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The Five Best Military Movies in Cinematic History

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While war is brutal and bloody, it has the ability to reveal truths about humanity that lie uncovered in times of peace. The nuances and complexities of war stories make them stand out on the big screen, captivating audiences across generations.

With all-star casts and moving storylines, here are some of the top five military movies in cinematic history—just in time for the next movie night. 

1. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

When three brothers die in combat, a unique mission is launched to save the surviving fourth brother and prevent his death from destroying the family beyond repair. Led by Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks), a team of seven soldiers must brave enemy lines to save the titular Private Ryan from near-certain death on the beaches of Normandy. 

Based loosely on a true story, Saving Private Ryan follows multiple storylines and questions the complex ethics of war as seven lives are risked for the chance to save a single one. 

2. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now follows one Vietnam War officer as he is given an unexpected mission: to find and kill a rogue Special Forces Colonel who is convincing locals that he’s actually a god. 

Shot in an allegorical style with intense imagery, Apocalypse Now captures the saddening pointlessness of the Vietnam War. With an all-star cast that includes Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando, this movie has held its place as one of the quintessential military movies for decades. 

3. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Jim Caviezel plays a U.S. private who goes AWOL during the harsh battles of WWII, only to be caught and forced to rejoin the ranks against the Imperial Japanese Army. 

Moving away from the intense action scenes of most military movies, The Thin Red Line focuses on the emotional side of American soldiers as they grapple with their brutal actions against unfamiliar enemies. 

4. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Full Metal Jacket follows one soldier on his journey through boot camp and the subsequent Tet Offensive. Emotionally heavy, Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece singles out the mental turmoil soldiers face before ever seeing a battlefield that effectively turns them into killing machines. This film’s layered and poetic approach to the intensity of the Vietnam War set it apart from the rest. 

5. Platoon (1986)

Starring Charlie Sheen and Willem Dafoe, Platoon is based on director Oliver Stone’s personal experience in Vietnam. 

One young soldier (played by Charlie Sheen) arrives in Vietnam with the intention of finding glory. However, he quickly finds the line between good and bad blurring as he and his partner find themselves at odds over how each one treats the locals. As much a psychological thriller as it is a military movie, Platoon explores a human mind pushed to its limit. 

For more military pop culture news, visit USMilitary.org. 

This article was originally published on USMilitary.org and has been shared with permission.

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  1. Carl Varner says

    Not a war movie but a great military movie.” A officer and a gentleman” staring Richard Greer. #1 Hacksaw Ridge #2 Red Tails staring Larry Fishburn #3 . Platoon #4

  3. DAVE YANDOW says

    AS A SAC B-52 CREW MEMBER VIT NAM AND A GRAND DAD OF AIR FORCE TOP GUN MIRROR IMAGES OF THE NAVY’S TOP GUN AND MAVERICK TO NOT BE MENTIONED IS A CRIME!!!!!
    THE 70 PLUS YEARS OF 24 HR ALERT FOR OUR NUCLEAR BOMBER AND MISSLE FLEETS SAVED COUNTLESS LIVES BY PREVENTION PLUS COMBAT VIET COMMANDERS WHO REPORTED TO US TENS OF THOUSANDS GROUND TROOPS SAVED FROM HORDES OF VC OVER RUNNING THEIR OUTP OSTS AND POSITIONS!!!!!

  4. Debbie St Claie says

    How about Operation Dumbo Drop based on a true story in Viet Nam. My husband was stationed at the base were this took place. Not there when this happened though.

    • Mark Filo says

      I think that the BEST AND MOST REALISTIC MOVIE WOULD HAVE TO BE (( THE DEER HUNTER !!!!!! WITH ROBERT DENIRO

    • DAVE YANDOW says

      I LIVED THE B-52′- AT TREE TOPS AND TOP GUN MANEUVERS JUST ABOVE THE ROCKS MYSELF. IT IS REAL AND DESERVES MUCH MORE THAN NOT EVEN AN HONORABLE MENTION!!!!! BY THE WAY THE MIG EVENTS WERE REENACTED OF DOZENS OF REAL EVENTS AND NOT FRONT PAGE OR BACK PAGE BECAUSE THEY SECRET/ TOPSECRET REAL EVENTS!!!

