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....
Darling Lili (1969)
6.2/10
Director: Blake Edwards
Starring: Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, Jeremy Kemp, Lance Percival
A musical World War I spy-spoof with Julie Andrews attempting to shed her goody-good image as a femme fatale music hall entertainer, who is really a G... Read more
Das Boot ( aka The Boat ) (1981)
8.4/10
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Herbert Gronemeyer, Jurgen Prochnow, Klaus Wennemann
A.k.a. 'The Boat.' Totally restored and with over an hour of never-before-seen footage, Das Boot: The Director's Cut is Wolfgang Petersen's acclaimed... Read more
Das Boot ( aka The Boat ) ( Blu-ray ) (1981)
8.4/10
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Herbert Gronemeyer, Jurgen Prochnow, Klaus Wennemann
A.k.a. 'The Boat.' Totally restored and with over an hour of never-before-seen footage, Das Boot: The Director's Cut is Wolfgang Petersen's acclaimed... Read more
Das Boot ( aka The Boat ) ( Mini-series) (1981)
7.6/10
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Jurgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer, Klaus Wennemann
A.k.a. 'The Boat. Totally restored 'Das Boot: 6-part mini series presented as one complete feature lenegth uncut version. Wolfgang Petersen's acclaim... Read more
Dauntless: The Battle of Midway (2019)
3.3/10
Starring: Judd Nelson, C Thomas Howell
By June 1942, the Japanese Navy has swept across the Pacific. In an effort to change the course of the war, a United States carrier group is positione... Read more
Day Of The Siege (2012)
4.3/10
Director: Renzo Martinelli
Starring: F Murray Abraham, Enrico Lo Verso, Alicja Bachleda, Piotr Adamczyk, Claire Bloom
n the summer of 1683, 300,000 warriors of the Ottoman Empire began the siege of Vienna. The fall of the city would have opened the way to conquer Euro... Read more
Days of Glory (2006)
7.1/10
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Starring: Bernard Blancan, Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri
When the French army recruited men from its North African colonies to join in the fight against the Nazis, the soldiers found themselves targets of bo... Read more
Deadline Gallipoli (2015)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Rymer
Starring: Sam Worthington, Hugh Dancy, Bryan Brown, Charles Dance, Rachel Griffiths
Three journalists, Charles Bean, Ellis Ashmead Bartlett and Phillip Schuler, arrive at Gallipoli with the invading British and Allied troops in 1915.... Read more
Defiance (2008)
7.2/10
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, George MacKay, Allan Co...
Inspired by true events, this epic WWII drama tells the story of three Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell) who vow to avenge... Read more
Destiny of a Man ( Fate of a Man ) (1959)
8.1/10
Director: Sergei Bondarchuk
Starring: Sergei Bondarchuk, Pavel Boriskin, Zinaida Kirienko, Pavel Volkov
The story of a man (Andrey Sokolov) whose life was ruthlessly crippled by World War II. Sergei Bondarchuk directs and acts in this screen adaptation o... Read more