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....
The Last Grenade (1969)
5.3/10
Director: Gordon Flemyng
Starring: Honor Blackman, Richard Attenborough, Stanley Baker, Alex Cord
Stanley Baker and Alex Cord star in this pin-pulling action yarn as mercenary buddies who become fast enemies when Cord betrays Baker's army while the... Read more
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
7.8/10
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Means, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi, Jodhi May, Steven W...
The American wilderness of the 1750s is the setting for director/co-scripter Michael Mann's grand adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper adventure cl... Read more
The Last of the Mohicans: Director's Definitive Cut ( Blu-ray ) (1992)
7.8/10
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Jodhi May, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Steven Waddington,...
The American wilderness of the 1750s is the setting for director/co-scripter Michael Mann's grand adaptation of the James Fenimore Cooper adventure cl... Read more
The Last Samurai (2003)
7.7/10
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Tom Cruise, Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki...
Disillusioned after the end of the Civil War, respected American military captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) finds purpose when he is hired by the Emp... Read more
The Last Samurai ( Blu-ray ) (2003)
7.7/10
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Tom Cruise, Timothy Spall, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, Tony Goldwyn, Hiroyuki...
Disillusioned after the end of the Civil War, respected American military captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) finds purpose when he is hired by the Emp... Read more
The Last Valley (1970)
7.4/10
Director: James Clavell
Starring: Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Florinda Bolkan
Famed author James Clavell scripted and directed this historical adventure set in 17th-century central Europe, when the continent was embroiled in the... Read more
The Legend of Suriyothai (2002)
6.6/10
Director: Chatri Chalerm Yukol
Starring: M.L. Piyapas Bhirombhhakdi, Sarunyoo Wongkrachang, Chatchai Plengpanich, Suphaki...
A fabled moment in the history of Thailand sets the stage for this lavishly mounted historical epic. In 1528, Thailand's leadership is in chaos, as th... Read more
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
8.2/10
Director: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Deborah Kerr, Roger Livesey, Roland Culver
Considered by many to be the finest British film ever made, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is a stir... Read more
The Little Traitor (2007)
7/10
Director: Lynn Roth
Starring: Alfred Molina, Ido Port, Theodore Bikel, Rami Heuberger, Gilya Stern
1947, and Palestine is on the brink of becoming the independent state of Israel. Still occupied by the British, tensions run high between the occupyin... Read more
The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961)
6.5/10
Director: Leslie Norman
Starring: Richard Harris, Laurence Harvey, Richard Todd, David McCallum, Ronald Fraser
A film based on the successful play by Willis Hall about a British patrol in Burma who are determined to kill an innocent Japanese prisoner in a mad r... Read more