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....
Lifeboat (1944)
7.8/10
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, John Hodiak, Hume Cronyn, Cana...
From a story by John Steinbeck, director Alfred Hitchcock's riveting film of human strengths and frailties under extraordinary circumstances finds eig... Read more
Lincoln (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, Joseph Gordon-Le...
This inspiring and revealing drama focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final four months in office. In early 1865, visionary leader Abraham Lin... Read more
Lincoln ( Blu-ray ) (2012)
7.4/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, Joseph Gordon-Le...
This inspiring and revealing drama focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final four months in office. In early 1865, visionary leader Abraham Lin... Read more
Lion Of The Desert (1981)
8/10
Director: Moustapha Akkad
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger
This epic movie gives an absorbing portrait of the 1929-31 war in the North African deserts of Libya when the Bedouin troops on horseback faced the ta... Read more
Lions For Lambs (2006)
6.2/10
Director: Robert Redford
Starring: Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield, Peter B...
Robert Redford directs this dramatic tale of intersecting lives surrounding American troops in the Middle East. Weaving together the stories of a prof... Read more
Live From Baghdad (2002)
7.4/10
Director: Mick Jackson
Starring: Michael Keaton, Helena Bonham Carter, Lili Taylor, Bruce McGill, David Suchet
Adapted from the book by former CNN News executive producer Robert Wiener, this intense drama tells the story of how CNN became the only news network... Read more
Lone Survivor (2013)
7.5/10
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Ali Suliman, Jerry Ferrara,...
Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, "Lone Survivor" tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a... Read more
Lore (2012)
7.1/10
Director: Cate Shortland
Starring: Ursina Lardi, Nele Trebs, Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Mika...
Stranded with her younger siblings after their Nazi parents are imprisoned, Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) leads the remains of her family across war-torn Ge... Read more
Lost Command (1966)
6.6/10
Director: Mark Robson
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, George Segal, Claudia Cardinale
Anthony Quinn is a glory-seeking soldier, fighting France's doomed cause in colonial Indochina and Algeria, whose climb through the ranks is stalled w... Read more
Louder Than Bombs (2016)
6.6/10
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: David Strathairn, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Ryan
Isabelle Reed is a war photographer who has gone to the most dangerous places in the world. It is therefore tragic (and ironic) when she dies accident... Read more