The best war movies of all time, ranked

Colonel Nicholson (left) and Colonel Saito (right) in The Bridge on the River Kwai. — RGR Collection / Alamy

War movies are among the most morally sticky films produced in Hollywood. While the best war movies go out of their way to reveal the violence and bloodshed that comes with any armed conflict, many can’t help but valorize the men and women who fight in these wars. As a result, many movies about war end up glorifying war even if the creative voices behind the project didn’t intend them to. In the best war movies, though, moral questions are never easily answered. Well, unless your war movie is a Star Wars movie.

If you want black-and-white morality, this list of the best action movies on Netflix may better fit the bill.

War movies, on the other hand, often speak to the way that violence breaks men, even if they believe in their cause. These best war movies of all time will shake you to your core, and remind you that humanity is capable of being messy and violent just as frequently as it is brave and valorous.

17. 1917 (2019)

Genre War, History, Thriller

Stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong

Directed by Sam Mendes

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Sam Mendes’ flashes unique filmmaking techniques in 1917, such as long shots and the illusion that the film is one gargantuan take. The plot revolves around soldiers on a mission during World War I to deliver pertinent information to superiors. This one won’t be for everyone, but movie buffs love the attention to detail. It’s objectively a really good war movie.

16. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Genre Drama, War

Stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale

Directed by Michael Cimino

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What’s remarkable about The Deer Hunter is that, while it does contain some depictions of war, much of the movie’s extended runtime is devoted to what life is like at home for its young protagonists. It takes a young man’s idealism and reveals how it can be completely destroyed by the realities of war, and it contains incredible performances from Christopher Walken, Robert De Niro, and Meryl Streep. It won best picture, and with good reason.

The Deer Hunter Official Trailer #1 - Robert De Niro Movie (1978) HD

15. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Genre Drama, Thriller, War

Stars Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

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A beautifully filmed and darkly hilarious satire of World War II, Inglourious Basterds is easily one of the best Quentin Tarantino movies and was the first of several movies in which he decided to play with history for his own ends. When a squad of Jewish-Americans voluntarily enlists under the command of Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), they take on the hardened battle tactics of the Apache warriors, showing no mercy against the Nazis they’ve been tasked with hunting and taking the scalps from as trophies of war. Basterds features one of the best scripts of Tarantino’s career, and its reinforced by an impeccable ensemble cast. The most notable member of that cast, Christoph Waltz, portrays a terrifyingly charming SS commander who goes by the name “The Jew Hunter” because of his horrifying exploits.

14. Paths of Glory (1957)

Genre Drama, War

Stars Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

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Stanley Kubrick didn’t return to genres very frequently, but he made several war movies over the course of his career, in part because he seemed so confused by the senselessness of it. In Paths of Glory, we follow a failed mission during World War I that was ordered several layers into the bureaucracy that surrounds war, but ultimately results in the execution of three men who have done absolutely nothing wrong. Paths of Glory sheds light on the horrible business behind war, and that’s what makes it feel like such a righteous screed.

13. Casablanca (1943)

Genre Drama, Romance

Stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid

Directed by Michael Curtiz

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Casablanca contains no battle scenes. Instead, it’s a movie about what it’s like to be a regular schmuck trying to survive through a war. The film follows the owner of a bar in Morocco during World War II who runs into a former flame who has since taken up with a prominent French resistance leader. The movie unfurls from there as allegiances shift, and we wonder whether our main character is going to do the right thing. There’s a reason Casablanca remains one of the most iconic movies ever made. It’s a perfect romance, and an even better war movie.

12. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Genre Fantasy, Drama, War

Stars Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdú, Sergi López

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

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Telling a fantastical story against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, Pan’s Labyrinth shows us why our young protagonist is in desperate need of escape. The world around her is bleak and dire, but with Pan, she can be someone else entirely. What makes the movie work so well, though, is how the horrors of the war seep into this child’s fantasy, even if she doesn’t always realize it. War can be all-consuming, and in Pan’s Labyrinth, it becomes almost totally inescapable.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

11. Platoon (1986)

Genre Drama, War, Action

Stars Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen

Directed by Oliver Stone

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One of the bleaker films on this list, Platoon explores the many things that can completely break a person. A young man (Charlie Sheen) with a longing for glory enlists in the Vietnam War but quickly realizes the many costs, as his cohort begins to turn on each other over how they treat the locals. As the film progresses, Platoon reveals itself as more of a psychological thriller than a war movie, blurring the lines between right and wrong in the way the best war movies often do. It also works pretty well as a thriller, although it didn’t quite make our list of the best thriller movies that stand the test of time.

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10. Dunkirk (2017)

Genre War, Action, Drama

Stars Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance

Directed by Christopher Nolan

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Dunkirk is one of the best Christopher Nolan films. Telling a harrowing story from the early days of World War II, the movie follows a conglomerate of soldiers from Belgium, France, and Britain who are fleeing a battle they badly lost to the Axis powers, forcing them onto the beach at Dunkirk to await rescue. Meanwhile, German soldiers are barraging their helpless ranks, and the only people who can safely evacuate them turn out to be regular people from the United Kingdom who happen to have boats. With its evocative sound design and scoring, this film takes you straight into the action, depicting several collapsing timelines as we see the toll that this brutal evacuation took on the troops on the front lines.

