Robin Williams plays to his strengths as a wise-cracking DJ sent to entertain the Marines in Vietnam in the Barry Levinson film that made him a star. His crazy routines make him a big hit with the troops, but Army think he's a loose cannon. The scenes in which Williams experiences the real war with the Vietnamese people are a little contrived, but somehow the actor manages to carry the audience with him. The film is also jam-packed with favourite 60s hits.

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One of the true classics of world cinema and a landmark anti-war statement by the great Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion is less about the rigours of modern combat than its dehumanizing influence on the participants. The story centres on two French soldiers, working class Lieutenant Maréchal (Gabin) and upper class Captain De Boeldieu (Fresnay), taken captive during the First World War. The significance of the film lies not in this action, however, but in the relationships and class dynamics. The 'grand illusion' itself is that the upper classes are somehow exempt from the barbarity of war.

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Steve McQueen is brilliantly opaque in this ace war film, about a mass breakout from Stalag Luft. The all-star ensemble includes James Coburn, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Garner. Once the boys have made their break-out, McQueen's attempt to motorcycle himself out of trouble rates as one of the most memorable action sequences ever, while the rest of the movie ticks along just nicely with its finely tuned mixture of humour counterpoised with darkness when many of the officers are re-captured and summarily executed.

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Gregory Peck leads a gang of mercenaries on the side of the allies in this much-loved Second World War action movie. Their mission, to destroy two German super-guns on a Greek island, maybe a little hard to swallow, but charismatic performances from Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn mean that it's hard not to get carried away with the story. The blockbuster adaptation of Alistair MacLean's novel garnered Oscar recognition for its special effects, and is considered by many a classic - a landmark in the action genre.

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