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....
Hornblower 1: The Even Chance (1998)
Director: Andrew Grieve
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, Dorian Healy, Michael Byrne, Robert Bathurst
Set against the backdrop of the 18th century Anglo-French wars, the bloodiest time in British naval history, these films trace Hornblower as he grows... Read more
Salvador (1985)
7.5/10
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: James Woods, James Belushi, John Savage, Michael Murphy, Elpidia Carrillo
Starring James Woods as a photojournalist sent to El Salvador in 1980 to expose that government's use of death squads. Gritty realism throughout with... Read more
Zulu Dawn (1979)
6.6/10
Director: Douglas Hickox
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Peter O'Toole, John Mills
This prequel to 'Zulu' has Burt Lancaster and Peter O'Toole starring in this well-made war epic about England's bullheadedness in its handling of the... Read more
The Blue Max (1966)
7.1/10
Director: John Guillermin
Starring: Anton Diffring, George Peppard, James Mason, Jeremy Kemp, Ursula Andress, Karl M...
During WWI a young German (George Peppard) fresh out of aviation training school competes for the coveted "Blue Max" flying award with other members o... Read more
A Horseman Riding By (1978)
7.5/10
Director: Paul Ciapessoni, Philip Dudley, Alan Grint
Starring: Nigel Havers, Glyn Houston, Fiona Gaunt, Prunella Ransome, Gillian McCutcheon
A 13-part BBC adaptation of RF Delderfield's novel, features Nigel Havers, in an early starring role, as young Boer War vet, Paul Craddock, who is inv... Read more
Son of Saul (2015)
7.5/10
Director: Laszlo Nemes
Starring: Geza Rohrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn
Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in th... Read more
The Patriot (2000)
7.2/10
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper, Tcheky K...
Mel Gibson is Benjamin Martin, the legendary 'Hero of Fort Wilderness' who in 1776 leaves left military life to raise his family on his South Carolina... Read more
Triple Agent (2004)
6.4/10
Director: Eric Rohmer
Starring: Serge Renko, Katerina Didaskalou
Loosely based on a true story, this sublime drama from director Eric Rohmer follows the complex marriage between a Greek painter and her White Russian... Read more
Flags of our Fathers (2006)
7.1/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, John Be...
Clint Eastwood's World War II film offers a brutal grunts-eye-view of the battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. It centres on the lives of three... Read more
Force 10 From Navarone (1978)
6.4/10
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Barbara Bach, Harrison Ford, Edward Fox, Robert Shaw, Franco Nero, Carl Weathers...
An attempt to create a sequel to 'The Guns of Navarone' in which the target this time is a bridge and dam in Yugoslavia. Robert Shaw steps into the Gr... Read more