to leave her to go to England--works, thanks to their charm. They're no Kate and Leo from Titanic (a strategy the film strives hard toward), but they're pretty darn adorable in their own right. Hartnett, as the not entirely unwelcome third wheel, squints bravely but makes only a slight dent in the film. Everyone else in Pearl Harbor--from Cuba Gooding Jr.'s brave navy seaman to Jon Voight's able impersonation of FDR--is pretty much a glorified walk-on, taking a backseat to the pyrotechnics and action sequences that keep the three-hour film in fairly constant motion. But when that action does take hold, Pearl Harbor is quite a thrilling ride. --Mark Englehart

Platoon (Special Edition)
.
Starring: Berenger, Tom Dafoe, Willem Sheen, Charlie Dafoe, Willem David, Keith Depp, Johnny Dillon, Kevin Whitaker, Forest Whitaker, Forest Todd, Tony
.
Director: Stone, Oliver	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.0/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video Platoon put writer-turned-director Oliver Stone on the Hollywood map; it is still his most acclaimed and effective film, probably because it is based on Stone's firsthand experience as an American soldier in Vietnam. Chris (Charlie Sheen) is an infantryman whose loyalty is tested by two superior officers: Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe), a former hippie humanist who really cares about his men (this was a few years before he played Jesus in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ), and Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), a moody, macho soldier who may have gone over to the dark side. The personalities of the two sergeants correspond to their combat drugs of choice--pot for Elias and booze for Barnes. Stone has become known for his sledgehammer visual style, but in this film it seems perfectly appropriate. His violent and disorienting images have a terrifying immediacy, a you-are-there quality that gives you a sense of how things may have felt to an infantryman in the jungles of Vietnam. Platoon won Oscars for best picture and director. --Jim Emerson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

Red Dawn
.
Starring: Swayze, Patrick Howell, C. Thomas O'Neal, Ron Sheen, Charlie Dalton, Darren Grey, Jennifer Savage, Brad Toby, Doug Toby, Doug Stanton, Harry Dean
.
Director: Milius, John	Rating: PG-13	Running Time: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 5.7/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com The Ronald Reagan 1980s were all about going back to the future--rewriting the past to better suit Reagan's upbeat vision of the present. So, Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo (a psychotic, shell-shocked Vietnam vet in the original film, transformed into a flag-waving hero in the sequel) was able to go back to Southeast Asia and "correct" history by decisively (and single-handedly) winning that messy ol' war on behalf of America. Red Dawn is a paranoid cold-war cautionary tale that presents us not with a rosy alternative past, but with an ominous vision of the future, metaphorically plopping a piece of Russian-occupied Afghanistan into America's back yard. In this celebration of the Second Amendment, storm troopers from the Evil Empire descend upon the inadequately defended United States and hold America hostage. Stealthily avoiding the invaders, a motley group of red-blooded, small-town, gun-toting teenagers go underground to form the Wolverines, a guerilla resistance squad dedicated to making those Russkies rue the day they parachuted onto U.S. soil. It's a darn good thing those kids had the right to keep and bear arms, huh! Written and directed by macho filmmaker John Milius, the self-described "Zen fascist" who also cowrote Apocalypse Now, as well as the horrifying shark story Robert Shaw tells in Jaws. The cast includes Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey (a few years before she and Swayze took up Dirty Dancing), Charlie Sheen, Powers Boothe, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ben Johnson. Red Dawn was a commercial success, although audiences invariably split into two camps, finding it either patriotic or appalling. Whatever your verdict, the film remains a telling reflection of its era. --Jim Emerson

