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....
Attack! (1956)
7.5/10
Director: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, Buddy Ebsen
This compelling WWII drama from the director of "The Dirty Dozen" is set in Belgium in 1944, where cowardly American Captain Eddie Albert has placed o... Read more
The Cockleshell Heroes (1956)
6.7/10
Director: Jose Ferrer
Starring: Jose Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Victor Maddern
Inspired by a true story, the film follows a group of ten `canoe-commandos` who are taken, by sub-marine, close to the French coast. They must make a... Read more
Love Me Tender (1956)
6.2/10
Director: Robert D Webb
Starring: Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley, Robert Middleton, William Campbell, Ne...
Elvis Presley's film debut is a story set in the civil war about conflicting politics among sons in a Southern family. Read more
Reach for the Sky (1956)
7.3/10
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow, Alexander Knox
A well told account of British pilot Douglas Bader (Kenneth More) who overcame the loss of both legs, to become one of the most remarkable fighter ace... Read more
A Generation (1955)
7.6/10
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Tadeusz Lomnicki, Roman Polanski
Master Polish director Andrzej Wajda received an Honorary Academy Award for five decades of work, beginning with this film about the Polish resistance... Read more
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
7/10
Director: Otto Preminger
Starring: Charles Bickford, Elizabeth Montgomery, Gary Cooper, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger
Gary Cooper (High Noon) portrays a controversial American hero in this electrifying, true story of one of the most sensational military trials in U.S.... Read more
Mister Roberts (1955)
7.8/10
Director: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, James Cagney, William Powell
A classic comedy-drama about the dehumanizing aspects of war. Mister Roberts is aboard a US cargo ship, working in the Pacific during the Second World... Read more
The End of the Affair (1955)
6.7/10
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills, Peter Cushing, Stephen Murray, Nora Swinb...
When bored British housewife Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr) is introduced to American writer Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson), the attraction between them is... Read more
Sgt Bilko: Volume 1 (1955)
5.7/10
Starring: Harvey Lembeck, Phil Silvers, Paul Ford, Maurice Gosfield, Billy Sands
Comedy legend Phil Silvers is Sgt. Ernie Bilko, the ultimate con man. He runs the motor pool at a small Kansas US Army Camp, nominally run by Colonel... Read more
Above Us the Waves (1955)
6.7/10
Director: Ralph Thomas
Starring: John Mills, John Gregson, Donald Sinden
Based on a true-life 1943 incident, with most of the film is set in a British midget submarine, commandeered by John Mills. The sub's mission (togethe... Read more