War movies have been a staple of cinema since the early days of film. They offer a glimpse into the horrors and realities of war, as well as the courage and sacrifice of those who fight. We’ve been doing these best of all time lists over the past few days, and some of you have been upset by them.
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There is no way to make everyone happy when it comes to these subjective lists but we attempted to include our audience in this best war movies of all time list. The best war movies list was initially capped at 10 but we received so many suggestions we expanded it to 20.
Here are twenty of the best war movies of all time, in no particular order and as mostly picked by our audience:
20 Best War Movies Of All Time
- Saving Private Ryan (1998): This Steven Spielberg film is a harrowing and realistic depiction of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Tom Hanks stars as Captain Miller, who is tasked with leading a squad of soldiers behind enemy lines to rescue a paratrooper.
- Black Hawk Down (2001): The story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.
- Schindler’s List (1993): This Steven Spielberg film tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of over 1,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Liam Neeson stars as Schindler, who is forced to make difficult choices to save his fellow Jews.
- Das Boot (1981): A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- Apocalypse Now (1979): This Francis Ford Coppola film is a surreal and disturbing depiction of the Vietnam War. Marlon Brando stars as Colonel Kurtz, a renegade American officer who has gone rogue in the jungle. The film is a meditation on the nature of madness and the horrors of war.
- Full Metal Jacket (1987): This Stanley Kubrick film is a brutal and unflinching look at the Vietnam War. Matthew Modine stars as Private Joker, a Marine who goes through basic training and then fights in the war. The film is a powerful exploration of the psychological effects of war.
- The Deer Hunter (1978): This Michael Cimino film is a powerful and moving drama about the Vietnam War. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep star as friends who go to Vietnam and are changed forever by the experience. The film is a heartbreaking look at the cost of war.
- Platoon (1986): This Oliver Stone film is a harrowing and personal look at the Vietnam War. Charlie Sheen stars as Chris Taylor, a young man who volunteers for the war and experiences the horrors of combat firsthand. The film is a powerful and moving exploration of the human cost of war.
- Inglourious Basterds (2009): This Quentin Tarantino film is a violent and satirical take on the war. Brad Pitt stars as Lt. Aldo Raine, who leads a group of Jewish-American soldiers on a mission to kill Nazis. The film is a wild and entertaining ride, but it also offers a sharp critique of the Nazi regime.
- Casablanca (1942): A cynical expatriate American café owner struggles to decide whether to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- The Great Escape (1963): Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
- Letters From Iwo Jima (2006): The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
- The Day After (1983): The effects of a devastating nuclear holocaust on small-town residents of eastern Kansas.
- Dunkirk (2017): Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
- A Bug’s Life (1998): A misfit ant, looking for “warriors” to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.
- 300 (2006): King Leonidas of Sparta and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
- Windtalkers (2002): Two U.S. Marines in World War II are assigned to protect Navajo Marines, who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.
- The Hurt Locker (2008): During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
- Tropic Thunder (2008): Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.
- Braveheart: (1995): Scottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
These are just a few of the many great war movies that have been made over the years. War movies can be difficult to watch, but they are also important films that offer a glimpse into the human cost of war. They can be educational, entertaining, and thought-provoking, and they can help us to understand the realities of war in a way that no other medium can.
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