5 Underrated War Movies to See on Memorial Day
Memorial Day is upon us and it is a day to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Personally, I’m not a big believer in this holiday because honoring our troops should be something that occurs more than once a year. At any rate, I have selected five outstanding war movies to commemorate this Memorial Day. So take this chance to stay away from the heat and enjoy these five films that focus on this terrible affliction that has haunted the human condition, war.
A Midnight Clear
Based on William Wharton’s autobiographical novel, A Midnight Clear depicts the madness of war through the eyes of a small squad of American soldiers who come upon a platoon of German soldiers wishing to surrender near the end of World War II. Isolated on the frontline, the two groups of men come to put aside their differences and celebrate Christmas together until a fatal misunderstanding turns the encounter into a tragedy. Starring young, recognizable faces such as Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Kevin Dillon and Peter Berg, this 1992 war movie is a powerfully haunting anti-war drama that remains terribly underseen to this day.
The Messenger
One of the best movies of 2009, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger draws us into the lives of the soldiers who have the grim duty of informing next of kin that their loved one died in combat. Ben Foster stars as Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a soldier injured in Iraq who has just returned home, only to be paired with the tightly wound Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) for one of his toughest assignment yet: Casualty notification. Will soon finds out just how unbearable the job can be, as a series of powerful scenes shows them delivering the worst possible news to military spouses, and parents. Bolstered by excellent performances across the board, The Messenger is an intimate look into the difficulties that plague war veterans after returning home from combat.
The Siege of Firebase Gloria
Forget Full Metal Jacket, The Siege of Firebase Gloria is a rare, uncompromising look at the fickleness of war. R. Lee Ermey stars as Sergeant-Major Hafner, a tough no-nonsense Marine who has to lead the disorganized defense of an outpost named Firebase Gloria at the onset of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam war. While the story is straightforward, the film fleshes out the motive of both sides with uncommon balance and manages to paint a hard-hitting portray of the Vietnam war at the level of the boots on the ground. Sadly, this is one of those movies that is getting lost in the ether of cinema so finding a copy of this movie may take some luck.
Devils on the Doorstep
One of the forgotten gem of the past decade, Jiang Wen’s Devils on the Doorstep is a stunning and unsettling anti-war film which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Set in 1944 occupied China, the film stars Wen as Ma Dasan, a peasant who is compelled to conceal two Japanese prisoners of war. But as the days turn into weeks and then months, the fate of the two prisoners becomes a point of heavy contention for the meek villagers. What if the Japanese realize the Chinese villagers are holding two of their own captives? A plan to exchange the men for grain leads to the film’s unsettling and devastating climax.
Devils on the Doorstep is a brilliant antiwar movie, exposing the folly of war and the absurd horror committed by ordinary people. It offers a rare look of Chinese life during the Japanese occupation, a perspective that is almost totally unknown to Western audiences used to war movies focusing on the European or Pacific theaters. Based on You Fengwei’s novel “Shengcun”, this black-and-white film is most surprising in how it deals with wartime horrors in a tone which is darkly farcical and at times incredibly hilarious only to unexpectedly shift in the third act into gut-wrenching and horrifying irony. It’s a fine balancing act between horror and comedy and Jiang does it masterfully.
Escape from Sobibor
This made-for-TV movie depicts the escape of 300 prisoners from the concentration camp, known as Sobibor, on October 14, 1943. The fact was all the more remarkable given that it was the most successful uprising during World War II and lead the Germans to shut down the camp and plant a forest over the site. Such luminaries as Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer, Joanna Pacula and Hartmut Becker, give harrowing performances in this grimly inspiring story of determination and courage in the face of utmost horror.
What are other underrated war movies we should see? Let us know in the comments!
