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....
Haven (2001)
6.3/10
Director: John Gray
Starring: Natasha Richardson, Colm Feore, Henry Czerny, Sheila McCarthy, Sebastian Roche,...
The stirring true story of Ruth Gruber (Natasha Richardson), an American journalist who volunteered for a treacherous wartime mission - escorting near... Read more
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
6.8/10
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill
Vigorous war adventure, with an accent on humour during its well-paced boot camp sequence, stars director Clint Eastwood as a rough-talking, old-schoo... Read more
Heaven and Earth (1993)
7.1/10
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Hiep Thi Le, Joan Chen
The third film in director Stone's Vietnam trilogy (following "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July"), based on the true-life perils of a Vietname... Read more
Hell and High Water (1954)
6.2/10
Director: Samuel Fuller
Starring: David Wayne, Gene Evans, Richard Widmark
A shadowy cabal hires a former sub commander (Richard Widmark) to investigate a reputed Communist scheme to trigger World War III. Widmark recruits a... Read more
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
7.3/10
Director: John Boorman
Starring: Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune
Two men, one American, one Japanese confront each other on a deserted Pacific Island during World War II.A gripping film, well executed with dynamic p... Read more
Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
5.4/10
Director: Nathan Juran
Starring: Ronald Reagan, Nancy Davis, Arthur Franz
Naval officers Charles Lockwood and Hans Christian Adamson wrote this WW II thriller chronicling the true story of one of the most daring submarine op... Read more
Hitler's SS : Portrait of Evil (1985)
6.6/10
Director: Jim Goddard
Starring: David Warner, Bill Nighy, Jose Ferrer, John Shea
The two-part TV movie 'Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil' crystallizes that evil by concentrating on two Berlin brothers. In 1931, Helmut Hoffman (Bill Ni... Read more
Holocaust (miniseries) (1978)
8.1/10
Director: Marvin Chomsky
Starring: James Woods, Meryl Streep, Michael Moriarty, David Warner
The time is the decade spanning the turbulent years of 1935 to 1945. Two families living in Nazi Germany struggle to survive amid the chaos and horror... Read more
Home by Christmas (2010)
7/10
Director: Gaylene Preston
Starring: Tony Barry, Martin Henderson, Chelsie Preston Crayford
A film memoir based on filmmaker Gaylene Preston's interviews with her father about his World War II experiences, reconstructed with actor Tony Barry... Read more
Home Fires: Series One (2015)
8.2/10
Starring: Samantha Bond, Ruth Gemmell, Claire Price, Claire Rushbrook
A drama following a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community during World War II. Read more