War Movie Theatre

Their egos writing cheques that their bodies can't cash, Rob and Duncan are joined by Top Gun superfan Marina Hyde to mark the 40th anniversary of the greatest film about naval aviators ever made. It's the movie that confirmed the status of Tom Cruise as a star, and also as a man who has no chemistry with his female co-leads. Is that because his real sparks were with Val Kilmer? Are Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan the secret sauce? Plus Marina takes us through the five hottest men in the film. You may be surprised by who isn't in there.Next week: to mark the World Cup, we're going to Escape To Victory (again).

One of the classic films of military misery, Jarhead is a tale of just how awful life can be if the US Marine Corps sends you to the desert. The true-ish story of one man's Gulf War I, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Peter Sarsgaard, it offered a ho-holds-barred portrayal of the way that making people into killers can leave them struggling to find their way back. We're joined by Owain Mulligan, whose memoir The Accidental Soldier is a funny, moving account of his own time in Iraq with the British Army after Gulf War II. Next week: Top Gun, with special guest Marina Hyde.

Short of ammo, short of water, and short of options, Humphrey Bogart is holding off the Nazis in this 1943 tale of wartime daring that was so popular it's been remade at least twice. Could anyone but Bogart have carried off the role? And is it really a parable about the future cooperation between nations? Next week: Jarhead, with Owain Mulligan

Is there a more classic World War 2 naval story? The Royal Navy's hunt for the mighty Bismarck retold as a detective story, as Kenneth More, deep in the Admiralty, directs the chase. Did it help that the producer's father-in-law could lend the production some battleships? Were they unfair to the Nastiest Nazi? And can a man who blubs win the Stiffest Upper Lip?Next week, by popular demand (sort of): Sahara (1943).

A classic tale of bravery, snobbery, heroism and idiocy, the first film in John Ford's Cavalry Trilogy cemented John Wayne as a leading man for Westerns. It's a tale of military life -- unless like Rob you skip the first half to get straight to the charging -- that also features one of Shirley Temple's final performances. But does Duncan know his Peter Fonda from his Bridget?Next week: Sink The Bismarck!

Norway 1940: the Nazis are arriving. The government is paralysed. And one man needs to help a country decide its future. The amazing true story of how Norway faced the invader. Listen even if you haven't seen the film as we discuss a small hinge of history.Next week: Fort Apache

"Ridley Scott's good Napoleonic Wars film." This week, the Bonapartist Duncan makes the case for this 1977 tale of honour and obsession, as Harvey Keitel chases Keith Carradine around Europe demanding to know if he spilled his pint. Joining us is James Landale, whose ancestor fought what is believed to be the last fatal duel in Scotland, the subject of his terrific history Duel.Next week: The King's Choice

For you, the war movies are over! Yes, we're watching the stone cold war movie classic The Colditz Story, a film which showed how the most fun a chap could have during the war was to be taken prisoner. Hang on, have we got that right? Perhaps there's a little more to the reality. But with John Mills and Eric Portman, why not just enjoy the myth?Next week: The Duellists (1977)

An absolute classic of war movie Sunday afternoons, it's a tale of American guts as George Segal and Ben Gazzara risk everything to try to capture the last bridge over the Rhine, while Robert Vaughn is the German trying to stop them. The film nearly caused an international incident after the producers had the brilliant idea of filming in Czechoslovakia in 1968 - what could go wrong? Next week: The Colditz Story.