17 Comments
Fine list of underrated war films, Castor. Coincidentally, I just picked the MOD disc of ‘The Siege of Firebase Gloria’ from Warner Archive. I think I first saw this back in the early 90s ( perhaps as a VHS renta)l. I think it along with ‘Go Tell the Spartans’ by Ted Post (the adaptation of Daniel Ford’s ‘Incident at Muc Wa’ novel) are a couple of highly under appreciated Vietnam War films around.
Thanks Michael! I need to find me a copy of Firebase Gloria for another viewing. Haven’t seen Go Tell the Spartans but I just added it to my Netflix queue! Will let you know what I think once I see it
So glad to see Siege of Firebase Gloria mentioned here. I just discovered it last year, and I put it on my list of favorite war movies.
Happy to see we are in agreement Dave. I’m surprised that it’s so little known.
Great call on The Messenger — it’s a shame how overlooked that was. I can’t say I have seen any of the rest, but I keep hearing great things about Devils on the Doorstep.
Definitely give the rest a try. All excellent movies indeed.
Some great choices there Castor. I was lucky enough to interview A Midnight Clear’s director Keith Gordon recently and we spoke about the film as well as his other work.
Underrated war movies I can think, in addition to those above, would be The Big Red One and Hamburger Hill.
Yea Hamburger Hill has a pretty awesome cast and it’s pretty relentless as far as firefights go.
I don’t watch hardly any war films, but I’d recommend one from Gregory Peck: On The Beach & Twelve O’Clock High
These all sound like great films, Castor, I’m especially intrigued by ‘A Midnight Clear.’
Haven’t seen either of these Ruth but I’m on it!
I only saw The Siege of Firebase Gloria and A Midnight Clear from the list, but may have to check them out. Like someone mentioned already, Hamburger Hill was pretty good and underrated. I also liked DePalma’s Casualties of War with Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn.
Hi, Castor and company:
Excellent choices!
I particularly enjoy ‘The Siege of Firebase Gloria’ for R. Lee Ermey and Wings Hauser’s performances.
Two more Vietnam war films of mine are ‘Go Tell the Spartans’. With Burt Lancaster starring as a passed over infantry Major along what would be the DMZ in 1963. Also, ‘The Odd, Angry Shot’ telling a war story from the Australians’ point of view.
Harrelson and Foster were both awesome in the underrated The Messenger.
Wow I have only kinda seen Midnight Clear. My dad liked it.
I have yet to see The Messenger although I hear good stuff about it.
I liked Casualties of War by Brian dePalma.
Every time I see a list with a title like this, I start reading expecting to see A Midnight Clear on the list. Such a great little war drama.
This could easily have been a Top 10 list. 5 more films to consider:
The Grey Zone(2001), Tim Blake Nelson’s movie (adapted from his play) about the Sonderkomando, a group of Jewish prisoners who were granted special favor in exchange for helping the Nazi’s run the day-to-day operations of Auschwitz, and their plans to sabotage the camp’s furnaces. It made Roger Ebert’s ongoing list of Great Movies.
Tigerland(2000), the rarest of Joel Schumacher movies (meaning one that is actually good. Colin Farrell is excellent in his debut role as a man reluctantly training to go to Vietnam, who starts finding loopholes to help his fellow draftees get out of the military.
When Trumpets Fade(1998), about a battle-weary private in late-WWII whose act of cowardice gets misinterpreted as bravery, landing him in charge of a platoon.
Beneath Hill 60(2010), about an Australian platoon in WWI who struggle to build/maintain a tunnel system underneath the German trenches.
Jarhead(2005) was much-maligned when it was released, largely because people expected it to make some kind of social comment about the second Irag war. Instead, it’s a beautifully shot and acted drama about the frustrations of being a highly-trained soldier left to stagnate in the 1st Irag war, Operation Desert Storm. (FYI, HBO’s Generation Kill miniseries does a fantastic job with this same concept, but in the context of Operation Iraqi Freedom).
Awesome, apparently this browser auto-corrects “Iraq” to “Irag.” That makes tons of sense.
Great list, had only heard of the first two. Might have to check them out eventually!
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