100 Best War Movies of All Time

Critics Consensus: Bolstered by a cast of memorable stars and an impressive sense of scale, The Guns of the Navarone fires with vivid characterization and entertaining spectacle.

Synopsis: In 1943, a small commando team is sent to destroy huge German guns on the Greek Island of Navarone in order to rescue Allied troops... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker

Directed By: J. Lee Thompson

Critics Consensus: Despite its somewhat disjointed narrative, Oliver Stone's Salvador is a vivid and powerful political drama that sets an early tone for the director's similarly provocative future projects.

Synopsis: Unable to find work in America because of his penchant for booze and drugs, photojournalist Richard Boyle (James Woods) heads to El Salvador with his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: James Woods, Jim Belushi, Michael Murphy, John Savage

Directed By: Oliver Stone

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Prize-winning Tennessee marksman Alvin York (Gary Cooper), a recent convert to Christianity, finds himself torn between his non-violent beliefs and his desire to serve his... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias

Directed By: Howard Hawks

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: A crack team of Allied soldiers stages a daring rescue during World War II. A U.S. general is being held captive in an imposing castle... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark

Directed By: Brian G. Hutton

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: In 1944, the U.S. Army and Allied forces plan a huge invasion landing in Normandy, France. Despite bad weather, General Eisenhower gives the okay and... View Full Synopsis

Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Rod Steiger

Directed By: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki

Critics Consensus: Coming Home's stellar cast elevates the love triangle in the center of its story - and adds a necessary human component to its none-too-subtle political message.

Synopsis: The wife of a Marine serving in Vietnam, Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda) decides to volunteer at a local veterans hospital to occupy her time. There... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Robert Ginty

Directed By: Hal Ashby

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to... View Full Synopsis

Starring: David Bennent, Angela Winkler, Mario Adorf, Daniel Olbrychski

Directed By: Volker Schlöndorff

Critics Consensus: Worthy themes and strong performances across the board make Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence an impactful story about bridging cultural divides.

Synopsis: During World War II, British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) is captured by Japanese forces and held in a prison camp by the honor-bound Capt.... View Full Synopsis

Starring: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano

Directed By: Nagisa Ôshima

Critics Consensus: Private Benjamin proves a potent showcase for its Oscar-nominated star, with Hawn making the most of a story that rests almost completely on her daffily irresistible charm.

Synopsis: A Jewish-American princess, Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), is devastated when her husband (Albert Brooks) drops dead on their wedding night. While she grieves a duplicitous... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber

Directed By: Howard Zieff

Critics Consensus: Catch-22 takes entertainingly chaotic aim at the insanity of armed conflict, supported by a terrific cast and smart, funny work from Buck Henry and Mike Nichols.

Synopsis: This scathing war satire follows Capt. John Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a pilot stationed in the Mediterranean who flies bombing missions during World War II. Attempting... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel

Directed By: Mike Nichols

Critics Consensus: Kelly's Heroes subverts its World War II setting with pointed satirical commentary on modern military efforts, offering an entertaining hybrid of heist caper and battlefield action.

Synopsis: In the midst of World War II, an array of colorful American soldiers gets inside information from a drunk German officer about millions of dollars... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland

Directed By: Brian G. Hutton

Critics Consensus: Gettysburg's reverent approach to history is balanced with the committed work of a talented cast - and the hard-hitting dramatization of a bloody turning point in the Civil War.

Synopsis: This war drama depicts one of the biggest events of the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg. The massive three-day conflict begins as Confederate... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Jeff Daniels

Directed By: Ronald F. Maxwell

Critics Consensus: Overall, this caustic comedy hits more of its targets than it misses.

Synopsis: Set on an American Army base in 1989, as the Berlin Wall is about to fall, Buffalo Soldiers takes a satiric look as these men... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Anna Paquin

Directed By: Gregor Jordan

Critics Consensus: Bent juggles heavy topics with style, though its heavy-handedness at times feels more like exploitation than exploration.

Synopsis: In the 1930s Berlin, homosexual Max sleeps with German officer Wolf, only to see him killed by his fellow Nazis the next morning. Fleeing with... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Clive Owen, Lothaire Bluteau, Brian Webber, Ian McKellen

Directed By: Sean Mathias

Critics Consensus: While The King is sometimes less than the sum of its impressive parts, strong source material and gripping performances make this a period drama worth hailing.

Synopsis: Young Henry V encounters deceit, war and treachery after becoming king of England in the 15th century.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson

Directed By: David Michôd

Critics Consensus: The well-crafted Cold Mountain has an epic sweep and captures the horror and brutal hardship of war.

Synopsis: In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman (Jude... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Eileen Atkins

Directed By: Anthony Minghella

Critics Consensus: A grim and devastating tale of the Holocaust.

Synopsis: Based on actual events, "The Grey Zone" is the staggeringly powerful story of the Auschwitz twelfth Sonderkommando -- one of the thirteen consecutive "Special Squads"... View Full Synopsis

Starring: David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, David Chandler

Directed By: Tim Blake Nelson

Critics Consensus: While WTF is far from FUBAR, Tina Fey and Martin Freeman are just barely enough to overcome the picture's glib predictability and limited worldview.

Synopsis: In 2002, cable news producer Kim Barker (Tina Fey) decides to shake up her routine by taking a daring new assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan. Dislodged... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina

Directed By: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Critics Consensus: Though lengthy and at times plodding, Soderbergh's vision and Benicio Del Toro's understated performance ensure that Che always fascinates.

