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War and Anti-War Films

"War and Anti-War Films" often acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting or conflict (against nations or humankind) provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. Typical elements in the action-oriented war plots include POW camp experiences and escapes, submarine warfare, espionage, personal heroism, "war is hell" brutalities, air dogfights, tough trench/infantry experiences, or male-bonding buddy adventures during wartime. Themes explored in war films include combat, survivor and escape stories, tales of gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and intelligent and profound explorations of the moral and human issues. Listed below are all the very best of this genre. Scroll yer heart out....

By the Sword Divided: Series 1 (1983)

7.6/10
Director: Henry Herbert, Michael Custance, Brian Farnham, Diarmuid Lawrence
Starring: Julian Glover, Andrew MacLachlan, Rob Edwards, Jeremy Clyde, Tim Bentinck, Lucy...

Produced by the BBC, this epic historical drama series is set during the English Civil War and follows the changing loyalties and wrenching conflict w... Read more

Cabaret (1972)

7.8/10
Director: Bob Fosse
Starring: Michael York, Marisa Berenson, Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Helmut Griem

Winner of 8 Oscars, including Best Director (Bob Fosse), Best Actress (Lisa Minnelli) and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey) and widely regarded as one... Read more

Camp X-Ray (2014)

6.9/10
Director: Peter Sattler
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, Lane Garrison, John Carroll Lynch, Joseph Julian...

In an attempt to escape the small-town blues, a young woman (Kristen Stewart) joins the military but ends up stationed at Guantanamo Bay. While the cu... Read more

Captain Horatio Hornblower (1950)

7.4/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, Robert Beatty

This thrilling adventure saga stars Gregory Peck as a British naval officer caught in the crossfire between the Spanish, the French and a Central Amer... Read more

Carla's Song (1996)

6.9/10
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Oyanka Cabzas, Robert Carlyle, Scott Glenn

This touching film from English film legend Ken Loach tells the story of the relationship between George (Robert Carlyle) a free spirited Scottish bus... Read more

Carrington V.C. (1954)

Director: Anthony Asquith
Starring: David Niven, Margaret Leighton, Noelle Middleton

David Niven stars in this gripping drama about a war hero who finds himself facing disgrace and ruin in a military courtroom. Major Carrington is a re... Read more

Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)

7.3/10
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner

Based on R. J. Minney's book about real-life British war heroine Violet Szabo (Virginia McKenna) who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe as a secret... Read more

Cast A Giant Shadow (1966)

6.4/10
Director: Melville Shavelson
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Angie Dickinson, Yul Bryn...

This star-studded epic focuses on the life of Mickey Marcus; the American war hero recruited by Israel to help strengthen their army against warring A... Read more

Castle Keep (1969)

6.2/10
Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Patrick O'Neal, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Peter Falk, Bruce Dern

An unusual WWII story from Sydney Pollack starring Burt Lancaster as a one-eyed U.S. Army major who leads a squad of misfit soldiers to an art-filled... Read more

Casualties of War (1989)

7.1/10
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Don Harvey, John C Reilly, John Leguizamo, Michael J Fox, Sean Penn, Thuy Thu Le...

Brian DePalma's searing war drama stars Michael J. Fox as a green recruit in Vietnam who must make an agonizing moral decision when his platoon gang-r... Read more