Best War Pictures

Why do we like to watch war pictures?

We watch them because wars remind of history, freedom, honor, and tradition. Wars have bled Nations new ways of life and lessons to learn. Soldiers bow to obedience, unity, service and integrity with mute tongues and that devotion to die for country and its people.

Wars have brought progress from oppression. Life tells that war is like love, "It isn't fair in love and war." Maybe, history has just to make movies and not wars again. Let nations and peoples pray for peace in the world and among men.

Find these classic movies of war and virtues:

1. The Last Samurai

Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren with Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto.

Nathan is a man adrift. The Battle he once fought seems distant and futile. Once he risked his life for honor and country and in the years since civil war; the world has changed for him.

The troubled American soldier finds himself at the center of a violent and epic struggle between two eras and two worlds, with only his sense of honor to guide him.

Edward Zwick is the director. "The Last Samurai also stars Tomothy Spall and Hirojuki Sanada.

Film is by Warner Brothers Pictures.

2. Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick

This movie is with critics and awards nomination (1987 war film).

Full Metal Jacket ranks 457 on Empires 2008 list of 500 greatest movies of all time.

It follows a squad of US Marines thorough training. The plot is sad and harrowing showing how one dies - in a war like the Vietnamese woman sniper, and a suicide committed by a "trying-hard" and coping soldier.

In the end, Marines finish the day by singing the Mickey Mouse Club March.

Story is based on the novel "The Short-Timers." Movie stars with Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D' Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, among others.

3. The Thin Red Line

Sean Penn is Sgt. Welsh in "Thin Red Line." The story tells the horrors of war. Soldiers bond into a tight-knit group with emotions that develop into unity and family.

4. Saving Private Ryan starring multi-awarded actor Tom Hanks

5. The Patriot starring Mel Gibson

Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a reluctant hero, who later discovers that the only way to protect his family is to fight for a young nation's freedom.

6. Born on the Fourth of July

Tom Cruise delivers an engrossing unforgettable portrayal of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic. The film is based on a true story of a zealous teen who eagerly volunteers for the war, to an embittered veteran paralyzed mid-chest down.

Rose Flores Martinez