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Best U.s. navy Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of u.s. navy cinema — measured across 1,020 indexed frames from 12 films, against a 404,689-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

U.s. navy films over-index on sailor, fighter jet and medals — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    Crimson Tide (1995)

    Tony ScottDP Dariusz WolskiIMDb 7.4TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →

    When some Russian rebels take control of some ICBM's, the Americans mobilize. Among the vessels sent is the nuclear sub, USS Alabama. But before they leave they need a new X.O. and among the choices is Commander Hunter, who hasn't seen much action. But the ship's Captain, Ramsey, OK's him. While on the way, there was an incident and Hunter disagreed with how Ramsey handled it. It's evident that Ramsey doesn't think much of Hunter because Hunter was college educated while Ramsey worked his way up. They're given orders to attack but when they were in the process of receiving another order, the ship's communications were damaged, so the entire message was not received. Ramsey decides to continue with their previous order while Hunter wants to reestablish contact first. That's when the two men butt heads that ends with Hunter relieving Ramsey. Later when some men die, some of the officers feel that Hunter is not up to the task so they team up to retake control. But Hunter has taken precautions.

  2. 2

    Top Gun (1986)

    Tony ScottDP Jeffrey L. KimballIMDb 7.0TMDB 7.1See in full on FrameThrower →

    US Navy Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, call sign Maverick--an impetuous, daredevil pilot ace--is accepted into Top Gun, Miramar's elite Fighter School. But there, the impulsive young pilot will have to compete with the best of the best, including Iceman, a brilliant and highly competitive fellow student. Now, Mitchell must give his all; however, his father's mysterious and untimely demise still haunts him. Can Maverick prove his worth to Charlie, the flying school's no-nonsense astrophysics instructor? Will he be able to suppress his wild nature to win the prestigious Top Gun Trophy?

  3. 3

    A Few Good Men (1992)

    Rob ReinerDP Robert RichardsonIMDb 7.7TMDB 7.5See in full on FrameThrower →

    In this dramatic courtroom thriller, LT Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom, defends two stubborn Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague. Kaffee is known as being lazy and had arranged for a plea bargain. Downey's Aunt Ginny appoints Cmdr. Galloway to represent him. Also on the legal staff is LTJG Sam Weinberg. The team rounds up many facts and Kaffee is discovering that he is really cut out for trial work. The defense is originally based upon the fact that PFC Santiago, the victim, was given a "CODE RED". Santiago was basically a screw-up. At Gitmo, screw-ups aren't tolerated. Especially by Col. Nathan Jessup. In Cuba, Jessup and two senior officers try to give all the help they can, but Kaffee knows something's fishy. In the conclusion of the film, the fireworks are set off by a confrontation between Jessup and Kaffee.

  4. 4

    Battleship (2012)

    Peter BergDP Tobias A. SchliesslerIMDb 5.8TMDB 5.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    When mankind beams a radio signal into space, a reply comes from ‘Planet G’, in the form of several alien crafts that splash down in the waters off Hawaii. Lieutenant Alex Hopper is a weapons officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones, part of an international naval coalition which becomes the world's last hope for survival as they engage the hostile alien force of unimaginable strength. While taking on the invaders, Hopper must also try to live up to the potential that his brother, and his fiancée's father—an Admiral—expect of him.

  5. 5

    No Way Out (1987)

    Roger DonaldsonDP John AlcottIMDb 7.1TMDB 6.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    Tom Farrell is a navy officer who gets posted at the Pentagon and is to report to the secretary of defense David Brice. He starts an affair with Susan Atwell not knowing that she is Brice's mistress. When Susan is found dead, Tom is assigned to the case of finding the killer who is believed to be a KGB mole! Tom could soon become a suspect when a Polaroid negative of him was found at Susan's place. He now has only a few hours to find the killer before the computer regenerates the photo.

  6. 6

    Behind Enemy Lines (2001)

    John MooreDP Brendan GalvinIMDb 6.4TMDB 6.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Fighter navigator Chris Burnett wants out: he was looking for something more than the boring recon missions he's been flying. He finds himself flying the lone Christmas day mission over war-torn Bosnia. But when he talks pilot Stackhouse into flying slightly off-course to check out an interesting target, the two get shot down. Burnett is soon alone, trying to outrun a pursuing army, while commanding officer Reigert finds his rescue operation hamstrung by politics, forcing Burnett to run far out of his way.

  7. 7

    The Hunt for Red October (1990)

    John McTiernanDP Jan de BontIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!

  8. 8

    The Abyss (1989)

    James CameronDP Mikael SalomonIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →

    A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.

What u.s. navy films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a u.s. navy frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — sailor is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • sailor134.2×
  • fighter jet120.2×
  • medals48.2×
  • military uniform18.4×
  • american flag9.1×
  • uniform6.8×
  • microphone3.8×
  • baseball cap3.3×

How u.s. navy films are shot

Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate u.s. navy from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.

  • 88%eye levelvs 69% baseline

What breaks the pattern

Mississippi Burning (1988) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 1,020 frames from 12 films carrying the u.s. navy label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (404,689 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/u-s-navy

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