12 Top War Movies
Sponsored by 'Fury,' David Ayer's WWII drama that arrives on October 17, we look at 12 of the top war films of all time.
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- DirectorDavid AyerStarsBrad PittShia LaBeoufLogan LermanA grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.We haven't seen David Ayer's latest project yet, but we're excited for him to leave the streets of Los Angeles for this shift into WWII with one of the strongest ensemble casts of the year.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.One of the best films made about any war also has an incredible documentary about its production; if you have 5 straight hours to spare some evening, watch Francis Ford Coppola's Redux version of Apocalypse Now if you have access to it followed by the doc Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse from co-directors George Hickenlooper, Fax Bahr, and Eleanor Coppola.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.Proof that 1970s-style filmmaking continued into the 80s, this case study in cinematography (and claustrophobia) was an endurance test for the cast and crew.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.Another example of fine practical filmmaking, Michael Cimino's epic was released as the haunting memories of Vietnam were still fresh on our minds. The two Russian Roulette sequences would become classic scenes with an unfortunately heavy legacy.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.The scene in which Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) cycles away from Berlin is one of the most poetic and optimistic scenes from the end of a war that we've seen. (It's up there with Paths of Glory.)
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA 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.Stanley Kubrick's shot-in-England Vietnam film may suffer a bit whenever the camera isn't trained on Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio, but the parallels Kubrick draws between drill instructors and their grunts are more provocative than some viewers might ever admit.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsJean GabinDita ParloPierre FresnayDuring WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.A WWI story with its own troubled (critical) history has always been a masterclass in unsentimental filmmaking.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn 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.Because sometimes we want to set you off: this is Quentin Tarantino's second best film, and his most surprising upon its release. Who felt it would be as big as it was at the global box office?
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.Having recently watched Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif in David Lean's true epic at San Francisco's Castro Theatre, we'd argue it is one of the riskiest Hollywood productions of all time.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.Banned in France until 1975, Stanley Kubrick proved Francois Truffaut wrong - one can make an anti-war movie.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.Oliver Stone also proved Truffaut wrong, and Stone's disorienting filmmaking style has never been as effective.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiAkira TeraoJinpachi NezuIn Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.Akira Kurosawa imports King Lear elements to feudal Japan for his magnum opus, which he made at the age of 75.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsTom HanksMatt DamonTom SizemoreFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.Steven Spielberg best-crafted war film, one that reveals the hallmarks of a true filmmaker.