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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....

Utu (1983)

7.1/10
Director: Geoff Murphy
Starring: Anzac Wallace, Bruno Lawrence, Tim Elliott

Visually beautiful film set in 1870's New Zealand. After the family and village of a Maori tribesman is wiped out in a senseless raid, the tribesman,... Read more

Utu Redux (1983)

Director: Geoff Murphy
Starring: Anzac Wallace, Bruno Lawrence, Wi Kuki Kaa, Kelly Johnson, Tim Elliott, Tania Br...

In 1870s New Zealand, Te Wheke (Anzac Wallace), a Maori scout for the colonial troops, finds his tribe massacred by the army he is working for. Anguis... Read more

Valkyrie (2008)

7.1/10
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice Van Houten, Thoma...

The compelling true story of the elaborate 1943 plot to assassinate Hitler, hatched within his own ranks, and masterminded by Colonel Claus von Stauff... Read more

Valkyrie ( Blu-ray ) (2008)

7.1/10
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: David Bamber, Kenneth Branagh, Kenneth Cranham, Kevin McNally, Terence Stamp, Th...

The compelling true story of the elaborate 1943 plot to assassinate Hitler, hatched within his own ranks, and masterminded by Colonel Claus von Stauff... Read more

Varian's War (2001)

6.4/10
Director: Lionel Chetwynd
Starring: William Hurt, Alan Arkin, Lynn Redgrave

In 1940, American journalist Varian Fry arrived in Nazi-occupied France and launched a dangerous campaign to help some of Europe's most-renowned artis... Read more

Victory ( aka Escape to Victory ) (1981)

6.6/10
Director: John Huston
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow

This WWII drama centres on a German sponsored soccer match between the Reich's top players and Allied prisoners. The game, at first the diversion for... Read more

Von Richthofen and Brown (1971)

5.9/10
Director: Roger Corman
Starring: John Phillip Law, Don Stroud, Barry Primus

A colourful look at WW1 flying aces and arch-rivals Baron Manfred von Richthofen, Germany's infamous Red Baron, and Roy Brown, the Canadian who flew... Read more

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

7.1/10
Director: Mark Robson
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Raffaella Carra, Trevor Howard

As the Allies begin to push the Nazis back toward Germany, U.S. combat pilot Colonel Joseph Ryan (Sinatra) is shot down and placed in a prison camp. I... Read more

War and Peace (1966)

7.9/10
Director: Sergei Bondarchuk
Starring: Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Ludmila Savelyeva, Sergei Bondarchuk

Sergei Bondarchuk's massive epic production of Tolstoy's masterpiece is remarkable for its production values - it took five years to complete and cost... Read more

War Collection - Arnhem: A Bridge Too Far / The Dambusters / Battle of the Atlantic (1975)

'Arnhem': A Bridge Too Far' - Illustrated with the pick of British, German and American archive film, much of it rarely seen, this programme also talk... Read more