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 Guns of Navarone (1961)
7.6/10
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle, Irene P...
Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn star as a team of Allied military specialists recruited for a dangerous but imperative mission: to infilt... 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
I Served The King of England (2007)
7.4/10
Director: Jiri Menzel
Starring: Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser
While serving the cream of Prague society, humble waiter, Jan Dite (Ivan Barnev) dreams of owning his own hotel and becoming a millionaire. Full of de... Read more
War Horse (2011)
7.2/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: David Thewlis, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Peter Mullan, Jeremy Irvine
Based on Michael Morpurgo's childrens book and its subsequent stage adaptation, this powerful drama set against the backdrop of World War I follows yo... Read more
The Bridge At Remagen (1969)
6.7/10
Director: John Guillermin
Starring: Ben Gazzara, George Segal, Robert Vaughn, Bradford Dillman, E G Marshall
For the Americans, the bridge at Remagen is the link to the heart of the Third Reich; for the retreating Germans, it's the last hope. Starring Robert... Read more
La Grande Illusion (1937)
8.1/10
Director: Jean Renoir
Starring: Jean Gabin, Erich Von Stroheim, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay
One of the very first prison escape movies, 'Grand Illusion' is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Jean Renoir's antiwar masterpiece stars... Read more
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
6.8/10
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei
Based on a true story about a group of journalists covering the Bosnian conflict; centering on a British TV reporter who becomes especially outraged b... Read more
It Happened Here (1965)
6.8/10
Director: Andrew Mollo, Kevin Brownlow
Starring: Pauline Murray, Sebastian Shaw
Shot over an eight-year period on a shoestring budget by British film historian Kevin Brownlow and colleague Andrew Mollo, this acclaimed, harrowing s... Read more
All the Queen's Men (2001)
4.6/10
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Starring: Matt LeBlanc, Eddie Izzard, James Cosmo, Nicolette Krebitz, Udo Kier, Edward Fox...
Humour mixes with heroics when Matt LeBlanc stars as O'Rourke, a WWII American army officer assigned to lead a ragtag group of British special agents.... Read more
Hornblower 5: Mutiny (2001)
Director: Andrew Grieve
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, David Warner, Paul McGann, Nicholas Jones, Jamie...
On board the 74-gun frigate Renown, destination unknown, and with a deeply paranoid and deluded Captain, discipline quickly starts to deteriorate and... Read more