my favorite War movies
by donvnova | created - 17 Jul 2012 | updated - 18 Mar 2013 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Black Hawk Down (2001)
R | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
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.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana
Votes: 423,325 | Gross: $108.64M
2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,495,440 | Gross: $216.54M
3. Hamburger Hill (1987)
R | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A very realistic interpretation of one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Anthony Barrile, Michael Boatman, Don Cheadle, Michael Dolan
Votes: 27,931 | Gross: $13.84M
4. Jarhead (2005)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, War
A psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Scott MacDonald
Votes: 206,350 | Gross: $62.66M
5. Stateside (2004)
R | 97 min | Drama, Music, Romance
The film follows a rebellious teenager on leave from the Marines who falls in love with a female musician. The relationship is threatened when she develops a mental illness...
Director: Reverge Anselmo | Stars: Jonathan Tucker, Rachael Leigh Cook, Agnes Bruckner, Val Kilmer
Votes: 1,993 | Gross: $0.17M
6. Beachhead (1954)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, War
In 1943, in the wake of the Allied amphibious landing on the Japanese-held Bougainville Island, four Marines are sent to scout the location of Japanese minefields.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Tony Curtis, Frank Lovejoy, Mary Murphy, Eduard Franz
Votes: 1,197 | Gross: $1.40M
7. Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, War
Small squad must hold off German attack.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, Harry Guardino
Votes: 7,456 | Gross: $2.42M
8. Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Approved | 97 min | Drama, War
During the Korean War peace talks, U.S. troops fight to retake a hill from the Communist Chinese forces.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Gregory Peck, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, George Peppard
Votes: 5,269 | Gross: $4.02M
9. Halls of Montezuma (1951)
Approved | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A company of Marines races against the clock to find a Japanese rocket base.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Reginald Gardiner, Robert Wagner
Votes: 2,955
10. Stop-Loss (2008)
R | 112 min | Drama, War
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rob Brown
Votes: 20,885 | Gross: $10.91M
11. The Big Red One (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama, War
A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 21,381
12. The Thin Red Line (1998)
R | 170 min | Drama, History, War
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Kirk Acevedo
Votes: 199,508 | Gross: $36.40M
13. Badland (III) (2019)
R | 165 min | Drama
An American soldier is unable to cope with the realities of daily life after he returns from his tour of duty in Iraq.
Director: Francesco Lucente | Stars: Jamie Draven, Grace Caroline Currey, Vinessa Shaw, Joe Morton
Votes: 533
14. Casualties of War (1989)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly
Votes: 48,105 | Gross: $18.67M
15. Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
Not Rated | 92 min | Action, Drama, War
The story of a platoon during the Korean War. One by one Corporal Denno's superiors are killed until it comes to the point where he must try to take command responsibility.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea, Richard Hylton
Votes: 2,111
16. In Country (1989)
R | 120 min | Drama, Romance, War
A young girl whose father died in the Vietnam War becomes determined to find out more about him and his experiences.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Emily Lloyd, Bruce Willis, Joan Allen, Kevin Anderson
Votes: 3,129 | Gross: $3.53M
17. We Were Soldiers (2002)
R | 138 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.
Director: Randall Wallace | Stars: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott
Votes: 151,189 | Gross: $78.12M
18. Paths of Glory (1957)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Votes: 212,125
19. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
PG | 175 min | Drama, History, War
Operation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier
Votes: 61,492 | Gross: $50.80M
20. Defiance (I) (2008)
R | 137 min | Action, Drama, History
Jewish brothers in German-occupied Eastern Europe escape into a Belorussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-combatants.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos
Votes: 155,622 | Gross: $28.64M
21. Uncommon Valor (1983)
R | 105 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Ten years after his son went M.I.A. in Vietnam, U.S. Marine retired Colonel Jason Rhodes assembles a private rescue team to find Americans held in P.O.W. camps in Laos.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Gene Hackman, Patrick Swayze, Robert Stack, Fred Ward
Votes: 11,642 | Gross: $30.50M
22. Kelly's Heroes (1970)
GP | 144 min | Adventure, Comedy, War
A group of U.S. soldiers sneaks across enemy lines in WWII France to get their hands on a secret stash of Nazi treasure.
Director: Brian G. Hutton | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor
Votes: 53,678 | Gross: $1.38M
23. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A disillusioned pilot shot down over war-torn Bosnia goes on the run from the local military and an assassin, as his commanding officer risks all to save him.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield
Votes: 112,834 | Gross: $59.07M
24. Patton (1970)
GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War
The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong
Votes: 107,902 | Gross: $61.70M
25. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
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.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,203 | Gross: $11.49M
26. U-571 (2000)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, War
A German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners trying to capture their Enigma cipher machine.
Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi
Votes: 87,363 | Gross: $77.09M
27. The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
PG | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A German plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill unfolds at the height of World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter
Votes: 24,475
28. Battle Force (2012)
R | 102 min | Action, War
An elite fighting unit was formed for a desperate mission. Cornered and caught the only way out was to aim, fire and stay alive.
Director: Scott Martin | Stars: Scott Martin, Clint Hummel, Tony Pauletto, Brandon Kyle Davis
Votes: 1,022
29. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 258,753 | Gross: $12.10M
30. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Passed | 138 min | Drama, History, War
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Tim Murdock
Votes: 6,455
31. Battle of Britain (1969)
G | 132 min | Action, Drama, History
In 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, Curd Jürgens
Votes: 24,498 | Gross: $4.36M
32. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
R | 116 min | Drama, War
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin
Votes: 789,946 | Gross: $46.36M
33. The Train (1964)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Thriller, War
In 1944, a German colonel loads a train with French art treasures to send to Germany. The Resistance must stop it without damaging the cargo.
Directors: John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau, Suzanne Flon
Votes: 18,851 | Gross: $7.41M
34. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, War
Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn
Votes: 48,169 | Gross: $42.72M
35. Home of the Brave (2006)
R | 106 min | Action, Drama, War
Three soldiers struggle to readjust to life at home after returning home from a lengthy tour in Iraq.
Director: Irwin Winkler | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, 50 Cent, Jessica Biel, Brian Presley
Votes: 11,242 | Gross: $0.05M
36. Brothers (I) (2009)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller, War
While on tour in Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down and he is presumed dead. Back home, it is his screw-up brother who looks after the family. Sam does return, but with a lot of excess baggage.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire, Sam Shepard
Votes: 146,521 | Gross: $28.50M
37. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 709,621 | Gross: $83.47M
38. Enemy at the Gates (2001)
R | 131 min | Action, Drama, War
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz
Votes: 277,473 | Gross: $51.40M
39. The Naked and the Dead (1958)
Approved | 131 min | Drama, War
Set during the Pacific War against the Japanese, this WW2 drama discerns between achieving one's mission at any cost versus preserving the lives under one's command and enforcing discipline through fear as opposed to mutual respect.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey, Lili St. Cyr
Votes: 1,785
40. From Here to Eternity (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Romance, War
At a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed
Votes: 50,789 | Gross: $30.50M
41. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 439,240 | Gross: $138.53M
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