"12 Most Iconic Roles in Military Movie History" Topic

"We've all served with the zealot, the screamer, the wild man, the badass, the strange agent, and other signature personalities, but have we seen them accurately presented in movies? Well, sometimes. And in some cases when Hollywood has tackled military topics they've gone beyond simply "getting it right" and moved into the arena where icons are forged. Here are 12 examples of when movie makers got it absolutely right and then some…"

link

If I have to choose three of them:

1°) George C. Scott as General George S. Patton in "Patton"

2°) Nicholson as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in "A Few Good Men"

3°) Alec Guinness as Lieutenant Colonel Nicolson in "Bridge on the River Kwai"

If you have to choose…? (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Rod Steiger as Napoleon in "Waterloo."

Tom

Stanley Baker as Lt. Chard and Michael Caine as Lt. Bromhead in 'Zulu.'

Charlton Heston as General Gordon in 'Khartoum.'
Kirk Douglas as Spartacus from the movie of the same name.
John Wayne as Davy Crockett in 'The Alamo' (1960).
Billy Bob Thornton as David Crockett in 'The Alamo' (2004).
Gary Cooper as Sgt. Alvin York in 'Sgt. York.'
Kirk Douglas as Col. Dax in 'Paths of Glory.'
John Wayne as Capt. Nathan Brittles in 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.'
Wiley Dafoe as Sgt Elias in 'Platoon.'
Tom Berringer as SSGT. Barnes in 'Platoon.'

Audie Murphy as himself

Lew Ayres as Paul Baumer in 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).
Sean Connery as the Raisuli in 'The Wind and the Lion.'
Robert Shaw as Col. Hessler in 'The Battle of the Bulge.'
Marlin Brando as Col. Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now.'
Daniel Day Lewis as Hawkeyes in The Last of the Mohicans.'
Wes Studi as Magua in 'Last of the Mohicans.

One from t.v. Vic Morrow as Sgt. Saunders.

Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Platoon.

Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Platoon.
Stanley Baker as Lt. Chard and Michael Caine as Lt. Bromhead in 'Zulu'.
Damian Lewis as Cpt Dick Winters in 'Band of Brothers'.
Lee Marvin as Sgt Steiner in 'Iron Cross'.
Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois playing as Adolf Hitler in 'Springtime for Hitler" in 'The Producers', 1968 version.

Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Gettysburg.

How the hell as "Gunny" R. Lee Ermey not made it onto this list?!?

Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman from Full Metal Jacket.

Hans Christian Blech as Conrad in Battle of the Bulge.

Battle of the Bulge gets a bad rep for not being a truly historical account of the specifics of the battle, and I understand that. But I've always found it to be less about the battle than it was about the soldiers. And Conrad humanizes the ordinary soldiers of the German army in a way that few WW2 movies do.

It would be nearly impossible to pick a single role in The Longest Day. The whole movie is so filled with exceptional performances. The Great Escape suffers from the same problem. I feel that way about several movies, really, that it's hard to pick just one stand out performance when the entire movie is iconic.

I'll definitely second Gary Cooper as Sgt. York.

Gregory Peck in 12 O'Clock High should probably be on the list.

Sam Eliot as SGM Plumley in We Were Soldiers Once…

Christoph Waltz as SS Standartenfurehr (Colonel) Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds!

Stanley Baker as Lt. Chard and Michael Caine as Lt. Bromhead in 'Zulu'.

Better: Nigel Green as Colour-Sergeant Bourne.

Lee Marvin as Sgt Steiner in 'Iron Cross'.

James Coburn as Sgt Steiner in "Cross of Iron?"

Lion in the Stars you made me laugh! As I started reading this thread I was thinking the same thing. Just about everyone whose been thru some type of military training has seen that act before. In person!

Sam Elliott as BG Buford in Gettysburg.

Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson "The Dam Busters"
Jack Hawkins as Ericson "The Cruel Sea"
Errol Flynn as Courtney "Dawn Patrol"
Percy Herbert as Blanco "Sea of Sand"
Edward Woodward "Breaker Morant"

Hopkins as Frost in 'A Star Too many'.
Mel Gibson as Santa Claus in 'Briefheart'.

How about Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in "Apocalypse Now"?

"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning…" – who can forget that?!!

Donald Sutherland in Kelley's Heroes…

I can tell that some of you guys who are asking why so-and-so didn't make the list didn't read the OP's link.

I have to go with Steve McQueen as Captain Virgil Hilts of the US Army Air Corps in The Great Escape.

Name one guy who saw that movie on the big screen and didn't want to be Hilts tearing around the roads and meadows of Austria on a stolen Kraut motorcycle (actually a modified British 1961 Triumph TR-6 Trophy 650CC, disguised to look like a German BMW R75).

McQueen did all of his own riding in the movie, except for the the 60-foot jump over the border fence, done by his friend Bud Ekins. He even doubled as some of the Germans chasing Hilts, including the guy who hit the wire that Hilts had strung across the road. How cool is that?

McQueen loved adding "bits" to his roles to make them more authentic and memorable. In the following clip, at the 1:25 mark, notice how he removes the gas cap and shakes the bike to see how much gas in in the tank. Then, at 6:30, he pats the bike, like, "We almost made it." Damn! Classic.

For your viewing pleasure: YouTube link

Richard Beymer in "The Longest Day", Robert Mitchum in "Gung Ho!",Lee Marvin in "The Big Red One","The Dirty Dozen",R. Lee Ermey in "The Siege Of Firebase Gloria",Jeff Daniels in "Gettysburg",and several of the others previously mentioned.

Phil Silvers as Sergeant Ernie Knocker in Follow That Camel

What is best in life?
Conan: "Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and hear the lamentation of their women."

All of them extraordinary good!.

Amicalement
Armand

Lee Marvin Big Red One.

Everybody in 'Carry on up the Khyber'. Thankfully no-one makes the figures or I'd have to buy them.

Oskar Werner in Decision at Dawn

Richard Mulligan as George Armstrong Custer in Little Big Man.

"Nothing is more surprising than the sudden attack without mercy!"

More good ones!

Amicalement
Armand

I think these five are tough to beat:

1) Jack Hawkins as Lt.Cdr Ericson in "The Cruel Sea"
2) Noel Coward as Capt. Kinross in "In Which We Serve"
3) John Mills as Capt. Anson in "Ice Cold in Alex"
4) Kenneth More as Capt. Shepard in "Sink the Bismarck"
5) Kenneth More as Douglas Bader in "Reach for the Sky"

Harvey Keitel as the ultimate hussar officer in The Duellists!

Edward Fox as Lt. Gen Horrocks in 'A Bridge too Far'

Richard Todd (a real D-Day para) as Major John Howard in The Longest Day – "Hold until relieved, hold until relieved".

Like very much your list Some Chicken!!

Amicalement
Armand

Tom Beringer as General Longstreet.

James Cagney as Adm. William "Bull" Halsey in "The Gallant Hours"
Jack Hawkins as Lt.Cdr Ericson in "The Cruel Sea"
Noel Coward as Capt. Kinross in "In Which We Serve