Best Military Movies To Watch on June 6, D-Day

June 6, 1944. Today marks the 72nd anniversary of D-Day.

On June 7th, Paramount Home Media Distribution will release director Michael Bay’s remarkable 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI.

Hailed as “powerful” (Kyle Smith, New York Post), “engrossing” (Soren Andersen, Seattle Times) and “full of explosive action” (Dan Casey, Nerdist), the film arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand this Tuesday. (Review)

13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI tells the incredible true story of six elite ex-military operators who fought to protect the CIA against overwhelming odds when terrorists attacked a U.S. diplomatic compound on September 11, 2012. The film stars John Krasinski (TV’s “The Office”), James Badge Dale (World War Z) and Pablo Schreiber (TV’s “Orange is the New Black”), and is based on the nonfiction novel 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by New York Times best-selling author Mitchell Zuckoff with the members of the Annex Security Team.

The 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI three-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack with Digital HD includes an hour of bonus content featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the six ex-military operators recounting the extraordinary detail involved in recreating the events from the attack. Plus, join the cast and crew as they highlight the filmmaking process and how director Michael Bay brought the film to life.

Read our interview with real life heroes John “Tig” Tiegen and Mark “Oz” Geist HERE

Order the film: http://www.amazon.com/13-Hours-Soldiers-Benghazi-Blu-ray/dp/B018IDVB3U/ref=sr_1_2_twi_blu_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464958573&sr=8-2&keywords=13+Hours

During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. (History.com)

In his article for MilitaryTimes.com, Christopher Kelly writes, “This June 6, raise a glass and toast the heroism of all those young men who fought to liberate America’s oldest ally from Nazi occupation. Without their service and sacrifice, our world would be a darker place. General Patton may have summed it up best when he said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

To honor all these heroes, past present and future, WAMG looks at the cinemas’ Best Military-themed Films.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Director Steven Spielberg’s film won five Academy Awards and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Based on a World War II drama. US soldiers try to save their comrade, paratrooper Private Ryan, who’s stationed behind enemy lines.

FULL METAL  JACKET

The story of an 18-year-old marine recruit named Private Joker – from his carnage-and-machismo boot camp to his climactic involvement in the heavy fighting in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. The Stanley Kubrick movie stars Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Dorian Harewood, Vincent D’onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, John Terry and Arliss Howard.

AMERICAN SNIPER

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is sent to Iraq with only one mission to protect his brothers-in-arms. His pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and, as stories of his courageous exploits spread, he earns the nickname “Legend”. However, his reputation is also growing behind enemy lines, putting a price on his head and making him a prime target of insurgents. He is also facing a different kind of battle on the home front: striving to be a good husband and father from halfway around the world. Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the spirit of the SEAL creed to “leave no one behind.” But upon returning to his wife, Taya Renae Kyle (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind. Director Clint Eastwood’s movie received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Cooper, winning one award for Best Sound Editing

BLACK HAWK DOWN

From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, The Martian) and, renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon) and screenwriter Ken Nolan comes a gripping true story about bravery, camaraderie and the complex reality of war.

The film features a large ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Tom Hardy, and Sam Shepard. It won two Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing at the 74th Academy Awards

APOCALYPSE NOW

This is the definitive version of Francis Ford Coppola’s stunning vision of the heart of darkness in all of us. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, this classic and compelling Vietnam War epic stars Martin Sheen as Army Captain Willard|a troubled man sent on a dangerous and mesmerizing odyssey into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade American colonel named Kurtz (Marlon Brando)|who has succumbed to the horrors of war and barricaded himself in a remote outpost.

PLATOON

Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two commanding officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two officers and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.

Oliver Stone’s film stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, John C. McGinley, Richard Edson and Kevin Dillon.

LONE SURVIVOR

Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, LONE SURVIVOR tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative. The four men must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish. Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) leads an all-star cast including Taylor Kitsch (Savages), Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma), Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), and Eric Bana (Munich) in director Peter Berg’s movie hailed by critics as “unforgettable, tense, and inspiring.”

KELLY’S HEROES

Clint Eastwood, Carroll O’Connor and Donald Sutherland embark on the funniest mission of WWII as they plot to steal a fortune in Nazi gold from behind enemy

BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Battle of Britain is a 1969 British Second World War film directed by Guy Hamilton. Starring Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Cristopher Plummer, Ian McShane and Harry Andrews, the film is an account of the Battle of Britain, when in the summer and autumn of 1940 the British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on the Luftwaffe and so ensured the cancellation of Operation Sea Lion – Adolf Hitler’s plan to invade Britain.

THE THIN RED LINE

Based on the graphic novel by James Jones, filmmaker Terrence Malick‘s THE THIN RED LINE tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. A powerful frontline cast – including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney – explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.

THE DIRTY DOZEN

World War II. An impossible mission … The fate of the Allied invasion hanging in the balance … 12 men with nothing left to lose. Now the fate of the free world depends on a group of convicted murderers, thieves and thugs–The Dirty Dozen. Twelve American military prisoners are offered parole–if they complete a suicide mission behind enemy lines just before D-Day. After weeks of grueling training, they are dressed in German uniforms, dropped deep behind enemy lines and left on their own to complete their mission and try to get out alive. Based on the novel by E.M. Nathanson.

The film features Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Donald Sutherland, James Brown, Robert Ryan, Richard Jaeckel and Telly Savalas.

HELL IN THE PACIFIC

Hell in the Pacific is a 1968 World War II film starring Lee Marvin and Toshirō Mifune, the only two actors in the entire film. It was directed by John Boorman.

FURY

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

The film also featured Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Brad William Henke, Jim Parrack, Xavier Samuel and Scott Eastwood. One of the standouts of David Ayer’s film was the amazing score from Oscar-winning composer Steven Price (GRAVITY).