"War. What is it good for?" asks critic Brogan Morris. "Well, if nothing else, then a tidy template for cinema: The best war movies have conflict, clear protagonists and antagonists, heightened emotions, and a generally unpredictable, lawless atmosphere which -- as per the western -- has, since the dawn of cinema, offered an elastic dramatic environment in which filmmakers can explore men at both their best and worst. And make no mistake, the war movie is almost always about men."

Well, I needed a change of pace from the books on fashion illustration that I've been reading. So, setting some ground rules for what makes a great war movie -- historical conflicts only; stories told from a military rather than a civilian POV; no dramas about postwar life; no movies belonging to other genres (sorry, Casablanca) -- here's a global list of great pictures about armed conflict. Paste's critical summaries of each film are invaluable, and entertaining.

Paste Magazine's 100 Best War Movies
https://www.pastemagazine.com/movie.....es-of-all-time

100. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Nagisa Oshima, 1983)
99. Days of Glory (Rachid Bouchareb, 2006)
98. Charlie MoPic (Patrick Sheane Duncan, 1989)
97. Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson, 2016)
96. Savior (Predrag Antonijević, 1998)
95. Stalingrad (Joseph Vilsmaier, 1993)
94. American Sniper (Clint Eastwood, 2014)
93. Kelly's Heroes (Brian G. Hutton, 1970)
92. Trial on the Road (Aleksei German, 1971)
91. Waterloo (Sergei Bondarchuk, 1970)
90. Restrepo (Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger, 2010)
89. Hamburger Hill (John Irvin, 1987)
88. Fury (David Ayer, 2014)
87. Sands of Iwo Jima (Allan Dwan, 1949)
86. The Beast (Kevin Reynolds, 1988)
85. Zulu (Cy Endfield, 1964)
84. Land and Freedom (Ken Loach, 1995)
83. A Bridge Too Far (Richard Attenborough, 1977)
82. Red Cliff (John Woo, 2008)
81. Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995)
80. Fixed Bayonets! (Samuel Fuller, 1951)
79. Casualties of War (Brian De Palma, 1989)
78. They Were Expendable (John Ford, 1945)
77. Letters from Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood, 2006)
76. The Sun (Aleksandr Sokurov, 2005)
75. Che (Steven Soderbergh, 2008)
74. A Walk in the Sun (Lewis Milestone, 1945)
73. The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992)
72. Ride with the Devil (Ang Lee, 1999)
71. Lebanon (Samuel Maoz, 2009)
70. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
69. Jarhead (Sam Mendes, 2005)
68. The Blue Max (John Guillermin, 1966)
67. Overlord (Stuart Cooper, 1975)
66. Von Ryan's Express (Mark Robson, 1965)
65. Air Force (Howard Hawks, 1943)
64. Sergeant York (Howard Hawks, 1941)
63. Attack! (Robert Aldrich, 1956)
62. City of Life and Death (Lu Chuan, 2009)
61. Glory (Edward Zwick, 1989)
60. Rescue Dawn (Werner Herzog, 2006)
59. The Steel Helmet (Samuel Fuller, 1951)
58. The Red Badge of Courage (John Huston, 1951)
57. Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953)
56. Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981)
55. Run Silent, Run Deep (Robert Wise, 1958)
54. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach, 2006)
53. Hell in the Pacific (John Boorman, 1968)
52. Kingdom of Heaven (Ridley Scott, 2005)
51. Salvador (Oliver Stone, 1986)
50. Beasts of No Nation (Cary Fukunaga, 2015)
49. The Longest Day (various, 1962)
48. Kanal (Andrzej Wajda, 1957)
47. Black Hawk Down (Ridley Scott, 2001)
46. Die Brücke (The Bridge) (Bernhard Wicki, 1959)
45. The Guns of Navarone (J. Lee Thompson, 1961)
44. The Train (John Frankenheimer, 1964)
43. Men in War (Anthony Mann, 1957)
42. M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, 1970)
41. Battleground (William Wellman, 1949)
40. Play Dirty (Andre De Toth, 1968)
39. The Dam Busters (Michael Anderson, 1955)
38. The Ascent (Larisa Shepitko, 1977)
37. Where Eagles Dare (Brian G. Hutton, 1968)
36. The Human Condition (Masaki Kobayashi, 1959 - 61)
35. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
34. Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004)
33. Black Book (Paul Verhoeven, 2006)
32. The Big Red One (Samuel Fuller, 1980)
31. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)
30. Empire of the Sun (Steven Spielberg, 1987)
29. The Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich, 1967)
28. The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963)
27. The Killing Fields (Roland Joffé, 1984)
26. Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
25. Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977)
24. Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999)
23. Patton (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1970)
22. Twelve O'Clock High (Henry King, 1949)
21. Ice Cold in Alex (J. Lee Thompson, 1958)
20. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir, 2003)
19. Fires on the Plain (Kon Ichikawa, 1959)
18. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957)
17. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
16. All Quiet on the Western Front (Lewis Milestone, 1930)
15. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
14. Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
13. Ivan's Childhood (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962)
12. Das Boot (wolfgang Petersen, 1981)
11. Army of Shadows (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1969)
10. Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)
9. Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
8. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
7. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
6. The Red and the White (Miklós Jancsó, 1967)
5. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1943)
4. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
3. The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
2. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
1. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)