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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....

Eichmann (2007)

5.9/10
Director: Robert Young
Starring: Franka Potente, Stephen Fry, Thomas Kretschmann, Troy Garity

Historical drama based on the final confession of one of the main architects of the Nazi holocaust, prior to his execution in Israel in 1962. After be... Read more

Emperor (2012)

6.5/10
Director: Peter Webber
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Toshiyuki Nishida, Matthew Fox, Kaori Momoi, Eriko Hatsune, Mas...

Immediately after Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender, General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of... Read more

Empire of the Sun (1987)

7.8/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers

Epic "coming of age" war drama from director Steven Spielberg, and based on the autobiographical novel by J. G. Ballard, follows a young British boy's... Read more

Empire of the Sun ( Blu-ray ) (1987)

7.8/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers

Epic "coming of age" war drama from director Steven Spielberg, and based on the autobiographical novel by J. G. Ballard, follows a young British boy's... Read more

Enemy at the Gates (2001)

7.6/10
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris

Stalingrad, 1942. Against this vivid and sprawling backdrop a personal war is being played out by two opponents. Vassili (Jude Law), an expert Russian... Read more

Escadrille Lafayette (1958)

Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Tab Hunter, Etchika Choureau, Marcel Dalio, David Janssen, Clint Eastwood, Paul...

Thad Walker (Tab Hunter) is a young man from a good Boston family, but he's spoiled, rebellious, and always at odds with his strict father. When Thad... Read more

Escape From Sobibor (1987)

7.5/10
Director: Jack Gold
Starring: Alan Arkin, Rutger Hauer, Joanna Pacula

This powerful, true-life saga details the efforts of a Russian Army officer leading a group of prisoners in a daring escape from a Nazi extermination... Read more

Escape to Athena (1979)

5.7/10
Director: George Pan Cosmatos
Starring: Richard Roundtree, Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Cla...

Outlandish WWII adventure has P.O.W.s planning an escape and art heist at the same time! Allied prisoners join forces with cultured Nazi Roger Moore a... Read more

Escape to Athena ( Blu-ray ) (1979)

5.7/10
Director: George Pan Cosmatos
Starring: Claudia Cardinale, David Niven, Elliott Gould, Richard Roundtree, Roger Moore, S...

Outlandish WWII adventure has P.O.W.s planning an escape and art heist at the same time! Allied prisoners join forces with cultured Nazi Roger Moore a... Read more

Europa Europa (1990)

7.6/10
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Julie Delpy, Marco Hofschneider

A riveting and moving fact-based WWII Holocaust drama about a German-Jewish teenage boy who flees the Nazis and conceals his identity - only to find h... Read more