Buzzworthy Suggestions for War Movies

War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war films often end with them. Themes explored include combat, survival and escape, camaraderie between soldiers, sacrifice, the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and the moral and human issues raised by war. War films are often categorized by their milieu, such as the Korean War; the most popular subject is the Second World War. The stories told may be fiction, historical drama, or biographical.

Critics have noted similarities between the Western and the war film. Subgenres, not necessarily distinct, include anti-war, comedy, animated, propaganda, and documentary. There are similarly subgenres of the war film in specific theatres such as the Western Desert of North Africa and the Pacific in the Second World War, Vietnam, or the Soviet-Afghan War; and films set in specific domains of war, such as the infantry, the air, at sea, in submarines or at prisoner of war camps. We’ve chosen to subdivide our war film awards into separate awards for each of the major wars that the U.S. was involved in, with a catch-all category for all other war films. Voters will have to decide for themselves the extent to which the films must deal with major battles or conflicts. Is a film set against the backdrop of a war sufficient to qualify, even if the war itself isn’t shown, like Gone with the Wind? You decide.

Best War Film of All Time

Any war film depicting wars and battles of any era and area are eligible for this award.

Buzzworthy: 1917 (2019) • 13 Hours (2016) • Alexander (2004) • Allied (2016) • American Sniper (2014) • Apocalypse Now (1979) • Atonement (2007) • Barry Lyndon (1975) • The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) • The Battle of Britain (1969) • Beasts of No Nation (2015) • The Beguiled (2017) • Black Hawk Down (2001) • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) • Braveheart (1995) • A Bridge Too Far (1977) • Brothers (2009) • A Call to Spy (2019) • Casablanca (1942) • Cold Mountain (2003) • Come and See (1985) • The Courier (2020) • Crimson Tide (1995) • Darkest Hour (2017) • Das Boot (1981) • The Deer Hunter (1978) • Defiance (2008) • Downfall (2004) • Dracula Untold (2014) • Dunkirk (2017) • Empire of the Sun (1987) • Enemy at the Gates (2001) • The English Patient (1996) • The Forgotten Battle (2020) • The Fortress (2017) • Full Metal Jacket (1987) • Fury (2014) • Gone with the Wind (1939) • Grave of the Fireflies (1988) • The Great Escape (1963) • Greyhound (2020) • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) • The Guns of Navarone (1961) • Hacksaw Ridge (2016) • The Hurt Locker (2008) • The Imitation Game (2014) • Incendies (2010) • Inglourious Basterds (2009) • Jarhead (2005) • Jojo Rabbit (2019) • The King (2019) • King Arthur (2004) • Kingdom of Heaven (2005) • The Last of the Mohicans (1992) • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) • Legends of the Fall (1994) • Life Is Beautiful (1997) • Lincoln (2012) • Lone Survivor (2013) • Love Lessons (1995) • Lust, Caution (2007) • Macbeth (2015) • Malena (2000) • MASH (1970) • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) • Midway (2019) • Mulan (1998) • The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) • Never Look Away (2018) • Official Secrets (2019) • Operation Mincemeat (2022) • Outlaw King (2018) • The Outpost (2019) • Overlord (2018) • Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) • The Patriot (2000) • Pearl Harbor (2001) • The Pianist (2002) • Platoon (1986) • Rome, Open City (1945) • Saving Private Ryan (1998) • Shadow in the Cloud (2020) • Shershaah (2021) • Spartacus (1960) • The Sum of All Fears (2002) • Tears of the Sun (2003) • The Thin Red Line (1998) • Timeline (2003) • Tolkien (2019) • The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) • Tropic Thunder (2008) • Unbroken (2014) • Valkyrie (2008) • War Dogs (2016) • Warcraft (2016) • We Were Soldiers (2002) • Without Remorse (2021) • Wonder Woman (2017) • Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Best Film About the American Revolutionary War

Any film dealing with the colonies’ declaration of independence from Britain and the war for independence that followed.

