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....
Flyboys (Blu-ray) (2006)
6.5/10
Director: Tony Bill
Starring: Jean Reno, Tim Pigott-Smith, James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jennifer Decker, Ty...
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
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
6.5/10
Director: Micholas Ray
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter
A leadership battle tug-of-war during the Battle of Guadalcanal, featuring squadron leaders John Wayne and Robert Ryan. Produced by Howard Hughes and... Read more
Flying the Secret Sky: The Story of the RAF Ferry Command (2008)
6.3/10
In 1940 Nazi air strikes had Britain on her knees. The RAF was desperate for aircraft - losing hundreds of planes in air battles over Europe. Their es... Read more
For Sama (2019)
8.5/10
Director: Edward Watts, Waad Al-Kateab
FOR SAMA is both an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the... Read more
Force 10 From Navarone (1978)
6.4/10
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Barbara Bach, Harrison Ford, Edward Fox, Robert Shaw, Franco Nero, Carl Weathers...
An attempt to create a sequel to 'The Guns of Navarone' in which the target this time is a bridge and dam in Yugoslavia. Robert Shaw steps into the Gr... Read more
Fort Bliss (2014)
6.4/10
Director: Claudia Myers
Starring: Ron Livingston, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Michelle Monaghan, Dash Mihok, Gbenga Akinna...
When decorated Army medic and single mother Maggie Swann (Michelle Monaghan, True Detective) returns home from an extended tour in Afghanistan she att... Read more
Fortunes Of War (1987)
8/10
Starring: Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Charles Kay, Rupert Graves, Alan Bennett
Guy Pringle and his new wife, Harriet, are members of the English community in Bucharest, Romania on the eve of World War II. After the war begins, th... Read more
Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)
Director: Charles Chauvel
Starring: Chips Rafferty, Grant Taylor, Pat Twohill, Betty Bryant
Charles Chauvel's 1940 cinematic tribute to the mounted troops of the Australian Light Horse regiments is a rousing call to arms, giving life to the h... Read more
Foyle's War: Series 1 (2002)
8.4/10
Director: Jeremy Silberston
Starring: Charles Dance, Edward Fox, Robert Hardy, Michael Kitchen, Anthony Howell, Julian...
Directed by Jeremy Silberston, this provocative series is a fusion of historical drama and mystery, focusing on the effects of World War II on the vil... Read more
Foyle's War: Series 2 (2003)
8.4/10
Director: Giles Foster, Jeremy Silberston
Starring: Michael Kitchen, Anthony Howell, Julian Ovenden, Honeysuckle Weeks
As war rages over Europe Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), is battling crime on the homefront. All four episodes fr... Read more