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....
Mutiny (1952)
5.1/10
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Starring: Mark Stevens, Angela Lansbury, Gene Evans
Mark Stevens stars as Captain James Marshall of the American ship Concord in the classic period drama, set during the War of 1812. After finding himse... Read more
My Boy Jack (2007)
7.2/10
Director: Brian Kirk
Starring: David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Carey Mulligan, Julian Wadham, Martin McCann, Kim...
Famed author Rudyard Kipling is adamant about his son Jack going to fight the Germans during World War I and uses his influence to land the 17-year-ol... Read more
My Way (2011)
7.8/10
Director: Je-kyu Kang
Starring: Jo Odagiri, Dong-gun Jang
Aspiring (and rival) marathon runners Jun-shik (Dong-gun Jang) and Tatsuo (Jo Odagiri) must put their dreams of glory on hold when they are conscripte... Read more
My Way Home (1964)
7.5/10
Director: Miklos Jancso
In the final days of World War II, a young Hungarian is making his way home, through countryside full of the debris of war, when he is captured and im... Read more
Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe (2012)
Director: Akan Satayev
Starring: Kuralay Anarbekova, Aliya Anuarbek, Aliya Telebarisova
Director Akan Satayev's 'Myn Bala' (one thousand boys) is the epic story of a group of young rebels who rose up against a brutal Mongol army occupying... Read more
Nate and the Colonel (2006)
5.6/10
Director: Paul Winters
Starring: Paul Winters, Ricco Ross, Mark S Brien, Al Harrington, Carlos Milano
A sprawling, lavish western set in the disorganised wake of the Civil War as a Confederate Colonel sets off with his newly-freed slave, Nate, to aveng... Read more
Navy Seals (1990)
5.5/10
Director: Lewis Teague
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Joanne Whalley, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Denni...
Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton are the best of the best, fighting off terrorists in Beirut as the Navy's elite Seals go on a typically h... Read more
Never So Few (1959)
5.9/10
Director: John Sturges
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson,...
Good cast in combination romance and WWII combat film. Frank Sinatra is an officer in charge of a British-American unit in Burma. He's also involved i... Read more
New Worlds (2014)
6.2/10
Director: Charles Martin
Starring: Jamie Dornan, Jeremy Northam, Michael Maloney, Freya Mavor, Alice Englert
The 1680s bring a new King, Restoration, and more tyranny. In Massachusetts, a robber's son falls for an anti-monarchist. In England, a young lady fal... Read more
Nina's Journey (2005)
Director: Lena Einhorn
Starring: Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Chwalibog, Andrzej Brzeski, Pawel Iwanicki, Narrated...
Narrated by Nina Einhorn herself, this dramatized feature film tells the story of her life focusing on the years between 1937 and 1945. Her Jewish fam... Read more