War Films
This a list of my favourite war films, of which most are usually featured amoungst top lists somewhere. I must stress this is my personal favourites, some obvious ones to some may be missing as I either just don't like the film or the actors etc.
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- 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.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMatt DamonTom SizemoreFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
- DirectorEdward BergerStarsFelix KammererAlbrecht SchuchAaron HilmerA young German soldier's terrifying experiences and distress on the western front during World War I.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRussell CrowePaul BettanyBilly BoydDuring the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJack HawkinsDonald SindenJohn StrattonThe World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDean-Charles ChapmanGeorge MacKayDaniel MaysApril 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
- StarsVolker BruchTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerFive friends go out to war and promise each other to be back for Christmas.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsFionn WhiteheadBarry KeoghanMark RylanceAllied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
- 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.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorDavid AyerStarsBrad PittShia LaBeoufLogan LermanA grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- 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.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
- StarsJames Badge DaleJoseph MazzelloJon SedaThe Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobin WilliamsForest WhitakerTom T. TranIn 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsRyan PhillippeBarry PepperJoseph CrossThe life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
- 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.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsJude LawEd HarrisJoseph FiennesA Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.
- DirectorAaron SchneiderStarsTom HanksElisabeth ShueStephen GrahamSeveral months after the U.S. entry into World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsColin FarrellMatthew DavisClifton Collins Jr.A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasRichard HarrisUlla JacobssonNorwegian resistance tries to stop German efforts to produce an atomic bomb component during World War II.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsChristian BaleJohn MalkovichMiranda RichardsonA young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsJames CoburnMaximilian SchellJames MasonGerman commander Hauptmann Stransky places a squad in extreme danger after Sergeant Rolf Steiner refuses to lie for him.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsJake GyllenhaalJamie FoxxLucas BlackA psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.
- 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.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael J. FoxSean PennDon HarveyDuring the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
- DirectorRon MaxwellStarsTom BerengerMartin SheenStephen LangIn 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsCarice van HoutenSebastian KochThom HoffmanIn the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsCliff RobertsonGeorge ChakirisMaria PerschyA RAF squadron is assigned to knock out a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory supplies fuel for the Nazi effort to launch rockets on England during D-Day.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsGene HackmanDenzel WashingtonMatt CravenOn a U.S. nuclear missile sub, a young First Officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy Captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsJames NesbittTim Pigott-SmithNicholas FarrellA dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert FriendThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
- DirectorSaul DibbStarsPaul BettanySam ClaflinStephen GrahamSet in a dugout in Aisne in 1918, it is the story of a group of British officers, led by mentally-disintegrating young Officer Stanhope, as they await their fate.
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.
- DirectorJonathan MostowStarsMatthew McConaugheyBill PaxtonHarvey KeitelA German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.
- DirectorCharles FrendRobert HamerStarsArthur YoungWalter FitzgeraldRalph MichaelRescue of the tanker MV San Demetrio by parts of her own crew after she had been set afire in the middle of the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and then had been abandoned.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsHarrison FordSam SpruellPeter StebbingsWhen Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsJohn MillsLouis BradfieldRonald MillarAll leave is cancelled so that a British submarine can be sent after a new German warship. They chase it so far that they have no fuel to get home.
- DirectorNoël CowardStarsNoël CowardJohn MillsBernard MilesThis "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
- DirectorWalter SummersStarsCraighall SherryHans von SlockRoger MaxwellDramatic reconstruction of two 1914 naval battles off Coronel and the Falkland Islands.The first a defeat of the British by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the second a retaliation by the British under vice Admiral Sturdee.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsClark GableBurt LancasterJack WardenA U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSteve McQueenRichard AttenboroughRichard CrennaIn 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.
- 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.
- DirectorPat JacksonStarsEric FullertonDuncan MacKenzieW. KerrA wartime film, made under the auspices of the Crown Film Unit, serving as a tribute to the Merchant Navy. During WWII, they kept the lifeline to America and the Commonwealth open so that this little island could fight on. Even as late as 1943/4 when this was made, the convoys still provided vital essential supplies as well as the materiel necessary to take the fight into Europe. This film dramatizes the experiences of many merchant seamen.
- DirectorRoy BoultingStarsJeffrey HunterMichael RennieWendy HillerIn 1940, Canadian sailor Andrew Brown is prisoner on a battle damaged German raider and he plans to delay the raider's at-sea repairs until a British naval task-force can destroy it.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsTrevor HowardRichard AttenboroughSonny TuftsIn 1940, the Captain of an old Royal Navy destroyer struggles with his crew, as well as the Nazis.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsClive BrookJohn ClementsEdward ChapmanA tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddWilliam HartnellAkim TamiroffIn 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, British warship H.M.S. Amethyst sails up the Yangtse river but on the return trip, finds its way blocked by a barrage of fire from the Communist Chinese shore batteries.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsAlec GuinnessDirk BogardeMaurice DenhamOn the H.M.S. Defiant, during the French Revolutionary War, fair Captain Crawford is locked in a battle of wills against his cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsJohn MillsJohn GregsonDonald SindenThe attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.
- DirectorJames B. HarrisStarsRichard WidmarkSidney PoitierJames MacArthurAn American destroyer Captain is determined to confront a Soviet submarine caught violating territorial waters. Perhaps too determined.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGregory PeckVirginia MayoRobert BeattyDuring the Napoleonic wars, a British Navy Captain has adventures in Central American waters.
