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....
Un village francais: Volume 3 ( A French Village ) (2012)
8.4/10
Starring: Robin Renucci, Emmanuelle Bach, Nade Dieu, Audrey Fleurot, Marie Kremer, Francoi...
Volume 3 contains Series 4. 12 episodes. It's 1942 and Villeneuve is now in it's third year of Nazi occupation. A carriage of Jewish prisoners is brou... Read more
In the Fog (2012)
6.8/10
Director: Sergei Loznitsa
In 1942, Belarus is in the hands of Nazis and the local militia. Sushenya is taken from his house in the middle of the night by Burov and his sidekick... Read more
White Tiger (2012)
5/10
Director: Karen Shakhnazarov
Starring: Aleksey Vertkov, Vitaliy Kishchenko, Valeriy Grishko, Dimitriy Bykovskiy-Romasho...
Aleksey Vertkov stars as Ivan Naydenov, a mysterious Soviet soldier discovered amidst the wreckage of a destroyed tank. Ninety percent of his body is... Read more
Twice Born (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Sergio Castellitto
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Emile Hirsch
A.k.a. "Venuto al mondo". Gemma visits Sarajevo with her son, Pietro. 16 years earlier, they escaped the war-torn city while Diego, the boy's father,... Read more
Private Peaceful (2012)
6.2/10
Director: Pat O'Connor
Starring: John Lynch, Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, George MacKay, Maxine Peake,...
The story of the unbreakable bond between two brothers from their childhood in rural Devon to the battle fields of the First World War, based on the b... Read more
War Witch ( Rebelle ) (2012)
7.1/10
Director: Kim Nguyen
Starring: Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga
A.k.a. "Rebelle". Komona (Rachel Mwanza) is only 12 years old when she is kidnapped by rebel soldiers and enslaved to a life of guerrilla warfare in t... Read more
Emperor (2012)
6.5/10
Director: Peter Webber
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Toshiyuki Nishida, Matthew Fox, Kaori Momoi, Eriko Hatsune, Mas...
Immediately after Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender, General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of... Read more
Hatfields and McCoys (2012)
4/10
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Starring: Bill Paxton, Jena Malone, Kevin Costner, Mare Winningham, Powers Boothe, Tom Ber...
Bonded by their oath to the same flag, two confederate soldiers, "Devil" Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner) and Randall McCoy (Bill Paxton), return home se... Read more
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
Controversial military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") about the mission by American special operations forces to capture o... Read more
Zero Dark Thirty ( Blu-ray ) (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
Controversial military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") about the mission by American special operations forces to capture o... Read more