has to be attack - jack palance

Perhaps I was too critical of C4. They have actually done a good job. I thought that they might have pointless celebs, who know little about about film production and nothing about military history. But they have a good ensemble of film directors, film critics and very importantly military historians. So yes, well done.
But.
I agree attack with Jack Palance is a excellent war film. Hell is for Heroes with Steve McQueen is another. Alas, and this a serious criticism at C4, they have appealed less to the genuine war movie buff, and more to the average film goer. So that is why you have films like Enigma, which although good, isn't really a war film as such. Same with Cold Mountain and Gone with the Wind. So unfortunately some real cracking war films like The Wild Geese and the ones above get left out.

Most over-rated war film? Has to Apocalypse Now. Trashy art house rubbish that female film students, from my experience, seem to love.

Most of the ones I voted for have turned up in the first-half, nice to see films like 'Come and See', 'Ran', 'Rome, Open City','The Big Red One', 'Welcome to Sarajevo' (though I think 'Saviour' is better), 'Alexander Nevsky', 'Hell in the Pacific', 'Stalingrad' & 'Lacombe Lucien' get mentioned, though I'm baffled why rubbish like 'Troy' or so-so- films like 'Hope & Glory' and 'Enigma' do so well. I'll put it down to unfamiliarity - I find it obscene that 'Come and See' isn't on DVD - & nor are 'The Burmese Harp' or 'Fires on the Plain' - which should be in the top-100...The half- coming up tonight will feature usual suspects- the overrated that will do well I predict will include 'Apocalypse Now', 'Full Metal Jacket' (great first half), 'Gladiator' (Leni Riefenstahl collides with advertising, CGI & the plot from 'Mad Max') & 'Saving Private Ryan.' I think 'Platoon' will do well, and 'The Deer Hunter' & I hope 'Ice Cold in Alex' also. Others I hope to see mentioned should include 'Patton', 'Salvador', 'Dr Strangelove', 'Paths of Glory', 'All is Quiet on the Western Front', 'Schindler's List' & 'Gallipoli'....

From the original suggestions list, it looks as though we won't be seeing "Way to the Stars", "First of the Few", The Korda version of "The Four Feathers", "Bridge too Far", "Dunkirk" or "The Longest Day" - all worthy contenders.

only young people tend to vote on these. The longest day was superb.

Where was Hamburger Hill - by far the best of the Vietnam films that came out around the same time. I've not seen any film that quite depicts the futility of war in the war Hamburger Hil does.

Where the hell was Tears of the Sun.
Sure, it isn't the greatest war film ever made but it's a hell of a lot more relevant to the war theme than a lot of the other inclusions in the list. The combat in this film excellent and it deals with the topic of genocide in a respecful maner.

Ok if your talking great vietnam war films were was we were soliders

That was a film worth watching

We were soldiers wasn't too bad, but the characters were a bit stereo typical.

Hamburger Hill sucked, as did 'We Were Soldiers' - I thought 'Casualties of War' was the most interesting of the Vietnam films...

I enjoyed the "100 Greatest War Movies". However I have noticed some errors in the reviews on this site. For example one reviewer said that the only moving scene in "633 Squadron" featured a black labrador ,just as one was featured in "The Dambusters". In fact there is no such scene in "633 Squadron". I think the reviewer was getting mixed up with "Battle of Britain" in which there is a scene in which a black labrador belonging to Squadron Leader Canfield (Michael Caine) mourns the passing of his master.

The review of "Tora,Tora,Tora" talks of Zero planes carrying torpedoes when in fact the Zero was a fighter. The torpedo bomber used at Pearl Harbour was the "Kate".

Another error I noticed last night was that it was claimed that "Where Eagles Dare" was based on Alastair MacLean's best-selling novel whereas in fact his screenplay came first and the book followed later.

I thought the top 100 list was somewhat curious. Casablanca or A Matter of Life and Death (two of my favourite films) for example are hardly war films. If being set during the War is enough then any film set during any period of conflict could be defined as such.

