To commemorate our veteran’s on this day, we’ve decided to put together a list of essential military films. As of this writing, Plus One has yet to work on a war film. It’s not a genre that shoots often in the mid-Atlantic region, so we haven’t had many chances to work on one, but we hope to in the near future!
Born on the Fourth of July
Tom Cruise plays Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in this film based on the best-selling memoir of the same name. The film follows Kovic from his youth on Long Island to his experience as a neglected veteran with a disability transforming into an ant-war activist. The film also draws heavily on director Oliver Stone’s own experiences in Vietnam for which he won a Bronze Star. Pairs well with his other great Vietnam epic Platoon.
The Messenger
Army Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), is back in the U.S. after a tour in Iraq ended in injury. At home, the returned soldier has an affair with another officer’s wife and joins the Casualty Notification Team to notify families of recently deceased soldiers. Lacking any grief counseling experience, he joins forces with seasoned “messenger” Capt. Tony Stone, played by Woody Harrelson in an Oscar-nominated performance.
Saving Private Ryan
This epic war film depicting the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 won an Oscar for director Steven Spielberg. It stars Tom Hanks as a battalion commander given the task of rescuing Private James Ryan (Matt Damon). With a 25 minute long opening battle scene, few films up to that point had conveyed the intensity of live combat.
Flags of Our Fathers
Directed by Clint Eastwood this World War II epic tells the story of the six men who raised the American flag following the crucial Battle of Iwo Jima. Once the iconic photograph becomes a national sensation, the surviving soldiers are sent on a publicity tour around the U.S. but become disillusioned at the idea of being hailed as heroes.
