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....
Manhunt (The complete series) (1970)
8.1/10
Starring: Alfred Lynch, Peter Barkworth, Robert Hardy, George Sewell
In 1942, British pilot Jimmy Briggs crashes his aeroplane in occupied France and immediately finds himself on the run from the Nazis. He meets a young... Read more
Map of the Human Heart (1992)
7.2/10
Director: Vincent Ward
Starring: Patrick Bergin, Anne Parillaud, Jason Scott Lee, Ben Mendelsohn, Jeanne Moreau,...
When a half-Eskimo boy named Avik (Jason Scott Lee) leaves his Arctic home with a British mapmaker (Patrick Bergin) to seek medical attention in Canad... Read more
Map of the Human Heart ( Blu-ray ) (1992)
7.2/10
Director: Vincent Ward
Starring: Anne Parillaud, Ben Mendelsohn, Jason Scott Lee, Jeanne Moreau, John Cusack, Pat...
When a half-Eskimo boy named Avik (Jason Scott Lee) leaves his Arctic home with a British mapmaker (Patrick Bergin) to seek medical attention in Canad... Read more
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
6.3/10
Director: Josie Rourke
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn,...
Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary Stuart defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful t... Read more
Mary Queen of Scots (Blu-Ray) (2018)
6.3/10
Director: Josie Rourke
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn,...
Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary Stuart defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful t... Read more
Masada (1981)
7.9/10
Director: Boris Sagal
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss, Barbara Carrera, Nigel Davenport, Anthony Quayle,...
A dramatic true story of courage and faith, this sweeping miniseries is set after the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Peter O'Toole stars as the... Read more
Massacre In Rome (1973)
6.6/10
Director: George Pan Cosmatos
Starring: Richard Burton, Marcello Mastroianni, Leo McKern
A chilling drama about a priest (Marcello Mastroianni) opposing a Nazi colonel (Richard Burton) who must execute 330 Italian hostages in retaliation f... Read more
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Mata Hari (1985)
3.2/10
Director: Curtis Harrington
Starring: Gottfried John, Oliver Tobias, Sylvia Kristel, Christopher Cazenove
Star of a slew of erotica films (most famously 'Emmanuelle'), Sylvia Kristel now takes on the role of real-life seductress Mata Hari. Hari was an exot... Read more
Max Manus: Man of War (2008)
7.3/10
Director: Espen Sandberg, Joachim Roenning
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Christian Rubeck, Knut Joner, Agnes Kittelsen
Biographical war drama based on the life of Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus. Aksel Hennie stars as Manus, who joins the resistance movement in... Read more
McHale's Navy: Season 1 (1962)
7.5/10
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Billy Sands, Gavin MacLeod, Carl Ballantine, Gary V...
Ernest Borgnine stars in the WWII-set comedy as maverick PT boat captain Quinton McHale, whose crack squad might be good at their jobs, but have a hab... Read more