Bradley Cooper is set to return to the big screen this week as he leads the cast in American Sniper, which sees him team up with director Clint Eastwood for the first time.

American Sniper

American Sniper

The movie is based on the memoir of U.S. Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and will see Cooper take on the role of Kyle alongside Sienna Miller and Kyle Gallner.

There have been some great war movies over the years and we take a look at some of the best movies in this genre to have hit the big screen in the last decade.

- Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Eastwood is no stranger to the war genre having been behind World War II movie Flags of our Fathers back in 2006.

The movie was based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers and follows the life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

Hard to believe that Flags of Our Fathers is a movie that is over a decade old and yet it remains a powerful piece of war cinema from Clint Eastwood. As much as it is a movie about a particular moment in the war, it is also about the war that goes on within a man as he struggles to cope with what he experiences.

We go on a real journey with these men as their experiences in the war change them and their lives forever. It really is about the internal battle that men struggle with to survive the horror that faces them. From start to finish, Flags of Our Fathers is a powerful piece of cinema.

Eastwood has brought a feeling of realism to the battle scenes as well as creating a complex character study of the main characters. This is a movie that will shock as well as cry. Eastwood really is on top of his game with this film.

- The Hurt Locker (2009)

For me, The Hurt Locker was the film of 2009 as it was a real triumph from director Kathryn Bigelow and deserved all of the praise and awards that came its way.

What is so great about The Hurt Locker is that it is not about how great American military forces are, it is not really about us vs them, it just follows the difficult job faced by a bomb disposal squad.

This was more than just another Iraq war movie, this was a visceral and heart-pounding war movie that put audiences in the middle of a conflict and demonstrated the damaging impact that war has on those who fight it.

The Hurt Locker was the movie that really put both Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie on the movie map and it is this central relationship that really pushes the film forward.

This is movie that was an intense as it was gripping and really will have you on the edge of your seat wondering which of these great characters was going to make it out alive. The Hurt Locker went on to scoop the Best Picture Oscar, while Bigelow became the first female filmmaker to win Best Director.

- Inglourious Basterds (2009)

It was back in the summer of 2009 that director Quentin Tarantino tackled the war genre for the first time as he wrote and directed Inglourious Basterds.

Inglourious Basterds is set in Nazi-occupied France during the World War II and follows a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers, which coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.

Tarantino masterfully mixes a range of genres with Inglourious Basterds as he brings together elements of the war genre, heist movies, action, and comedy - resulting in a one of a kind film that only Tarantino could have been behind.

For me, this was the best Tarantino movie since Pulp Fiction, as it was action packed as well as being entertaining and a lot of fun. Of course, it is completely absurd but that is what makes it such a gem of a movie.

Christoph Waltz gives the standout performance as Col. Hans Landa - for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar - but the likes of Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, and Daniel Bruhl are all also superb.

- Zero Dark Thirty (2013)

We have already heaped praise on one Kathryn Bigelow movie with The Hurt Locker, but she returned to the war genre in 2013 with Zero Dark Thirty - which was also terrific film from the director.

Bigelow was back in the director's chair while she reunited with Mark Boal who penned the screenplay - he also wrote The Hurt Locker and won an Oscar for his work.

Zero Dark Thirty was a movie that chronicled the decade long search for Osama bin Laden from the September 2001 attacks to his death at the hands of the Navy SEALS in May 2011.

For course, we all know how this story is going to end, but that does not mean that Zero Dark Thirty is not a gripping and suspenseful watch. Bigelow is not afraid to show the dirtier side of war - even if the film was criticised for showing the torture of those detained.

Jessica Chastain gives a terrific central performance in what is an exhilarating and intelligent movie. If you haven't seen Zero Dark Thirty then it is definitely a movie that you need to watch if you are a fan of this genre.

- Lone Survivor (2014)

Lone Survivor is one of the most recent additions to the war genre and it was one of my favourite movies of 2014. Lone Survivor saw director Peter Berg put the horror of Battleship behind him as brought the memoir by Marcus Luttrell to the big screen.

Starring Mark Wahlberg in the central role as Luttrell, the movie follows him and his team as they set on a mission to capture or kill a notorious Taliban leader in the summer of 2005. However, the mission does not go as planned and the Navy SEALS are left fighting for their lives.

Lone Survivor really is one of the most powerful and harrowing war movies that we have seen in some time - the battle scenes are so incredibly authentic that it will get you heart pumping and your blood racing. Director Peter Berg has really been able to capture the desperate nature of their situation and how they battled to the very end.

Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster really do capture and convey the panic of Luttrell, Murphy, Dietz, and Axelson felt, as they were outnumbered, outgunned, and fighting on a terrain that they were not totally comfortable with. However, the brotherhood that existed between these four SEALS shines through as they fight beside and for each other in a desperate attempt to survive.

Berg in no way glorifies war with Lone Survivor, instead, he pays tribute and honours those who have fought and died for their country. Also, Berg has not made the Taliban these evil figures killing American soldiers - it is a movie that really does not play politics. This is a movie that stayed with me long after the credits rolled and I immediately went out and bought the book.

- The Pacific (2010)

Now, I know that The Pacific is not a movie but it is worthy of an honorary mention as it was a terrific piece of television. The Pacific was a companion piece to the critically acclaimed Band of Brothers and followed the U.S. Marine Corps as they fought in the Pacific against the Japanese.

While many said it wasn't as good as Band of Brothers, I had to disagree, as it was a powerful look at the horror faced by those who fought their war against in the Pacific.

This was a series that once again showed the perils of fighting a war and didn't shy away from showing the horror that these men faced on a daily basis. As well as being a great war story, it is also a fantastic human story about the men who tried to keep themselves alive.

These are men who had to go through horrors that we can only imagine and some of them returned home drastically changed people - the performances by James Badge Dale and Joe Mazzello really do help demonstrate this point.

The Pacific was a miniseries that I enjoyed immensely, and I went on to read Robert Leckie's - played by Dale - memoir Helmet For My Pillow. This is fantastic follow up to Band of Brothers and told a very different war story.

American Sniper is released 16th January.


by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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