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....
Triple Cross (1967)
6.4/10
Director: Terence Young
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Romy Schneider, Trevor Howard, Gert Frobe, Claudine Auger,...
World War II true story in which master spy Eddie Chapman (Christopher Plummer) works both sides of the fence going for whichever player offers him th... Read more
The Lost Battalion (2002)
7.1/10
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Michael Brandon, Rick Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris, Jay Rodan
As the First World War draws to a close, American troops penetrate deep into German-held French territory, under pressure from French and British alli... Read more
Life is a Miracle (2004)
7.6/10
Director: Emir Kusturica
Starring: Slavko Stimac, Vesna Trivalic, Vuk Kostic, Natasa Solak, Stribor Kusturica
In 1992, war is brewing in Bosnia, but the city fathers in the town of Golobuci are going ahead with their plans to build a railroad they hope will br... Read more
Libertarias (1996)
7.1/10
Director: Vicente Aranda
Starring: Miguel Bose, Ana Belen, Ariadna Gil
This big-budget Spanish drama pays tribute to the courageous women who sacrificed their lives during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Maria's peaceful l... Read more
300 (2006)
7.7/10
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael F...
A hyper-real, testosterone-laden interpretation of the Spartan legend, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel and drenched in the same CGI-enhanced gol... 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
A War (2015)
7.1/10
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Starring: Tuva Novotny, Charlotte Munck, Soren Malling, Pilou Asbaek
A tense, measured investigation of the moral ambiguity of combat, Tobias Lindholms rattling new military drama has already proven its international r... Read more
Europa Europa (1990)
7.6/10
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Julie Delpy, Marco Hofschneider
A riveting and moving fact-based WWII Holocaust drama about a German-Jewish teenage boy who flees the Nazis and conceals his identity - only to find h... Read more
Uprising (2001)
7.3/10
Director: Jon Avnet
Starring: Hank Azaria, Leelee Sobieski, Jon Voight, Donald Sutherland
An all-star cast is featured in this account of the true story behind the resistance of the residents of the Warsaw ghetto against their Nazi oppresso... Read more
Zulu (1964)
7.8/10
Director: Cy Endfield
Starring: Stanley Baker, Michael Caine, Jack Hawkins, James Booth
Michael Caine stars in this epic story of the battle of Rorke's Drift, on January 22nd 1879, where 1,200 British troops found themselves completely ou... Read more