THE BEST HISTORICAL AND WAR FILMS
The best historical and war films from the time of ancient Greece to the present day.
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- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDavid NivenGregory PeckAnthony QuinnA team of Allied saboteurs is assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
- DirectorDimis DadirasStarsKostas PrekasVera KrouskaHristos PolitisAfter the declaration of war by the Italians against Greece, a couple separates. The man is called to defend the homeland and the girl, whose father is Italian, is being held with her compatriots.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsGeorge C. ScottKarl MaldenStephen YoungThe World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSteve McQueenJames GarnerRichard AttenboroughAllied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsGeorge C. ScottRichard DysartMurray HamiltonJuly 1945. The war in Europe is over and General George S Patton is now military governor of Bavaria. True to form he doesn't always see eye-to-eye with his superiors and is prone to making comments that they don't approve of.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsJames MasonCedric HardwickeJessica TandyThe story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BurtonJames MasonRobert NewtonRichard Burton plays a Scottish Army officer put in charge of a disparate band of ANZAC troops on the perimeter of Tobruk with the German Army doing their best to dislodge them.
- DirectorIlias MahairasStarsMarlen PapouliaLavrentis DianellosKostas FyssounIn 1942, the allied headquarters in Cairo send to Greece British and Greek officers to organize the bombing of the bridge Gorgopotamos to prevent the transfer of military hardware to North Africa destined for refueling Rommel's troops. The officers come in contact with a group of Greek partisans, and working with men of General Napoleon Zervas (E.D.E.S.), and guerrillas under the command of Aris Velouchiotis (E.L.A.S.) out sabotage played a major role in the evolution war.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsRichard BurtonClint EastwoodMary UreAllied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.
- DirectorBryan SingerStarsTom CruiseBill NighyCarice van HoutenA dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.
- DirectorDimis DadirasStarsLakis KomninosBetty ArvanitiMiranda KounelakiAllied forces in the Middle East commission the son of a German collaborator to destroy the German military airport in Crete.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsMichael CaineDonald SutherlandRobert DuvallA German plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
- StarsPeter StormareFriedrich von ThunPeter O'TooleA profile of the life of Adolf Hitler with a unique slant, as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National Socialist German Workers Party prior to World War II.
- DirectorJoseph VilsmaierStarsDominique HorwitzThomas KretschmannJochen NickelThe story follows a group of German soldiers, from their Italian R&R in the summer of 1942 to the frozen steppes of Soviet Russia and ending with the battle for Stalingrad.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsJohn WayneJohn AgarAdele MaraHaunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
- DirectorKostas KaragiannisStarsGiannis VoglisXenia KalogeropoulouPetros FyssounIn the first years of the German occupation, some Greeks living in villages of Macedonia, try to face the Bulgarian invaders, who act undisturbed.
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsJosh HartnettEwan McGregorTom SizemoreThe story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsKen WatanabeKazunari NinomiyaTsuyoshi IharaThe story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
- DirectorGiannis HristodoulouStarsFaidon GeorgitsisKetty PapanikaKostas KaragiorgisIt is the narrative of the true history of the abduction of a German, General Heinrich Kreipe from British commandos and Greek resistance in Crete during the Second World War. It was one of the greatest achievement in this war.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsGregory PeckDan O'HerlihyEd FlandersBiopic of General Douglas MacArthur covering his war exploits during WW2 and the Korean War.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonHenry FondaJames CoburnA dramatization of the battle that was widely heralded as a turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
- DirectorKen AnnakinAndrew MartonGerd OswaldStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanRichard BurtonThe events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
- DirectorGeorge ZervoulakosStarsKostas KazakosGiannis FertisAimilia YpsilantiThe story of the sailors of the submarine "Papanikolis" that sailed for the Adriatic shortly after the declaration of war in '40.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsJohn GregsonAnthony QuaylePeter FinchIn the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsPaul MuniAnna LeeLillian GishA gentle widower, enraged at German atrocities against his peaceful Norwegian fishing village, escapes to Britain and returns leading a commando force against the oppressors.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasRichard HarrisUlla JacobssonNorwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.