Buzzworthy: 1776 (1972) • All for Liberty (2009) • Amazing Grace (2006) • America (1924) • April Morning (1988) • Beaumarchais the Scoundrel (1996) • The Beautiful Mrs. Reynolds (1918) • Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor (2003) • Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed (2021) • Betsy Ross (1917) • A Clock Work Blue (1972) • Colonel Effingham’s Raid (1946) • A Continental Girl (1915) • The Crossing (2000) • The Culper Spy Adventure (2016) • The Deserter (2003) • The Devil’s Disciple (1959) • Divided Loyalties (1990) • Don’t Wanna Slave No More (1997) • Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) • The First American (2016) • The Heart of a Hero (1916) • Heartstopper (1989) • The Howards of Virginia (1940) • In the Year of the Pig (1968) • Janice Meredith (1924) • John Paul Jones (1959) • Johnny Tremain (1957) • Lafayette (1962) • Laissez-faire (2015) • Land of Liberty (1939) • The Little Patriot (1995) • The Marvelous History of the US Dollar (2010) • Mary Silliman’s War (1994) • National Treasure (2004) • The Patriot (2000) • The People Speak (2009) • Revelation: Dawn of Global Government (2016) • Revolution (1985) • The Scarlet Coat (1955) • Sleepy Hollow (1999) • The Spirit of ’76 (1917) • The Spy (1914) • Sweet Liberty (1986) • Sybil Ludington (2010) • Taking Liberty (1995) • Time Chasers (1994) • The Time of Their Lives (1946)

Best Films About the American Civil War

Open to any film depicting the U.S. Civil War, which was fought from 1861 to 1865.

Buzzworthy: Advance to the Rear (1964) • Alvarez Kelly (1966) • Andersonville (1996) • Bad Company (1972) • Bandolero! (1968) • The Battle (1911) • The Beguiled (1971) • The Beguiled (2017) • The Birth of a Nation (1915) • The Blue and the Gray (1982) • Chato’s Land (1972) • Cold Mountain (2003) • The Conspirator (2010) • Custer of the West (1967) • Dark Command (1940) • The Deadly Companions (1961) • Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) • Field of Lost Shoes (2015) • Fort Apache (1948) • Free State of Jones (2016) • Gangs of New York (2002) • The General (1926) • Gettysburg (1993) • Glory (1989) • Gods and Generals (2003) • Gone with the Wind (1939) • The Good Lord Bird (2020) • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) • Grey Knight (1993) • The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) • The Hateful Eight (2015) • Hellgate (1952) • Horizons West (1952) • The Horse Soldiers (1959) • Hostiles (2017) • The House with Closed Shutters (1910) • How the West Was Won (1962) • In the Border States (1910) • Jane Got a Gun (2015) • The Jayhawkers! (1959) • Journey to Shiloh (1968) • The Keeping Room (2014) • Kill Them All and Come Back Alone (1968) • The Last Samurai (2003) • The Last Wagon (1956) • Lincoln (2012) • Little Big Horn (1951) • The Long Riders (1980) • Macho Callahan (1970) • Major Dundee (1965) • The Man from Colorado (1948) • The McMasters (1970) • Mysterious Island (1961) • The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) • The Outriders (1950) • Quantrill’s Raiders (1958) • The Raid (1954) • The Rebel Without Claws (1961) • The Red Badge of Courage (1951) • Ride with the Devil (1999) • Rio Conchos (1964) • Rio Grande (1950) • Rio Lobo (1970) • Roots (1977) • Santa Fe Trail (1940) • Savage State (2019) • The Searchers (1956) • Seraphim Falls (2006) • Shane (1953) • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) • Shenandoah (1965) • The Siege at Red River (1954) • Sommersby (1993) • South of St. Louis (1949) • Springfield Rifle (1952) • Stagecoach (1939) • The Tall Men (1955) • They Died with Their Boots On (1941) • Three Violent People (1956) • Thunder Over the Plains (1953) • A Time Out of War (1954) • The Train Robbers (1973) • True Grit (1969) • The Undefeated (1969) • Westbound (1958) • Western Union (1941) • Yellowneck (1955)

Best Film About World War I

Any film depicting the first World War (1914 to 1918), whether or not it includes American involvement in the war.

