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War room: Five of our staff’s favorite combat films

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The Thin Red Line

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) The war is almost entirely offscreen in David Lean’s masterful WWII epic, which focuses on a war of wills between a British officer (Alec Guinness) and the Japanese commander (Sessue Hayakawa) holding him and his men prisoner. It culminates in one of the greatest action sequences of all time. –Josh Bell

Paths of Glory (1957) If Stanley Kubrick’s filmography bleeds with anti-war sentiment, he hits the femoral artery with this damning castigation of dehumanizing military strategy during World War I. From its iconic trench warfare scenes to the heartbreaking final scene, Paths finds Kubrick striking a rare emotional chord. –Mike Prevatt

Kelly’s Heroes (1970) It’s a heist movie masquerading as a war movie, and its WWII setting strongly evokes Vietnam. But it’s action-packed and funny as hell, and wow, that cast: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Harry Dean Stanton … –Geoff Carter

Apocalypse Now (1979) Director Francis Ford Coppola staked his fortune on this Vietnam epic, and it nearly killed him. Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) delves through enemy territory to assassinate rogue Green Beret Kurtz (Marlon Brando). A psychedelic masterpiece. –C. Moon Reed

The Thin Red Line (1998) Released five months after the more heralded Saving Private Ryan, Terrence Malick’s filmmaking return holds up better, eschewing a sappy get-him-home plotline for a disquieting dread—and the harsh reality that no one makes it home intact. –Spencer Patterson

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