Military Movie Madness: Close races as Round 2 heats up

With the first two rounds of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament complete, trash cans across the country are filling with crumpled-up brackets.

As the one person in your unit or office who's never watched a basketball game builds an insurmountable lead in the pool, it's time to switch focus to another bracket that's still in the early stages — and one where you have a hand in who walks off with the trophy.

Here are four close contests (percentages as of Monday afternoon) as Round 2 voting in Military Times' Military Movie Madness approaches its Tuesday night close. Click here for more details on the contest or here to vote now and help choose the greatest military movie ever made.

Braveheart (56.6 percent) vs. Glory (43.4 percent)

Battlefield action and themes of equality and class run through both modern classics, but in early voting, Mel Gibson's painted-up William Wallace has outpaced shining performances from Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, who took home an Academy Award for best supporting actor.

The winning film likely will advance to face "Platoon" in the round of 16, unless Tom Clancy lovers rally behind "The Hunt for Red October" before Round 2 closes.

Fury (55.2 percent) vs. Letters from Iwo Jima (44.8 percent)

A Few Good Men (52.1 percent) vs. Forrest Gump (47.9 percent)

The winner likely faces a third-round showdown with "Full Metal Jacket," which is blasting the exoskeletons off "Aliens" in its Round 2 matchup.

Apocalypse Now (56.5 percent) vs. Tora! Tora! Tora! (43.5 percent)

Of the top seeds remaining in Round 2, "Apocalypse Now" has the most stubborn challenger. Whichever film moves on will face another style clash next round — either the Cold War comedy "Stripes" or the 1980s carrier classic "Top Gun."