Top 100 War Movies List

#40 War Movie

Windtalkers (2002) R

Two U.S. Marines in WWII are assigned to protect Navajo Marines who use their native language as an unbreakable radio cypher.

Director:

John Woo

Writers:

John Rice, Joe Batteer

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare

#39 War Movie

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

A hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Sy Bartlett, Beirne Lay Jr.

Stars:

Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill

#38 War Movie

American Sniper (2014) R

Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Jason Hall, Chris Kyle

Stars:

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner

#37 War Movie

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) R

A man tells his story of how he became unstuck in time and abducted by aliens.

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Stephen Geller

Stars:

Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Eugene Roche

#36 War Movie

Eye in the Sky (2015) R

Col. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writers:

Guy Hibbert

Stars:

Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman

#35 War Movie

Lone Survivor (2013) R

Marcus Luttrell and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

Peter Berg, Marcus Luttrell

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch

#34 War Movie

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

A dramatization of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writers:

Harry Brown, James Edward Grant

Stars:

John Wayne, John Agar, Adele Mara

#33 War Movie

Das Boot (1981) R

The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror.

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Wolfgang Petersen, Lothar G. Buchheim

Stars:

Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann

#32 War Movie

Rescue Dawn (2005) PG-13

A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writers:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies

#31 War Movie

Enemy at the Gates (2001) R

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard

Stars:

Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes

#30 War Movie

13 Hours (2016) R

During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

Chuck Hogan, Mitchell Zuckoff

Stars:

John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale

#29 War Movie

Legends of the Fall (1994) R

Epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, love and betrayal.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers:

Susan Shilliday, William D. Wittliff

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn

#28 War Movie

Casualties of War (1989) R

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Daniel Lang, David Rabe

Stars:

Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey

#27 War Movie

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) R

A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

James Carabatsos

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill

#26 War Movie

Born on the Fourth of July (1989) R

The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

Ron Kovic, Oliver Stone

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava

#25 War Movie

The Hurt Locker (2008) R

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.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writers:

Mark Boal

Stars:

Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

#24 War Movie

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) R

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Iris Yamashita, Iris Yamashita

Stars:

Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara

#23 War Movie

Red Dawn (1984) PG-13

It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers bands together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.

Director:

John Milius

Writers:

Kevin Reynolds, John Milius

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson

#22 War Movie

The Imitation Game (2014) PG-13

During World War II, mathematician Alan Turing tries to crack the enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians.

Director:

Morten Tyldum

Writers:

Graham Moore, Andrew Hodges

Stars:

Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode

#21 War Movie

Pearl Harbor (2001) PG-13

Pearl Harbor follows the story of two best friends, Rafe and Danny, and their love lives as they go off to join the war.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

Randall Wallace

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett

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