Top 69 films in War
Casablanca
Directed by Michael Curtiz | Rated PG | 102 min | 1942
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
Apocalypse Now
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola | Rated R | 153 min | 1979
During the Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade colonel who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe.
The Best Years of Our Lives
Directed by William Wyler | 172 min | 1946
Three World War II veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Directed by David Lean | Rated PG | 161 min | 1957
After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
Saving Private Ryan
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated R | 169 min | 1998
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.
Battleship Potemkin
Directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein | 66 min | 1925
A dramatized account of a great Russian naval mutiny and a resulting street demonstration which brought on a police massacre.
The Deer Hunter
Directed by Michael Cimino | Rated R | 183 min | 1978
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.
Duck Soup
Directed by Leo McCarey | 68 min | 1933
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
Doctor Zhivago
Directed by David Lean | Rated PG-13 | 197 min | 1965
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during the First World War and then the October Revolution.
The Battle of Algiers
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo | 121 min | 1966
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
The Pianist
Directed by Roman Polanski | Rated R | 150 min | 2002
A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II.
The Birth of a Nation
Directed by D.W. Griffith | 165 min | 1915
The American Civil War divides friends and destroys families, but that's nothing compared to the anarchy in the black-ruled South after the war.
In Which We Serve
Directed by Noël Coward, David Lean | 115 min | 1942
This "story of a ship," the British destroyer HMS Torrin, is told in flash backs by survivors as they cling to a life raft.
Patton
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner | Rated GP | 172 min | 1970
The World War II phase of the career of the controversial American general, George S. Patton.
The English Patient
Directed by Anthony Minghella | Rated R | 162 min | 1996
At the close of WWII, 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.
Ugetsu
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi | 96 min | 1953
A fantastic tale of war, love, family and ambition set in the midst of the Japanese Civil Wars of the sixteenth century.
MASH
Directed by Robert Altman | Rated R | 116 min | 1970
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
From Here to Eternity
Directed by Fred Zinnemann | 118 min | 1953
In Hawaii in 1941, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second-in-command are falling in love.
Paisan
Directed by Roberto Rossellini | 120 min | 1946
Six vignettes follow the Allied invasion from July 1943 to winter 1944, from Sicily north to Venice. Communication is fragile. A woman leads an Allied patrol through a mine field; she dies ...
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Directed by D.W. Griffith | 197 min | 1916
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
The Killing Fields
Directed by Roland Joffé | Rated R | 141 min | 1984
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.
The Sorrow and the Pity
Directed by Marcel Ophüls | Rated PG | 251 min | 1969
From 1940 to 1944, France's Vichy government collaborated with Nazi Germany. Marcel Ophüls mixes archival footage with 1969 interviews of a German officer and of collaborators and ...
All Quiet on the Western Front
Directed by Lewis Milestone | 136 min | 1930
A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
Pan's Labyrinth
Directed by Guillermo del Toro | Rated R | 118 min | 2006
In the falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
La Grande Illusion
Directed by Jean Renoir | 114 min | 1937
During the first World War, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are sent to a seemingly impenetrable fortress which seems impossible to escape from.
Platoon
Directed by Oliver Stone | Rated R | 120 min | 1986
A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Paths of Glory
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | 88 min | 1957
After refusing to attack an enemy position, a general accuses the soldiers of cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
1917
Directed by Sam Mendes | Rated R | 119 min | 2019
April 6th, 1917. As a regiment assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
Shoah
Directed by Claude Lanzmann | 566 min | 1985
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Empire of the Sun
Directed by Steven Spielberg | Rated PG | 153 min | 1987
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation during World War II.
Letters from Iwo Jima
Directed by Clint Eastwood | Rated R | 141 min | 2006
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.
The Great Dictator
Directed by Charles Chaplin | 125 min | 1940
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
The Night of the Shooting Stars
Directed by Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani | Rated R | 105 min | 1982
The Night of San Lorenzo, the night of the shooting stars, is the night when dreams come true in Italian folklore. In 1944, a group of Italians flee their town after hearing rumours that ...
Zulu
Directed by Cy Endfield | 138 min | 1964
Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
The Thin Red Line
Directed by Terrence Malick | Rated R | 170 min | 1998
Terrence Malick's adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Rome, Open City
Directed by Roberto Rossellini | 103 min | 1945
During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is chased by Nazis and he seeks refuge and escape.
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Directed by Anatole Litvak | 104 min | 1939
FBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-War espionage activities of the German-American Bund.
Da 5 Bloods
Directed by Spike Lee | Rated R | 154 min | 2020
Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.
The True Glory
Directed by Garson Kanin, Carol Reed | Rated N/A | 87 min | 1945
A documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen. It opens as the assembled allied forces plan and train ...
Ashes and Diamonds
Directed by Andrzej Wajda | 103 min | 1958
During the German occupation noble, bourgeois and worker's partisan groups lived in peace with another. On the first day of freedom they start to fight each other. In these fights is weaved a most tender love story.
Ballad of a Soldier
Directed by Grigoriy Chukhray | 88 min | 1959
Young Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.
Breaking the Sound Barrier
Directed by David Lean | Rated N/A | 109 min | 1952
Fictionalized story of British aerospace engineers solving the problem of supersonic flight.
Forbidden Games
Directed by René Clément | 86 min | 1952
A young French girl orphaned in a Nazi air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.
Lacombe, Lucien
Directed by Louis Malle | Rated R | 138 min | 1974
A small town in the south-west of France, summer of 1944. Having failed to join the resistance, the 18 year old Lucien Lacombe, whose father is a prisoner in Germany and whose mother dates ...
The Dam Busters
Directed by Michael Anderson | 105 min | 1955
The story of how the British attacked German dams in WWII by using an ingenious technique to drop bombs where they would be most effective.
