Since the early days of cinema, war movies have been a defining pillar of the medium. Regardless of whether they are a merciless immersion into the mayhem of the battlefield or a more distanced look at the morality and politics of it all, the best war films have always intrigued and disturbed viewers with their perspectives on real-world conflicts. While many have grown outdated as products that catered to their times,some war movies have endured as masterpieces of filmmaking, timeless with their commentary on the nature of warfare.
American cinema is well represented in this regard, but so too are international movies. Some of the most compelling pictures about the brutality and bloodshed of battle come from nations, filmmakers, and stars who not only survived the chaos of war but lived in the ruinous aftermath of it as well. As such, it is no surprise that these films embrace the heinous violence of such conflicts, delivering stories of despair and destruction that are underscored with the simple message that war is hell. This approach ensures these movies are as ageless as they are striking, brutal, and confronting.
10’Apocalypse Now' (1979)
The notion that war is hell is one that many films have sought to illustrate through depicting the graphic violence and fragmented morality of the battlefield.Apocalypse Nowhas endured asa timeless masterpiece of the genrefor how itexplores the descent into frenzied, feverish madnessthat so many soldiers experience. It follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) as he embarks on a harrowing trek into Cambodia with orders to assassinate a rogue and insane colonel who is orchestrating unsanctioned attacks with his increasing army of loyal followers.
Ferociously hypnotic in a manner that immerses viewers in the voyage to the heart of darkness with a dread-inducing sense of the grasp on reality gradually slipping,Apocalypse Nowis an audacious,awe-inspiring epic of the horrors of war. Morality doesn’t shatter inApocalypse Nowso much as it festers and rots, entrenching viewers in a volatile atmosphere of insanity and sweat-stained savagery that is unlike any war movie before or since.
9’All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930)
While 2022’s Netflix original adaptation ofErich Maria Remarque’s novel is undeniably brilliant, that shouldn’t mean audiences neglect the 1930 version, which will forever stand asthe first true masterpiece of war cinema. Deconstructing the disillusionment and despair many young soldiers faced as their dreams of heroism and glory were shattered by the harsh brutality of the front lines,All Quiet on the Western Frontfollows a young German soldier who, after being confronted by the reality of WWI’s trench warfare, is left only with the hollow hope that he can survive the Western Front.
It thrives as a story about theboyish foolishness that inspired so many youths to blindly enlist. The fact that it realizes this tormented tale with such technical mastery and sheer scope only makes the magnitude of its production all the more devastating, illustrating how meaningless one life is in the context of war. With directorLewis Milestone’s outstanding craftsmanship andLew Ayres' unforgettable lead performance,All Quiet on the Western Frontisan essential triumph of war cinemathat is just as effective today as it was upon release 95 years ago.
8’The Battle of Algiers' (1966)
A masterpiece of low-budget filmmaking that turns its financial constraints into an advantage,The Battle of Algiersuses black-and-white imagery and shaky camerawork to dramatize the Algerian War invisceral, documentary-like detail. Covering both sides of the conflict, it sees a highly trained unit of French paratroopers dispatched to Algiers to quell the rebellious activity of terrorist freedom fighters who go to extreme lengths to dispel the colonizing force from their country. Its realism extends to both the French soldiers’ oppression and inhumane tactics, and the FLN’s amoral means of waging guerrilla warfare against their enemy.
Even going so far as to feature several actual FLN fighters as cast members, directorGillo Pontecorvo’s commitment to authenticity is conveyed in every agonizing and intense detail of the film. The result is anenthralling though bleak exploration of resistance, conflict, and how the convenience of morality is often lost amid war. Able to achieve this without demonizing or lionizing either side of the conflict,The Battle of Algiersis as timeless and tactful asa thematic observation of politics in waras it is a ferociously immersive depiction of battle.
7’The Great Dictator' (1940)
The marriage of war and comedy can be dubious, as its laughs present the risk of trivializing the terrible effects of war, while its necessary exploration of conflict tends to subdue any and all forms of hilarity. In essence, a delicate balance is needed.The Great Dictatorboasts that, as well as the conviction to make all the hysterics meaningful. An enduring masterpiece fromCharlie Chaplin, it sees the comic star as both Adenoid Hynkel, the tyrannical leader of Tomainia, and an unnamed Jewish barber who inadvertently finds himself embroiled in an underground movement to dispel the ruthless dictator.
Itslampooning of the idiotic ridiculousness of Hitler’s fascist rhetoricis just as scorching and ferocious today as it was way back in 1940, a testament to both the film’s precision and perfection and Chaplin’s ageless sense of satirical comedy. With Chaplin’s climactic speech about humanity, peace, and prosperity still ringing true today,The Great Dictatoris perhapsthe silent star’s greatest legacy piece, which is a peculiar irony considering it is alsothe picture that had the greatest negative impact on his career.
6’The Human Condition' Trilogy (1959-1961)
Arguably the most underrated trilogy cinema has ever seen,The Human Conditionis a Japanese epic of the decimation of morality and idealism in the throes of WWII.Tatsuya Nakadaistars as a newly married conscientious objector whose refusal to participate in the war sees him find work as a labor chief of Chinese POWs in a mining operation, where his sympathetic views land him in trouble. The second installment sees him forced to the front lines, and the third focuses on life in a Soviet POW camp. The trilogy stands asa brutal epic of one man’s hopefulness clashing with the militaristic intensityof the surrounding war.
