Compiled By: Ashley Day

Photos courtesy of Amazon.com

Goriest War Film: Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Director Steven Spielberg propelled war movies to new heights with his adaptation of the horrific reality of World War II. This action packed film, starring Tom Hanks as Capt. John H. Miller and an all- star cast (Matt Damon, Edward Burns, and Tom Sizemore) set the standard for one of the most graphic battle scenes in a movie. The first 15 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan”, begins with the June 6 1944, Allied troops storming of the beaches of Normandy, France. The worst part of this opening scene is a dying soldier lying on the ground screaming for his mother while his entrails are falling out of his stomach. “Saving Private Ryan” is not a movie for the faint hearted. The film won five Academy Awards.

Honorable Mention: Black Hawk Down (2001)

Best Depiction of the War on Terrorism: The Hurt Locker (2009)

Last March, “The Hurt Locker” scored six Academy Awards (including Best Picture) making Kathryn Bigelow the first female director to win Best Picture. Jeremy Renner plays the lead as Sergeant First Class William James, leader of a highly trained bomb disposal team. Set in the year 2004 in Baghdad, the movie focuses not on political or social problems, but the hardships of a soldier’s tour of duty. Dangerous bomb diffusion scenes reveal the skill it takes to survive in a place where nobody can be trusted. “The Hurt Locker” shows the intensity and stress war can put on the soldier.

Honorable Mention: No End In Sight (2007)

Best Romance in a War Film: Gone With The Wind (1939)

“Gone With The Wind” appeared at a time in American history when life in our country was bleak. The country had suffered through the Great Depression and World War II was engulfing all of Europe. The plot of the film – the tumultuous period of the Civil War – paralleled to the catastrophe Americans were suffering through during “Gone With The Wind’s” release. This film became an instant American classic. Clark Gable (Rhett Butler) and Vivian Leigh (Scarlett O’ Hara) portray one of the most heart wrenching romances in a movie. O’Hara suffers through losing her status, husbands, innocence and strength, a child, and ultimately,  her true love (Butler).

Honorable Mention: Casablanca (1942)

Least Historically Accurate: The Patriot (2001)

Set in 1776, during the American Revolution, “The Patriot,” follows the life of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) a French-Indian war hero. Martin lives as a farmer in South Carolina with his seven children. Martin remembers the brutality of the French-Indian war and decides to remain on the sidelines of the Revolution, until his family is endangered by British troops. Some of the inconsistencies of this film are a torching of a church full of people (never happened), slaves being able to enlist in war (never would have happened) and an unfair exaggeration of British aggression toward Americans. This film did not make as much as it was projected to at the box office.

Honorable Mention: Pearl Harbor (2001)

Best Philosophical Message in a War Film: Apocalypse Now (1979)

“Apocalypse Now” explores the madness of the Vietnam War. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “Apocalypse Now” delves into the minds of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) and Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) during one of the most horrid wars in history. Cpt. Willard is sent to kill an insane Kurtz, but this journey changes Willard in ways he did not know possible. Coppola explores human nature and the darkness war can instill on the human mind.

Honorable Mention: All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)