100+ Best War Movies

Top-rated war films ranked by our smart algorithm

🧮 How We Rank the Best War Movies

Our intelligent ranking algorithm considers multiple factors: User Rating (70%) - based on average user scores, Popularity (30%) - audience engagement metrics, and Vote Count - ensuring movies have sufficient reviews for reliability. This creates a balanced score that highlights both critically acclaimed and widely loved war films.

29 Best War Movies

Top-rated war films ranked by our smart algorithm

#1
Hacksaw Ridge poster
8.2

Hacksaw Ridge

20162h 19m

WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

DramaHistoryWar
#2
Fury poster
7.5

Fury

20142h 15m

In the last months of World War II, as the Allies make their final push in the European theatre, a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant named 'Wardaddy' commands a Sherman tank called 'Fury' and its five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

WarDramaAction
#3
Schindlers List poster
8.6

Schindlers List

19933h 15m

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

DramaHistoryWar
#4
Saving Private Ryan poster
8.2

Saving Private Ryan

19982h 49m

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

DramaHistoryWar
#5
Inglourious Basterds poster
8.2

Inglourious Basterds

20092h 33m

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

DramaThrillerWar
#6
The Pianist poster
8.4

The Pianist

20022h 30m

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

DramaWar
#7
American Sniper poster
7.4

American Sniper

20142h 13m

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

WarAction
#8
The Imitation Game poster
8.0

The Imitation Game

20141h 53m

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

HistoryDramaThriller
#9
Apocalypse Now poster
8.3

Apocalypse Now

19792h 27m

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

DramaWar
#10
1917 poster
8.0

1917

20191h 59m

At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.

WarHistoryThriller
#11
Full Metal Jacket poster
8.1

Full Metal Jacket

19871h 57m

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

DramaWar
#12
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas poster
7.8

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

20081h 34m

When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.

WarDramaHistory
#13
Troy poster
7.1

Troy

20042h 43m

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

AdventureHistoryWar
#14
Braveheart poster
7.9

Braveheart

19952h 57m

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

ActionDramaHistory
#15
First Blood poster
7.5

First Blood

19821h 33m

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

ActionAdventureThriller
#16
Pans Labyrinth poster
7.8

Pans Labyrinth

20061h 58m

Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real father, Ofelia must complete three terrifying tasks.

FantasyDramaWar
#17
The Last Samurai poster
7.6

The Last Samurai

20032h 34m

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

DramaActionWar
#18
300 poster
7.2

300

20071h 57m

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "300" is very loosely based the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world's first democracy.

ActionAdventureWar
#19
Jojo Rabbit poster
8.0

Jojo Rabbit

20191h 48m

A World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.

ComedyWarDrama
#20
Black Hawk Down poster
7.4

Black Hawk Down

20012h 25m

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

ActionHistoryWar
#21
Dunkirk poster
7.5

Dunkirk

20171h 47m

The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.

WarActionDrama
#22
War for the Planet of the Apes poster
7.2

War for the Planet of the Apes

20172h 20m

Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.

DramaScience FictionWar
#23
Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb poster
8.1

Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

19641h 35m

After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop the nuclear strike.

DramaComedyWar
#24
Grave of the Fireflies poster
8.5

Grave of the Fireflies

19881h 29m

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

AnimationDramaWar
#25
Pearl Harbor poster
6.9

Pearl Harbor

20013h 3m

The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

WarHistoryRomance
#26
The Hurt Locker poster
7.3

The Hurt Locker

20082h 11m

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

DramaThrillerWar
#27
300 Rise of an Empire poster
6.1

300 Rise of an Empire

20141h 42m

Greek general Themistocles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. Themistocles faces the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god, Xerxes and Artemesia, the vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

ActionDramaWar
#28
Tropic Thunder poster
6.6

Tropic Thunder

20081h 47m

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in 'Tropic Thunder,' an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the most expensive war film. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

ActionComedyAdventure
#29
Allied poster
6.8

Allied

20162h 4m

In 1942, an intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.

ActionDramaWar

Understanding War Movies

Explore what makes war films unique, their key characteristics, and why they captivate audiences worldwide.

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Genre Characteristics

This genre offers unique storytelling elements, distinctive themes, and specific narrative conventions that create memorable cinematic experiences for audiences seeking particular types of entertainment.

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Popular Subgenres

  • • Classic War
  • • Modern War
  • • Independent War
  • • International War
  • • Experimental War
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Viewing Tips

Each film in this genre offers unique perspectives and storytelling approaches. Take time to appreciate the distinctive elements that define this category.

Why War Movies Matter

This genre provides unique perspectives on life, culture, and human experience, offering audiences distinctive storytelling approaches that broaden their understanding of cinema and the world.

These films contribute to the rich diversity of cinematic expression, ensuring that different voices, stories, and artistic visions have a platform to reach and impact audiences.

🏆 War Genre Statistics

Movies in Database:29+
Top 25 Average Rating:7.7/10
Most Popular Era:2000s
Quality Threshold:7.0+ Rating

Your War Discovery Guide

Expert tips for finding and enjoying the best war films tailored to your preferences.

🎯Finding Your Perfect Match

  • Start with highly-rated films (8.0+) to experience the genre's best examples
  • Check release decades - each era brings different filmmaking styles
  • Read descriptions to understand tone and content before watching
  • Use our similar movie suggestions to discover new favorites

Maximizing Your Experience

  • Create the right viewing environment for the genre's atmosphere
  • Consider watching with friends for genres that benefit from shared reactions
  • Explore international films for fresh perspectives on familiar themes
  • Track your favorites to identify patterns in your preferences