X
1] Bridge on the River Kwai – 1957
I watched this several times when growing up in 1970s Britain. With just a couple of tv channels, British television offered few delights but this epic, directed by the great David Lean, was one of them, drawing massive viewing numbers. It remains one of the greatest war films ever made, regularly topping “best war movie” lists. The stars are true legends of the big screen – William Holden, Alec Guinness, and Jack Hawkins. It was the highest-grossing film of 1957 and won seven Academy Awards. It’s always worth rewatching - an unforgettable, searing account of the resilience and cruelty of mankind.
2] The Thin Red Line – 1998
Terrence Malick made some beautiful but often underrated movies and this 1998 adaptation of James Jones’ 1962 novel is no exception. Starring Sean Penn in his prime, the film is the finest account of what it was like to fight during the bloody Guadalcanal campaign. James Jones was no romantic, penning visceral, dark narratives of a war he barely survived. The legendary Hans Zimmer provided a score that, like the film, provides moments of extraordinary catharsis – in the hellish jungles of the Pacific, men were tested beyond measure and yet still prevailed.
3] Letters from Iwo Jima – 2006
Clint Eastwood has made some wonderful films but perhaps none more affecting than this account of the Battle of Iwo Jima, as told from the Japanese point of view. Disturbing, unrelentingly bleak, starring superb Japanese actors, this is as powerful as any film about war and its tragic consumption of lives. Eastwood is to be commended, above all, for humanizing the Japanese, so often depicted as barbaric lemmings in so many movies about the Pacific.
4] Hiroshima, Mon Amour – 1959
One of the most influential movies in French cinema, this haunting film by Alain Resnais, his first feature, has won legions of admirers over the years. The ethereal French actress, Emmanuelle Riva, has a short, intense affair with a Japanese architect, Eiji Okada, in Hiroshima after the war. I’ve not encountered a better treatment of damaged individuals struggling to overcome trauma in the shadow of immense horror. The screenplay was rightly nominated for an Academy Award, being written by Marguerite Duras, who also penned one of the most affecting memoirs of WWII, The War, as well as The Lover.
5] Tora, Tora, Tora – 1970
Without doubt the best movie about the events of and leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was panned by some critics upon release but has aged surprisingly well among historians because of its notably accurate recounting of the day of infamy that marked the United States' entry into the greatest war in human history.
6] The Wind Rises – 2013
This is a bewitchingly beautiful, animated film by the great Japanese director, Hayao Miyaki, more famous for his masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron. It tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, who man who devised the Mistsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane – bane of so many American pilots in the Pacific. Tragic, redemptive and utterly captivating, this film also boasts one of the finest scores in all Japanese cinema. Prepare to be swept away.
7] Hacksaw Ridge - 2016
This harrowing, gorgeously paced film was directed by Mel Gibson on top form, and starred Andrew Garfield of Spiderman fame. It leaves you in awe of the extreme courage and selflessness of the real-life Desmond Doss whose true story defies belief. A conscientious objector who became a medic, Doss saved an estimated 75 lives on Hacksaw Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa. Gibson honors both Doss and the men who actually bore arms in one of the most brutal battles in US military history.
8] The Caine Muntiny – 1954
I adore the 1952 book – a Pulitzer Prize winner - by the great Herman Wouk, upon which this movie is based. Humphrey Bogart turns is a wonderful, understated performance as Commander Queeg, the new captain of the ramshackle U.S.S. Caine. Herman Wouk had served in the Pacific and both book and film reek of authenticity. Directed by the equally talented Edward Dmytry, the film’s cast includes Lee Marvin who actually served in the Marine Corps during WWII – the real deal in a brilliant movie.
9] Run Silent, Run Deep – 1958
Vengeance, endurance, loyalty, honor – just some of the themes explored in this classic starring two legends of the screen, Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Both give superb performances in the claustrophobic pressure cooker of a WWII submarine. Based on an excellent book by submarine veteran Edward Beach, the film is still eminently watchable. It would not be for another thirty years, with the release of Das Boot, that any cinematic treatment would recreate - with such nail-biting tension – the horrors of the war beneath the waves.
10] Sands of Iwo Jima – 1950
John Wayne hits it out the park in this surprisingly convincing account of some of the worst combat for the US Marine Corps. Wayne’s character, Sergeant Stryker, is one mean son of a gun, showing no mercy to a savage enemy and to malingerers on his own side. First comes “Bloody Tarawa”, then an idyllic sojourn in Honolulu before Wayne, nominated for an Oscar for this role, hits the black sands of Iwo Jima. What makes the film worth watching today, other than its thrilling action sequences, is the inclusion of battle footage from 1945. Another plus – three of the Marines who actually raised the flag atop Mount Suribachi make appearances.
