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....
Autumn Hearts (2007)
Director: Paolo Barzman
Starring: Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Roy Dupuis
Thirty-five years after their internment at the hands of the Nazis, three friends reunite. Melanie (Susan Sarandon) is in an unsatisfying marriage to... Read more
Away All Boats (1956)
6.3/10
Director: Joseph Pevney
Starring: Jeff Chandler, John McIntire, Richard Boone, Julie Adams, Jock Mahoney, George N...
Shove off for the true-life saga of the men and ship that weathered the worst of World War II and came out victorious. The stirring tale of heroism an... Read more
Back Door To Hell (1964)
5.3/10
Director: Monte Hellman
Starring: Jack Nicholson
During World War II, a three man commando team places its trust in the hands of a band of Filipino resistants, as they try to knock out a Japanese com... Read more
Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
8.1/10
Director: Grigori Chukhrai
Starring: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova
Aloysha is a frightened young soldier fighting the Germans when, more by good luck than good management, he disables two enemy tanks. As a reward he... Read more
Band of Brothers: The Complete Miniseries (2001)
9.5/10
Starring: David Schwimmer, Dexter Fletcher, Ron Livingston, Colin Hanks, Damian Lewis, Don...
This 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company, a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their experiences from the begi... Read more
Band of Brothers: The Complete Miniseries ( Blu-ray ) (2001)
9.5/10
Starring: Kirk Acevedo, Eion Bailey, Michael Cudlitz, Dale Dye, Rick Gomez, Scott Grimes,...
This 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company, a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their experiences from the begi... Read more
Bang Rajan (2000)
6.7/10
Director: Thanit Jitnukul
Starring: Winai Kraibutr, Jaran Ngamdee, Chumphorn Thepphithak, Suntharee Maila-Or
A blockbuster epic from Thailand based on the 1765 invasion by Burma. The only thing standing between the Burmese Army and the (then Siamese) capital... Read more
Barefoot Gen / Barefoot Gen 2 (1983)
Director: Kazuo Oga
The powerful and tragic autobiographical story of manga artist Keiji Nakazawa, just six years old when an atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown of H... Read more
Bat 21 (1988)
6.4/10
Director: Peter Markle
Starring: Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Jerry Reed
A good actioner about an Airforce Colonel (Gene Hackman), used to being behind a desk, who is shot down behind enemy lines in dangerous territory, and... Read more
Battle at Bloody Beach (1961)
5.5/10
Director: Herbert Coleman
Starring: Audie Murphy, Gary Crosby, Dolores Moran
In his second WWII film after the autobiographical "To Hell and Back" Audie Murphy plays a civilian working for the Navy helping supply guerilla insur... Read more