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....
Crimson Romance (1934)
5.7/10
Starring: Ben Lyon, Erich Von Stroheim
After Fred von Bergen, a German immigrant in America, is forced from his job by anti-German hysteria before the Great War, he and his friend Bob Wilso... Read more
Cross of Iron (1977)
7.5/10
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason
Sam Peckinpah's only war film is a violent and compelling story set on the Russian front in 1943, where war-weary German sergeant James Coburn encount... Read more
Cross of Iron (Blu-ray) (1977)
7.5/10
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: David Warner, James Coburn, James Mason, Klaus Lowitsch, Maximilian Schell
Based on the book by Willi Heinrich, is a World War II tale told from the German perspective, following a platoon of German soldiers in the Russia of... Read more
D-Day The Sixth Of June (1965)
6.1/10
Director: Henry Coster
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, Dana Wynter
Captain Brad Parker (Robert Taylor) is an American officer on the front lines on June 6, 1944 - "D-Day" - when 3,000,000 men, 11,000 planes and 4,000... Read more
Dad's Army (2016)
5.2/10
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Bill Paterson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Bill Nighy,...
The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion in this reboo... Read more
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
7/10
Director: Kriv Stenders
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Luke Bracey, Myles Pollard, Anthony Hayes, Richard Roxburgh
In 1966, Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of Australian and New Zealand soldiers face overwhelming odds as they fight to hold Viet Cong and... Read more
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (Blu-Ray) (2019)
7.6/10
Director: Kriv Stenders
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Luke Bracey, Myles Pollard, Anthony Hayes, Richard Roxburgh
In 1966, Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of Australian and New Zealand soldiers face overwhelming odds as they fight to hold Viet Cong and... Read more
Danger UXB: The Complete Series (1979)
8.7/10
Starring: Anthony Andrews, Judy Geeson, Maurice Roeves, Iain Cuthbertson
Anthony Andrews plays a young Lieutenant assigned to a hastily formed UXB (unexploded bomb) unit in the early days of World War II. His hazardous work... Read more
Darkest Hour (2017)
7.4/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ronald Pickup, Stephen Dillan...
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins at the precipice of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Chur... Read more
Darkest Hour (Blu-Ray) (2017)
7.4/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ronald Pickup, Stephen Dillan...
A thrilling and inspiring true story begins at the precipice of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Chur... Read more