War Movies (Top 300 1941 to Now), a list by Sterling

9.0

/1568429/

88

/25430/

86

/16992/

4.5

/1253752/

98

/135/

97

/22910/

95

/30/

4.0

age 15+

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

91

8.5

/649733/

82

/9283/

81

/5864/

4.3

/730255/

99

/135/

95

/19580/

100

/18/

4.0

age 10+

In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

89

8.6

/1617391/

85

/31989/

82

/16779/

4.2

/1300325/

94

/148/

95

/41367/

91

/38/

4.0

age 16+

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

89

8.5

/13680/

84

/647/

82

/298/

4.4

/27125/

98

/102/

92

/48/

89

/19/

4.0

age 15+

A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

89

8.4

/236347/

81

/3644/

83

/3167/

4.5

/277050/

96

/77/

95

/1856/

90

/18/

4.0

age 13+

A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

89

8.4

/762651/

82

/13614/

82

/8806/

4.4

/891126/

91

/148/

94

/16503/

94

/15/

4.0

age 16+

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

87

8.6

/42853/

83

/1020/

80

/255/

4.3

/39074/

100

/70/

97

/72/

83

/19/

3.5

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

87

8.1

/76721/

77

/979/

77

/710/

4.2

/45200/

98

/97/

93

/867/

93

/17/

4.0

age 13+

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

87

8.2

/8852/

79

/206/

78

/89/

3.9

/2409/

96

/97/

94

/1228/

89

/28/

4.0

Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over.

86

8.1

/383611/

78

/5710/

79

/4101/

4.2

/270255/

86

/129/

91

/5764/

90

/18/

4.0

age 17+

Three steelworkers enlist in the Vietnam War, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter overseas changes their lives forever.

86

8.1

/467434/

79

/8930/

77

/4908/

4.0

/320411/

89

/122/

93

/9634/

92

/16/

4.0

age 17+

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

85

8.1

/49113/

79

/1065/

78

/797/

4.3

/63376/

96

/54/

93

/369/

86

/13/

age 11+

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

85

8.2

/275101/

80

/4871/

79

/2737/

4.2

/139680/

94

/53/

95

/4759/

86

/16/

age 8+

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

85

8.4

/1751707/

83

/45654/

82

/23598/

4.4

/3143924/

89

/332/

88

/36637/

69

/36/

4.0

age 17+

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

85

7.7

/54960/

76

/921/

74

/684/

3.9

/25830/

97

/34/

90

/910/

91

/16/

4.0

Tired of life as soldiers, Peachy Carnehan and Danny Dravot travel to the isolated land of Kafiristan, where they are ultimately embraced by the people and revered as rulers. After a series of misunderstandings, the natives come to believe that Dravot is a god, but he and Carnehan can't keep up their deception forever.

84

7.9

/2036/

74

/33/

71

/27/

3.7

/1311/

100

/14/

92

/61/

4.0

Real-life letters written by American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the Vietnam War to their families and friends back home. Archive footage of the war and news coverage thereof augment the first-person "narrative" by men and women who were in the war, some of whom did not survive it.

84

7.9

/113513/

77

/2296/

74

/1172/

3.9

/50142/

92

/51/

93

/2434/

86

/20/

4.0

age 14+

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.

84

7.5

/492936/

75

/12036/

72

/5972/

3.8

/302299/

96

/288/

84

/13782/

95

/37/

4.0

age 17+

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.

84

8.1

/201205/

79

/3574/

79

/3072/

4.4

/367921/

78

/152/

92

/2589/

89

/21/

3.5

age 12+

An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndon.

84

7.8

/176059/

76

/3513/

74

/2202/

3.9

/65731/

91

/201/

86

/10114/

89

/37/

4.0

age 16+

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.

83

8.1

/27430/

79

/624/

78

/444/

4.3

/31895/

93

/30/

91

/361/

75

/6/

Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.

83

7.8

/40782/

76

/673/

74

/556/

3.9

/40423/

95

/37/

90

/819/

90

/16/

A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.

83

7.9

/6423/

75

/206/

74

/94/

4.0

/5898/

96

/23/

91

/35/

85

/25/

3.5

age 13+

Five Jewish Hungarians, now US citizens, tell their stories: before March 1944, when Nazis began to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50 years later. An historian, a Sonderkommando, a doctor who experimented on Auschwitz prisoners, and US soldiers who were part of the liberation in April 1945.