Buzzworthy: 1917 (2019) • All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) • Arms and the Woman (1916) • Beneath Hill 60 (2010) • The Big Parade (1925) • Darling Lili (1970) • Dishonored (1931) • A Farewell to Arms (1932) • Flyboys (2006) • Forest of the Hanged (1965) • Gallipoli (1981) • Grand Illusion (1937) • The Great Dictator (1940) • The Great War (1959) • Hell’s Angels (1930) • In Love and War (1996) • Johnny Got His Gun (1971) • Journey’s End (2017) • King and Country (1964) • La Grande Illusion (1937) • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) • The Lighthorsemen (1987) • The Lost Patrol (1934) • Mars Na Drinu (1964) • Mata Hari (1931) • Merry Christmas (2005) • On Dangerous Ground (1917) • Paths of Glory (1957) • Private Peaceful (2012) • The Red Baron (2008) • The Road to Glory (1936) • Sargeant York (1941) • See You Up There (2017) • Shoulder Arms (1918) • Shout at the Devil (1976) • Testament of Youth (2014) • They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) • Tolkien (2019) • A Very Long Engagement (2004) • Von Richthofen and Brown (1971) • War Horse (2011) • Waterloo Bridge (1940) • What Price Glory? (1952) • Wings (1927)

Best Film About World War II

Any film depicting the second World War (1939 to 1945), whether or not it includes American involvement in the war. Voters may also choose to consider films depicting Adolph Hitler’s rise to power before the war began.

Buzzworthy: Army of Crime (2009) • Army of Shadows (1969) • Atonement (2007) • Attack (1956) • Battle of Britain (1969) • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) • The Big Red One (1980) • Black Book (2006) • Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary (2002) • The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008) • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) • Casablanca (1942) • Children of Hiroshima (1952) • Come and See (1985) • The Counterfeiters (2007) • The Cranes Are Flying (1957) • Cross of Iron (1977) • The Dam Busters (1954) • Darkest Hour (2017) • Das Boot (1981) • Days of Glory (2006) • The Dirty Dozen (1967) • Downfall (2004) • Dunkirk (2017) • Empire of the Sun (1987) • The English Patient (1996) • Escape to Victory (1981) • Europa Europa (1990) • Fires Were Started (1943) • Flags of Our Fathers (2006) • From Here to Eternity (1953) • Germany, Pale Mother (1980) • Grave of the Fireflies (1988) • The Great Escape (1963) • Hangmen Also Die! (1943) • Hell in the Pacific (1968) • Hell is for Heroes (1962) • A Hidden Life (2019) • The Hill (1965) • I Was a Male War Bride (1949) • Ice Cold In Alex (1958) • The Imitation Game (2014) • In the Fog (2012) • The Inglorious Bastards (1978) • Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) • Ivan’s Childhood (1962) • Kanal (1956) • Katyn (2007) • The Keep (1983) • Kelly’s Heroes (1970) • Land of Mine (2015) • Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) • Level Five (1997) • The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) • Listen to Britain (1942) • The Longest Day (1962) • Lore (2012) • A Matter of Life and Death (1946) • Millions Like Us (1943) • Night And Fog (1956) • Night Will Fall (2014) • Our Time Will Come (2017) • Overlord (1975) • Paragraph 175 (2000) • Paratroop Command (1959) • Patton (1970) • The Pianist (2002) • Rome, Open City (1945) • Safe Conduct (2002) • Saving Private Ryan (1998) • Schindler’s List (1993) • Seraphine (2008) • Shoah (1985) • Son of Saul (2015) • Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005) • Stalag 17 (1953) • Stalingrad (1993) • Their Finest (2016) • The Thin Red Line (1998) • To Be or Not To Be (1942) • To Be or Not To Be (1983) • A Walk in the Sun (1945) • Went the Day Well? (1942) • Where Eagles Dare (1968) • The Wind Rises (2013)

Best Films About the Korean War

Films depicting the war between North and South Korea (1950 to 1953).

