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....
Catch-22 (1970)
7.2/10
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Buck H...
Joseph Heller's modern-classic novel about the absurdity of war for the common man draws heavily on his own experiences as a WWII bombadier. The titl... Read more
Charlotte Gray (2001)
6.4/10
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, Rupert Penry-Jones
In this stirring WWII drama, Cate Blanchett is the title character, a Scotswoman whose boyfriend has been shot down while flying a mission over France... Read more
Che: Part One - The Argentine (2008)
6.3/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Jorge Perugorria, Julia Ormond, Vladimir Cruz, Rodrigo Santoro...
Far from a conventional biopic, Steven Soderbergh's film about Che Guevara is a fascinating exploration of the revolutionary as icon. Daring in its re... Read more
Che: Part Two - Guerilla (2008)
6.3/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Oscar Jaenada, Antonio Peredo, Demian Bichir,...
In 1965, Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Benicio Del Toro) resigns from his role in the Cuban government to take up the struggle against Bolivia's militarist g... Read more
Children of the Silk Road (2008)
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, David Wenham
Aka "The Children of Huang Shi". In 1930s war-ravaged China, a young English journalist named George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) leads 60 orphans thro... Read more
China Gate (1957)
6.4/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Angie Dickinson, Gene Barry, Lee Van Cleef, Nat King Cole
One of the first war films to be set in Vietnam (back when it was called French Indochina), writer/director Samuel Fuller's tale of a multinational me... Read more
Churchill (2017)
6.3/10
Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Starring: Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery
Tensions mount for beleaguered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as D-Day nears in June 1944. Fearful of repeating past mistakes, Churchill is... Read more
City of Life and Death (2009)
7.7/10
Director: Chuan Lu
Starring: Hideo Nakaizumi, Ye Liu, Wei Fan, Yuanyuan Gao
Director Chuan Lu pulls off a rare feat by providing a clear-eyed drama about an event in Chinese-Japanese history - the 1937 Rape of Nanking followin... Read more
City of War: The John Rabe Story (2010)
7.2/10
Director: Florian Gallenberger
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Daniel Bruhl, Dagmar Manzel, Anne Consigny, Jingchu Zhang, Ulrich...
Based on the shocking events of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, this German-French-Chinese historical drama tells the story of German businessman John Rabe... Read more
Classic War Collection: The Way Ahead / The Flemish Farm / Appointment With Venus (1951)
Director: Carol Reed, Jeffrey Dell, Betty E. Box
Starring: David Niven, Stanley Holloway, Trevor Howard, William Hartnell, John Laurie, Cli...
'The Way Ahead' - After an infantry battalion has suffered casualties at Dunkirk, the gaps in the ranks must be filled by 'call-ups'. The men that arr... Read more