Best Naval War Films
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- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorCharles FrendStarsJack HawkinsDonald SindenJohn StrattonThe World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorPen TennysonStarsClive BrookJohn ClementsEdward ChapmanA tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.
- 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.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsTrevor HowardRichard AttenboroughSonny TuftsIn 1940, the Captain of an old Royal Navy destroyer struggles with his crew, as well as the Nazis.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsEd SkreinPatrick WilsonWoody HarrelsonThe story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorAndrew GrieveStarsIoan GruffuddRobert LindsayDorian HealyHoratio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsJohn MillsJohn GregsonDonald SindenThe attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.
- 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.
- DirectorJames B. HarrisStarsRichard WidmarkSidney PoitierJames MacArthurAn American destroyer Captain is determined to confront a Soviet submarine caught violating territorial waters. Perhaps too determined.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSteve McQueenRichard AttenboroughRichard CrennaIn 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsClark GableBurt LancasterJack WardenA U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsGregory PeckVirginia MayoRobert BeattyDuring the Napoleonic wars, a British Navy Captain has adventures in Central American waters.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTallulah BankheadJohn HodiakWalter SlezakSeveral survivors of a torpedoed merchant ship in World War II find themselves in the same lifeboat with one of the crew members of the U-boat that sank their ship.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneCarol ReedGeorge SeatonStarsMarlon BrandoTrevor HowardRichard HarrisIn 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsMel GibsonAnthony HopkinsLaurence OlivierFed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- CreatorRobert LevineJonathan E. SteinbergStarsJessica Parker KennedyToby StephensHannah NewFollows Captain Flint and his pirates twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel "Treasure Island."
- DirectorRoel ReinéStarsFrank LammersSanne LangelaarBarry AtsmaWhen the young republic of The Netherlands is attacked by England, France, and Germany, and the country is on the brink of civil war, only one man can lead the country's strongest weapon, the Dutch fleet: Michiel de Ruyter.
- DirectorJonathan MostowStarsMatthew McConaugheyBill PaxtonHarvey KeitelA German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMatthias SchoenaertsLéa SeydouxPeter SimonischekThe 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster is followed by governmental negligence. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.
- DirectorDonovan MarshStarsGerard ButlerGary OldmanCommonAn untested American submarine captain teams with U.S. Navy Seals to rescue the Russian president, who has been kidnapped by a rogue general.
- DirectorDon TaylorStarsKirk DouglasMartin SheenKatharine RossA modern aircraft carrier is thrown back in time to 1941 near Hawaii, just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
- DirectorStuart OrmeStarsDavid JasonIan Puleston-DaviesTony HaygarthA British Sub goes missing at the end of WWII, leaving only one survivor. Everyone believes it lost to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, then 40 years later it reappears without a crew. The British government sends for the one surviving crew member (David Jason), who is now a marine biologist. With a new crew, Jason proceeds to trace the last known happenings on the sub. But this submarine has a life of its own and the new crew soon start showing characteristics of the old crew.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsJude LawScoot McNairyBen MendelsohnIn order to make good with his former employers, a submarine captain takes a job with a shadowy backer to search the depths of the Black Sea for a submarine rumored to be loaded with gold.
- 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.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJames CaanDavid SumnerNorman BowlerDuring World War II, the British Royal Navy used experimental midget submarines to raid German warships in Norway.
- DirectorDavid TwohyStarsBruce GreenwoodDavid CrowMatthew DavisStrange happenings occur on a WW II submarine.
- DirectorMario Van PeeblesStarsNicolas CageTom SizemoreThomas JaneDuring World War II, an American navy ship is sunk by a Japanese submarine leaving 890 crewmen stranded in shark infested waters.
- DirectorTodd RobinsonStarsEd HarrisJulian AdamsDavid DuchovnyThe haunted Captain of a Soviet submarine holds the fate of the world in his hands. Forced to leave his family behind, he is charged with leading a covert mission cloaked in mystery.