- DirectorAndrew GrieveStarsIoan GruffuddRobert LindsayDorian HealyHoratio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications.
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsMarlon BrandoYul BrynnerJanet MargolinA war pacifist is blackmailed to pose as an SS officer and to disable the scuttling explosives on a freighter carrying rubber cargo to be captured by the Allies.
- DirectorJosé FerrerStarsJosé FerrerTrevor HowardDora BryanDuring World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
- DirectorAndrew V. McLaglenStarsGregory PeckRoger MooreDavid NivenDuring World War II, British Intelligence brings a crew of ex-soldiers out of retirement, using their age as cover, to take to the seas and pull off an unlikely undercover mission in neutral Goa.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael RedgraveDirk BogardeBonar ColleanoIn the North Sea in 1944, passengers of a downed Royal Air Force transport aircraft talk about their lives while awaiting rescue in their dinghy.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreMuriel PavlowLyndon BrookBiopic of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after having lost both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsEd SkreinPatrick WilsonWoody HarrelsonThe story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.
- DirectorBrian Peter FalkStarsGarret DillahuntTom FeltonJake AbelA WWII pilot, bombardier, and radioman find themselves adrift on a lifeboat without food or water after being forced to ditch their plane during a scouting mission.
- DirectorTaika WaititiStarsRoman Griffin DavisThomasin McKenzieScarlett JohanssonA young German boy in the Hitler Youth whose hero and imaginary friend is the country's dictator is shocked to discover that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
- 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.
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsJohn MillsRichard AttenboroughBernard LeeA dramatization of the British Expeditionary Force's 1940 retreat to the beaches of France and the extraordinary seaborne evacuation that saved it from utter destruction by Nazi Germany.
- DirectorDavid MackenzieStarsChris PineStephen DillaneRebecca RobinA true David vs. Goliath story of how the 14th century Scottish 'Outlaw King' Robert the Bruce used cunning and bravery to defeat the much larger and better equipped occupying English army.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsThomas AdlamWilliam ArgentJohn AshbyA documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsHumphrey BogartJosé FerrerVan JohnsonWhen a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardises the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsAndrew GarfieldSam WorthingtonLuke BraceyWorld War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, serving during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.
- CreatorJohannes W. BetzTony SaintStarsFranz DindaTom WlaschihaRick OkonAn inexperienced U-boat crew has to survive a secret mission and a young German woman is torn between loyalty for her home country and the French resistance in this WWII drama.
- DirectorBoris SagalStarsDavid McCallumSuzanne NeveCharles GrayIn World War II, an RAF squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret German V-2 rocket testing facility in France.
- DirectorIan DuncanStarsDavid Bark-JonesSteve ChaplinRobert LoweThe story of the HMS Coventry, which was bombed during the Falklands conflict and sunk in a mere 20 minutes. On 2nd April 1982 Argentinean troops invaded the Falkland Islands. The HMS Coventry, a key warship in the British fleet was sent to join the conflict. Despite knowing the odds were against them, they were a successful and confident crew under a trusted leader - Captain Hart Dyke. As other ships were targeted around them, the Coventry felt invincible. But their luck was about to run out. At the height of the conflict, Coventry was sent on a suicide mission to deliberately act as bait for enemy bomber-fighters. Obligingly, on May 25th the Argentineans sent waves of Skyhawks armed with British made bombs to take out the British destroyer. At first Coventry had the upper hand, claiming three kills with her Sea Dart missiles, but just as Captain Hart-Dyke thought he had weathered the storm, the Argentineans launched one last attack... Three bombs hit the Coventry, killing 19 men and leaving many of the crew injured. Within 20 minutes the ship had capsized. The survivors evacuated in darkness, through choking black smoke and buckled ladders and finally had to jump overboard into the freezing South Atlantic. This film uses his testimony, together with some of his ship's company in a combination of interviews, dramatic reconstructions and archive, allowing us to witness the unfolding war through their eyes.
- 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.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsDougray ScottKate WinsletSaffron BurrowsA young genius frantically races against time to crack an enemy code and solve the mystery surrounding the woman he loves.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJames CaanDavid SumnerNorman BowlerDuring World War II, the British Royal Navy used experimental midget submarines to raid German warships in Norway.
- DirectorMichael SamuelsStarsPatricia HodgeJames FoxJohn StandingOn April 2, 1982, Britain went to war to regain the Falkland Islands. This movie is a gripping account of how Prime Minister Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher MP's government handled the biggest crisis in British foreign affairs since the Suez Canal. It tells the story of how Argentina, an ally of the British, fought the Conservative government and invaded the Falklands. This play charts the backroom maneuverings between Thatcher's government and the military, between the British and the Americans, and the Americans and the Argentinians that led to a breakdown in diplomacy, to war, and to Britain's eventual victory.
- DirectorJ.P. WattsStarsSam HazeldineTom Goodman-HillKris HitchenDuring World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
- DirectorGunnar VikeneStarsKristoffer JonerPål Sverre HagenIne Marie WilmannThe sailor Alfred is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when World War II breaks out. Suddenly the sailors are in the front of the war, without any weapons.