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....
Fateless (2006)
7/10
Director: Lajos Koltai
Starring: Marcell Nagy, Aron Dimeny, Andras M Kecskes, Joszef Gyabronka, Daniel Craig
A subtle, yet disturbing and profoundly moving drama about a Hungarian Jewish boy's life-changing experiences in Nazi concentration camps, and his att... Read more
Fear and Desire (1953)
5.6/10
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, Virginia Leith, Kenneth Harp, Stephen Coit
Virtually unseen since its theatrical premiere in 1953, "Fear and Desire" was the ambitious first feature film by legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.... Read more
Female Agents (2008)
6.8/10
Director: Jean-Paul Salome
Starring: Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu, Marie Gillain, Deborah Francois, Moritz Bleibtr...
In May 1944, a group of French servicewomen and resistance fighters are enlisted into the British Special Operations Executive commando group for two... Read more
Fires On The Plain (Blu-ray) (2014)
6.4/10
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Starring: Shinya Tsukamoto, Lily Franky
A Japanese soldier endures illness, starvation and brutality in the Philippines at the tail end of WW2. Read more
First Light (2010)
7/10
Director: Matthew Whiteman
Starring: Sam Heughan, Gary Lewis
In May 1940 eighteen-year old Geoffrey Wellum joins the 92 squadron of the Royal Air Force and is taken to the pub,where pilots who have seen action s... Read more
Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
7.4/10
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Franchot Tone, Anne Baxter, Akim Tamiroff, Erich Von Stroheim, Peter Van Eyck
Filmed almost concurrently with events in North Africa during WWII, Billy Wilder's take on the propaganda genre is adapted from WWI play, 'Hotel Imper... Read more
Fixed Bayonets (1951)
7/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: Gene Evans, Richard Basehart, Skip Homeier
Samuel Fuller's compelling Korean War epic stars Richard Basehart as a U.S. Army corporal who must reluctantly assume command of his platoon when his... Read more
Flags of our Fathers (2006)
7.1/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, John Be...
Clint Eastwood's World War II film offers a brutal grunts-eye-view of the battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. It centres on the lives of three... Read more
Flags of our Fathers ( Blu-ray ) (2006)
7.1/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, John Be...
Clint Eastwood's World War II film offers a brutal grunts-eye-view of the battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima. It centres on the lives of three... Read more
Flyboys (2006)
6.5/10
Director: Tony Bill
Starring: James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison, Tyler...
Inspired by the true story of American volunteers who, before the US became involved in World War I, went to fly with the French airforce in a squadro... Read more