- DirectorVasilis GeorgiadisStarsHristos PolitisStefanos StratigosGiorgos TzortzisDuring the German invasion of Crete, a unit of the Greek army, with heroic efforts, manages to escape the Greek gold to Egypt.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsErrol FlynnJames BrownWilliam PrinceA platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.
- DirectorErrikos AndreouStarsDimitris PapamichaelAlekos AlexandrakisAngelos AntonopoulosUnder the Ottomans' reign of terror in early-1820s Greece, Papaflessas played a key role in the nation's uprising to gain its independence, until his heroic fall against the tyrants' brutal multitudes, on May 20, 1825.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsTimothy BottomsMartin ShawJoss AcklandIn 1942, Britain sends a group of British-trained Czech commandos to Prague to assassinate SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Nazi security services.
- DirectorMarino GirolamiStarsGordon MitchellJacques BergeracCristina GaioniIn the tenth year of the Trojan War, tensions between Achilles and Agamemnon divide the Greek camp while giving hope to the Trojans.
- DirectorRudolph MatéStarsRichard EganRalph RichardsonDiane BakerA small Army of Greeks spearheaded by three hundred Spartans do battle with the whole invading Persian Army.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsRichard BurtonFredric MarchClaire BloomThe life and military conquests of Alexander III of Macedon (July 20/21, 356 - June 10/11, 323 B.C.), commonly known as Alexander the Great.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsFrederick StaffordGeorge HiltonMichael RennieWorld war two drama about the 1942 North Africa battle at El Alamein between the Allies and the Axis forces.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsCharlton HestonSophia LorenRaf ValloneThe fabled Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid) overcomes a family vendetta and court intrigue to defend Christian Spain against the Moors.
- DirectorDimitris DoukasStarsManos KatrakisAnna IasonidouDaphne SkouraThe siege of the Turks against the Greeks and the heroic exit from Messolonghi. This film shows the heroism and sacrifice of the Greeks for their homeland and their freedom.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckHugh MarloweGary MerrillA tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- DirectorCharlton HestonStarsCharlton HestonHildegard NeilEric PorterAfter the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsMel GibsonSophie MarceauPatrick McGoohanScottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
- DirectorKostas AndritsosStarsIrene PapasAndreas BarkoulisDionysis PapagiannopoulosCaptain Lascarina decides to organize the revolution in Spetses despite her double widowhood. In the struggle for the liberation of Greece, she gives all her property, fighting along with her lads.
- DirectorPietro FrancisciStarsAnthony QuinnSophia LorenHenri VidalAttila, the leader of the barbarian Huns and called by the Romans "The Scourge of God", sweeps onto the Italian peninsula, defeating all of the armies of Rome, until he and his men reach the gates of the city itself.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsRichard HarrisAlec GuinnessRobert MorleyPuritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.
- DirectorDimitris PapakonstadisStarsHristos PolitisKatia DandoulakiGiannis KatranisAs the Revolution against the tyrannical Ottoman Empire rages on, the Souliotes fight tooth and nail to stand their ground. But, disgraceful treason will bring Ali Pasha and his multitudes of soldiers at the gates. Do heroes fear death?
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
- DirectorDumitru FernoagaDoru NastaseStarsStefan SileanuErnest MafteiEmanoil PetrutVlad Tepes, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, fights the Ottoman Turks on the battlefield and the Hungarian Boyars in his court.
- DirectorJoe ChappelleStarsRudolf MartinJane MarchChristopher BrandThe dramatized story of Dracula, looking at the historic events rather than the Hollywood version.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsTony CurtisYul BrynnerChristine KaufmannIn the 16th-century Ukraine, the Polish overlords and Ukrainian cossacks fight for control of the land but frequent Turkish invasions force them to unite against the common Turkish foe.