  7. Terri Lea Stearns says

    Doesn’t anyone remember PT109, or Sgt. York, both about true WWII HEROES? ANDI don’t remember the,title of the movie with Ira Hayes,
    or RUN, SILENT, RUN DEEP..
    I’M A VIETNAM ERA VET. BUT MY DAD WAS MY HERO. HE GOT HIS PURPLE HEART IN KOREA. HE NEVER TOLD ME, but lying in bed in home care hospice, he told my sister about receiving 36 wounds
    while trying to get to his final cover.
    He had asked me if I ever SAW PORK CHOP HILL, but never said that was where he was wounded..
    He stayed in 28.5 years, spent 3 years in Vietnam Nam & saved himself yhere when a grande landed in the jeep he was driving..
    He just reached back & threw it out in the empty street . My sisters & I have ALL started books about this Man. But I think, in the long run, , it might have dishonored a man who
    just loved his family, his country, & the ARMY he served, He died of metastatic prostate cancer, on of the most ignoble ways to go.. The Stearns family & hundreds of army troops will always know who he was. And God knows even better.
    Sorry about the soap box- had to get it out

    • Jorge says

      God bless all the Veterans, wishing you the best for 2023 beside your families.
      God bless America
      🙏🏽

      • Jim Ground says

        I served with the Big Red 1 in Germany in the 1970’s as an Air Liaison Officer. They lived up to their honorable service history!

  9. JR Fowler says

    I just recently watched an Australian Vietnam movie “Danger Close” after listening to a song, “ I was only nineteen “.
    All the movies listed are great movies, especially the ones based on actual events and not just Hollywood producers ideas that have never served. I paid attention to details right down to looking at the ribbons and rank that they wear in the movies.
    I am waiting for the time is over for a movie to be made from a book by Sherry Suntag“ Blindman’s Bluff” from the “COLD WAR” era. There are things that couldn’t be put in that book but are in the memories of many “SUBMARINERS”. I spent 8 years of my career doing what we did.

  10. Carl Gulledge says

    I think that the all time best movie is now and will always will be is Audie Murphy’s TO HELL AND BACK

  11. Randy Mather says

    My only comment is ; I thought “Full Metal Jacket” was a good movie, however I know Hollywood really tried to make Marine Corps boot camp look really tuff and mentally challenging. But for some reason I remember Boot camp at Paris island being even worse…???
    Mather U.S.M.C.

  12. Mpt says

    The Big Red 1 is one of my many many favorites
    The Tuskegee Airmen
    There is so many great war movies

    • Steve Campbell says

      ” We Were Soldiers” A Mel Gibson film, staring Mel Gibson . Based on actual events and characters . Has to be added , how could you have missed this one. A Vietnam experience. Just one of my favorites .

  13. J. Avant says

    I have read all the comments about the movies. I have come to the conclusion that there is NO top five. It depends on each individuals service and where he served. I, personally, like them all. As entertainment ONLY. And to critique what it was really like. If he served in combat he has his own ideas what its compared to. God bless.
    Semper Fi

    • Joseph Saxman says

      Spoken like true Marine and I was am sure many of us agree with Mr Avant. HM3 Corpsman 1Recon

  14. John Doe says

    I have read all the comments about the movies. I have come to the conclusion that there is NO top five. It depends on each individuals service and where he served. I, personally, like them all. As entertainment ONLY. And to critique what it was really like. If he served in combat he has his own ideas what its compared to. God bless.
    Semper Fi
    a U.S. Marine.

    • Jim Ground says

      Agree. I didn’t see one of my favorites mentioned…..The Red Badge of Courage. The reaction to chaotic circumstances, sometimes cowardly, sometimes courageous! I think that’s the way war often affects soldiers.

  15. Debra TRAPIKAS says

    I love PVT Ryan. i am an army veteran and this show continues to crack me up because so much of it reminds me of the great time i had in basic training and the exquisite joy i had in making my drill sergeants life absolutely miserable.I have tons of stories I have written down and want to make my own movie about.

    • Dr. Gary MacMullen says

      if you want to do it, join the ranks that did it. there are lots of us out there would like to read your thoughts. express yourself. There are a lot of us that have the same feelings.

    • Herbert Raprager says

      Good Morning Viet nam and the Boys of company B was my every day in viet nam. Between the two of them it is as someone had lived my every day of the 15 monyhs along side of me. What a f***ing party.

