The 25 Greatest War Movies of All Time (2024)

Nothing like starting a list of war movies with a film that is technically only adjacently about war. Set against the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo del Toro’s strange look into the era is a fantastical triumph and a welcome respite from the obvious war genre.

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Yes, it borders on the line of Marvel-induced jingoism and it’s a superhero movie that surely doesn’t shine a light on the throes of war like the rest of this list. But Captain America, in a lot of ways, encapsulates who we can be and what, ultimately, we hope to not have to be at the same time. It’s still one of Marvel's greatest outings, and man, if ol’ Cap isn't a great hero to rally around.

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Glory is based on the true story of Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who ran the United States’ first all-Black regiment during the Civil War. The film stars Mathew Broderick as Shaw, while Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Cary Elwes play three savvy soldiers in the regiment. At first, their group is underestimated and tasked with minuscule jobs, but they climb the ranks and fight for a spot on the front lines. Though Glory isn’t an exact retelling of facts, it showcases the strength of Black Americans who were willing to do anything for their freedom.

Sling

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer isn't a typical war movie (see: no big, flashy fight scenes), but the film certainly demonstrates humankind’s capability for destruction. The film follows physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s creation of the atomic bomb. After years of development, it was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—causing the world's first-ever nuclear explosion, which killed thousands of civilians.

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M*A*S*H is a dark comedy that focuses on a team of medical unit workers during the Korean War. Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould star as Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre, two offbeat surgeons who mitigate the horrors of war with quick-witted jokes and nightly parties. It’s one of the only war movies that will make you laugh. The film inspired a long-running TV series of the same name, which you should absolutely watch, too—there are eleven seasons waiting for you on Hulu.

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John Sturges’s The Great Escape takes place during World War II at a German POW camp. Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough star as two Allied prisoners who attempt to escape and direct Nazi forces away from battle so that they can rescue fugitives. After digging a tunnel out of the prison (that’s not a spoiler, we swear!), the soldiers are confronted with a reality that’s even more haunting than their time in captivity.

Tubi

Das Boot is set on a German submarine cruising through the Atlantic during World War II. Over the course of the film, the crew is forced to contend with the realities of war, all while they’re stuck in a compromising position. Meanwhile, a journalist who accompanied them takes note of their daily condition—as the captain struggles to maintain the group’s morale amid severe storms and a lack of supplies. With Das Boot’s intense setting, the film shows how each aspect of war is its own pressure cooker, just waiting to implode.

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Quentin Tarantino is an icon. The director’s revisionist look at World War II brings his pulpy style to “killin’ Nazis.” And like any Tarantino flick, it spares no opportunity for gore and bloodshed. Lieut. Aldo Raine? A legend for-f*cking-ever.

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Gallipoli, starring Mel Gibson, is an Australian’s examination of World War I. It was lauded by critics, completely swept Australian film awards, and remains one of the greatest war epics of all time. Go Australia!

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This film is a masterful look at the attack on Dunkirk from three different vantage points. As a bonus, it features Harry Styles in his first major acting role, and your boy will make you proud.

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Ridley Scott’s entry into war movies is based on a book of the same name. The ensemble cast, led by Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor, follows the story of the U.S. military’s 1993 raid in Mogadishu.

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The 1987 war film by Stanley Kubrick stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Adam Baldwin. Full Metal Jacket takes you right into the trenches of war and is seen as one of the best films set during Vietnam.

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Clint Eastwood’s 2006 Japanese-language film is one of the most celebrated war movies in recent history. That happens when you combine the powers of Spielberg as producer, Eastwood as director, and Yamash*ta as screenwriter. It tackles the complexities of good and evil on both sides of World War II to absolute perfection.

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Paths of Glory is actually a bit of an anti-war film. Directed by Stanley Kurbrick, it holds up as one of the most important entires in the genre and continues to be a guidepost for how to create a beautiful film about war.

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French director Alain Resnais may be most often associated with the freewheeling films of the French New Wave movement, but perhaps his greatest gift to world cinema is Hiroshima Mon Amour. It explores the tragic and intimate love affair between a French actress and a Japanese architect. Both of their lives were irrevocably changed by World War II and the devastation of the Hiroshima bomb in 1945. Even if you’re not a movie buff, this one is worth a watch–it’s every bit as vital as any of the other films on this list.

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I mean, just look at the trailer. This 2019 Best Picture nominee is more of a film about pacifism than it is about the glories of either side of WWI. After watching 1917, shot to look like one continuous take, you’ll feel like you spent nearly two hours without breathing.

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This biographical film about Gen. George S. Patton is a favorite among war-movie buffs...deservedly so. It went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

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There is perhaps no cinematic depiction of the Holocaust more grueling and heartbreaking than Schindler's List, in which a German businessman works to save more than a thousand Jewish people by employing them in his factories.

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Platoon stars Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen in one of the rawest, most devastating portrayals of war in film history. Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay based on his own experience in Vietnam, and the result is moving and disturbing at the same time.

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Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 classic is essentially an epic anti-war film starring the greats: Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen. Skewering the pointlessness of the Vietnam War, the film has only gained acclaim as perhaps the best war epic of all time.

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