In honor of Memorial Day we are honoring those who have served by looking back at five of the greatest war movies in history.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
From its iconic opening scene that shocked many viewers into the reality of war, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is among the greatest war films of all time. This Steven Spielberg directed drama boasts an all star cast including Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns. It was a huge box office success by pulling in $216 million at the time of its release against an estimated $70 million budget and solidified itself in cinema history. However, the Academy didn’t think so as ‘Saving Private Ryan’ missed out on the Oscar for Best Picture to ‘Shakespeare in Love’.
BLACK HAWK DOWN (2002)
There is no movie more action packed than ‘Black Hawk Down’ from director Ridley Scott. After a small introduction to the characters, the movie throws itself into a full on frenzy of non stop action with plenty of explosions, gunfire and bloodshed. The film is based on the real life mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. The raid was suppose to last an hour but turned into an overnight brawl when Somali soldiers shot down two helicopters carrying American soldiers. The war left 19 American soldiers dead and over 1,000 Somali’s killed including civilians. Somali’s criticized the movie for focusing too much on the American aspect, but that did not stop the film from pulling in $172 million at the box office and netting four Oscar nominations.
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (2009)
On a lighter note, Quentin Tarantino added his own personal flair to the genre when he unleashed ‘Inglorious Basterds’ in 2009. The fictional comedy tells the story of two plots in attempt to assasinate Nazi leadership during World War II. The movie has an ensemble cast starring Brad Pitt, Chrisoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger. The film grossed $321 millon worldwide and is Tarantino’s second highest grossing movie yet. It also picked up eight Oscar nominations along the way and won one for Waltz for Best Supporting Actor.
PEARL HARBOR (2001)
Next up is the three hour saga known as ‘Pearl Harbor’ starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Becknsale, William Fichtner, Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Garner. The movie is a dramatic retelling of the attack on Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 and follows two men as they sign up to join the war. Critics panned the film citing many historical inaccuracies but that did not stop the film from grossing $450 million worldwide and earning four Oscar nods. Who listens to critics anyway?
THE HURT LOCKER (2008)
‘The Hurt Locker‘ revamped the war genre when it hit theaters in 2008. The movie follows a three0man Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The movie is based on the stories of writer Mark Boal while he was embedded in the US Army EOD team in Iraq as in 2004. ‘The Hurt Locker’ was a awards juggernaut earning six of the nine Academy Awards it was nominated for including one for director Kathrine Bigelow, the first woman to win the award. It won numerous film festivals and critics awards.
