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The war movies on this list are ranked according to their success (awards & nominations), their popularity, and their cinematic greatness from a directing/writing perspective. To me, accuracy when making a Top 10/Top 100 all time list is extremely important.
From peacetime to frontlines, from coming home to left behind: Rotten Tomatoes presents the 100 best-reviewed war movies of all time, ranked by Certified Fresh films first. — Alex Vo. Page 1:...
Survey the history of film to highlight the absolute best war movies of all time, including plenty of action, explosions, stunts and more.
- Liam Gaughan
- The Deer Hunter. "The Deer Hunter" tells a comprehensive story about what soldiers experience before, during, and after their service in Vietnam, conveyed through the changing relationships between a group of lifelong friends.
- Inglourious Basterds. If there's one thing Quentin Tarantino can't seem to get enough of lately, it's revisionist history. His take on World War II, "Inglourious Basterds," features a ragtag group of American soldiers who go behind enemy lines and take on the massive project of not raining terror down on German soldiers, but assassinating Hitler himself.
- Patton. "Patton" deserves a spot on this list for its opening sequence alone. You know the one: George C. Scott, playing the legendary general, gives a no-holds-barred motivational speech to the troops against a backdrop of a gigantic American flag.
- Lawrence of Arabia. With wide, expansive shots of pristine desert that stretches as far as the eye can see, "Lawrence of Arabia" is a blockbuster in every sense of the word.
- 50 'Hacksaw Ridge'
- 49 'Mrs. Miniver'
- 48 'Lone Survivor'
- 47 'War and Peace'
- 46 'Gettysburg'
Directed by Mel Gibson
Like a great many World War II movies, Hacksaw Ridge is based on a true story, being about a pacifist named Desmond T. Dosswho served in the U.S. Army during the notoriously bloody Battle of Okinawa. It’s methodical in showing who Doss was both before and during his time in the war, with lengthy pre-war scenes, including some during basic training, all before things get more hellish once the film moves to Okinawa. Hacksaw Ridge provides a fairly fresh perspective on World War II, showing it t...
Directed by William Wyler
A Best Picture winner that’s a romance film, a World War II movie, and a family drama, Mrs. Miniverwas released right in the middle of the Second World War and addresses it all directly. This makes it fascinating to watch nowadays, because the event being depicted and explored was not a historical one at that point, with the lead-up to – and early years of – the war covered, but (obviously) not its conclusion. Mrs. Miniveris certainly old-fashioned, and some may feel like it veers close to pr...
Directed by Peter Berg
As you might expect from the title, Lone Survivoris a movie all about survival, and… well, the title implies that it’ll also be about some individuals failing to survive, too. It’s about four Navy SEALs serving during the War in Afghanistan, and how they end up fighting for their lives after being ambushed in a remote location by enemy forces while they’re out on a counter-insurgency mission. It’s a movie that looks at the bond between soldiers in difficult situations and the sacrifices that...
Directed by Sergei Bondarchuk
A mammoth filmmaking achievement in every conceivable way, War and Peace is a gargantuan film that was released in four parts totaling approximately seven hours in length. Not just a war movie, it’s also a romantic drama and a unique historical story that has some non-fictional characters blended with fictional ones, and it’s all presented in a strikingly original way that also makes War and Peace an epic arthouse film. It's a faithful adaptation of the legendarily long novel of the same name...
Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell
War movies don’t get a whole lot bigger in scope or runtime than Gettysburg, which can claim to be one of the longest American movies ever made. It earns its runtime by having close attention to detail in depicting the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, which played out over three days and ended up being a decisive event in bringing about the eventual end of the conflict. Focused more on showing the events in as broad a manner as possible, Gettysburg is less about telling a c...
- Jeremy Urquhart
Jul 17, 2024 · Heroism, acts of unimaginable brutality, rollicking action… The best war films ever made have all this and more
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Jul 24, 2023 · These are the best movies about World War I, WW2, Vietnam and more, from "Inglourious Basterds" to "Saving Private Ryan."