Buzzworthy: All the Young Men (1960) • Battle Circus (1953) • Battle Hymn (1957) • The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) • Fixed Bayonets! (1951) • Hell in Korea (1956) • The Hook (1963) • Inchon (1981) • Into the Fire (2010) • The Long Way Home (2015) • Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) • M*A*S*H (1970) • MacArthur (1977) • The Manchurian Candidate (1962) • Marine Battleground (1963) • Marines, Let’s Go (1961) • Men in War (1957) • One Minute to Zero (1952) • Piagol (1955) • Pork Chop Hill (1959) • Retreat, Hell! (1952) • Sayonara (1957) • Silmido (2003) • Silver Stallion (1991) • Spring in My Hometown (1998) • The Steel Helmet (1951) • Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004) • Tank Battalion (1958) • The Front Line (2011) • Time Limit (1957) • War Hunt (1962) • War is Hell (1961) • Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005) • White Badge (1992)

Best Films About the Vietnam War

Films depicting the war in Vietnam (as well as Laos and Cambodia) from 1955 to 1975.

Buzzworthy: 84C MoPic (1989) • Across the Universe (2007) • American Gangster (2007) • Apocalypse Now (1979) • Bat21 (1988) • The Beautiful Country (2004) • Birdy (1984) • Born on the Fourth of July (1989) • The Boys in Company C (1978) • Bullet in the Head (1990) • Casualties of War (1989) • Coming Home (1978) • Da 5 Bloods (2020) • Danger Close (2019) • Dead Presidents (1995) • The Deer Hunter (1978) • Dogfight (1991) • Eastern Condors (1987) • Easy Rider (1969) • Faith of My Fathers (2005) • Fandango (1985) • First Blood (1982) • Forrest Gump (1994) • Full Metal Jacket (1987) • Go Tell the Spartans (1978) • Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) • Hair (1979) • Hamburger Hill (1987) • Hearts and Minds (1974) • Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991) • Heaven & Earth (1993) • Heroes From Another Land (1996) • Hoa Binh (1970) • In the Year of the Pig (1968) • Jacob’s Ladder (1990) • The Killing Fields (1984) • Last Days in Vietnam (2014) • Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) • Medium Cool (1969) • Music Within (2007) • Nixon (1995) • The Odd Angry Shot (1979) • Platoon (1986) • The Quiet American (1958) • The Quiet American (2002) • Rescue Dawn (2006) • R-Point (2004) • Running on Empty (1988) • The Sapphires (2012) • The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1988) • Streamers (1983) • Swimming to Cambodia (1987) • Tigerland (2000) • Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977) • Uncommon Valor (1983) • The War (1994) • The War at Home (1996) • We Were Soldiers (2002)

Other Historical War Films

Any film depicting any other war in history that doesn’t have its own award above.

