6 of the Best Military Movies Featuring Alan Arkin

Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin died on June 29, 2023, at the age of 89, leaving behind a career that spanned eight decades. Arkin never personally served in the military but played a memorable handful of roles about the military, sentiments of war and conflict and people who did serve.

No matter what anyone thinks of the following six movies, they would not be the same without Arkin and his uniquely colorful dramatic performance or deadpan brand of comedy. They’re not all award-winning movies, but Arkin’s performance in them is often the best part.

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966)

"The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" was released at the height of Cold War paranoia and put Arkin in his first major film role as a Soviet submarine commander. When their sub hits a sandbar off the coast of New England, the Russian crew makes landfall to try to find a boat to help dislodge it.

With the sudden appearance of Russians with guns, the residents of a local small town are thrown into disarray. Amid a series of misunderstandings, the Russian crew and the townspeople teeter dangerously close to conflict.

Catch-22 (1970)

This first adaptation of Joseph Heller's 1961 World War II classic novel is probably Arkin at his finest. Set in a fictional airbase during the war, pilot Capt. John Yossarian becomes increasingly skeptical of his chances of survival and wants to escape flying any more missions.

The catch in question is that any pilot would have to be crazy to want to fly more missions, and if he's crazy, he can't fly any. But if he says he's crazy and can't fly, then he must be sane, because no sane person would want to fly. Although "Catch-22" was a box-office success, it received mixed reviews from critics at the time.

The Defection of Simas Kudirka (1978)

In 1970, Lithuanian sailor Simas Kudirka jumped from his ship, a Soviet trawler, onto the deck of an American Coast Guard vessel. He intended to seek asylum, but the Americans allowed Soviet troops to board and take Kudirka into custody. President Richard Nixon personally saw to the punishment of the U.S. officers involved.

Kudirka was sent to the Soviet gulags for four years. Upon release, he was allowed to move to the United States, where he began a campaign condemning the Lithuanian Soviet regime. Arkin portrayed Kudirka in this 1978 made-for-television movie, which also featured a real Coast Guard ship and used Merchant Marine Academy cadets as extras.

Escape from Sobibor (1987)

In October 1943, prisoners of the Sobibor concentration camp in occupied Poland managed to kill 11 of their guards, allowing for a mass prison break where half of the camp's 600-prisoner population escaped. All but 50 were later recaptured, but the Germans ordered the camp closed, destroyed and buried. "Escape from Sobibor" recreates this real-life story.

Arkin stars as Leon Feldhendler, a Jewish resistance operative from Poland imprisoned at Sobibor. With the help of Sasha Pechersky (Rutger Hauer, "Blind Fury"), a Soviet POW, they devise a plan to kill their guards and escape with as many prisoners as possible.

The Pentagon Papers (2003)

This 2003 drama retells the true story of RAND Corporation's Daniel Ellsberg (James Spader, "The Blacklist") who famously released a top-secret study on decision-making during the Vietnam War to The New York Times and other news outlets. The study's contents revealed the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson had lied to Congress about the size and scope of the U.S. military mission in Vietnam.

"The Pentagon Papers" also starred Arkin as Harry Rowen, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and Paul Giamatti ("John Adams") as Ellsberg's colleague at RAND. Although Ellsberg himself noted inaccuracies in the script, he said the feeling and message of the movie were both good, and hoped it encouraged more whistleblowers.

Argo (2012)

"Argo" stars Ben Affleck ("Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice") as real-world CIA officer Tony Mendez, who was tasked with facilitating the escape of six American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran unharmed. Mendez teamed with real Hollywood producers to make a fake movie (also called "Argo") in the Islamic Republic as a means of their escape.

Although actor John Goodman's character, John Chambers, was really involved in the escapade, Arkin's character, Lester Siegel, is a composite character of many Hollywood figures. Despite not being a real historical figure, he gives the film's most memorable line: "Argo f*** yourself."

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, or on LinkedIn.

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