With Memorial Day coming up on Monday May 31st, I would like to thank all veterans and active members of the Armed Forces for their service and sacrifice.
The combat/war movie is one of the first genres of film I remember watching consistently when I was young, mostly on a black and white television at my grandparents house back in the day. There were so many that I watched without learning the titles or knowing the actors that when I would recognize a scene watching it again by coincidence decades later, I would be transported back to the first time I watched it, developing a greater appreciation for the film. The first war film I can remember having that experience with was 1943’s Sahara starring Humphrey Bogart. Over thirty years had passed from my first screening to my rediscovery, and it quickly made its way to my list of personal favorites. Once my family got cable TV in the early 80’s I would be introduced to Peter Weir’s Gallipoli, Sam Fuller’s The Big Red One and Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory to name a few.
Each year leading up to Memorial Day I list the military themed films and documentaries available on streaming services and that will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies, and make an effort to exclude any comedies or satires in this genre. This year TCM has a great lineup of films for Memorial Day weekend, including Sergeant York, The Steel Helmet and Battleground on Monday May 31st. On streaming services Amazon Prime leads with over forty notable films included with subscriptions (as of my gathering of this list on May 25th). HBO Max has nineteen, including 2001’s series Band of Brothers which I have always considered “must watch.” And for Tubi, in addition to the films listed below there are a large number of documentaries on the Civil War, World Wars I & II and the Vietnam War.
Turner Classic Movies
Friday May 28th:
8:00 PM Pride of The Marines (1945)
10:15 PM Til the End of Time (1946)
Saturday May 29th:
12:15 AM The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
9:00 AM Destination Tokyo (1943)
1:45 PM Darby’s Rangers (1958)
6:00 PM Imitation General (1958)
Sunday May 30th:
3:15 AM Merrill’s Marauders (1962)
12:00 PM The Devil’s Brigade (1968)
4:45 PM The Green Berets (1968)
7:15 PM Memphis Belle (1944)
8:00 PM The Great Escape (1963)
Monday May 31st:
7:00 AM Ace of Aces (1933)
8:30 AM Sergeant York (1941)
3:15 PM The Steel Helmet (1951)
4:45 PM Target Zero (1958)
6:30 PM The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
8:00 PM Battleground (1949)
Amazon Prime
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Gallipoli (1981)
Go for Broke! (1951)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
Rescue Dawn (2007)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
The Great Escape (1963)
Journey’s End (2018)
The Devil’s Brigade (1968)
American Experience: The Battle of Chosin (2016)
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
War for a New Nation (2001)
Vietnam: 50 Years Remembered (2015)
In Which We Serve (1942)
World War I: The Long Shadow (2006)
War in the Pacific: Eagle Against the Sun (2015)
The Ultimate Civil War Series (2012)
The Rats of Tobruk (1944)
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
Target for Tonight (1941)
Gung Ho (1943)
Flying Tigers (1942)
Minesweeper (1943)
WWII in HD (2009)
Silent Wings: The American Glider Pilots of WWII (2007)
Dick Winters: “Hang Tough” (2013)
Medal of Honor (2008)
The Rape of Europa (2007)
The Last Days of Patton (1986)
Prelude to War (1942)
Warriors Five (1962)
Journey Home to the USS Arizona (2017)
True Glory (1945)
The First World War: The Peoples Story (2018)
Heroes of the Forgotten War: The Battle of Kapyong (2011)
True War Stories (2015)
Jacknife (1989)
Black Hawk Down: The Untold Story (2019)
The First American (2015)
HBO Max
Band of Brothers (2001)
The Pacific (2010)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
Dunkirk (2017)
Darkest Hour (2017)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995)
We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company (2001)
George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin (1994)
Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops From the Battlefield (2004)
Taking Chance (2009)
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (2013)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
Hearts and Minds (1975)
War Dog: A Soldier’s Best Friend (2017)
Tubi
Tobruk (1967)
The Way Ahead (1945)
Journey’s End (2017)
Paths of Glory (1958)
Memphis Belle (1990)
The Hanoi Hilton (1987)
A Bond Unbroken (2017)
The Field Afar (2019)
Hell Squad (1958)
Vietnam: 50 Years Remembered (2015)
Gung Ho (1943)
Go For Broke! (1951)
Hulu
Legion of Brothers (2017)
The Last Full Measure (2019)
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Citizen Soldier (2016)
The Messenger (2009)
Netflix
Father Soldier Son (2020)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Fante's Inferno 