Buzzworthy: War of Ancient Egypt (3050 BC –332 BC): Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961) • The Pharaohs’ Woman (1960) • The Scorpion King (2002). War of Ancient Israel (1600–400 BC): Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) • King David (1985) • The Ten Commandments (1956) (1956). Trojan War (1193–1183 BC): Helen of Troy (1956) • The Trojan Horse (1961) • The Trojan Women (1971) • Troy (2004). Greco-Persian Wars (499–450 BC): 300 (2007) • 300: Rise of an Empire (2014) • The 300 Spartans (1962). Wars of Alexander the Great (338–325 BC): Alexander (2004) • Alexander the Great (1956). Servile Wars (135–75 BC): Spartacus (1960) • Spartacus (2010). Roman civil wars during the Late Republic (133–31 BC): Antony and Cleopatra (1972) • Cleopatra (1917) • Cleopatra (1934) • Cleopatra (1963) • Julius Caesar (1950) • Julius Caesar (1953) • Julius Caesar (1970). Han–Xiongnu War (133 BC–89 AD): Mulan (1998) • Mulan (2020). Jewish–Roman wars (63 BC – 135 AD): Ben Hur (1959) • Ben Hur (2016) • Ben-Hur (1925) • King of Kings (1961) • Salome (1953). War of Roman Britain (43–410): Centurion (2010) • The Eagle (2011). Marcomannic Wars (167–180): Gladiator (2000) • The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). Spanish Reconquest (718–1492): El Cid (1961). War during the Viking Age (789–1130): Alfred the Great (1969) • The Norseman (1978) • The Viking (1928) • The Vikings (1958). Wars of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960): The Banquet (2006). Norman conquest of England (1066–1076): The War Lord (1965) • William the Young Conqueror (2015). Crusades (1095–1272): Robin and Marian (1976) • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) • The Crusades (1935) • The Saracen Blade (1954). First Barons’ War (1215–1217): Ironclad (2011) • Robin Hood (2010) • Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950). Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1328), (1332–1357): Braveheart (1995) • Outlaw King (2018) • The Bruce (1996). Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453): Henry V (1944) • Henry V (1989) • Saint Joan (1957) • The King (2019) • The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). Wars of the Roses (1455–1485): Richard III (1912) • Richard III (1955) • Tower of London (1939) • Tower of London (1962). Sengoku Period (1467–1573): Ran (1985) • The Seven Samurai (1954) • The Seven Samurai (2014) • Throne of Blood (1957). Italian Wars (1494–1559): Flesh and Blood (1985). Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604): Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) • Fire Over England (1937) • The Sea Hawk (1940). English Civil War (1642–1651): Cromwell (1970) • To Kill a King (2003). French and Indian War (1754–1763): Northwest Passage (1940) • The Last of the Mohicans (1936) • The Last of the Mohicans (1992). French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802): A Tale of Two Cities (1958) • Reign of Terror (1949) • Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937) • The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) • The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982). Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815): A Royal Divorce (1938) • The Iron Duke (1934) • The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) • War and Peace (1956) • Waterloo (1970). Texas War of Independence (1835–1836): Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955) • Man of Conquest (1939) • The Alamo (1960) • The Alamo (2004). Crimean War (1853–1856): The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) • The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) • The Lady with the Lamp (1951). Indian Rebellion of 1857: Bengal Brigade (1954) • Gunga Din (1939) • Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) • Victoria & Abdul (2017). Spanish–American War (1898): Citizen Kane (1941) • Yellow Jacket (1938). Russian Revolution (1917): Doctor Zhivago (1965) • Rasputin and the Empress (1932) • Reds (1981). Spanish Civil War (1936–1939): For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) • Little Ashes (2008) • Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) • The Devil’s Backbone (2001). Cold War (1945–1991): Bridge of Spies (2015) • Crimson Tide (1995) • Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) • Firefox (1982) • Gorky Park (1983) • The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) • The Hunt for Red October (1990) • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) • The Third Man (1939) • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Cambodian Civil War (1967–1975): First They Killed My Father (2017) • The Killing Fields (1984) • The Road to Freedom (2010). The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1969–2005): In the Name of the Father (1993) • Patriot Games (1992) • The Crying Game (1992) • The Devil’s Own (1997). Operation Entebbe (1976): Entebbe (2018) • Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (1981) • The Last King of Scotland (2006). Somali Civil War (1988–present): Black Hawk Down (2001) • Captain Phillips (2013). Gulf War (1990–1991): Courage Under Fire (1996) • Jarhead (2005) • The Finest Hour (1992) • The Manchurian Candidate (2004) • Three Kings (1999). Rwandan Civil War (1990–1993): Hotel Rwanda (2004). Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002): Blood Diamond (2006). September 11 attacks (2001): Ash Tuesday (2003) • Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) • The Report (2019) • United 93 (2006) • Vice (2018) • Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Iraq War (2003–2011): American Sniper (2014) • Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) • The Hurt Locker (2009)

Buzzworthy Suggestions for Other Awards

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