War Movie Gems
by johndrake99 | created - 26 Oct 2012 | updated - 07 Jul 2015 | Public- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Approved | 170 min | Drama, Romance, War
Three World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March, Teresa Wright
Votes: 70,515 | Gross: $23.65M
2. Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Approved | 108 min | Biography, Drama, War
At the close of WWII, Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle travels with the U.S. Army's Company C Division during their liberation of Italy.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell
Votes: 3,724
3. A Walk in the Sun (1945)
Approved | 117 min | Drama, War
During WWII, a platoon of American soldiers trudge through the Italian countryside in search of a bridge they have been ordered to blow up, encountering danger and destruction along the way.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George Tyne, John Ireland
Votes: 4,081
4. Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Not Rated | 132 min | Drama, War
A tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill, Millard Mitchell
Votes: 15,792
5. A Midnight Clear (1992)
R | 108 min | Drama, War
The Ardennes Forest, December 1944. A squad of six US infantrymen is sent to occupy a house to use as an observation post as the German Army is expected to advance through that area. However, the Germans seem oddly friendly.
Director: Keith Gordon | Stars: Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke
Votes: 9,785 | Gross: $1.53M
6. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,077 | Gross: $5.51M
7. The Beast of War (1988)
R | 111 min | Adventure, Drama, War
A Soviet tank and its warring crew become separated from their patrol and lost in an Afghan valley with a group of vengeance-seeking rebels on their tracks.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer, Stephen Baldwin
Votes: 10,679 | Gross: $0.16M
8. Cross of Iron (1977)
R | 119 min | Drama, War
German commander Hauptmann Stransky places a squad in extreme danger after Sergeant Rolf Steiner refuses to lie for him.
Director: Sam Peckinpah | Stars: James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason, David Warner
Votes: 29,147
9. Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, History
The World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Carl Möhner, Laurence Naismith
Votes: 8,308 | Gross: $6.54M
10. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Approved | 179 min | Drama, War
In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich
Votes: 85,416
11. Battleground (1949)
Approved | 118 min | Action, Drama, History
True tale about a squad of the 101st Airborne Division coping with being trapped by the Germans in the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December of 1944.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy
Votes: 7,859 | Gross: $10.29M
12. They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Approved | 140 min | War, Western
A highly fictionalized account of the life of George Armstrong Custer from his arrival at West Point in 1857 to his death at the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin
Votes: 6,903
13. The Night of the Generals (1967)
Not Rated | 148 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In 1942, a Polish prostitute and German Agent is murdered in Warsaw. Suspicion falls on three Generals, and Major Grau of German Intelligence seeks justice which ends up taking decades.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 8,769
14. To Hell and Back (1955)
Approved | 106 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.
Director: Jesse Hibbs | Stars: Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Charles Drake, Jack Kelly
Votes: 5,961
15. They Were Expendable (1945)
Approved | 135 min | Drama, War
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
Directors: John Ford, Robert Montgomery | Stars: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed, Jack Holt
Votes: 9,261
16. The Cruel Sea (1953)
Approved | 126 min | Drama, War
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 5,402
17. The Counterfeiters (2007)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, History
The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky | Stars: Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow, Martin Brambach
Votes: 47,170 | Gross: $5.48M
18. Gettysburg (1993)
PG | 271 min | Drama, History, War
In 1863, the Northern and Southern forces fight at Gettysburg in the decisive battle of the American Civil War.
Director: Ron Maxwell | Stars: Tom Berenger, Martin Sheen, Stephen Lang, Richard Jordan
Votes: 31,292 | Gross: $10.77M
19. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
R | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig
Votes: 187,552 | Gross: $75.51M
20. Zulu (1964)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama, History, War
Outnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
Director: Cy Endfield | Stars: Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth
Votes: 42,734
21. Glory (1989)
R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 144,370 | Gross: $26.83M
22. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,245 | Gross: $11.49M
23. The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
Approved | 88 min | Biography, Drama, War
The story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy, Luther Adler
Votes: 6,708
24. Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Not Rated | 167 min | Drama, History, War
A dramatization of Nazi Germany's final Western Front counterattack of World War II.
Director: Ken Annakin | Stars: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan, Dana Andrews
Votes: 17,793 | Gross: $11.12M
25. Memphis Belle (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, War
In 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in the UK prepares for its 25th and final bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney
Votes: 30,513 | Gross: $27.44M
26. Is Paris Burning? (1966)
Approved | 173 min | Drama, History, War
August 1944. The Allies are approaching Paris and resistance groups within the city start to plan an uprising against the Germans. However, Hitler wants the city destroyed if it looks like the Allies will take it.
