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....
A Soldier's Tale (1989)
6.3/10
Director: Larry Parr
Starring: Benoit Regent, Gabriel Byrne, Judge Reinhold, Maurice Garrel, Marianne Basler, P...
In wartime France a New Zealand soldier on a weekend leave meets a young French woman who is under suspicion of colluding with the occupying Germans t... Read more
A Thousand Times Good Night (2013)
Director: Erik Poppe
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Larry Mullen Jr, Maria Doyle Kennedy
A Thousand Times Good Night is an Irish-Norwegian produced English language 2013 drama film directed by Erik Poppe, and starring Juliette Binoche, Nik... Read more
A Time To Die (1982)
4.2/10
Starring: Rex Harrison, Rod Taylor, Edward Albert, Raf Vallone
In the final days of World War II, American spy Michael Rogan (Edward Albert Jr.) is taken prisoner, along with his wife and comrades from the French... Read more
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
7.8/10
Director: Douglas Sirk
Starring: John Gavin, Lilo Pulver, Jock Mahoney, Don DeFore, Keenan Wynn
Douglas Sirk's wartime romance is based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, author of the classic anti-war novel 'All Quiet On the Western Front', w... Read more
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (Blu-ray) (1958)
7.7/10
Director: Douglas Sirk
Starring: Don DeFore, Keenan Wynn, John Gavin, Jock Mahoney, Lilo Pulver
Douglas Sirk's wartime romance is based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, author of the classic anti-war novel 'All Quiet On the Western Front', w... Read more
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
7.3/10
Director: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Dana Andrews, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, Norman Lloyd, Richard Conte
This terrific WWII drama from director Lewis Milestone ('All Quiet on the Western Front') follows one infantry platoon in battle from the time they la... 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
Above and Beyond (2006)
6.5/10
Director: Sturla Gunnarsson
Starring: Richard E Grant, Liane Balaban, Jason Priestley, Joss Ackland, Jonathan Scarfe,...
This Canadian mini-series tells the story of Ferry Command, a civilian effort to escort bombers across the Atlantic Ocean to the UK during the darkest... 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
Ace of Aces (1933)
6.3/10
Director: J. Walter Ruben
Starring: Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allan, Ralph Bellamy
A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I, after he's accused of being a coward, is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army.... Read more