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....
Safe Conduct (2001)
7/10
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Starring: Jacques Gamblin, Denis Podalydes, Marie Gillain
Aka "Laissez-Passer". Set in German occupied France during World War II, "Safe Conduct" is based on the actual war time experiences of assistant direc... Read more
Sahara (1943)
7.6/10
Director: Zoltan Korda
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges
There's plenty of top-notch, explosive action in this 1943 classic about a ragtag battalion stranded in the great African desert during World War II.... Read more
Sailor of the King (1953)
7/10
Director: Roy Boulting
Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, Michael Rennie, Wendy Hiller
WWII adventure adapted from a novel by C.S. Forester. 1940: a vital British convoy is crossing the Pacific, escorted by a cruiser squadron under the c... Read more
Saints and Soldiers (2003)
6.8/10
Director: Ryan Little
Starring: Corbin Allred, Alexander Niver, Kirby Heyborne, Lawrence Bagby, Peter Holden
A dramatic, intense and heroic WWII film based on the horrifying historical event known as the "Malmedy Massacre". In mid-December 1944, while Hitler'... Read more
Saints and Soldiers (Blu-ray) (2003)
6.7/10
Director: Ryan Little
Starring: Corbin Allred, Alexander Niver, Kirby Heyborne, Lawrence Bagby, Peter Holden
A dramatic, intense and heroic WWII film based on the horrifying historical event known as the "Malmedy Massacre". In mid-December 1944, while Hitler'... Read more
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (Blu-Ray) (1975)
6/10
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Starring: Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto P Quintavalle, Aldo Valetti
Nazi-Fascist Northern Italy, 1943-44. Four senior members of government, aided by henchmen and Nazi soldiers, kidnap a group of young men and women. T... Read more
Salvador (1985)
7.5/10
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: James Woods, James Belushi, John Savage, Michael Murphy, Elpidia Carrillo
Starring James Woods as a photojournalist sent to El Salvador in 1980 to expose that government's use of death squads. Gritty realism throughout with... Read more
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)
7.7/10
Director: Hiroshi Inagaki
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Koji Tsurata, Kaoru Yachigusa, Mariko Okada, Michiko Saga, Takas...
Hiroshi Inagaki's acclaimed Samurai Trilogy is based on the novel that has been called Japan's "Gone with the Wind". This sweeping saga of the legenda... Read more
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
7.2/10
Director: Allan Dwan
Starring: John Wayne, John Agar, Adela Mara, Forrest Tucker
The Duke was never better than as the haunted Sergeant Stryker, a man hated by his men (with few exceptions) for his unyielding toughness, but it is b... Read more
Sauna (2008)
6.3/10
Director: Antti-Jussi Annila
Starring: Ville Virtanen, Tommi Eronen, Viktor Klimento, Sonja Petajajarvi
A transcendental shocker, set in 1595, just as Protestant Sweden and Orthodox Russia have reached an uneasy truce. In the wake of their fighting, Finl... Read more