Saving Private Ryan
.
Starring: Hanks, Tom Damon, Matt Sizemore, Tom Ribisi, Giovanni Burns, Edward Pepper, Barry Goldberg, Adam Damon, Matt Damon, Matt Diesel, Vin
.
Director: Spielberg, Steven	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 49 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 8.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com essential video When Steven Spielberg was an adolescent, his first home movie was a backyard war film. When he toured Europe with Duel in his 20s, he saw old men crumble in front of headstones at Omaha Beach. That image became the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, his film of a mission following the D-day invasion that many have called the most realistic--and maybe the best--war film ever. With 1998 production standards, Spielberg has been able to create a stunning, unparalleled view of war as hell. We are at Omaha Beach as troops are slaughtered by Germans yet overcome the almost insurmountable odds. A stalwart Tom Hanks plays Captain Miller, a soldier's soldier, who takes a small band of troops behind enemy lines to retrieve a private whose three brothers have recently been killed in action. It's a public relations move for the Army, but it has historical precedent dating back to the Civil War. Some critics of the film have labeled the central characters stereotypes. If that is so, this movie gives stereotypes a good name: Tom Sizemore as the deft sergeant, Edward Burns as the hotheaded Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as the religious sniper, Adam Goldberg as the lone Jew, Vin Diesel as the oversize Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as the soulful medic, and Jeremy Davies, who as a meek corporal gives the film its most memorable performance. The movie is as heavy and realistic as Spielberg's Oscar-winning Schindler's List, but it's more kinetic. Spielberg and his ace technicians (the film won five Oscars: editing (Michael Kahn), cinematography (Janusz Kaminski), sound, sound effects, and directing) deliver battle sequences that wash over the eyes and hit the gut. The violence is extreme but never gratuitous. The final battle, a dizzying display of gusto, empathy, and chaos, leads to a profound repose. Saving Private Ryan touches us deeper than Schindler because it succinctly links the past with how we should feel today. It's the film Spielberg was destined to make. --Doug Thomas DVD features This "special edition" contains the 25-minute featurette Into the Breach. Besides interviews with the film's actors, there are interviews with D-day veterans and World War II historian Stephen Ambrose. Real D-day footage is edited together with scenes from the film that have been changed to black and white. The highlight is a glimpse of Steven Spielberg's early films. Using his dad's camera and his friends, the teenage Spielberg made two relatively impressive short war films, Escape to... read more

Tears of the Sun
.
Starring: Willis, Bruce Bellucci, Monica Hauser, Cole Ingram, Charles Willis, Bruce Skerritt, Tom Flanagan, Fionnula Chinlund, Nick Chinlund, Nick Smith, Chad
.
Director: Fuqua, Antoine	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 1 Minute
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com While it offers nothing new to the military action genre, Tears of the Sun distinguishes itself with fine acting, expert craftsmanship, and seriousness of purpose. Its familiar "extraction mission" plot is essentially similar to that of Black Hawk Down, involving a crack team of U.S. Special Ops commandos struggling to rescue innocent missionaries amidst the bloody horror of Nigerian ethnic cleansing. With Bruce Willis as their grizzled, no-nonsense commander, the skillful team enters a hot zone that gets even hotter when their "package"--an American national (Monica Bellucci) who runs the isolated mission--demands that 70 Nigerian villagers be included in the rescue. Willis's uneasy conscience leads him to defy orders and expand his mission, and in an ambitious follow up to Training Day, director Antoine Fuqua escalates tension and strike-force with considerable emotional impact. Originally considered as a potential entry in Willis's Die Hard series, and released on the eve of America's war with Iraq, Tears of the Sun admirably avoids jingoism with its rousing story of personal good vs. political evil. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition. DVD features Because of the intense political nature of Tears of the Sun, it's no surprise that a good deal of the DVD content is devoted to the political and historical background of Africa. Director Antoine Fuqua discusses it in his feature-length commentary track, along with other comments about the film itself. Another commentary track, in which the authors recall the making of the film and the material that was cut, lasts 17 minutes and is not related to the portion of the film it accompanies. A... read more

Three Kings
.
Starring: Clooney, George Wahlberg, Mark Cube, Ice Curtis, Cliff McCallany, Holt Greer, Judy Stauber, Liz Williamson, Mykelti Williamson, Mykelti Taghmaoui, Said
.
Director: Russell, David O.	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.4/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com A confident hybrid of M*A*S*H, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Dr. Strangelove, Three Kings is one of the most seriously funny war movies ever made. Improving the premise of Kelly's Heroes with scathing intelligence, it explores the odd connection between war and consumerism in the age of Humvees and cellular phones. Writer-director David O. Russell's third film (after Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster), it's a no-holds-barred portrait of personal conscience in the volatile arena of politics, played out by one of the most gifted filmmakers to emerge in the 1990s. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze (director of Being John Malkovich) play a quartet of U.S. soldiers who, disillusioned by Operation Desert Storm, decide to steal $23 million in gold hijacked from Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's army. Getting the bullion out of an Iraqi stronghold is easy; keeping it is a potentially lethal proposition. By the end of their mercenary mission, the Americans can no longer ignore wartime atrocities (and neither can we--the film is boldly unflinching), and conscience demands their aid to Iraqi rebels abandoned by President George Bush's fickle wartime policy. This is serious stuff indeed, but Russell infuses Three Kings with a keen sense of the absurd, and the entire film is an exercise in breathtaking visual ingenuity. Despite a conventional ending that's mildly disappointing for such a brashly original film, Three Kings conveys the brutal madness of war while making you laugh out loud at the insanity. --Jeff Shannon

