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....
Flying the Secret Sky: The Story of the RAF Ferry Command (2008)
6.3/10
In 1940 Nazi air strikes had Britain on her knees. The RAF was desperate for aircraft - losing hundreds of planes in air battles over Europe. Their es... Read more
Escadrille Lafayette (1958)
Director: William A Wellman
Starring: Tab Hunter, Etchika Choureau, Marcel Dalio, David Janssen, Clint Eastwood, Paul...
Thad Walker (Tab Hunter) is a young man from a good Boston family, but he's spoiled, rebellious, and always at odds with his strict father. When Thad... Read more
Something Of Value (1957)
6.5/10
Director: Richard Brooks
Starring: Rock Hudson, Dana Wynter, Sidney Poitier, Wendy Hiller, Juano Hernandez, William...
In British Colonial Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising, Peter and Kimani, who grew up together, find themselves on the opposite sides. Read more
The Cardinal (1963)
6.7/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Tom Tryon, Carol Lynley, Dorothy Gish
A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal. Read more
The War File: The Memoirs Of Women Who Went To War (2004)
John Mills presents this first-hand account of the experiences of some of the women who were assigned to the Civil Defence, Hospital and Fire Auxiliar... Read more
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (Blu-ray) (1956)
6.4/10
Director: Raoul Walsh
Starring: Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Joan Leslie, Agnes Moorehead, Michael Pate
Set in the early '40s, a San Francisco prostitute is run out of town just as the second World War has begun to intensify. Mamie settles down in Hawaii... Read more
The Cave (2019)
7.5/10
Amidst air strikes and bombings, a group of female doctors in Ghouta, Syria struggle with systemic sexism while trying to care for the injured using l... Read more
Our Miss Fred (1972)
5.4/10
Director: Bob Kellett
Starring: Danny La Rue, Alfred Marks, Lance Percival, Frances de la Tour
Shakespearian actor Fred Wimbush's drafted during WWII. While entertaining the troops with his drag act one day, the Germans capture them. Thinking he... Read more
The High Command (1937)
5.9/10
Director: Thorold Dickinson
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Lucie Mannheim, James Mason
A general of the old school, who believes strongly in his own honour and sense of duty, must come to terms with a crime he commited years earlier, dur... Read more
The Warring States (2011)
4.6/10
Starring: Francis Ng, Wu Jiang
Rival Chinese military strategists Sun Bin (Sun Hong-lei) and Pang Juan (Francis Ng) clash in this historic war adventure set during the Era of Warrin... Read more