Your favourite anti-war movies.

How about the Wargame - made for the BBC, and was deemed too shocking to show? I think it went on general release as a result. (Don't know if it made it outside the UK.)

There was another BBC made for TV one called Threads and I remember that one being broadcast and all the huge fuss at the time. Again not sure if that one made it out of the UK. Think it might have done as itt was quite (in)famous at the time.

Also When the Wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

jeremy h said:

How about the Wargame - made for the BBC, and was deemed too shocking to show? I think it went on general release as a result. (Don't know if it made it outside the UK.)

There was another BBC made for TV one called Threads and I remember that one being broadcast and all the huge fuss at the time. Again not sure if that one made it out of the UK. Think it might have done as itt was quite (in)famous at the time.

Also When the Wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

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"The Wargame" I have never seen, but it's going on the list of to see. Boy are my local Library going to be busy.

"Threads" I did see and was a very well watched here in the Netherlands, far better than the trashy "The day after".

jeremy h said:

How about the Wargame - made for the BBC, and was deemed too shocking to show? I think it went on general release as a result. (Don't know if it made it outside the UK.)

There was another BBC made for TV one called Threads and I remember that one being broadcast and all the huge fuss at the time. Again not sure if that one made it out of the UK. Think it might have done as itt was quite (in)famous at the time.

Also When the Wind blows by Raymond Briggs.

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I saw "The War Game" years ago, as an undergrad, when it was shown in a university art house cinema. At that time, it had not been broadcast in the UK. Deeply disturbing, brilliant and characteristically very well made.

Plutonius said:

Not a favorite but I think that one of the ones with the most impact is

"On the Beach"

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This film fascinated me as a child with it's end of the world scenario.

juanm said:

Letters from Iwo Jima.

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If you look at the old traditional war movies, possibly due to censorship issues, when people died, they just fell over. I'm thinking of something like the Longest Day. When any war is displayed realistically in film, showing its brutality and sufferings such as LfIJ or Saving Private Ryan, it immediately becomes an anti-war film.

leekohler said:

Johnny Got His Gun. If this doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6dAxRIwBY

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067277/

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Thank you so much for the pointer to this film. This has to be one of the best anti war films ever.

All that and no CGI.

Happybunny said:

Thank you so much for the pointer to this film. This has to be one of the best anti war films ever.

All that and no CGI.

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It's creepy as hell, isn't it? I can''t think of a more scary anti-war film.

City of god if that counts. Great movie about two kids who grow up in the same neighborhood. One becomes a drug boss and the other a photographer.

All Quiet on the Western Front
Cross of Iron
Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket for me also..

Never liked Dr. Strange Love.

Never saw Johnny Got His Gun. Will have to put that on my list of movies to watch this year.

<snip>

Not sure I'd call it anti-war, but "Lord of War" was a great movie. Nicholas Cage is a black arms dealer and it's pretty eye-opening.

Just saw Full Metal Jacket again for the first time in a while. Great movie, Love Vincent D'Onofrio. Others I've enjoyed include Jarhead and Three Kings.

obeygiant said:

Full Metal Jacket

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The problem with Full Metal Jacket is that it's also a recruiting movie. If you watch FMJ any decent sized group of young soldiers or marines, you probably won't be able to hear most of the movie because everyone is reciting half the lines. FMJ might well be the most quoted military movie amongst soldiers, period. Maybe it's a Jungian thing.

twietee said:

definitely adding Grave of the Fireflies here, which, like Paths of Glory, doesn't even show any battle scenes - everybody suffers painfully including the viewer, very existentialist, some hope is left or restored, no happy end.

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Grave of the Fireflies is one of the greatest movies ever made, and one of the most effective. Certainly, it is among the saddest movies I've ever seen.

Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie

and

The Fog of War

Both in Blu-ray versions. I count these movies as anti-war movies.

My fave anti-war "movie" is The Day After, an early '80s made-for-TV feature starring Steve Guttenberg and Jason Robards.

Well, well, well... it just so happens that YouTube has the full movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2B7sdLPMfc
Skip forward to about 54 minutes into the video to see the "stuff hit the fan".

There's the Australian film "Gallipoli," that's excellent.

And I'd also add "The Thin Red Line," which is maybe more "thinking about the horrors of war" than "anti-war" per se.

Not a movie, but I did like Mobile Suit Gundam SEED heavy anti-war bias.

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the great Peter Sellers anti-war movie The Mouse That Roared.

Funny and very relevant during the cold war.

Another one is Coming Home with Jane Fonda and Jon Voight.

But I do love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Peace said:

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the great Peter Sellers anti-war movie The Mouse That Roared.

Funny and very relevant during the cold war.

Another one is Coming Home with Jane Fonda and Jon Voight.

But I do love the smell of napalm in the morning.

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I first saw the Mouse That Roared in 1969, then for the first time since then, the other night. I forgot how good that movie was. Peter Sellers was brilliant in the 3 characters he played.

Mr. McMac said:

I first saw the Mouse That Roared in 1969, then for the first time since then, the other night. I forgot how good that movie was. Peter Sellers was brilliant in the 3 characters he played.

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He must of made a habit of that (thinking of Dr. Strangelove). I forgot he died young (54).

Huntn said:

He must of made a habit of that (thinking of Dr. Strangelove). I forgot he died young (54).

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Dr. Strangelove, another great movie! Peter Sellers was a great actor who died way too young. Ever see Being There? Probably my favorite Peter Sellers movie..

Lots of movies,now, I have to see!

I'll add the Chineese movie Hero to the list. An epic tale, visually stunning and beautifully told.

A couple of films about the most brutal front of WWII:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/

Idi i smotri (Come and See) about the occupation of Belorussia and the horrific anti-partisan campaign waged there told through the eyes of a boy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343703/

Brestskaya krepost (The Brest Fortress) about a Soviet border stronghold that held out for 9 days after the German invasion (though some pockets held on for a month or so after that).

chown33 said:

.
I think a much better film is Testament, with Jane Alexander and William Devane.

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Yeah, this movie is great, I've been watching it twice. War isn't even shown there, but atmosphere of slowly dying city is so sad and overwhelming. When I saw this title in your post, it sent shivers up my spine... Some movies you can't forget.