Movies about the Navy or Navy SEALs always promise to be suspenseful, tense, action-packed, and have you questioning what’s right and what’s wrong. Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to choose what they think is the best movie under a certain topic related to a new release. So this week, with the release of Without Remorse, we counted down our favorite Navy movies. Let us know @SiftPop what your ranking is!
Time crunch Frank here to talk about The Rock by Michael Bay and starring the fantastic Nic Cage and Sean Diddy Williams Connery. Some bad dudes took over Alcatraz with some weapons so Cage and Connery, along with some Navy SEALs, sneak in to take it back and things quickly go sideways. Bay, coming off of Bad Boys, does a fantastic job of mixing action and humor. Some may say this is peak Bay, and I agree. Trust me. Have I lead you wrong before? Probably. But The Rock is a must see. (Frank Kemp)
I’m going to be completely honest here — I think Bumblebee is the best Transformers movie of the series. There’s so much to love about this movie alone. I know people can feel tired of the 80s decade setting, but it feels at home for a prequel to this series. I’d also argue that the CGI on the Transformers are the best here because the detail looks incredible on each Autobot and Decepticon. A huge complaint of the series is how hard it is to take in the detail on each Transformer, and here it looks so clean up close. Another thing I can’t forget is how fun Hailee Steinfeld is as our main character. Her relationship with Bee is the reason I love rewatching this movie. And John Cena has the best line out of this entire series: “They literally call themselves Decepticons. That doesn’t set off any red flags?” This one is a high recommend from me. (Alex Henderson)
Strap yourself in, light the afterburners, and call Kenny Loggins, because we’re going into the danger zone this week with 1986’s Top Gun, starring some actors you might have heard of in Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. This film depicting the training of pilots at the United States Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Program is very much my kind of film. While it may be odd for me to compare this movie to a Best Picture winner, the aerial combat on show through this movie reminds me very much of the 1927 film, Wings, one of my favorite movies of all time, and manages to hit me almost on point. While some moments do drag for me, the beauty of the F-14 Tomcat in flight packs energy that can make the hair on your neck stand at attention. This combination of the most iconic Navy fighter since the F4U Corsair, a cast that fits this film like a glove, and some truly iconic music makes this film well worth the watch, and you don’t even have to enlist aboard the USS Essess to have a blast. (Joseph Davis)
What makes a film a truly “American” film? Is it the love letter to our military and the sacrifice that they make? Is it the story of an all-American man who volunteers to protect his fellow countrymen? Is it the fact that it is directed by a true American film legend, Clint Eastwood? Or is it because it is starring a rising star of American cinema, Bradley Cooper? How about all of the above? Eastwood’s American Sniper tells the story of military man and hero, Chris Kyle. The film tracks his rise in the military fighting in the Middle East, to the troubling effects of war has on him, to the tragic end that struck him down. Do you want to see what our military men and women do accompanied by incredibly tense filmmaking? Go no further than American Sniper. (Shane Conto)
Name a movie that does genre-bending better that John McTiernan’s Predator. No? You can’t! You have Arnold at the top of his game in a jungle with soldiers and then it shifts to become a horror film. Only a master like McTiernan can pull this off with such precision and such love for the two genres. The action is loud and explosive and filled with quotable and classic 80s one-liners. The horror is built up with so much heightened tension that it acts as a Home Alone for adults until all the dominos start to collapse on one another. If there is one word to call Predator, that word would be “masterful.” (John Bizub)
“How soon is too soon?” has become a real conversation when it comes to real life retellings. This is one case where that works out well. Released less than two years after the Navy SEALs’ raid that killed Osama bin Laden, this Katheryn Bigelow directed flick is a masterclass in how to do tension. We know how this story ends, but we’re invested in Jessica Chastain’s crusade to catch bin Laden. The crown jewel is the raid on the compound itself, which is executed flawlessly, and is probably a big reason the movie took home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Sound Editing. When trying to bring one of the most famous military operations of modern history to life, there’s a high bar to clear. This film does so with ease. (Jake Bourgeois)
What film has the greatest collection of Russian actors of all time? Well… not this one but it might have the greatest collection of non-Russian actors playing Russian! Queue, The Hunt for Red October. Do you care that Sean Connery is VERY obviously Scottish and doesn’t seem Russian at all? No, because he is impeccable in the role of Russian submarine captain, Marko Ramius. Add the likes of Sam Neill, Tim Curry, and Stellan Skarsgard and you have quite the band of (non) Russians. Alec Baldwin is the first cinematic Jack Ryan and he certainly leaves an impression. Throw in John McTiernan, the man who gave us Die Hard and Predator, and you have great tension that helps define 80’s action/thrillers. (Shane Conto)
