War Movies
by mindlessgreen | created - 24 Dec 2011 | updated - 19 Sep 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Killing Fields (1984)
R | 141 min | Biography, Drama, History
A journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody 'Year Zero' cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million 'undesirable' civilians.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich, Julian Sands
Votes: 59,061 | Gross: $34.70M
2. The Winter War (1989)
199 min | Drama, History, War
In 1939, two Finnish brothers are conscripted in the army to fight in the war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
Director: Pekka Parikka | Stars: Taneli Mäkelä, Vesa Vierikko, Timo Torikka, Heikki Paavilainen
Votes: 8,724
3. Come and See (1985)
Not Rated | 142 min | Drama, Thriller, War
After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas
Votes: 96,952
4. Stalingrad (1993)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama, War
The story follows a group of German soldiers, from their Italian R&R in the summer of 1942 to the frozen steppes of Soviet Russia and ending with the battle for Stalingrad.
Director: Joseph Vilsmaier | Stars: Dominique Horwitz, Thomas Kretschmann, Jochen Nickel, Sebastian Rudolph
Votes: 37,683 | Gross: $0.08M
5. Goodbye, Children (1987)
PG | 104 min | Drama, War
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Votes: 36,097 | Gross: $4.54M
6. 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: 789,642 | Gross: $46.36M
7. 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: 709,310 | Gross: $83.47M
8. Battle for Haditha (2007)
R | 97 min | Drama, History, War
An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
Director: Nick Broomfield | Stars: Matthew Knoll, Elliot Ruiz, Eric Mehalacopoulos, Nathan De La Cruz
Votes: 7,554 | Gross: $0.01M
9. The Hurt Locker (2008)
R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War
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.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce
Votes: 473,447 | Gross: $17.02M
10. When Trumpets Fade (1998 TV Movie)
R | 95 min | Action, Drama, War
A private in the latter days of WWII on the German front struggles between his will to survive and what his superiors perceive as a battlefield instinct.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Ron Eldard, Zak Orth, Frank Whaley, Dylan Bruno
Votes: 8,226
11. The Counterfeiters (2007)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, History
The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Votes: 47,159 | Gross: $5.48M
12. To End All Wars (2001)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, four Allied POWs endure harsh treatment from their Japanese captors while being forced to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle.
Director: David L. Cunningham | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland, Ciarán McMenamin, Mark Strong
Votes: 11,642
13. Band of Brothers (2001)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, History, War
The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
Stars: Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor
Votes: 525,873
14. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
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.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryô Kase
Votes: 169,951 | Gross: $13.76M
15. Katyn (2007)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, History, War
An examination of the Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn forest in 1940.
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Andrzej Chyra, Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Zmijewski, Danuta Stenka
Votes: 17,398 | Gross: $0.12M
16. Pearl Harbor (2001)
PG-13 | 183 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A tale of war and romance mixed in with history. The story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, William Lee Scott
Votes: 351,524 | Gross: $198.54M
17. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,448,872 | Gross: $96.90M
18. 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: 112,803 | Gross: $59.07M
19. Green Zone (2010)
R | 115 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Igal Naor
Votes: 142,649 | Gross: $35.05M
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: 155,582 | Gross: $28.64M
21. 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: 277,387 | Gross: $51.40M
22. Valkyrie (2008)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 259,046 | Gross: $83.08M
23. 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: 1,494,846 | Gross: $216.54M
24. The Longest Day (1962)
G | 178 min | Action, Drama, History
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
Votes: 59,027 | Gross: $39.10M
25. 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: 423,156 | Gross: $108.64M
26. 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: 151,129 | Gross: $78.12M
27. Windtalkers (2002)
R | 134 min | Action, Drama, War
Two U.S. Marines in World War II are assigned to protect Navajo Marines, who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 73,578 | Gross: $40.91M
28. Winter in Wartime (2008)
R | 103 min | Drama, History, War
In German-occupied Netherlands, a teenage boy gets involved in the Dutch resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded RAF pilot.
Director: Martin Koolhoven | Stars: Martijn Lakemeier, Jamie Campbell Bower, Yorick van Wageningen, Raymond Thiry
Votes: 13,526 | Gross: $0.54M
29. Black Book (2006)
R | 145 min | Drama, Thriller, War
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn
Votes: 80,458 | Gross: $4.40M
30. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 910,911 | Gross: $32.57M
31. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.
Director: Marc Rothemund | Stars: Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Alexander Held, Johanna Gastdorf
Votes: 28,653 | Gross: $0.68M
32. Max Manus: Man of War (2008)
Not Rated | 118 min | Action, Biography, Crime
The true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II and his battle to overcome his inner demons.