- DirectorRandall WallaceStarsMel GibsonMadeleine StoweGreg KinnearThe story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenDon TaylorOtto PremingerAfter two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsRichard BurtonJohn ColicosClinton GreynIn 1942 Libya, a German-speaking British Intelligence officer uses former British POWs, some dressed in German uniforms, to fulfill a secret sabotage mission inside German-captured Tobruk.
- DirectorFilippos FylaktosStarsLakis KomninosKetty PapanikaGiannis ArgyrisThe military action of a Greek officer, Pavlos Melas, for the liberation of Macedonia from the Turks and Bulgarians. A story stick to the facts for the heroism and sacrifice of the Greeks. Pavlos Melas is the symbol of the struggle for the independence of Macedonia in Greece.
- DirectorVeljko BulajicStarsYul BrynnerHardy KrügerFranco NeroWorld War II drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsBrian DonlevyRobert PrestonMacdonald CareyDecember, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
- DirectorCarlo Ludovico BragagliaEdgar G. UlmerStarsVictor MatureGabriele FerzettiRita GamDuring the Second Punic War in 218 BC, Carthaginian general Hannibal attacks the Roman Republic by crossing the Pyrenees and the Alps with his vast army.
- DirectorStelios TatasopoulosStarsTzavalas KarousosAndreas ZisimatosNina SgouridouThe heroic battles of Souliotes to defend their land from the Turks, until Ali Pasha with the help of a traitor, he manages to conquer Souli.
- DirectorRobert WiseRaoul WalshStarsStanley BakerRossana PodestàBrigitte BardotThe Iliad's story of the Trojan war, told from the Trojan viewpoint.
- DirectorDick PowellStarsRobert MitchumCurd JürgensDavid HedisonDuring WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.
- DirectorJun'ya SatôStarsTakashi SorimachiShidô NakamuraKyôka SuzukiThe movie follows 3 Japanese friends from embarking on Yamato, the world's largest battleship, until it's sunk 3 1/2 years later on April 7, 1945 on it's way to Okinawa to stop American advance at the end of WWII.
- DirectorJesse HibbsStarsAudie MurphyMarshall ThompsonCharles DrakeThe true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.
- DirectorDimis DadirasStarsKostas PrekasKostas KarrasOlga PolitouIn 1941 the Germans invaded Greece and two childhood friends, one a Greek naval officer and the other a German, are forced to fight each other, each one defending his homeland.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsJeff ChandlerTy HardinPeter BrownDuring WW2, a 3000-strong American unit, known as Merrill's Marauders, battles the Japanese forces in Burma.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsGeorge PeppardJames MasonUrsula AndressA young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsSteve ReevesJuliette MaynielJohn Drew BarrymoreA retelling of the events leading to the use of the Trojan Horse, to bring down the great city of Troy.
- DirectorGiorgio VenturiniStarsSteve ReevesGiacomo Rossi StuartCarla MarlierAeneas leads escapees from the Trojan war to new land in Italy, and must deal with new threats to his people.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsRichard BurtonCurd JürgensRuth RomanA commander receives a citation for an attack on Erwin Rommel's headquarters, which is actually undeserved, as the commander is unfit for his job. On top of that, unbeknownst to him, his wife is having an affair with one of his officers.
- DirectorLionello De FeliceIrving RapperStarsCornel WildeBelinda LeeMassimo SeratoBiopic of Constantine the Great, set between 293-312 AD, from his days as Tribune to his accession as Roman Emperor of Gaul under the tetrarchy system and ending with his battle against the usurper Roman Emperor Maxentius in Rome.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJohn WayneRobert RyanDon TaylorMajor Kirby leads The Wildcats squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.
- DirectorGrigoris GrigoriouStarsHristos PolitisVera KrouskaDimitris BislanisIn 1941 before the German attack in Greece, an officer and a soldier engaged in a spy operation within the Bulgarian borders. After returning to Greece, involved in the heroic defense of the fort Rupel in "Metaxa line", where their unit.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsGeorge SegalRobert VaughnBen GazzaraAs the Allied armies close in, the Germans decide to blow up the last Rhine bridge, trapping their own men on the wrong side. But will it happen?