9. Schindler's List (1993)

Genre Drama, History, War, Biography

Stars Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes

Directed by Steven Spielberg

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In what is surely one of the best Steven Spielberg movies, Schindler’s List shows the strife and desolation of the Jewish people during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The film focuses on an industrialist (Liam Neeson) who moves to Krakow to pursue a promising career inside of Nazi Germany, and begins to witness the extermination of the Jewish people in the city. This prompts him begin hiring Jewish employees in order to spare them from a neighboring concentration camp. Produced entirely in black and white (save some selective, symbolic red coloring throughout the film), the horrors this movie depicts are only reinforced by the artistry on display behind the camera.

8. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Genre Drama, War

Stars Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

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Focusing almost entirely on the brutalities faced by young American soldiers in boot camp, Full Metal Jacket is poetic commentary on the intensity of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a reasonable soldier. From the visionary mind of Stanley Kubrick, this film is an unvarnished look at what it really means to be a guileless recruit in training. The movie tackles mental instability and offers plenty of verbal smackdowns courtesy of the incredible R. Lee Ermey (a real-life boot camp sergeant). What’s more, this film shows that war can take its toll on soldiers long before they ever hit the front lines.

7. The Thin Red Line (1998)

Genre Drama, History, War, Action

Stars Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel

Directed by Terrence Malick

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Unique to this list, The Thin Red Line explores the particular fighting styles and strategies used by Allied forces fighting in the Pacific during World War II. Following a reluctant U.S. private (Jim Caviezel) who has chosen to go AWOL, we see that he’s left the Army to spend time with the locals of a small South Pacific island. When he’s caught and forced to re-join the ranks to fight the Imperial Japanese Army, we see how brutal and beautiful war can be. Backed by a cast full of rising stars (including a heroic appearance from the great John Cusack), this movie exemplifies the emotions felt by American soldiers forced to fight an enemy they don’t even understand.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Genre Drama, History, War

Stars William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins

Directed by David Lean

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Undoubtedly one of the great war movies ever made, The Bridge on the River Kwai is an intimate look at a group of prisoners of war in Southeast Asia during World War II. Led by their by-the-rules and patriotic Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinness), these British POWs are forced to build a train bridge over the River Kwai, unaware that an operation is underway to have it destroyed. Though he had already been established as an on-screen legend, Alec Guinness puts forth an incredibly fine-tuned performance as the ceaselessly proud colonel driven to do his work excellently, even though that work is for his enemy. This film won seven Oscars in its time for its well-told storyline, cementing it in history as a definitive classic movie.

5. The Hurt Locker (2008)

Genre Drama, Thriller, War

Stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

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From Kathryn Bigelow, the director of Point Break, comes six-time Oscar winner The Hurt Locker, which is the only film on this list to comment on the harshness of the Iraq war. When a replacement sergeant gets assigned to a bomb squad, tensions reach a boiling point almost immediately because of his risky yet highly successful methods. The result is a tense war drama in which those around this sergeant come to question his tactics. Jeremy Renner stars in one of his earliest central roles, and he beautifully showcases an unfortunately common side effect of war: Addiction to the lifestyle.

4. Ran (1985)

Genre Action, Drama, History

Stars Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

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Akira Kurosawa’s final samurai epic, Ran is a movie about how easily it is to be corrupted by a lust for power. Adapting the story of King Lear, the film follows an aging emperor who attempts to hand his kingdom off to his children, only to see them bicker and fight with one another as they grapple for power. The movie has an impressive sense of scale, but it also knows how to make war, and the petulant men who often wage it, seem small and foolish.

Ran - Trailer

3. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Genre Adventure, Drama, History, War

Stars Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn

Directed by David Lean

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In addition to being a war movie, Lawrence of Arabia is also an epic and a biopic, but its greatness comes at least in part from the way it seems utterly fascinated by its central character’s obsession with the mission he’s been given. The movie follows T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole), a British Lieutenant who is sent to gain the aid of the Arab tribes in their war against the Turks. Lawrence himself is a fascinating character, but Lawrence of Arabia is also one of the most beautiful and immersive movies ever made, even if it may be a little light on battles for a war movie.

2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Genre Drama, History, War

Stars Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns

Directed by Steven Spielberg

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Featuring the most jarring opening scene on this list, Saving Private Ryan begins its story on the bloody beaches of Normandy, immediately letting the audience know what they are in for. When Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) is then given a mission to relieve a certain Private Ryan (whose three brothers were killed in the invasion) from duty, he must take his soldiers behind enemy lines and brave the bulk of German forces. Loosely based on a true story, this movie takes us past the front lines and makes us question whether any man is worth this much sacrifice.

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Genre Drama, Military and War

Stars Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

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From legendary director/writer Francis Ford Coppola comes a visionary tale of the Vietnam War, told through scenes filled with allegorical allure and irresistible imagery. The film follows a Vietnam officer who is told he must locate and assassinate a rogue Special Forces Colonel who has convinced himself and some locals that he is a god. Starring rising star Martin Sheen and the legendary Marlon Brando, the film’s stunning cinematography helped cement it in history as a deeply imaginative piece of filmmaking.

The best war movies of all time, ranked

From Inglourious Basterds to The Thin Red Line, there are the best war movies that you can stream now

17. 1917 (2019)

16. The Deer Hunter (1978)

15. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

14. Paths of Glory (1957)

13. Casablanca (1943)

12. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

11. Platoon (1986)

10. Dunkirk (2017)

9. Schindler's List (1993)

8. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

7. The Thin Red Line (1998)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

5. The Hurt Locker (2008)

4. Ran (1985)

3. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

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