Highest-Rated Movies about 'U.s. Military'

Saving Private Ryan (1998), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Platoon (1986), The Fog of War (2003), Fail-Safe (1964), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Patton (1970) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best U.s. Military movies.

#1. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Storyline: Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...

Plot Keywords: rescue mission, world war two, normandy, 1940s, d day, year 1944, shot to death ...

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#2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Storyline: Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an all ...

Plot Keywords: mushroom cloud, nuclear weapons, nuclear holocaust, u.s. president, psychopath, flight, american soldier ...

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#3. Platoon (1986)

Storyline: Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.

Plot Keywords: vietnam war, gore, brutality, marijuana, napalm, 1960s, infantry ...

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#4. The Fog of War (2003)

Storyline: Former corporate whiz kid Robert McNamara was the controversial Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, during the height of the Vietnam War. This Academy Award-winning documentary, augmented by archival footage, gives the conflicted McNamara a platform on which he attempts to confront his and the U.S. government's actions in Southeast Asia in light of the horrors of modern warfare, the end of ideology and the punitive judgment of history.—Jwelch5742

Plot Keywords: interview, vietnam, cold war, pentagon, politics, soviet union, u.s. president ...

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#6. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Storyline: Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband's story, the police surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a humble small-town lawyer and recently deposed district attorney. During the course of interviews, Biegler discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a reputation for flirting with other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to make the court believe that Laura had been drunk and was picked up by the bartender and then Her husband killed him and beat her up when he discovered they had been together. Manion pleads "not guilty" and Biegler, who knows that his case is weak, tries to find evidence that will save Manion.

Plot Keywords: murder trial, rape victim, rosary, catholicism, underwear, u.s. military, law ...

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#7. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Storyline: The story concentrates on the social re-adjustment of three World War II servicemen, each from a different station of society. Al Stephenson returns to an influential banking position, but finds it hard to reconcile his loyalties to ex-servicemen with new commercial realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary working man who finds it difficult to hold down a job or pick up the threads of his marriage. Having had both hands burnt off during the war, Homer Parrish is unsure that his fiancée's feelings are still those of love and not those of pity. Each of the veterans faces a crisis upon his arrival, and each crisis is a microcosm of the experiences of many American warriors who found an alien world awaiting them when they came marching home.—alfiehitchie

Plot Keywords: world war two veteran, u.s. soldier, military officer, employer employee relationship, returning home, u.s. sailor, male female relationship ...

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#8. Patton (1970)

Storyline: "Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Europe and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and tendency toward insubordination, faults that would prevent him from becoming the lead American general in the Normandy Invasion as well as to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.

Plot Keywords: year 1942, year 1945, year 1944, year 1943, 1940s, u.s. army, u.s. military ...

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#9. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Storyline: The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester amongst his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese Army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.

Plot Keywords: japanese soldier, gun, gunshot wound, violence, brutality, letter, last stand ...

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#10. The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Storyline: During the World War II, the crew of a small insignificant ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet experience an event unlike any event ever experienced by the United States Navy. A Ship's Captain is removed from command by his Executive Officer in an apparent outright act of mutiny. As the trial of the mutineers unfold, it is learned that the Captain of the ship was mentally unstable, perhaps even insane. The Navy must decide if the Caine Mutiny was a criminal act, or an act of courage to save a ship from destruction at the hands of her Captain?

Plot Keywords: ship captain, court martial, mutiny, u.s. navy, u.s. military, naval officer, psychiatrist ...

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#11. Black Hawk Down (2001)

Storyline: Action/war drama based on the best-selling book detailing a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993. On this date nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This led to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Army Ranges, US Special Forces, and hundreds of Somali gunmen; resulting in the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. The film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed black hawks, centering on SSG Eversmann, leading the Ranger unit Chalk Four to the first black hawk crash site, Chief Warrant Officer Durant who was captured after being the only survivor of the second black hawk crash, as well as many others who were involved.

Plot Keywords: u.s. soldier, u.s. army, gunfight, street shootout, chaos, year 1993, corpse ...

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#12. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

Storyline: In this story of the early days of daylight bombing raids over Nazi Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a "hard luck" bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets. Actual combat footage is used in this tense war drama.

Plot Keywords: american abroad, reminiscence, world war two, airplane shot down, leadership, exhaustion, fighter plane ...

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#13. Fury (2014)

Storyline: 1945, in World War II Germany, the tough Sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier commands a tank and survives a German attack with his veteran crew composed of Boyd 'Bible' Swan, Trini 'Gordo' Garcia and Grady 'Coon-Ass' Travis. He receives a rookie soldier Norman Ellison as the substitute for his deceased gunner and he tries to harden the youth along the way.

Plot Keywords: world war two, battle, tank, battlefield, year 1945, combat, american soldier ...

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#14. From Here to Eternity (1953)

Storyline: It's 1941. Robert E. Lee Prewitt has requested Army transfer and has ended up at Schofield in Hawaii. His new captain, Dana Holmes, has heard of his boxing prowess and is keen to get him to represent the company. However, 'Prew' is adamant that he doesn't box anymore, so Captain Holmes gets his subordinates to make his life a living hell. Meanwhile Sergeant Warden starts seeing the captain's wife, who has a history of seeking external relief from a troubled marriage. Prew's friend Maggio has a few altercations with the sadistic stockade Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson, and Prew begins falling in love with social club employee Lorene. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor looms in the distance.

Plot Keywords: dead soldier, court martial, awol, dysfunctional marriage, u.s. army, boxing, torture ...

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#15. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Storyline: U.S. Army Private Witt (AWOL) is found and imprisoned on a troop carrier by his company First Sergeant, Welsh.The men of C Company,1st Battalion,27th Infantry Regiment,25th Infantry Division have been brought to Guadalcanal as reinforcements in the campaign to secure Henderson Field and seize the island from the Japanese. They arrive near Hill 210, a key Japanese position. Their task is to capture the hill at all cost. What happens next is a story developing about redemption and the meaningless of war. Regardless the outcome.

Plot Keywords: battle, tropical island, jungle, world war two, u.s. soldier, multiple narrators, multiple perspectives ...

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