Synopsis: Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Benicio del Toro) transforms from intellectual, asthmatic doctor to one of Latin America's legendary revolutionaries. In the years before his famous 1964... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Benicio del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera, Elvira Mínguez

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh

Critics Consensus: Excellent cinematography and an interesting plot accompanied by a talented cast and crew make U-571 a tense thriller.

Synopsis: When a German U-571 submarine with a sophisticated encryption machine onboard is sunk during a World War II battle at sea, the Allies send an... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi

Directed By: Jonathan Mostow

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: At a U.S. Army Air Force base in England, the crew members of B-17 bomber Memphis Belle prepare for their 25th and final sortie into... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney

Directed By: Michael Caton-Jones

Critics Consensus: Anthropoid completes its mission rather unevenly but delivers a historically illuminating story with great performances to back it up.

Synopsis: In December 1941, two Czech soldiers (Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan) parachute into their occupied homeland to assassinate Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich (Detlef Bothe).

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan, Charlotte Le Bon, Anna Geislerová

Directed By: Sean Ellis

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Synopsis: During World War II, Nazi officer Max Radl devises a plan to kidnap or kill the British prime minister. Approved by German Cmdr. Heinrich Himmler,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter

Directed By: John Sturges

Critics Consensus: A touching and haunting family film that deals with the Holocaust in an arresting and unusual manner, and packs a brutal final punch of a twist.

Synopsis: During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near the concentration camp where his father (David... View Full Synopsis

Starring: David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend, Asa Butterfield

Directed By: Mark Herman

Critics Consensus: Stop-Loss is sincere and complex, and features strong performances, even if it tries to cover too much ground.

Synopsis: His tour of duty in Iraq finally over, Staff Sgt. Brandon King returns home to Brazos, Texas, ready to re-enter civilian life. Unexpectedly, the Army... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Directed By: Kimberly Peirce

Critics Consensus: The Wall makes the most of its limitations -- albeit perhaps not quite enough to stretch its tight-focused action into a consistently gripping feature-length thriller.

Synopsis: U.S. soldiers Allan "Ize" Isaac and Shane Matthews answer a distress call in the desert of postwar Iraq. Suddenly, gunshots erupt, leaving Shane badly injured... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Laith Nakli

Directed By: Doug Liman

Critics Consensus: The Zookeeper's Wife has noble intentions, but is ultimately unable to bring its fact-based story to life with quite as much impact as it deserves.

Synopsis: The time is 1939 and the place is Poland, homeland of Antonina Zabinski and her husband, Dr. Jan Zabinski. The Warsaw Zoo flourishes under Jan's... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Michael McElhatton, Daniel Brühl

Directed By: Niki Caro

Critics Consensus: The war cliches are laid on a bit thick, but the movie succeeds at putting a human face on soldiers of both sides in the Vietnam War.

Synopsis: Based upon the best-selling book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and journalist Joseph L. Galloway, this... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott

Directed By: Randall Wallace

Critics Consensus: It plays more like a traditional melodrama than the Susanne Bier film that inspired it, but Jim Sheridan's Brothers benefits from rock-solid performances by its three leads.

Synopsis: Siblings Sam (Tobey Maguire) and Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal) are as far apart as brothers can be; while Sam serves his country as a Marine,... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard

Directed By: Jim Sheridan

Critics Consensus: Despite Kate Winslet's superb portrayal, The Reader suggests an emotionally distant, Oscar-baiting historical drama.

Synopsis: Michael Berg (David Kross), a teen in postwar Germany, begins a passionate but clandestine affair with Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), an older woman who enjoys... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin

Directed By: Stephen Daldry

Critics Consensus: A Bridge Too Far is a war movie too long, although top-notch talent on both sides of the camera keeps the end result consistently watchable.

Synopsis: Late in 1944, the Allies seem to have the upper hand in the European land war. A combined British and American paratrooper force, led by... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery

Directed By: Richard Attenborough

Critics Consensus: Given the subject matter, Valkyrie could have been an outstanding historical thriller, but settles for being a mildly entertaining, but disposable yarn.

Synopsis: Col. Claus von Stauffenberg serves Germany with loyalty and pride but fears that Hitler will destroy his country if allowed to run unchecked. With time... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson

Directed By: Bryan Singer

Critics Consensus: The Patriot can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama.

Synopsis: Mel Gibson portrays Benjamin Martin, an unassuming man who is forced to join the American Revolution when the British threaten to take his farm away... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs

Directed By: Roland Emmerich

Critics Consensus: A simple-minded but visually exciting experience, full of blood, violence, and ready-made movie quotes.

Synopsis: In 480 B.C. a state of war exists between Persia, led by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Greece. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas (Gerard... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West

Directed By: Zack Snyder

Critics Consensus: This first person account of the first Gulf War scores with its performances and cinematography but lacks an emotional thrust.

Synopsis: In the late 1980s, Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) enlists as a Marine, training in boot camp under a sadistic drill instructor. Swofford undertakes a sniper... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper

Directed By: Sam Mendes

Critics Consensus: Operation Finale is well-intentioned, well-acted, and overall entertaining, even if the depth and complexity of the real-life events depicted can get a little lost in their dramatization.

Synopsis: Fifteen years after the end of World War II, a team of top-secret Israeli agents travels to Argentina to track down Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley, Mélanie Laurent, Lior Raz

Directed By: Chris Weitz

Critics Consensus: Allied has its moments, but doesn't quite achieve epic wartime romance status -- a disappointment made more profound by the dazzling talent assembled on either side of the camera.

Synopsis: Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard) are World War II operatives who never reveal their true identities. After falling in love during... View Full Synopsis

Starring: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris, Simon McBurney

Directed By: Robert Zemeckis