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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....

Army in the Shadows ( aka Army of Shadows ) (1969)

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret

A.k.a. 'Army of Shadows'. Based on Joseph Kessel's novel, this war drama follows several months in the life of French Resistance fighter Philippe Gerb... Read more

Assembly (2007)

7.3/10
Director: Feng Xiaogang
Starring: Zhang Hanyu, Yuan Wenkang, Deng Chao

Acclaimed Chinese director Feng Xiaogang brings the little known Chinese Civil War into light with this powerful and unflinching film based on a true... Read more

Atonement (2007)

7.8/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave, Brenda Blethyn

Based on the acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan ('Enduring Love', 'The Comfort of Strangers'), this epic war-time romance is one of the finest studies of f... Read more

Atonement ( Blu-ray ) (2007)

7.8/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Vanessa Redgrave, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Romola Garai, S...

Based on the acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan ('Enduring Love', 'The Comfort of Strangers'), this epic war-time romance is one of the finest studies of f... Read more

Attack Force Z (1982)

5.6/10
Director: Tim Burstall
Starring: Mel Gibson, Chris Haywood, John Phillip Law, Sam Neill

Mel Gibson commands an elite military team dispatched during WWII to locate and rescue the survivors of a shot-down plane, stranded on a South Pacific... Read more

Attack on Leningrad (2009)

Director: Aleksandr Buravsky
Starring: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Gabriel Byrne, Mira Sorvino, Olga Sutulova

Aka 'Leningrad'. A soaring, action-packed journey of heroism and sacrifice as one crusading journalist desperately fights to uncover the horrors burie... Read more

Attack! (1956)

7.5/10
Director: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, Buddy Ebsen

This compelling WWII drama from the director of "The Dirty Dozen" is set in Belgium in 1944, where cowardly American Captain Eddie Albert has placed o... Read more

Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)

8/10
Director: Louis Malle
Starring: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejto, Francine Racette

'Goodbye, Children'. Louis Malle returns to the days of the German occupation during World War II to recount the story of friendship between two schoo... Read more

Australia (2008)

6.6/10
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Bryan Brown, David Gulpilil, David Wenham, Hugh Jackman, Jack Thompson, Nicole K...

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman join forces with visionary director Baz Luhrmann in "Australia", an epic and romantic action adventure set on the brink... Read more

Australia ( Blu-ray ) (2008)

6.6/10
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Bryan Brown, David Gulpilil, David Wenham, Hugh Jackman, Jack Thompson, Nicole K...

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman join forces with visionary director Baz Luhrmann in "Australia", an epic and romantic action adventure set on the brink... Read more