Seeking last stand war movies
January 9, 2010 4:29 PM   Subscribe

Seeking war movies involving No Way Out, last stand situations. Think Zulu and The Alamo. Intelligent scripts by preference, but all welcome.

Written word also acceptable, but movies by preference. Thanks in advance
posted by IndigoJones to Media & Arts (44 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
300, obviously...
posted by The otter lady at 4:31 PM on January 9, 2010


Platoon
posted by sharkfu at 4:32 PM on January 9, 2010


The magnificent seven (and that similar samurai fiick)
assault on precinct 13 (go for the Carpenter original)
several times in the return of the king
posted by Fiery Jack at 4:34 PM on January 9, 2010


We Were Soldiers
posted by rhizome at 4:34 PM on January 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


Dawn of the dead et al
posted by Fiery Jack at 4:36 PM on January 9, 2010


The Last Samurai. Also Avatar. Both of these are variations on Dances With Wolves, though only the Last Samurai is anything close to being a war movie.
posted by Ndwright at 4:46 PM on January 9, 2010


Response by poster: Good point, Ndwrite. I'm happy to peek outside the strict realm of the war movie if the idea is on point.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:50 PM on January 9, 2010


Aliens?
posted by hermitosis at 4:58 PM on January 9, 2010


A Bridge Too Far
Saving Private Ryan.
posted by Comrade_robot at 5:11 PM on January 9, 2010


Bridge Over The River Kwai wraps up in a last-stand of scenario, as does (famously) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Das Boot might also fit the bill. Those guys have No Way Out for pretty much the entire movie.
posted by jquinby at 5:12 PM on January 9, 2010


Masada
posted by tamitang at 5:13 PM on January 9, 2010


The battle of Helm's Deep in the second Lord of the Rings movie qualifies, as long as one of your criteria isn't that the protagonists lose.
posted by lilac girl at 5:17 PM on January 9, 2010


Seven Samurai.
posted by lilnemo at 5:24 PM on January 9, 2010


The man who would be king

The Boat
posted by mattoxic at 5:26 PM on January 9, 2010


And Stalingrad
posted by mattoxic at 5:27 PM on January 9, 2010


Though not war in the strictest sense, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid certainly involves a last stand.
posted by mcstayinskool at 5:34 PM on January 9, 2010


It's not a war movie, but The Killer has a) a pretty hopeless-looking last stand and b( lots and lots of guns.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:41 PM on January 9, 2010


Saving Private Ryan is an obvious choice :)
posted by spacefire at 5:51 PM on January 9, 2010


Response by poster: GenjiandProust - Not familiar and IMBD has several movies by that name. (I may watch them all.) Which is the one you're referring to? (By the way, the crime area is a good call.)
posted by IndigoJones at 5:57 PM on January 9, 2010


Pork Chop Hill
We Were Soldiers Once
Black Hawk Down
The Lost Patrol
Sahara

Not war movies, but also may work:
The Naked Prey
Yellow Sky (this one is a bit of a stretch, but has a last stand kind of climax and is a great movie)
posted by gudrun at 6:07 PM on January 9, 2010


If you're counting crime movies like the Killer, then Scarface has an awesome & infamous last-stand sequence.
posted by Ndwright at 6:12 PM on January 9, 2010


Bridge over the River Kwai might fall into that category, in a stuffily movie-british kind of way.
posted by gjc at 6:13 PM on January 9, 2010


Sorry for the dupe. Missed it.

Also, "The Longest Day" and "The Americanization of Emily". Both are D Day movies and that's close.
posted by gjc at 6:15 PM on January 9, 2010


I think he means John Woo's The Killer? In the same vein, the original Bangkok Dangerous ends with a very grim last-stand (never bothered with the remake so I can't tell if it's still there).

Also, does the original Predator count? Perhaps then even Aliens does too, when nasty critters become more of a combat scenario than an actual monster movie.
posted by Iosephus at 6:21 PM on January 9, 2010


And I thought it was already up here but no: Letters From Iwo Jima.
posted by Iosephus at 6:23 PM on January 9, 2010


A fantastic, funny black comedy about the Yugoslavian wars: No Man's Land (2001)
posted by foodmapper at 6:29 PM on January 9, 2010


Letters From Iwo Jima would fit the bill very well - definitely a war movie, and definitely a last stand.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 6:34 PM on January 9, 2010


If fictional wars count, the Battle of Helms Deep in the Lord of the Rings series is pretty amazing.
posted by availablelight at 6:50 PM on January 9, 2010


Does Rio Bravo count? It also heavily inspired the Assault on Precinct 13 films (1976, 2005).
posted by Cody's Keeper at 6:54 PM on January 9, 2010


9 rota, aka 9th Company definitely fits the bill. It's about the Afghan war in the 1980s from the Russian point of view. A really good film.
posted by jonesor at 7:10 PM on January 9, 2010


Several instances in the flawed but watchable four-part series on Irish republicanism and the war for independence, Rebel Heart - the stand against crown forces at the GPO and elsewhere in Dublin then later in the run-up to the civil war with the main protagonist on the outside confronting anti-treaty former comrades in arms who've occupied a bakery.
posted by Abiezer at 7:27 PM on January 9, 2010


Is the Last Samurai a no way out film? They can get out of the situation by giving up on lording it over peasants.

The film is interesting only in that is is unusual to see a defence of feudalism in modern cinema.
posted by biffa at 7:30 PM on January 9, 2010


The Big Clock (1948) is based on the same book as No Way Out.
In the same vein is DOA (both versions).
posted by bingo at 7:47 PM on January 9, 2010


Schoendoerffer's Diên Biên Phu.
posted by orthogonality at 9:46 PM on January 9, 2010


I'm watching John Carpenters The Thing right now. Not war, but last stand, no way out? All the way...
posted by Redhush at 9:55 PM on January 9, 2010 [1 favorite]


Peter Weir's Gallipoli (1981).
posted by Paris Elk at 10:20 PM on January 9, 2010 [2 favorites]


I would strongly recommend the whole Band of Brothers series, which contains several confrontations between a small group of men out gunned and out numbered by larger groups. It is an extremely well done series with fantastic acting, writing, direction, and production.

Also, while not exactly a war movie, The Wild Bunch ends with a classic "last stand" situation, and is also a hell of a movie!
posted by mosk at 10:23 PM on January 9, 2010


The Man Who Would Be King.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:44 PM on January 9, 2010


Spartacus
posted by WhackyparseThis at 11:39 PM on January 9, 2010


The Beast of War. Kind of tricky to get hold of but an awesome movie, probably my best war movie of all time alongside The Hurt Locker (which is not 100% what you're after but watch it anyway!)
posted by BrokenEnglish at 5:00 AM on January 10, 2010


When Trumpets Fade- HBO movie about the battle of the Hurtgen Forest
Battle of The Bulge- The Americans were surrounded, the Germans were running out of fuel.
The Lost Batallion, another HBO movie. WWI
posted by Gungho at 5:54 AM on January 10, 2010


Response by poster: Well done all! Which is why no best answers. I see many that would not have occurred to me and some that I had never heard of before. Which is what one is always looking for. Many thanks.
posted by IndigoJones at 6:36 AM on January 10, 2010


Atonement - not a war movie, but includes a technically impressive long scene at the retreat to Dunkirk.

The Mission - again, not really a war movie, but ends in a tragic and hopeless battle.
posted by laird at 6:26 PM on January 10, 2010


Not war movies, but the climaxes of Serenity and L.A. Confidential might qualify.
posted by EarBucket at 9:04 PM on January 10, 2010


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