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 Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
6.2/10
Director: Grant Heslov
Starring: Ewan McGregor, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, Robert Patrick, Steph...
Loosely adapted from the book by Jon Ronson that was inspired by actual events, this satirical comedy stars Ewan McGregor as a journalist working in I... Read more
The Message (2009)
7.4/10
Director: Qunshu Gao, Kuo-fu Chen
Starring: Xiaoming Huang, Dahong Ni, Wang Zhiwen, Zhang Hanyu
1942, Nanking: following a series of assassination attempts on Japanese officials, the spy chief collects those suspected of the attempted-sabotage in... Read more
The Messenger (2009)
7.1/10
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Jena Malone, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi, Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster
Wounded during the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) is assigned duty on an emotional battlefield: accompanying recovering... Read more
The Monuments Men (2014)
6.1/10
Director: George Clooney
Starring: Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Hugh Bonneville, John...
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, "The Monuments Men" focuses on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with... Read more
The Night Of The Generals (1966)
7.3/10
Director: Anatole Litvak
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Plummer
A WWII who-dunit. As Germany is battling on two fronts for World domination, Omar Sharif is ordered to conduct an investigation into the allegation th... Read more
The One That Got Away (1957)
7.2/10
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Starring: Hardy Kruger, Colin Gordon, Michael Goodliffe
An exciting based-on-fact POW drama about Franz von Werra (Hardy Kruger) who, after two failed escape attempts from an English prison camp, is transfe... Read more
The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017)
6.7/10
Director: Joseph Ruben
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Josh Hartnett, Michiel Huisman, Haluk Bilginer, Michiel Huisman, H...
A strong-willed woman, frustrated by ongoing injustice at home, leaves the United States after meeting Jude, an American doctor who runs a remote medi... Read more
The Outsider (1961)
7.2/10
Director: Delbert Mann
Starring: Tony Curtis, James Franciscus, Gregory Walcott, Bruce Bennett
Tony Curtis plays an Indian (Nicknamed "Chief" by other soldiers) who fights in WWII and helps to raise the flag at Iwo Jima. Read more
The Pacific: The Complete Miniseries (2010)
8.3/10
Director: Carl Franklin, David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa, Tony To, Tim Van Patten, Graham Yost
Starring: Jon Seda, Joseph Mazzello, Ben Chisholm, James Badge Dale, Chris Milligan
From the team behind "Band of Brothers" comes an epic 10-part miniseries that tracks the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines - Robert Leckie (J... Read more
The Patriot (2000)
7.2/10
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper, Tcheky K...
Mel Gibson is Benjamin Martin, the legendary 'Hero of Fort Wilderness' who in 1776 leaves left military life to raise his family on his South Carolina... Read more