From classics like Saving Private Ryan to newer entries like Dunkirk and 1917, this list ranks the best movies about war, battles, and military conflicts. These films recreate some of the most significant events in world history from a variety of perspectives and with a variety of purposes and intentions. Some top war films attempt to recreate as realistically as possible the events they depict, either from an omniscient perspective permitted by historical study or from the point of view of the soldiers and civilians involved in the conflict itself. Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, for example, was both praised in its time and heavily criticized for bringing a "you are there" sense of realism - and little outside or cultural perspective - to a recreation of the Battle of Mogadishu. The best war movies of all time differ widely in their handling of the subject matter, but they all strike a chord with viewers now and in the time when they came out.
Some of the greatest war films use war as a backdrop to look at larger issues - such as man's inhumanity to man or the crippling impact of post-traumatic stress - or just as a meditation on war itself. Still other films like Glory and Band of Brothers examine the personal drama of a few individuals, and mine it for larger insights about the meaning of war and the impact that violence has on individual human lives.
Finally, some war films - particularly those made during the classic Hollywood era - are simply adventure films with war providing a compelling setting and situation. The Great Escape, for example, remains a classic not because of its grand ideas about the nature of war, but because it is a ceaselessly entertaining spectacle. No matter what type of film, there's no denying that these are certainly the best war movies ever.
Vote up your favorite war films to move them up the list, and if your favorites are not yet represented, make your own version of the list and add them! Then check out the best war movies on Netflix.
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2,6311,284Sands of Iwo Jima
John Wayne, Forrest TuckerReleased: 1949
Directed by: Allan Dwan
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3,2931,375The Last of the Mohicans
Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine StoweReleased: 1992
Directed by: Michael Mann
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3,7762,016Gettysburg
Martin Sheen, Tom BerengerReleased: 1993
Directed by: Ronald F. Maxwell
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2,7581,223Hamburger Hill
Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermottReleased: 1987
Directed by: John Irvin
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2,3661,466Casablanca
Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey BogartReleased: 1942
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
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2,5531,319Kelly's Heroes
Clint Eastwood, Donald SutherlandReleased: 1970
Directed by: Brian G. Hutton
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2,3471,101Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Russell Crowe, Paul BettanyReleased: 2003
Directed by: Peter Weir
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1,904957Battle of Britain
Michael Caine, Laurence OlivierReleased: 1969
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
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2,8061,429Midway
Tom Selleck, Charlton HestonReleased: 1976
Directed by: Jack Smight
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2,4581,525The Guns of Navarone
Gregory Peck, David NivenReleased: 1961
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson, Alexander Mackendrick
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2,106680Fury
Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeoufReleased: 2014
Directed by: David Ayer
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5,7733,933Braveheart
Mel Gibson, Sophie MarceauReleased: 1995
Directed by: Mel Gibson
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1,426516Stalag 17
William Holden, Peter GravesReleased: 1953
Directed by: Billy Wilder
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4,9002,794The Patriot
Mel Gibson, Heath LedgerReleased: 2000
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
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1,610815Run Silent, Run Deep
Clark Gable, Burt LancasterReleased: 1956
Directed by: Robert Wise
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2,5621,710The Thin Red Line
George Clooney, John TravoltaReleased: 1998
Directed by: Terrence Malick
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1,553914Spartacus
Kirk Douglas, Laurence OlivierReleased: 1960
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
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2,1401,100The Big Red One
Mark Hamill, Lee MarvinReleased: 1980
Directed by: Samuel Fuller
![Flags of Our Fathers]()
441,545615Flags of Our Fathers
Paul Walker, Ryan PhillippeReleased: 2006
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
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954571From Here to Eternity
Frank Sinatra, Burt LancasterReleased: 1953
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
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2,0621,291Dances with Wolves
Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnellReleased: 1990
Directed by: Kevin Costner
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1,8491,120Where Eagles Dare
Clint Eastwood, Richard BurtonReleased: 1968
Directed by: Brian G. Hutton
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961478Alexander Nevsky
Dmitri Orlov, Nikolay CherkasovReleased: 1938
Directed by: Dmitri Vasilyev, Sergei Eisenstein
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1,027406The Pacific
James Badge Dale, Joseph MazzelloReleased: 2009
Directed by: Carl Franklin, Jeremy Podeswa, Tim Van Patten
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1,1761361917
George MacKay, Dean-Charles ChapmanReleased: 2019
Directed by: Sam Mendes
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