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....
Free State of Jones (2016)
6.9/10
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali, Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Based on an incredible true-story during the Civil War, Free State of Jones tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordi... Read more
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
6.6/10
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Tina Fey, Margot Robbie
In 2002, cable news producer Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to shake up her routine by taking a daring new assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dislodged... Read more
Dad's Army (2016)
5.2/10
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Bill Paterson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Bill Nighy,...
The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion in this reboo... Read more
Deadline Gallipoli (2015)
7.2/10
Director: Michael Rymer
Starring: Sam Worthington, Hugh Dancy, Bryan Brown, Charles Dance, Rachel Griffiths
Three journalists, Charles Bean, Ellis Ashmead Bartlett and Phillip Schuler, arrive at Gallipoli with the invading British and Allied troops in 1915.... Read more
Home Fires: Series One (2015)
8.2/10
Starring: Samantha Bond, Ruth Gemmell, Claire Price, Claire Rushbrook
A drama following a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community during World War II. Read more
Rock the Kasbah (2015)
5.5/10
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Bill Murray, Kate Hudson, Bruce Willis
A down-on-his-luck music manager discovers a teenage girl with an extraordinary voice while on a music tour in Afghanistan and takes her to Kabul to c... Read more
Land of Mine (2015)
7.8/10
Director: Martin Zandvliet
Starring: Joel Basman, Roland Moller, Louis Hofmann
After the Nazi surrender in May 1945, a unit of young Germans most barely out of their teens are put to work by their Allied captors. With minimal... Read more
A War (2015)
7.1/10
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Starring: Tuva Novotny, Charlotte Munck, Soren Malling, Pilou Asbaek
A tense, measured investigation of the moral ambiguity of combat, Tobias Lindholms rattling new military drama has already proven its international r... Read more
The Idealist (2015)
7.6/10
Director: Christina Rosendahl
Starring: Jens Albinus, Arly Jover, Soren Malling, Thomas Bo Larsen, Peter Plaugborg
In the vein of a classic investigative journalism thriller, Christina Rosendahls gripping drama The Idealist unravels the deeply compromised relation... Read more
A Perfect Day (2015)
6.8/10
Director: Fernando Leon de Aranoa
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Melanie Thierry, Olga Kurylenko
Commanded by an impressive roster of talent, including Benicio Del Toro, Olga Kurylenko and Tim Robbins, this ensemble tragicomedy strikes just the ri... Read more