Aaron Sorkin has made a name for himself by telling stories that have a patriotic flair. He shows a system and the difficulty of being in said system, and oftentimes has a character reluctant to do the obvious right thing. A Few Good Men is all the story of Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), a hotshot naval lawyer who can get the outcome he wants before even entering the courtroom. When a solider dies at Guantanamo and things don’t look right, it pits him against his own self doubt and the high ranking Colonel Jessup (Jack Nicholson), who is terrifyingly strong in his convictions and methodology. The entire cast performs some of the most memorable scenes in cinema history and the music is downright patriotic. This film always leaves me amazed by how well orchestrated it is, and it makes a strong impression from the first moment to the last. (Evan Lucken)
For an unfortunate amount of time, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was always just that movie that came out the same year as Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and therefore never had any of the draw that those did. But it deserves to be so much more well known. Helmed by the reliable Peter Weir, the movie is absolutely breathtaking. It fully drops you right into the story and really holds on for the next two hours. It’s full of riveting action/adventure set pieces, while also feeling very grounded in its approach to the humans. Russell Crowe was also riding a wave in his career (pun intended, of course) where it didn’t seem like he could miss. He is perfect in the role, executing the perfect amount of charm, authority, cunning, and discipline to be taken seriously as a Captain in the Navy. Paul Bettany is also a standout, again giving another one of his ever-charming and fantastic performances. The specific chemistry between the two of them makes me singlehandedly wish there were more stories in this universe. Master and Commander has all the fun of an action/adventure film while also incorporating the perfect amount of historical reality for it to feel fully realized. If you have somehow missed this movie, now is better than ever to experience what I consider to be a wonderful surprise. (Nashua Doll)
Thanks to COVID-19 robbing me of my sense of smell, I cannot tell you what it’s like to smell napalm in the morning (that coupled with the fact that I am not cut out for the military), but I can tell you my thoughts on the Francis Ford Coppola war epic, Apocalypse Now. Let me tell you: never have I felt so enraptured in both awe and horror at a film depicting the horrors of the Vietnam War than I have been with this film. Martin Sheen brings a stellar and mesmerizing performance as Benjamin Willard, sent to hunt down Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz, who has entrenched himself deep in Cambodia, with the assistance of a navy patrol boat. Coppola’s touches on this are astounding, despite the infamously difficult production, with cinematography that is miles ahead of almost any other film of the time, and a cast filled with modern movie icons, such as Laurence Fishbourne, Robert Duvall, and Harrison Ford, each portraying a unique character that you cannot forget. It also does something that few war films do, with a heavy fog of war overlaying everything, leaving shades of grey where other films might have black and white, and making it clear that there is no one with moral superiority. This film is not for the faint of heart, including one scene that circumvented U.S. animal cruelty laws that firmly comes with a trigger warning. Few films will capture your attention quite like Apocalypse Now. (Joseph Davis)
Honorable Mentions
G.I. Jane
The Armed Forces in the 90s were well documented for treating women unfairly. Women were not granted permission to be a part of ground combat units and fight for their country simply due to their gender. G.I. Jane speaks to this message loud and clear, and it doesn’t dodge the ugliness that women had to go through while being a part of the U.S. Military. This film starts with Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) getting permission to enroll Lt. Jordan O’Neill (Demi Moore) in one of the most grueling Military Programs there is: the U.S. Navy SEALs/C.R.T. Selection Program. O’Neill is used as a test case for possible gender integration in the Navy SEALs. Throughout this film, nobody wants her to succeed and they use vile tactics in order to make her pack her bags. Little by little, you get to see O’Neill dig down deep because she realizes the importance of the situation and that this is something larger than herself. Demi Moore demonstrates the veracity and grit it takes to surpass all boundaries in a time where women were not seen as true soldiers. I believe even today, the message of this movie rings clear and I am humbled by the sacrifice that these brave women make to serve their country each and every day. (Joe Vargas)
Tears of the Sun
Released literally weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Tears of the Sun offered a gritty, realistic look of Navy SEALs in combat before the W.O.T. shined a light on their real-world exploits. Unlike many action movies from the 80s and 90s where the heroes are borderline invincible, the SEALs from Sun are shown to be human, albeit supremely trained and equipped. Director Antoine Fuqua followed up the success of Training Day with this engaging and fun film. It offers everything one would want in an action movie: the casting is great, the story is engaging, the production values are spot on, and there are moments where one believes our heroes are in actual peril. But if my impassioned words here are not enough to convince you of how good Sun is, how about former Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke, who called Tears of the Sun one of “his favorite Navy SEAL movies.” If that high praise is not enough to convince you of this BEC movie, I don’t know what else can! (Donald Skidmore)
Also see: Midway, U-571, Das Boot, Crimson Tide, Under Siege, Pearl Harbor, Lone Survivor, Annapolis, and 13 Hours