Tigerland
.
Starring: Farrell, Colin Davis, Matthew Jr., Clifton Collins Collins Jr., Clifton Guiry, Tom Hauser, Cole Richardson, Russell Farrell, Colin Farrell, Colin Guiry, Thomas
.
Director: Schumacher, Joel	Rating: R	Running Time: 1 Hour 41 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.3/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Shot in the rough, 16-millimeter style of a low-budget documentary, Tigerland marked director Joel Schumacher's welcomed return to simplicity after a slew of bloated blockbusters like Batman & Robin. In revitalizing Schumacher's directorial talent, Tigerland--partially inspired by the Danish Dogme 95 movement of no-frills filmmaking--suggested that one solution to Hollywood's moribund "product" was to abandon excess, focus on essentials, and assemble a fine cast of unknown actors to make it all worthwhile. To that end, Tigerland also marked the deserving arrival of Irish actor Colin Farrell as Hollywood's hottest new discovery. Its story never leaves U.S. soil, so Tigerland differs from such in-country Vietnam films as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. Instead, it's about the anxieties and moral dilemmas that arise from the anticipation of death and killing. These roiling emotions are focused on the character of Private Bozz (Farrell), whose insubordination betrays a singular knack for leadership during infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1971. Part R.P. McMurphy and part Cool Hand Luke, Bozz is a defiant maverick, barely tolerated by his superiors, challenged or revered by his fellow grunts, and ultimately honed into a soldier of remarkable promise. An intense final week in the live-ammo training ground nicknamed "Tigerland" galvanizes the platoon and Bozz's place in it, and although the film (partially based on cowriter Ross Klavan's own experience) lacks the emotional impact of Platoon, it deals quite potently with the internal conflicts that must be waged before external warfare can be endured. --Jeff Shannon

Tora! Tora! Tora!
.
Starring: Balsam, Martin Robards, Jason
.
Director: Fleischer, Richard	Rating: G	Running Time:
.
Category: War	User Rating:	Color Dolby

Amazon.com "Sir, there's a large formation of planes coming in from the north, 140 miles, 3 degrees east." "Yeah? Don't worry about it." This is just one of the many mishaps chronicled in Tora! Tora! Tora! The epic film shows the bombing of Pearl Harbor from both sides in the historic first American-Japanese coproduction: American director Richard Fleischer oversaw the complicated production (the Japanese sequences were directed by Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku, after Akira Kurosawa withdrew from the film), wrestling a sprawling story with dozens of characters into a manageable, fairly easy-to-follow film. The first half maps out the collapse of diplomacy between the nations and the military blunders that left naval and air forces sitting ducks for the impending attack, while the second half is an amazing re-creation of the devastating battle. While Tora! Tora! Tora! lacks the strong central characters that anchor the best war movies, the real star of the film is the climactic 30-minute battle, a massive feat of cinematic engineering that expertly conveys the surprise, the chaos, and the immense destruction of the only attack by a foreign power on American soil since the Revolutionary War. The special effects won a well-deserved Oscar, but the film was shut out of every other category by, ironically, the other epic war picture of the year, Patton. --Sean Axmaker --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.

War Lover, The
.
Starring: McQueen, Steve Wagner, Robert Field, Shirley Ann Bishop, Ed Cockrell, Gary Crawford, Michael Ann Field, Shirley
.
Director: Leacock, Philip	Rating: NR	Running Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 6.2/10 (IMDB)	Black & White Stereo

Description Buzz Rickson, (Steve McQueen) is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions.

We Were Soldiers
.
Starring: Gibson, Mel Leary, Denis Willis, Bruce Elliott, Sam Gibson, Mel Stowe, Madeleine Gregg, Clark Kinnear, Greg Kinnear, Greg Russell, Keri
.
Director: Wallace, Randall	Rating: R	Running Time: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
.
Category: War	User Rating: 7.2/10 (IMDB)	Color Dolby

Amazon.com Based on the book by Lt. Col. Harold Moore (ret.) and journalist Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers offers a dignified reminder that the Vietnam War yielded its own crop of American heroes. Departing from Hollywood's typically cynical treatment of the war, writer-director Randall Wallace focuses on the first engagement of American soldiers with the North Vietnamese enemy in November 1965. Moore (played with colorful nuance by Mel Gibson) and nearly 400 inexperienced troopers from the U.S. Air Cavalry were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese Army soldiers, and the film re-creates this brutal firefight with graphic authenticity, while telling the parallel story of grieving army wives back home. While UPI reporter Galloway (Barry Pepper) risks his life to chronicle the battle, Wallace offers a balanced (though somewhat fictionalized) perspective while eliciting laudable performances from an excellent cast. Like the best World War II dramas of the 1940s, We Were Soldiers pays tribute to brave men while avoiding the pitfalls of propaganda. --Jeff Shannon --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.