The Cruel Sea
Directed by Charles Frend | 126 min | 1953
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
Fires Were Started
Directed by Humphrey Jennings | Rated N/A | 63 min | 1943
A new man joins the civilian firefighters at a London unit during the Second World War. He meets his fellow firemen and firewomen, manages to enjoy some leisure time with them, and then ...
Shame
Directed by Ingmar Bergman | Rated R | 103 min | 1968
Ingmar Bergman's psychological study of how humans react in a situation of war. The film takes place on Gotland, where invasion forces arrive.
Grave of the Fireflies
Directed by Isao Takahata | 89 min | 1988
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Full Metal Jacket
Directed by Stanley Kubrick | Rated R | 116 min | 1987
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.
Inglourious Basterds
Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth | Rated R | 153 min | 2009
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
To Be or Not to Be
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch | 99 min | 1942
During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Cavalcade
Directed by Frank Lloyd | 112 min | 1933
A cavalcade of English life from New Year's Eve 1899 until 1933 seen through the eyes of well-to-do Londoners Jane and Robert Marryot. Amongst events touching their family are the Boer War,...
Home of the Brave
Directed by Mark Robson | Rated N/A | 88 min | 1949
During WW2, a reconnaissance platoon is sent to map out a Japanese-held island but racial tensions arise between the white soldiers and the only black member of the group.
I Am Cuba
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov | Rated N/A | 108 min | 1964
Four vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.
Is Paris Burning?
Directed by René Clément | Rated N/A | 173 min | 1966
The departure of the German army from Paris in 1944.
Mrs. Miniver
Directed by William Wyler | 134 min | 1942
A British family struggles to survive the first months of World War II.
The Train
Directed by John Frankenheimer, Arthur Penn | 133 min | 1964
In 1944, a German colonel loads a train with French art treasures to send to Germany. The Resistance must stop it without damaging the cargo.
Wings
Directed by William A. Wellman, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | Rated PG-13 | 144 min | 1927
Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
Fahrenheit 9/11
Directed by Michael Moore | Rated R | 122 min | 2004
Michael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11; and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Coming Home
Directed by Hal Ashby | Rated R | 127 min | 1978
A woman whose husband is fighting in Vietnam falls in love with another man who suffered a paralyzing combat injury there.
Land and Freedom
Directed by Ken Loach | 109 min | 1995
Spring 1936, a young unemployed communist, David, leaves his hometown Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the ...
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Directed by Jasmila Zbanic | Rated Approved | 101 min | 2020
Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp.
Born on the Fourth of July
Directed by Oliver Stone | Rated R | 145 min | 1989
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
The Army of Shadows
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville | 145 min | 1969
An account of underground resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied France.
The Cardinal
Directed by Otto Preminger | 175 min | 1963
A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Naziism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
Directed by Norman Jewison | 126 min | 1966
Without hostile intent, a Soviet sub runs aground off New England. Men are sent for a boat, but many villagers go into a tizzy, risking bloodshed.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Directed by Stanley Kramer | Rated PG-13 | 139 min | 1969
During WWII in Italy, a wine producing village hide a million bottles from the Germans
Hacksaw Ridge
Directed by Mel Gibson | Rated R | 139 min | 2016
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.
Latest News
2021 Award Winners :) May 3, 2022
Per usual, we've added the award winners from last year (2021), and updated our rankings!
2020 Award Winners! May 9, 2021
As always, we've added the award winners from last year (2020), and updated our rankings!
All the 2019 Award Winners and Updated Rankings February 22, 2020
We've added all the award winners from 2019, and updated our rankings!
Film lists
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1. Top 100 Movies of All Time by Rotten Tomatoes
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2. 100 All-Time Greatest Movies by Entertainment Weekly
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3. The 50 Greatest Films of All Time by Sight & Sound
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4. The 50 Greatest Movies by Black Directors by Slate
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5. The 80 Best-Directed Films by Directors Guild of America (DGA)
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6. Directors’ 10 Greatest Films of All Time by Sight and Sound
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7. Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films by The Hollywood Reporter
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8. The 100 best movies of all time by Time Out
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9. The 100 greatest American films by BBC
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10. Best Picture by New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC)
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11. Best Film by National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
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12. The 50 Greatest Films by The One-Line Review
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13. BAFTA Award for Best Film by British Academy of Film and Television Arts
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14. Top 100 British films by British Film Institute
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15. Best Picture by National Society of Film Critics
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16. AFI's 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time by American Film Institute
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17. Top Rated Movies by IMDb
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18. 102 Greatest Films by filmsite
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19. John Kobal Presents the Top 100 Movies by John Kobal
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20. Ten Greatest Films of All Time by Roger Ebert
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21. The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far by The New York Times
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22. 12 Greatest Films of All Time by Quentin Tarantino
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23. Academy Award for Best Picture by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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24. Essential List of Films for Filmmakers by Spike Lee
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25. 12 Greatest Films of All Time by Martin Scorsese
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26. Best Picture by Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
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27. Best European Film of the Year by European Film Awards
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28. Best Film by Independent Spirit Awards
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29. Best Picture by Los Angeles Film Critics Association
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30. Best Picture by Chicago Film Critics Association
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31. Best Picture by Boston Society of Film Critics
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32. The 25 "Greatest" Documentaries of All Time by POV
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33. Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy by Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globe)
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34. Best Film by Austin Film Critics Association
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35. Best Picture by The San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle
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36. Best Film by Village Voice Film Poll
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37. Best Motion Picture - Drama by Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globe)
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38. The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the Last 25 Years by ScreenCrush
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39. Best Picture by Florida Film Critics Circle
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40. Best Theatrical Motion Picture by Producers Guild of America