War has haunted humans since the beginning of time. While it is something that terrifies people, ironically, it has inspired them to create some of the most fantastic war movies. They produced films that showed all elements of the emotions one might feel at that time, from perseverance to complete carnage. However, creating such movies is not an easy feat, especially if they have a grandeur yet brutal battle scene. To create the correct atmosphere, filmmakers need to pay attention to so many things, from the choreography of the attack, light direction to sound, and even CGI. With time, filmmakers have been making advances in portraying battle scenes with their expert cinematography and editing, which makes these movies unforgettable. Here are some of the most iconic, unforgettable moments in war movies, ranked.
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6 Attack at Fort Wagner - Glory (1989)
TriStar Pictures
Glory tells a tale of a white officer who faces extreme resistance from fellow officials for leading a troop of black soldiers. The tranquil beginning of this sequence is quite a stark contrast to the upcoming battle as well as the suicide mission that they are about to go on. Momentarily, the veil of serenity is dropped, and the scene picks up its pace as gruesome violence starts to unfold. This battle sequence uses very few wide angles. Through this bold choice, the audience gets to be on the battlefield themselves rather than seeing soldiers through an observer’s eyes. This makes the scene more raw and realistic and even more difficult for the audience to take their eyes off the screen. The score played during this scene has to be one of the biggest reasons behind its immense impact.
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5 The Iconic Suicide Mission - Paths Of Glory (1957)
United Artists
Directed by Stanley Kubrick, Paths of Glory is a movie that revolves around Colonel Dax, played by Kirk Douglas, who is a French soldier’s commanding officer sent on a suicide mission. However, he does not want his soldiers to go on it. Now he must defend his team and himself against alleged charges of cowardice. Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war masterpiece opens with the terrifying suicide mission and legendary tracking shots of soldiers in the trenches during World War I. Despite his superior officers’ insistence, Dax decides to cancel the mission after it becomes pretty evident that no one will make it out alive.
The movie was released in 1957 when there was no concept of CGI that one may see today. The scene is exceptionally bone-chilling in itself. Interestingly, there is not even a single closeup of any leading actors. The cinematographer makes a conscious choice to employ only wide angles, which are extremely assertive. This scene drives home the most important message of the film that all soldiers’ lives are equally valuable despite their caste, religion, or social status.
4 The First Bombing Scene - Dunkirk (2017)
warner bros. picturesSF Studios
Dunkirk, a film by Christopher Nolan, is essentially a nonlinear tale about allied soldiers that were trying to evacuate from Dunkirk, which the Germans were attacking. However, while evacuating, they ended up getting deserted. It is difficult to pinpoint just one moment because, technically, Dunkirk might just be viewed as one long warfare scene. However, The First Bombing, despite not being extraordinarily violent or gruesome, has made a spot on this list. In a profoundly moving way, it captures the destruction and vulnerability felt by the soldiers that were stranded on Dunkirk’s beach.
The score during this scene is downright majestic. The part when planes start emerging, and the camera slowly starts zooming in with the music score rising, is enough to increase the heartbeats of the watchers as well. Nolan’s cross-cuts between the air, the land, the soldiers, and the sea, depict the helplessness as they can do nothing but linger. This is again captured when the camera gets still and focuses on the main character, while in the background, watchers can see the destruction happening, but all he can do is keep his head down and cover his ears, hoping for it to end. This scene screams vulnerability and helplessness beautifully.
3 Ambush - The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
20th Century Studioswarner bros. pictures
The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757 during a battle between France and Britain in early America. However, it mainly revolves around Hawkeye and his group of Mohicans who need to protect one of the British officer’s daughters. Ambush is an iconic scene that happens when Magua and his warriors ambush British columns. It is a perfect illustration of “primal rage,” a term used to describe the barbarism of the period.
The scene progresses with an eerie, vicious, and beautifully shot bloodbath that occurs then. The cinematography during this scene is bone-chillingly bewitching. The wide angle of the entire column in which they are scattered as warriors keep emerging from the trees, is haunting. Ambush has a terrifying combination of sprawling panoramas, some still wide angles, and a closeup of fierce battle beautifully weaved with an evocative music score that heightens the stakes and thrills as the scene continues to rise to a hazy, chaotic, loud conclusion.
2 American Soldiers Attacking Vietnamese Village - Apocalypse Now (1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Apocalypse Now is a wartime masterpiece that centers around the Vietnam War. An American officer is sent on a mission to find and kill a renegade colonel who has started to believe he is a demigod and is taking the lives of innocent people. But what makes this movie unforgettable is this early air raid scene. While this may not be the most barbaric or bloodiest scene, it is petrifying enough to permanently engrave in the viewer’s mind. The reason is that, for the first time, the audience sees American soldiers as vicious and wicked. Soldiers have glee on their faces as they are about to annihilate an entire Vietnamese village only against an alleged suspicion that they might be harboring the people of the Viet Cong.
The Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner plays in the background while American soldiers massacre the village. This music score breathes life into this scene. It is sewn mesmerizingly with spirited, yet almost demonic anticipation as American flyboys take aim. The soldiers imitate a bunch of sadistic kids waiting to see what lies beneath. This scene is absolutely tragic, and despite not being the bloodiest, its direction makes it even more spine-chilling and true-to-life.
1 Landing Scene - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
DreamWorks Pictures
The landing scene in Steven Spielberg’s movie Saving Private Ryan redefined movies eternally. While it may have been endlessly replicated, it could never be surpassed. Although audiences were used to watching bloodshed, this 20 minutes of relentless, realistic carnage, mayhem, slaughter, and wailing, left viewers flabbergasted. In fact, it is considered quite triggering for veterans as the depiction in this scene is extremely realistic and raw. This one sequence needed ten days of training for the performers, utilized approximately 1500 extras, and consumed roughly 20% of the entire film’s budget. Interestingly, unlike many names on this list, this scene has no grandiose music and very little CGI. It features tight editing and beautifully minimal cinematography.
The scene mainly comprises numerous distraught young men who are drenched in blood and seawater and have been ordered to carry out their duties, even if it means risking their own lives. The film avoided painting its protagonists as saints and heroes and showed how they were fearful individuals going through hell on Earth. While epic battles have indeed been depicted on screen, Saving Private Ryan sits on the throne of having the most iconic moment as nothing comes closest to its raw and authentic depiction of the bloodbath that occurs on the battlefield.