- DirectorAdrian VitoriaStarsSean BeanDanny DyerAksel HennieThe true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.
- DirectorDinos DimopoulosStarsJenny KareziManos KatrakisKostas KazakosAs WWII is brewing over Europe, a diligent secretary becomes entangled in a well-orchestrated ballet of counter-intelligence, as her desire for a captain threatens to jeopardise the entire operation. But, can love bloom on the battlefield?
- DirectorTom CleggStarsSean BeanJamie BartlettKevin CollinsThis is the true story of the most highly decorated British patrol since the Boer war: an eight man SAS team inserted behind Iraqi lines during the Gulf War in January 1991. Their mission was to take out the scud missiles which Saddam Hussein was using to terrorize his enemies, as well as to sever strategic communication lines between Baghdad and North West Iraq. This top secret mission was called "Bravo Two Zero" and it was commanded by Sergeant Andy McNab. Of the eight who went out, only five returned. Dropped into "scud alley" carrying 210-pound packs, McNab and his men soon found themselves surrounded by Saddam's army. Their radios didn't work; the weather was brutally cold. And they had been spotted.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsJohn WayneJohn CarrollAnna LeeCapt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American volunteer fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.
- DirectorGuy GreenStarsRichard AttenboroughJohn GregsonMichael CraigSent to destroy a German petrol dump in the North African desert, a British commando team unexpectedly discovers a large German tank unit, and must inform headquarters in time.
- DirectorGiorgio FerroniStarsGordon ScottAlberto LupoLilla BrignoneCoriolanus leads the Volsci in a war against Rome.
- DirectorMoustapha AkkadStarsAnthony QuinnOliver ReedRod SteigerIn 1929, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani as colonial governor to Italian Libya with orders to stamp-out all resistance from Libyan nationalists led by rebel guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosStarsRoger MooreTelly SavalasDavid NivenA World War II adventure involving a group of Allied P.O.W.s, Nazis, black market priceless art treasures, Greek resistance, a Greek monastery, and a secret German rocket base.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJames CoburnMaximilian SchellJames MasonGerman commander Hauptmann Stransky places a squad in extreme danger after Sergeant Rolf Steiner refuses to lie for him.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsHenry FondaRobert ShawRobert RyanA dramatization of Nazi Germany's final Western Front counterattack of World War II.
- DirectorPietro FrancisciStarsRossano BrazziTina LouiseSylva KoscinaDuring the Second Punic War between 214 and 212 B.C. occurred this history of the Roman siege in Greek city of Syracuse. The Romans were preparing for their invasion while Archimedes invents what looks like a satellite dish that reflects the sun's rays and produces a powerful beam of light, strong enough to burn the Roman fleet.
- DirectorMario CameriniStarsSilvana ManganoKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnA movie adaptation of Homer's second epic, that depicts Ulysses' efforts to return to his home after the end of ten years of war.
- StarsArmand AssanteGreta ScacchiIsabella RosselliniFollows Odysseus on his wanderings back to Ithaca following the Trojan War.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsJohn MillsAnthony QuayleSylvia SymsDuring World War II in North Africa, a medical field unit must cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDirk BogardeMarius GoringDavid OxleyLed by British officers, partisans on Crete plan to kidnap the island's German commander and smuggle him to Cairo, Egypt to embarrass the occupiers.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsClark GableBurt LancasterJack WardenA U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsRod SteigerChristopher PlummerOrson WellesFacing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.
- DirectorNikolai MüllerschönStarsMatthias SchweighöferLena HeadeyTil SchweigerGerman biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczRouben MamoulianStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonRex HarrisonQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsRichard ThomasErnest BorgnineDonald PleasenceA young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
- DirectorFedor BondarchukStarsMariya SmolnikovaYanina StudilinaPyotr FyodorovA group of Russian soldiers fight to hold a strategic building in their devastated city against a ruthless German army, and in the process become deeply connected to two Russian women who have been living there.