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....
The Way to the Stars (1945)
Director: Anthony Asquith
Starring: Basil Radford, John Mills, Michael Redgrave, Rosamund John, Stanley Holloway, Do...
In 1940, during the Battle of Britain, a deserted airfield somewhere in the heart of England becomes a bustling bomber command station. This excellent... Read more
The Wild Geese (1978)
6.8/10
Director: Andrew V McLaglen
Starring: Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, Hardy Kruger, Stewart Granger
Their home is the battlefield. Their calling is war. Their only loyalty is to each other. They are the Wild Geese, fifty crack mercenary paratroops co... Read more
The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006)
7.5/10
Director: Ken Loach
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Padraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald, Mary Riordan,...
Ken Loach takes on the Irish-English conflict through a story of two brothers who wind up on differing sides of a philosophical divide after joining i... Read more
The Winds of War (1983)
8.2/10
Director: Dan Curtis
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, Victoria Tennant, John Housema...
The Emmy-winning TV mini-series, bringing to life Herman Wouk's tale of a Navy family's devotion to duty and to each other in the days shortly before... Read more
The Wipers Times (2013)
7.1/10
Director: Andy De Emmony
Starring: Ben Chaplin, Michael Palin, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Steve Oram, Patrick Fitzsymons
In dark times, they chose to make light. Based on the remarkable true story of a satirical newspaper published on the front lines of World War One,... Read more
The Woman King (2022)
6.7/10
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Starring: Viola Davis, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega
The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with s... Read more
The Wooden Horse (1950)
7/10
Director: Jack Lee
Starring: Leo Genn, David Tomlinson, Anthony Steel
An exciting WWII drama about POW's determined to tunnel their way out of a prison camp using an exercise vaulting horse for cover. Stars Leo Genn, Dav... Read more
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
7.2/10
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Bill Kerr, Linda Hunt, Mel Gibson, Michael Murphy, Sigourney Weaver
Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver begin an impassioned love affair intensified by the uncertainties of life in Indonesia on the eve of revolution. Linda... Read more
The Young Lions (1958)
7.3/10
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange, Barbara Rush, Maximili...
Fascinating WWII story parallels the lives of three individual characters: A handsome German ski instructor turned Nazi who questions his orders and t... Read more
The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
7/10
Director: Niki Caro
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton, Daniel Bruhl
The real-life story of one working wife and mother who became a hero to hundreds during World War II. In 1939 Poland, Antonina Zabinska and her husban... Read more