All three films exceed three hours in length, butThe Human Conditionfindsin its runtime the license to delve into its themes with captivating detail while still depicting the war with awe-inspiring scope. Its glimpses of humanity and hope amid the perpetual bleakness are at once life-affirming and heartbreaking, while the craft and conviction of directorMasaki Kobayashi’s filmmaking have proven to be truly timeless. It all culminates in what is one ofthe most devastating depictions of warcinema has ever seen: a soul-shattering display of the brutality such conflicts enable, and a poignant illustration of how easily humanity can be lost.
5’The Grand Illusion' (1937)
Usinga story of French POWs trying to escape confinementto illustrate the social upheaval of wealth and aristocracy in Europe throughout the First World War,The Grand Illusionis a thematically rich and timelessly compelling exploration of humanity and hope. Itconjures an anti-war sentiment in its championing of human decencyand shared values, placing its focus on two French soldiers from vastly different economic backgrounds as they are sent to a different POW camp. There, the aristocratic, though egalitarian, Captain de Boëldieu (Pierre Fresnay) forms a peculiar bond with the camp’s warden, a member of the German nobility.
Even just through that duo’s conversations, the film examines social issues of class, race, and power—and the understanding that the illusion of high society they know will be forever altered by the war—with a contemplative depth that spoke directly to its time, yet has remained relevant for almost 100 years. As such,The Grand Illusionstands as a stunning andseminal example of the astonishing power of war cinema, especially when complemented by the notion that humanity, dignity, and compassion are of vital importance to cling to even in the height of battle.
4’Paths of Glory' (1957)
Given his mastery over every genre he tackled, it should come as no surprise thatStanley Kubrick’s forays into war dramastand among the most enduring and viscerally powerful pictures of life on the battlefield. WhileFull Metal Jacketis undoubtedly a masterpiece, his defining triumph isPaths of Glory. Here, Kubrick analyzes wartime morality and the loss of humanity through the lens of three soldiers standing trial for cowardice, the corrupt motivations behind the persecutors’ vehemence, and the efforts of Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) to defend his men from the ridiculous charges.
Illustrating the direct connection between military success—no matter how augmented—and political stature, and arguing that such a correlation leads commanders to view their soldiers as disposable,Paths of Gloryis a scorching anti-war masterpiece thatcondemns career aspirations in a military setting. While it was greatly underappreciated upon release, the film has come to be heralded as one of war cinema’s greatest pictures, one that thrives with its technical excellence, Douglas’ compelling lead performance, anda tone of promotion-minded, systemic savagerythat is beautifully challenged by the film’s unforgettable climactic scene.
3’Dr. Strangelove' (1964)
While Stanley Kubrick’s war dramas have excelled as unflinching and frightful forays into the battlefield, it is perhaps his satirical comedyDr. Strangelovethat is his most harrowing and haunting addition to the war genre. Set amid the rising tensions of the Cold War, it unfolds in the aftermath of a crazed general’s unsanctioned order for American B-52 bombers to carry out a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. As the assault advances, the U.S. President desperately gathers his advisors as he scrambles to resolve the matter as peacefully as possible.
Propelled by a brilliantly sharp and skewering screenplay andPeter Sellers’ astonishing portrayal of three separate characters,Dr. Strangeloveillustrates the terror of war not by depicting the horrors of battle, but bylampooning the ineptitude of the politicians who wage it, the vehemence of the generals who command it, and the determined obedience of the soldiers who fight it. Whether it is at the expense of the titular Dr. Strangelove’s (Sellers) maniacal scheme, General Turgison’s (George C. Scott) crazed patriotic intensity, or General Jack D. Ripper’s (Sterling Hayden) philosophy on the pollution of America’s “precious bodily fluids,”every laugh inDr. Strangeloveis laced with an underlying dreadthat remains just as pertinent over 60 years after its initial release.
2’Das Boot' (1981)
A soul-shattering and nerve-racking look at the claustrophobic confines of life on a U-boat,Das Bootis not only Germany’s finest war film, but perhaps the greatest picture to come from the nation, full stop. Following a war correspondent attached to the crew of a German submarine,the film is defined by its agonizing attentionto the details of marine warfare, but also the nuanced, desperate, and disillusioned men fighting in a war they know is lost and never truly believed in to begin with.
The result is bothviscerally confronting and surprisingly tender. Every pressurized creak and burst as the sub’s hull compresses beneath the weight of the sea is not only a heart-pounding feat of immersive filmmaking, but a terrifying moment of peril that audiences feel for the crew. It is aharrowing and humane illustration of the futility of war, an unflinching odyssey through the hellish depths of the Atlantic Ocean that still thrives today, both as a humanitarian anti-war film and as a devastating exhibition of life on a German U-boat.
1’Come and See' (1985)
War cinema has seldom been as confronting nor as scaringly brutal asCome and See. One ofthe truest examples of an anti-war film, the Soviet picture follows a Belarusian youth as he is conscripted to join a partisan resistance movement fighting against the occupying Nazis. When the fighting men leave, Flyora (Aleksei Kravchenko) strives to survive with a teenage girl and some villagers, but he endures several horrific encounters with SS troops that completely shatter his glorified perspective of the war.
Famous for itstraumatizing sequence in which an SS squad wreaks havocon a village and its inhabitants,Come and Seeisthe epitome of the grotesque evil of war, a soul-shaking plunge into the depths of human depravity that always maintains the intensity and agony of absolute realism. Anchored by the 14-year-old Kravchenko’s outstanding performance, the film earns its reputation as a picture too harrowing to watch twice, and yet it is essential viewing,a necessary and important depiction of wartime horrorthat is every bit as powerful and petrifying today as it was upon release in 1985.
