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....
From Hell To Victory (1979)
5.2/10
Director: Umberto Lenzi, Hank Mileston
Starring: Anny Duperey, George Hamilton, George Peppard, Horst Buchholz
This internationally produced Macaroni-War film is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are... Read more
The Conference (2022)
7.3/10
Director: Matti Geschonneck
On January 20, 1942, leading representatives of the German Nazi regime met in a villa in Berlin-Wannsee for a meeting that went down in history as the... Read more
Girls of the Sun (2018)
6.3/10
Director: Eva Husson
Starring: Golshifteh Farahani, Emmanuelle Bercot
Bahar is the leader of the Girls of the Sun, a battalion of women in Kurdistan who are fighting women against extremists who have conquered their smal... Read more
Farewell to the King (1989)
6.3/10
Director: John Milius
Starring: Nick Nolte, Nigel Havers, Marius Weyers, Frank McRae
A visually stunning adventure epic of a WWII army deserter (Nick Nolte) who faces a crisis of conscience when the island paradise he has ruled in peac... Read more
Malta Story (1953)
6.6/10
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst
Starring: Alec Guinness, Anthony Steel, Jack Hawkins, Muriel Pavlow
All the danger, excitement and triumph of World War II explodes on the screen in this riveting portrayal of the battle for Malta and the courageous pe... Read more
They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
7.3/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Arthur Kennedy, Gene Lockhart, Anthony Quinn,...
Errol Flynn stars as the eccentric yet (in this version) heroic General George Armstrong Custer, beginning with his time at West Point and ending, nat... Read more
The Rats of Tobruk (1944)
Director: Charles Chauvel
Starring: Peter Finch, Chips Rafferty, Grant Taylor, Pauline Garrick
A.k.a. "The Fighting Rats of Tobruk". Following on the great tradition of "Forty Thousand Horsemen", Charles Chauvel's 1944 cinematic account of the B... Read more
Behind Enemy Lines ( Blu-ray ) (2001)
6.4/10
Director: John Moore
Starring: David Keith, Gene Hackman, Joaquim de Almeida, Olek Krupa, Owen Wilson
Navy air navigator Owen Wilson gets the chance to prove his expertise by getting the call from Admiral Gene Hackman to join fellow pilot Gabriel Macht... Read more
Missing in Action (1984)
5.4/10
Director: Joseph Zito
Starring: Chuck Norris, M Emmet Walsh
One of a string of Rambo-esque films dashed off in the '80s. Action ace Chuck Norris stars as a former Vietnam War P.O.W. who returns to Southeast Asi... Read more
Memories of Anne Frank (2009)
5.8/10
Director: Alberto Negrin
Filmed in the Franks' apartment and their secret refuge, Miep Gies vividly recounts her experiences: working for Otto Frank: bringing food to the fugi... Read more