  18. J says

    One of the best Military Movies I’ve seen was We Were Soldiers 1st Cav..in first Air Attack In Vietnam 🇻🇳

    • Eric Jackson says

      Yesss! How could that not be in the top five.It was written the first-person accounts of the men who served on the battlefield of LZ XRAY,and other nearby batttle front. I am the cousin of William Brooks Mitchell, medic KIA, November 15,1965 who was a HHC (headquarters co.) medic serving with then Col..Hal Moore. I was an eight-year old,3rd grader when I received the message from my mother,his mother’s sister, that William had been killed “in the war.” I will never forget that moment nor his Homegoing service.

      Eric Jackson
      PA ANG,193 SOW, Chaplain Assistant, MSgt,1992-2016

  19. Vaughn C. Hardacker says

    I can’t believe that Apocalypse Now is on this list! As a Vietnam veteran I can say with some authority that this movie did more to hurt returning veterans than any news cast ever did. It did more to depict us as depraved and insane killers than any other war movie in the history of movies

    • Peter L Fino says

      Vaughn you are absolutely correct . It was a piece of crap story. Hardly believable. I was ashamed of that movie. For what its worth my choice is Platoon. That movie mirrored my time in the Nam .
      Cpl. Peter L. Fino Jr . USMC
      1967 to 1968

      • Herbert Raprager says

        What about Deer Hunter, welcome home soldier, I am sure that there is a gutter some place for you to crawal into, after all that was what your use to living. Anothergift given to me as a reward for being a good young man for killimng people.

    • MIke W says

      That’s a pretty crappy list altogether. There have been much better movies made – made back when Hollywood really knew how to make movies.

    • Bob Roller says

      Wasn’t General Patto0n the one that thought the Sherman tank was the best when he knew the Germans had way better ones.I talked to a former Tiger-2 commander years ago and he thought it ws a crime to send anyone to combat with such a pathetic thank as the Sherman.

  25. Steven Johnson, SCPO/USN /RET says

    I also do not like the 5 selected. Definitly D-Day should be there, NO Marlon Brando, please. Where is a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood movie. ?? Pearl Harbor should be there too. MAYBE also MIDWAY and Run Silent Run Deep. THESE ARE MILITARY MOVIES, NOT DRAMAS.

    • Jim Brown says

      I agree in your assessment. where is ” in Harms Way” and where is the best Submarine movie (made in Germany,) “Das Boot”. The authors need to get their heads out of the sand and realize there were others besides foot soldiers that were in jepordy and these two movies do an excellent job of depicting those dangers.

  26. Easy B says

    I don’t think saving private Ryan should be in the top 5 We lost how many men just to save one. I am a Vietnam Veteran and I don’t believe that the loss of to save one is right.

    • Bob says

      I think ro Hell and Back which was about Audie Murphy being the most decorated soldier ever. Great movie. Number one in my book. Another one was about the soldier who refused to carry a rifle and he had only his bible and saved hundreds of soldiers lives. He was awarded the Medal of Honor how dare we forget our hero’s Bob USMC

  29. Greg says

    What about “Tora,Tora,Tora and The Longest Day, the battle of Midway, and chosin! Not enough liberal agenda? There is also the all star cast of “The Green Berets”!!! My picks would be “The battle of Midway”, “The Longest Day” and “The green Berets”!!! Then maybe “The Chosin Reservoir”! All but the Green Berets was a pivotal turning point in the wars!

  34. Tommy Stump says

    2 and 3 , I haven’t seen, so I can’t comment on. But 1 and 5 are great movies. But Hacksaw Ridge was a great movie.

  35. Ronald Kangas says

    I would not consider 3 of the 5 as good military movies..At least you have 2 good ones in your list, Platoon and saving Pvt Ryan, Where is the Longest Day, and Fury, for example?

    • Willie N Howard says

      Platoon get my vote because I can relate to the mind game played by the lifer staff Sargent of the tropical lighting division. I think this movie in part depict the 2/27 th wolfhounds who in fact were brutal in fighting victor Charlie. I have seen photos of VCs with their heads decapitated by the 2/27th and of course if Charlie captured the Americans they Victor Charlie would castrate the soldiers and parade them around in the villages.