Director: René Clément | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Votes: 5,192
27. Yanks (1979)
R | 138 min | Drama, War
Joining WWII, USA ships soldiers to UK. Matt and John arrive in 1942. Each see a local woman - married or to be engaged with soldiers serving faraway.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave, William Devane
Votes: 3,718 | Gross: $3.93M
28. The Dogs of War (1980)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Mercenary James Shannon, on a reconnaissance job to the African nation of Zangaro, is tortured and deported. He returns to lead a coup.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Colin Blakely, Hugh Millais
Votes: 9,423
29. Horatio Hornblower: The Duel (1998 TV Movie)
93 min | Adventure, Drama, War
Horatio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications.
Director: Andrew Grieve | Stars: Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, Dorian Healy, Michael Byrne
Votes: 6,057
30.
Sharpe (1993–2008)
Episode:
Sharpe's Rifles
(1993)
TV-MA | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the Peninsular War, a British sergeant is field promoted to a lieutenant in charge of a disrespectful rifle company.
Director: Tom Clegg | Stars: Sean Bean, Assumpta Serna, Brian Cox, Daragh O'Malley
Votes: 4,446
31. Enemy at the Gates (2001)
R | 131 min | Action, Drama, War
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jude Law, Ed Harris, Joseph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz
Votes: 277,512 | Gross: $51.40M
32. Pride of the Marines (1945)
Approved | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Marine hero Al Schmid is blinded in battle and returns home to be rehabilitated. He readjusts to his civilian life with the help of his soon to be wife.
Director: Delmer Daves | Stars: John Garfield, Eleanor Parker, Dane Clark, John Ridgely
Votes: 1,641
33. The Bunker (1981 TV Movie)
150 min | Drama, History, War
Dramatization depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's (Sir Anthony Hopkins) last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the battle for the city.
Director: George Schaefer | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Richard Jordan, Cliff Gorman, James Naughton
Votes: 2,537
34. Breaking the Code (1996 TV Movie)
75 min | Biography, Drama
A biography of the English mathematician Alan Turing, who was one of the inventors of the digital computer and one of the key figures in the breaking of the Enigma code, used by the Germans... See full summary »
Director: Herbert Wise | Stars: Derek Jacobi, Alun Armstrong, Blake Ritson, William Mannering
Votes: 671
35. Operation Daybreak (1975)
PG | 118 min | Drama, History, War
In 1942, Britain sends a group of British-trained Czech commandos to Prague to assassinate SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Nazi security services.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Martin Shaw, Joss Ackland, Nicola Pagett
Votes: 2,389
36. Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Drama, History
A dramatization based on eyewitness accounts of Hitler's final days in an underground bunker, his military henchmen, and his stormy relationship with Eva Braun.
Director: Ennio De Concini | Stars: Alec Guinness, Simon Ward, Adolfo Celi, Diane Cilento
Votes: 1,848 | Gross: $1.11M
37. The Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
Approved | 97 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
Director: José Ferrer | Stars: José Ferrer, Trevor Howard, Dora Bryan, Christopher Lee
Votes: 1,996
38. Malta Story (1953)
97 min | Drama, History, War
1942 and the island of Malta is battling for survival. The threat of invasion by Axis forces is increasing as air raids wear down its defence. Entering this maelstrom is Flight Lieutenant Peter Ross, an RAF photo-reconnaissance pilot.
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst | Stars: Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Steel, Muriel Pavlow
Votes: 1,961
39. Swing Shift (1984)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance, War
A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Christine Lahti, Fred Ward
Votes: 5,401 | Gross: $6.65M
40. Conspiracy (2001 TV Movie)
R | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Clare Bullus, Stanley Tucci, Simon Markey, David Glover
Votes: 24,782
41. Swing Kids (1993)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Music
A group of teens adores forbidden music in Nazi Germany just before the outbreak of World War II.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 17,347 | Gross: $5.63M
42. Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, War
The story of a large U.S. Marines invasion task force bound for Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942.
Director: Lewis Seiler | Stars: Preston Foster, Lloyd Nolan, William Bendix, Richard Conte
Votes: 2,279
43. Battle Cry (1955)
Approved | 149 min | Drama, Romance, War
Young Marines have adventures in love and war.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman, Nancy Olson
Votes: 2,627 | Gross: $17.44M
Tell Your Friends