10 Best War Scenes

Want to know the 10 best war scenes? Wars are bloody and brutal affairs.  But if  diplomacy won't work  countries are often left with no other option.  If you go through this list of the ten best war scenes you will be guaranteed to feel strongly about it one way or the other:

1. "Glory" – The final battle scene of the story of the All-Colored 54^th Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War is rousing and heartbreaking. Storming Fort Sumpter, Matthew Broderick gets shot and Denzel Washington dies on top of him while holding the American flag.  It’s historically based so it couldn’t have ended any other way.  Sad, but mostly true.
2. "Saving Private Ryan" – This World War two epic has one of the most intense opening sequences ever filmed. The taking of Normandy is captured in brutal and violent detail and bullets whiz overhead, all around, and into the body’s of most of the soldiers. It might be the closet you ever get to actual combat.
3. "Apocalypse Now" – The sound of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkeries as airborne helicopters fly over a village coastline and firebomb the hell out of the place is classic.  Robert Duvall sums of the sentiment of this Vietnam War-themed when he states,  “I love the smell of napalm in the morning "
4. "Braveheart" - The Scotts at war with the British and Mel Gibson in blue face paint.  "… Tell our enemies that they make take our lives but they’ll never take our freedom!" was the final war cry that set the bloody final for Scottish liberty in motion.
5. "Pearl Harbor" - The bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II by Japanese pilots is depicted as tragic victimization and unlimited valor in Michael Bay's/Jerry Bruckheimer's epic. The bombing scene is filled with moments of heroism and tragedy as the men endure a fight that all American’s know the outcome to.
6. "Shaka Zulu" - Led by Shaka, the Zulu's defeat an overconfident British Army in what became known as the Zulu Wars. The "savage" Shaka proved himself to be a military genius who taught his tribesmen to fight with all the skill and tact of a Greek Phalanx.
7. "Kingdom of Heaven" – The Crusades of old and the fight for the Holy Land is the subject matter of this film.  The final battle for Jerusalem is a sight to see as the Muslim troops amass outside the city gates before bombarding its occupants into submission.  
8. "Platoon" – This Vietnam War drama is best remembered for the Oscar winning poster shot of Willem Dafoe being run down by Vietnam Cong soldiers as he tries to escape the jungle.  He takes multiple gunshots and dies a sacrificial death, arms outstretched to the sky as a helicopter takes off without him.
9. "The Last Samurai" - Another epic of tools versus technology, this film depicts the final struggle of modern Japan to do away with the last vestiges of its feudal past. The last battle, coincidentally filmed by the director of the film Glory, is magnificent in its portrayal of the craft and cunning of an out-manned bunch of Samurai versus the Japanese military.  It goes from arrows and horseback to hand-to-hand slaughter by the razor sharp blades of the samurai. It finally takes the might of the U.S. military's Gatling gun to mow down the two remaining samurai.
10. "Alexander" - The conquests of the worlds most bad-ass-ever twenty-two year old are depicted in graphic detail. At war with the known world, Alexander shines as a conqueror of both men and culture. The gem of this film is during a bloody battle in India when Alexander’s horse rears up against a charging battle elephant and the young leader shows no fear, spurring his troops deeper into battle.