I think they all three rate high artistically, and as statements about the Vietnam War. Platoon may not seem as 'artistic,' but it's just a great movie. It shows a lot about the demographics and social life and the drugs that the others overlook, too. It's an intense military/war experience. And I think these three rate up there with the all-time great war movies.

Private Ryan has a stunningly bold and realistic opening battle sequence, and the rest is conventional, sugary -- and sucks, to be honest. Das Boot is a great flick, but I'd think of it more as a thriller/military actioner than as a serous war movie. Die Brucke to me is one of the greatest anti-war movies ever made. It's clearly an indictment not only of Nazi Germany, but also of war in general: of the fact that war takes the cream of male youth, and kills them.

Maybe the jury's still out on The Pianist; too soon to say. I was deeply impressed. There was considerable debate about it on this website. For some the long wordless segment doesn't seem to work. It fits partly in the Holocaust category, and partly in the picaresque-muddling through (wartime branch) bio category, like Europa, Europa, or Kozinski's novel The Painted Bird. Some as a depiction of the Holocaust would prefer Schindler's List; but then others consider Schindler's List too specialized (and upbeat) a segment of the Holocaust. You can't please people on that topic, clearly.