The 5 Most Realistic Army Movies, According to an Army Historian

It might surprise some war movie fans to know that at least one Army historian doesn't think there's anything special about "Saving Private Ryan" -- at least, not beyond its realistic D-Day battle scene.

In preparation for the service's upcoming 250th anniversary, former Army historian Dave Hogan created a list of Hollywood films that he says accurately and realistically portray the Army during the time periods of the wars they depict. Hogan's standards for realism appear stringent: For example, while he gives credit where it's due with 1993's "Gettysburg" for its depiction of accurate Civil War battle formations, he didn't include it on his final list because it downplayed how brutal and violent the battles could be. But the exclusion of "Saving Private Ryan," arguably one of the greatest World War II movies of all time, may strike many readers as sacrilege.

"So much was invested in that opening scene of the assault on the D-Day beach," Hogan, who recently retired from the U.S. Army Center for Military History after 37 years, told the Army News Service. "They really did capture a lot of the realism for that. But the rest of the movie struck me as ... a typical World War II movie."

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Here are the five movies Hogan says provide the most realistic depictions of the Army on the silver screen.

1. 'Black Hawk Down'

The now-legendary story of the U.S. Army's 1993 mission to capture top lieutenants loyal to Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid was documented in Mark Bowden's 1999 book. In 2001, director Ridley Scott adapted the book for the screen, with a star-studded cast that includes Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Jason Isaacs and William Fichtner. Hogan praised the movie as the most realistic Hollywood depiction of urban combat.

"It did feel authentic," Hogan said. "The feeling of isolation trying to work with each other in this environment. You don't always see the enemy who's shooting at you or the crowd surrounding the hell-bound helicopter."

2. 'Fury'

"Fury" stars Brad Pitt as Staff Sgt. Don "Wardaddy" Collier, an M4 Sherman tank commander in the 2nd Armored Division in World War II Europe. When his driver is suddenly killed, the tight-knit crew gets a replacement, a green typist who has never seen combat. In the film, the Shermans are outclassed by German Tiger tanks, which wreak havoc on their progress.

Not only did director David Ayer, himself a veteran, insist on period-accurate uniforms, but Hogan told the Army News Service that the plot of "Fury" is historically accurate. American and Allied tank crews in World War II, he said, worked hard to overcome the superiority of many German tanks.

3. 'From Here to Eternity'

Winner of eight Academy Awards, 1953's "From Here to Eternity" stars Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra. It depicts military life in Hawaii in the months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor -- and it's far from a whitewashed Hollywood version.

Hogan says "From Here to Eternity" captures the prewar U.S. military's obsession with sports, where the Army encouraged its soldiers to join basketball and baseball teams, along with boxing and other sports. It might be because the film was based on a 1951 book of the same name that was considered so accurate, author James Jones was nearly sued for invasion of privacy.

4. 'Cold Mountain'

This 2003 Civil War drama stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renée Zellweger. Law is William Inman, a Confederate infantryman from North Carolina who is wounded in 1864 and decides to desert to return home to his lady love. The movie opens with Inman fighting at the Battle of the Crater, which Hogan lauded for showing the true "goriness" of the Civil War.

"It was just a brutally realistic portrayal of the hand-to-hand fighting, the way that Union forces were trapped in the crater trying to get at the Confederate forces," Hogan said.

5. 'The Thin Red Line'

Director Terrence Malick's 1998 movie "The Thin Red Line" is another adaptation of a James Jones book. This time, the movie is depicting the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal -- specifically the Army's role in taking Mount Austen during the battle. Starring Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Adrien Brody, John Cusack, George Clooney and more, the movie received universal praise for its accuracy in showing the Army operating in the Pacific during World War II.

"There was something about that movie that I just found more convincing than 'Saving Private Ryan,' in terms of how it portrayed the way Nick Nolte plays the officer and trying to make this advance against an unseen enemy," Hogan said.

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