An excellent adaptation of Hemingway's romantic novel, the tale of love blossoming between an American soldier (Gary Cooper) and a British nurse (Helen Hayes), set in Italy during the First World War. The story of their difficult relationship develops as Cooper's character attempts to come to terms with the meaning and purpose of war. The two leads are ideal and irresistible here, particularly a reliably sensitive Cooper, who milks his everyman appeal to great effect. Charles Lang's lush cinematography won a deserved Oscar.

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Oscar-showered adaptation of James Jones' novel about military corruption, romance and boxing at an army camp on Hawaii, just prior to Pearl Harbor. A tough story on corruption in the military is set against America's lack of knowledge about the impending Japanese attack. Probably best remember for an infamous love scene on the beach between Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster and for reviving the career of Frank Sinatra, who turns in an Oscar winning performance as Private Maggio.

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Only the genius of Stanley Kubrick could get away with staging Vietnam in London's Isle Of Dogs. Matthew Modine is among the new recruits undergoing brutal training at the hands of drill intructor R Lee Ermey. Dehumanised and turned into killing machines, they are then unleashed into the battle to suffer the misery of war. Bleak and darkly funny, Full Metal Jacket suggests that there is so much war, because men enjoy it.

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