BEST OF WAR
by shineberries | created - 27 Aug 2013 | updated - 21 Jan 2015 | PublicI have watched every war film I can find...and the search is ongoing. Listed are my favourites.
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1. 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: 37,694 | Gross: $0.08M
2. 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: 97,079
3. 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: 8,233
4. Ivan's Childhood (1962)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, War
During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.
Directors: Andrei Tarkovsky, Eduard Abalov | Stars: Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeniy Zharikov, Stepan Krylov
Votes: 39,913
5. 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: 169,988 | Gross: $13.76M
6. Fires on the Plain (1959)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, War
In the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Eiji Funakoshi, Mantarô Ushio, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Osamu Takizawa
Votes: 5,320
7. 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: 1,495,563 | Gross: $216.54M
8. 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: 129,883
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: 473,621 | Gross: $17.02M
10. El Alamein - The Line of Fire (2002)
117 min | Drama, War
War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel ... See full summary »
Director: Enzo Monteleone | Stars: Paolo Briguglia, Pierfrancesco Favino, Luciano Scarpa, Emilio Solfrizzi
Votes: 2,015
11. 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: 526,466
12. Lebanon (2009)
R | 93 min | Drama, War
During the First Lebanon War in 1982, a lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town.
Director: Samuel Maoz | Stars: Yoav Donat, Itay Tiran, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov
Votes: 11,960 | Gross: $0.37M
13. Beaufort (2007)
Unrated | 131 min | Action, Drama, War
The story of a group of Israeli soldiers stationed in an outpost prior to the withdrawal of forces of 2000.
Director: Joseph Cedar | Stars: Oshri Cohen, Itay Tiran, Eli Eltonyo, Ohad Knoller
Votes: 4,839 | Gross: $0.10M
14. Days of Glory (2006)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from German oppression, and to fight French discrimination.
Director: Rachid Bouchareb | Stars: Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze
Votes: 15,135 | Gross: $0.32M
15. The Dawns Here Are Quiet (1972)
PG-13 | 188 min | Drama, History, War
During World War II in a small village outpost, a Soviet sergeant has his troop replaced by an all female unit. As they finally begin to appreciate one another, German paratroopers are spotted nearby and the realities of war emerge.
Director: Stanislav Rostotskiy | Stars: Andrey Martynov, Irina Dolganova, Elena Drapeko, Ekaterina Markova
Votes: 4,770
16. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,346
THE HUMAN CONDITION 1
17. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,346
THE HUMAN CONDITION 11
18. The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
Not Rated | 190 min | Drama, History, War
His ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Tamao Nakamura, Yûsuke Kawazu
Votes: 7,318
19. Iluminados por el fuego (2005)
100 min | Action, Drama, History
The suicide of an old soldier buddy brings up some old memories for an Argentinian man.
Director: Tristán Bauer | Stars: Gastón Pauls, Pablo Ribba, César Albarracín, Víctor Hugo Carrizo
Votes: 1,947
20. The Unknown Soldier (1985)
197 min | Drama, War
This film is the second silver screen adaption of the Finnish war book by Väinö Linna with the same name as the film. The story is based on Linna's experiences as an infantry man in the ... See full summary »
Director: Rauni Mollberg | Stars: Risto Tuorila, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Paavo Liski, Mika Mäkelä
Votes: 3,042
21. 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: 8,727
22. A Man Escaped (1956)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Votes: 24,970
23. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,617 | Gross: $0.06M
24. No Man's Land (I) (2001)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.
Director: Danis Tanovic | Stars: Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis
Votes: 48,812 | Gross: $1.06M
25. The Destiny of a Man (1959)
103 min | Drama, War
A Soviet soldier, Andrei Sokolov, has been separated from his family by World War II. Suffering in German captivity, he dreams of meeting his darlings after the victory. But cruel fate turned out otherwise.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Sergey Bondarchuk, Pavel Boriskin, Zinaida Kirienko, Pavel Volkov
Votes: 3,702
Sudba cheloveka
26. The Ascent (1977)
111 min | Drama, War
Two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the winter cold, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.
Director: Larisa Shepitko | Stars: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergey Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova
Votes: 10,097
27. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 134,245 | Gross: $22.24M
28. Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Romance, War
Young Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.
Director: Grigoriy Chukhray | Stars: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova, Nikolay Kryuchkov
Votes: 11,281
29. Rukajärven tie (1999)
Not Rated | 123 min | War, Drama
Set during the World War 2. In the summer of 1941 the Finnish army crosses the border of Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola goes through the wilderness around the Lieksa lake to ... See full summary »
Director: Olli Saarela | Stars: Peter Franzén, Irina Björklund, Kari Heiskanen, Taisto Reimaluoto
Votes: 4,472
30. The Front Line (2011)
Not Rated | 133 min | Action, Drama, History
A drama centered on the Korean War's final battle that will determine the border between north and south.
Director: Hun Jang | Stars: Shin Ha-kyun, Go Soo, Ryu Seung-su, Ko Chang-seok
Votes: 7,098 | Gross: $0.01M
31. The Battle of Neretva (1969)
G | 105 min | Drama, History, War
World War II drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.
Director: Veljko Bulajic | Stars: Yul Brynner, Hardy Krüger, Franco Nero, Sylva Koscina
Votes: 4,040
Of the three movies - the above, KOZARA and SUTJESKA - about the partisans in Yugoslavia, I liked this the best.
32. Kanal (1957)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, War
In 1944, during the Warsaw uprising against the Nazis, Polish Lieutenant Zadra and his resistance fighters use Warsaw's sewer system to escape the German encirclement.
Director: Andrzej Wajda | Stars: Teresa Izewska, Tadeusz Janczar, Wienczyslaw Glinski, Tadeusz Gwiazdowski
Votes: 8,034
33. Carriage to Vienna (1966)
78 min | Drama, War
A WW2 story of a young Austrian soldier running from the Russian army and a woman whom he forces to come along in order to save his wounded mate.
Director: Karel Kachyna | Stars: Iva Janzurová, Jaromír Hanzlík, Ludek Munzar, Vladimír Ptácek
Votes: 1,141
34. Land and Freedom (1995)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, War
David is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists. He makes friends between the soldiers.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Ian Hart, Rosana Pastor, Icíar Bollaín, Tom Gilroy
Votes: 12,094 | Gross: $0.23M
35. The Perfect Circle (1997)
110 min | Drama, War
An alcoholic Bosnian poet sends his wife and daughter away from Sarajevo so they can avoid the troubles there. However, he is soon descended upon by a pair of orphaned brothers. The ... See full summary »
Director: Ademir Kenovic | Stars: Mustafa Nadarevic, Almedin Leleta, Almir Podgorica, Josip Pejakovic
Votes: 2,406
36. Fury (2014)
R | 134 min | Action, Drama, War
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
Director: David Ayer | Stars: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña
Votes: 546,725 | Gross: $85.82M
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