83

7.6

/43524/

74

/768/

74

/949/

3.9

/42244/

100

/26/

90

/958/

89

/6/

3.5

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

83

7.4

/25047/

77

/1279/

73

/350/

3.8

/12996/

97

/117/

88

/1109/

85

/33/

4.0

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

83

7.4

/57027/

75

/2441/

73

/1279/

3.8

/55523/

97

/202/

85

/314/

85

/44/

4.0

age 15+

In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.

82

7.9

/61126/

76

/759/

77

/644/

4.0

/25984/

91

/77/

93

/786/

84

/15/

age 15+

After two American prisoners are killed by guards in the act of escaping from a German POW camp in World War II, barracks black marketeer J.J. Sefton is suspected of being an informer.

82

8.3

/95311/

80

/1321/

80

/897/

4.3

/43719/

93

/28/

93

/503/

60

/7/

age 13+

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.

82

7.6

/4231/

75

/258/

73

/93/

3.8

/2473/

95

/58/

84

/61/

4.0

During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

82

7.8

/152265/

77

/3144/

74

/1742/

3.8

/82099/

95

/60/

93

/3608/

78

/22/

3.5

age 16+

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.

82

7.8

/796672/

75

/34983/

74

/17216/

3.8

/1709297/

92

/469/

81

/5361/

94

/53/

3.5

age 14+

The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.

81

7.8

/21373/

75

/471/

75

/353/

4.1

/19223/

94

/18/

89

/207/

80

/16/

As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory.

81

8.2

/842300/

82

/18835/

81

/11159/

4.2

/949357/

90

/87/

94

/18513/

78

/20/

2.5

age 17+

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

81

7.3

/161571/

69

/6210/

70

/2421/

3.9

/899395/

93

/357/

79

/114/

92

/59/

4.0

age 13+

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.

81

7.9

/150873/

76

/3011/

75

/2304/

3.9

/118040/

93

/61/

87

/2365/

87

/17/

3.0

age 14+

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

81

7.5

/252905/

75

/6513/

72

/3400/

4.0

/174648/

85

/227/

80

/5392/

81

/42/

4.0

age 13+

After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.

81

8.0

/870099/

80

/35264/

79

/17742/

3.8

/1042870/

90

/285/

91

/4679/

71

/49/

3.5

age 13+

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

80

7.3

/1922/

74

/132/

74

/20/

3.5

/1972/

93

/70/

91

/29/

3.5

age 13+

A depiction of the last living generation of German participants in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich.

80

7.7

/450264/

78

/13597/

74

/6160/

3.7

/247933/

77

/172/

88

/18043/

74

/33/

4.0

age 17+

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

80

7.4

/323601/

74

/26876/

72

/9510/

3.8

/650408/

94

/362/

84

/2793/

82

/50/

3.5

age 13+

Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

80

8.2

/757661/

81

/29634/

79

/13199/

4.1

/1748983/

88

/475/

88

/6014/

78

/57/

2.5

age 16+

At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.

80

7.5

/3065/

72

/181/

72

/52/

3.7

/4172/

97

/64/

83

/16/

83

/21/

3.5

Deep beneath the surface in the Syrian province of Ghouta, a group of female doctors have established an underground field hospital. Under the supervision of paediatrician Dr. Amani and her staff of doctors and nurses, hope is restored for some of the thousands of children and civilian victims of the ruthless Syrian civil war.

80

8.2

/6558/

78

/204/

76

/93/

4.2

/6876/

90

/42/

90

/191/

68

/9/

3.0

age 15+

Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

80

7.4

/212079/

71

/3317/

71

/2327/

3.6

/104197/

86

/93/

83

/4498/

86

/31/

4.0

age 16+

In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.

79

8.3

/1151430/

82

/22432/

79

/10793/

3.9

/460497/

76

/131/

85

/1198232/

68

/20/

3.5

age 17+

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

79

7.4

/15881/

70

/279/

70

/295/

3.7

/21703/

93

/284/

74

/358/

4.0

Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.

79

7.4

/31596/

72

/1194/

71

/755/

4.1

/70104/

82

/234/

72

/59/

80

/44/

4.0

age 13+

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

79

7.4

/4364/

76

/276/

72

/91/

3.8

/3269/

98

/102/

83

/22/

86

/31/