Directors: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg | Stars: Aksel Hennie, Agnes Kittelsen, Nicolai Cleve Broch, Ken Duken
Votes: 29,757
33. 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: 87,340 | Gross: $77.09M
34. Eichmann (2007)
TV-MA | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based upon the final confession of Adolf Eichmann, made before his execution in Israel as he accounts to Captain Avner Less, a young Israeli police officer, of his past as the architect of ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Young | Stars: Avner W. Less, Thomas Kretschmann, Troy Garity, Franka Potente
Votes: 3,530
35. John Rabe (2009)
134 min | Biography, Drama, History
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
Director: Florian Gallenberger | Stars: Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl, Steve Buscemi, Anne Consigny
Votes: 6,741 | Gross: $0.07M
36. A Woman in Berlin (2008)
Unrated | 131 min | Biography, Drama, History
A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
Director: Max Färberböck | Stars: Nina Hoss, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Irm Hermann, Rüdiger Vogler
Votes: 7,043 | Gross: $0.29M
37. Leningrad (2009)
R | 110 min | Drama, War
Winter, 1941. World War II rages on as Nazi troops invade the Soviet Union and besiege the devastated city of Leningrad. Foreign journalists are quickly evacuated, but in the chaos that ensues, Kate Davies is left behind.
Director: Aleksandr Buravskiy | Stars: Mira Sorvino, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Olga Sutulova, Gabriel Byrne
Votes: 4,796
38. City of Life and Death (2009)
R | 133 min | Drama, History, War
In 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.
Director: Chuan Lu | Stars: Ye Liu, Wei Fan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Yuanyuan Gao
Votes: 11,704 | Gross: $0.12M
39. The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
R | 125 min | Drama, War
About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh
Votes: 9,980 | Gross: $1.03M
40. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
PG-13 | 94 min | Drama, War
Through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
Director: Mark Herman | Stars: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, Zac Mattoon O'Brien
Votes: 246,031 | Gross: $9.03M
41. In Darkness (2011)
R | 145 min | Drama, War
A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the German-occupied Polish city of Lvov.
Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader
Votes: 11,155 | Gross: $1.04M
42. Rose (2011)
90 min | Drama, War
Rose, a German widow, hides from Russian soldiers who like to rape women and fights off Polish refugees who will steal everything she has. She gets help when Tadeusz, a former Polish officer, arrives looking to hide from his past.
Director: Wojciech Smarzowski | Stars: Marcin Dorocinski, Agata Kulesza, Malwina Buss, Kinga Preis
Votes: 3,990
43. Fortress of War (2010)
Not Rated | 138 min | Action, Drama, History
A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Soviet troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days.
Director: Aleksandr Kott | Stars: Aleksey Kopashov, Andrey Merzlikin, Pavel Derevyanko, Aleksandr Korshunov
Votes: 10,510
44. Jakob the Liar (1999)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, War
During World War II, an ordinary inhabitant of a ghetto fakes news about Allied offensives to inspire hope for other victims of the Nazi regime.
Director: Peter Kassovitz | Stars: Robin Williams, Hannah Taylor Gordon, Éva Igó, István Bálint
Votes: 17,986 | Gross: $4.96M
45. The Book Thief (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Drama, War
While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
Director: Brian Percival | Stars: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer
Votes: 142,225 | Gross: $21.49M
46. Aftermath (2012)
Unrated | 107 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
A Polish man who returns home after the death of his father unearths a secret about the now-deceased Jewish residents of his village.
Director: Wladyslaw Pasikowski | Stars: Ireneusz Czop, Jerzy Szymkiewi, Wojciech Walasik, Zbigniew Zamachowski
Votes: 4,239 | Gross: $0.00M
47. The English Patient (1996)
R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War
At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 200,481 | Gross: $78.65M
48. Mudbound (2017)
R | 134 min | Drama, War
Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Director: Dee Rees | Stars: Jason Mitchell, Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige
Votes: 54,333
49. War Horse (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farm boy enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. His hopeful journey takes him out of England and onto the front lines as the war rages on.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch
Votes: 165,501 | Gross: $79.88M
50. The Pacific (2010)
TV-MA | 53 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.
Stars: James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazzello, Jon Seda, Ashton Holmes
Votes: 129,760
51. Cold Mountain (2003)
R | 154 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Eileen Atkins
Votes: 155,964 | Gross: $95.64M
52. The King's Choice (2016)
133 min | Biography, Drama, History
April 1940. Norway has been invaded by Germany and the royal family and government have fled into the interior. The German envoy to Norway tries to negotiate a peace. Ultimately, the decision on Norway's future will rest with the king.
Director: Erik Poppe | Stars: Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo, Karl Markovics, Tuva Novotny
Votes: 10,064 | Gross: $0.11M
53. Amen. (2002)
Not Rated | 132 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
During WWII SS officer Kurt Gerstein tries to inform Pope Pius XII about Jews being sent to extermination camps. Young Jesuit priest Riccardo Fontana helps him in the difficult mission to inform the world.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Ulrich Tukur, Mathieu Kassovitz, Ulrich Mühe, Michel Duchaussoy
Votes: 14,967 | Gross: $0.27M
54. War Machine (2017)
TV-MA | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, War
An idiosyncratic general confronts opposition from enemies, allies, and bureaucrats while leading a massive rebuilding operation in Afghanistan.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: Brad Pitt, Daniel Betts, John Magaro, Emory Cohen
Votes: 50,042
Tell Your Friends