What follows are the five best scenes from war movies of all time. Criteria include the following: one, the movie these scenes are drawn from are generally considered to be war movies, so science fiction scenes like the Battle of Hoth and the assault on Minas Tirith are out; two, they are, for all intents and purposes, the defining scenes from their respective films; and three, they represent the absolute best that Hollywood has to offer. Without further ado, please sit back at a reasonable distance from your monitor so as not to induce nausea, relax, and get cultured.
5. “We Were Soldiers”- The Battle of La Drang
While far from a perfect film, We Were Soldiers does an excellent job of interweaving life on the battlefront and on the homefront, emphasizing further the importance of familial and friendly connection to the soldiers at war. Through this familiar but well-done plot device, Mel Gibson makes a particular effort to help the viewers emphasize with the characters, which makes this scene all the more tragic. Beloved characters are taken from us, and their downfalls are complemented by spectacular action.
4. “The Hurt Locker”- The Suicide Bomber
Kathryn Bigelow went head to head against her ex-husband for the title of Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2009, and between “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker,” the best film won. While James Cameron’s admittedly spectacular visual bombardment swept the technical category, the greatest cinematic achievement of that year came from Bigelow. Her gritty, immersive production, the first time a female ever won the Oscar for Best Director, is a near perfect film, and this scene is one of several reasons why. During the calmest of times, there is an omnipresent sense of foreboding, lying in wait to present itself in the most unexpected of times. This particular cut is simultaneously riveting, heartbreaking, and powerful, presenting in one simple snapshot the immense moral weight that fell upon a small group of individuals’ shoulders for such a long time.
3. “Full Metal Jacket”-
The viewers, much like the Army’s newest recruits, should brace themselves for impact. A literal nonstop string of memorable insults catapults the audience into the terrestrial hell of boot camp, making a powerful initial statement about the decidedly antimilitary direction Stanley Kubrick was headed with the film. Political statements aside, the opening scene to one of the greatest Vietnam War films of all time inspires awe to this day for not only the dialogue that made an immediate impact on popular culture, but for its subtly crafted cinematography. A single continuous shot is used to trace the exploits of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, winding to an occasional stop as his predatory ability to sense fear makes itself known. R. Lee Ermey, a former drill instructor himself who had never acted before, commands the camera with the same upright grace that he would a batch of fresh privates. Pay particular attention to the masterful way in which Kubrick owns the director’s chair, never quite shouting his own name but certainly making his presence known throughout this delightfully original piece of cinema.
2. “Inglourious Basterds”- Au Revoir, Shoshanna
In what may be the single greatest piece of directing we have ever witnessed Quentin Tarantino produce, and in a film that is simply chock full of juicy cinema, the introduction of our two rivals, Colonel Hans Landa and Shoshanna Dreyfuss, steals the show from the opening titles. Tarantino presents before us a tantalizing slow burn, as his delightfully twisted antagonist makes the most of his opening lines. What strikes me as especially interesting about this scene is the fact that it manages to realistically find a way to work English into conversation between two foreigners for a primarily American audience in a way that is neither awkward nor forced. The magnificent Christoph Waltz, as sociopathic as he is well-mannered, manages to simultaneously charm and horrify us. The buzzing we hear in the background, initially no more than a tingle in the eardrum, mirrors the rise in tension as it grows from an unbearable linger to its mesmerizing crescendo and miniature climax. Enjoy the scene that entranced critics everywhere and won Waltz his first Academy Award.
1. “Saving Private Ryan”- The Beaching of Omaha
The single most powerful depiction of battle ever to grace the silver screen, in what very well may be the greatest war film of all time, this brutally realistic, more-than-fifteen-minute microcosm of D-Day remains as powerfully immersive as it was the day it released. Unlike with some of its predecessors, the characters are not so much characters as they are pieces, pawns of a great cinematic chess game that Spielberg plays ever so masterfully. We as an audience are introduced to a carefully selected group of these pieces, chosen seemingly at random in much the same way they are chosen to die. Some live, and some are killed right there on the beach as their comrades look on with nothing to do but to forget and to fight for self-preservation. Like the war it mimics, “Saving Private Ryan” is an absolute gut punch from the beginning thanks to scenes like this one.