For my part I was surprised by the absence of 'El Cid' and 'The Pride and the Glory'. Most of all space should have been found to include 'Waterloo' which is the only truly successful attempt to recreate a Napoleonic Battle on the big screen. The film will probably remain unique as it had a cast of tens of thousands of (Soviet Union) soldiers. Such a scale of production would not be attempted nowadays with the availability of CGI etc.

'El Cid' was in the first half on Saturday night

What happened to:

"Go Tell the Spartans"; "Pork Chop Hill"; "Johnny Got His Gun" and maybe stretching a point "The Bofors Gun".

was Hamburger hill even there? that was one of my faves along with Zulu, Apoc now and Platoon. there are quite a few on the list I hadnt seen but it surprised me a great deal to see Saving Private Ryan at number one as I thought it was rather poor (with the exception of the opening scene).

I have to say that despite a cracking first half full metal Jacket is in my opinion not nearly as good as either hamburger hill or platoon.

Albert RN

I loved that film when I was younger, not that I am old now.
And where was I Was Monty's Double.....?

Where were Ivan's Childhood and The Human Condition? The Human Condition (all 3 parts and 9 hours of it) was actually shown on Channel 4 about 20 years ago and I've never seen it anywhere since, which is a shame since some critics site it as the best film in any genre, not just anti-war film, ever made. If you've still got the print, can we have a another look please C4?

Sadly missng from the top 100 (most likely by virtue that I don't think it's ever been televised or widely released in the UK) is Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, which has to be one of the most harrowing and brutal representations of the utter futility of war ever made. Anyone who ever thought any war was glorious or heroic would find it impossible to argue with the pure horror of this film - no war film ever made (in my opinion at least) demonstrates that war produces nothing but victims.
It's not a rip-roaring boy's-own adventure with flying bullets and daring-do, but it does make you understand war is ugly, violent, inhuman, and often never ends once the battle is over. Sometimes it never ends.

i think the next program should be 'the 100 great war films we missed out the first time round'.....there were some very odd inclusions in last night list....the ammount of american civil war films that were on there is suspicious, compared to the ammount of great ww2 films that were missing.....its a bit like the top 100 kids programmes, an awful lot of american stuff i dont ever recall being shown on telly at the time!.....is this a franchised list that will be shown in the u.s. as well?....perhaps that would explain it.

Disappointed to see "Waterloo" never made it into the top 100.It had about the best battle scene ever with about half the Russian Army as extras and great performances from the leading actors, maybe it hasn't been shown for so long it's been forgotten about. Re-run it please!

More missing classics
Five Graves to Cairo
Stalag 17
The Victors
Sink the Bismark

Right I have a few qualms about this list;
1. In a matter of life & death should've been SO much higher than it was.
2. Where the hell was Odette? Life is Beautiful even that one with Gene Kelly in a POW camp in france - wish I can remember the name!

I was disappointed not to see this film Grave of the Fireflies. the story is about;

In the aftermath of a World War II bombing, two orphaned children struggle to survive in the Japanese countryside. To Seita and his four-year-old sister, the helplessness and indifference of their countrymen is even more painful than the enemy raids.

Through desperation, hunger and grief, these children's lives are as heartbreakingly fragile as their spirit and love is inspiring. Grave of the Fireflies is a tale of the true tragedy of war and innocence lost, not only of the abandoned young, but of an entire nation.

The battle of Waterloo was unquestionably the most significant battle of the 19th Century and changed the course of European history. The film, starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer as the two best-known figures, Napoleon and Wellington, is a stunning and dramatic war film. The sweep of the battle is brilliantly recreated with a huge cast, set against the details of strategy and tactics, superb casting and seemingly at a no-holds-barred expenditure. How on earth did it get left out? There were lots of other strange omissions, but that single omission, in my view, cheapened the whole "100 Greatest.." programme.

Battle of Algiers got to be tops. Just superb and the best music ever in a movie.

Others: Platoon, Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now, paths of glory, Ran, Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Bridge over the River kwai, From Here to eternity, Dr Strangelove, The Thin Red Line

Sving Private Ryan vastly overrated - the best war film ever for 20 minutes, then it goes downhill until the last 20 minutes