Best War Movies

#1 Schindler's List 1993

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall, Embeth Davidtz, Malgoscha Gebel, Shmuel Levy, Mark Ivanir, Béatrice Macola, Andrzej Seweryn, Friedrich von Thun, Krzysztof Luft, Harry Nehring, Norbert Weisser.

Overview: Told from the perspective of businessman Oskar Schindler who saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his armor factory. Schindler’s List is based on a true story, illustrated in black and white and filmed on many original locations which brought much discussion and controversy.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 3h 15m. Rated: R.

#2 Apocalypse Now Redux 2001

The Horror. . . The Horror. . .

Director: Francis Ford Coppola. Cast: Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, G.D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Scott Glenn, Francis Ford Coppola.

Overview: Apocalypse Now Redux is an extended version of the 1979 epic war film Apocalypse Now. Unlike other new cuts of the film, Redux is usually considered by fans and critics, as well as director Coppola, as a completely new movie altogether. The movie adds 49 minutes of all-new material, and represents a significant re-edit of the original Apocalypse Now. The movie came into production when Coppola concluded that his original cut was tame by today's standards. Coppola, along with editor/long-time collaborator Walter Murch, then added several scenes that enhanced the surrealism in the original story.

Genres: Action, Drama, War. Runtime: 3h 22m. Rated: R.

#3 Paths of Glory 1957

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Timothy Carey.

Overview: Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is among the most powerful antiwar films ever made. A fiery Kirk Douglas stars as a World War I French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless top brass when his men are accused of cowardice after being unable to carry out an impossible mission. This haunting, exquisitely photographed dissection of the military machine in all its absurdity and capacity for dehumanization (a theme Kubrick would continue to explore throughout his career) is assembled with its legendary director’s customary precision, from its tense trench warfare sequences to its gripping courtroom climax to its ravaging final scene.

Genres: Drama, History, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 26m. Rated: NR.

#4 The Human Condition I 1959
Ningen no jôken Vol. I

Director: Masaki Kobayashi. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama.

Overview: The Human Condition is a Japanese epic film trilogy made between 1959 and 1961. The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist and socialist, as he tries to survive in the fascist and oppressive world of WWII-era Japan. No Greater Love (1959) opens with Kaji marrying his sweetheart Michiko despite his misgivings about the future.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: Japan. Runtime: 3h 28m.

#5 Saving Private Ryan 1998

In the Last Great Invasion of the Last Great War, The Greatest Danger for Eight Men was Saving... One.

Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Joerg Stadler, Harve Presnell, Max Martini, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti.

Overview: As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

Genres: Action, Drama, History, War. Countries: France, United Kingdom, Ireland. Runtime: 2h 50m. Rated: R.

#6 Lawrence of Arabia 1962

Director: David Lean. Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, Claude Rains, Anthony Quayle, José Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Wolfit, Zia Mohyeddin, I.S. Johar, Gamil Ratib, Michel Ray, John Dimech.

Overview: Lawrence of Arabia is the classic film from David Lean starring Peter O’Toole and based on the autobiography from Thomas Edward Lawrence who during the first World War was on assignment by the British Empire in Arabia. The film would become a cult classic and is known today as a masterpiece.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, History. Runtime: 3h 36m. Rated: PG.

#7 The Pianist 2002

Director: Roman Polanski. Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, Michał Żebrowski, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Nomi Sharron, Detlev von Wangenheim, Krzysztof Pieczynski.

Overview: The Pianist is a film adapted from the biography of Wladyslaw Szpilman. A Jewish-Polish pianist who during the second world war lived and hid miraculously in Warsaw after having gone through a terrible tragedy. A film from Roman Polanski.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland. Runtime: 2h 30m. Rated: R.

#8 Das Boot 1982

When the hunters become the hunted

Director: Wolfgang Petersen. Cast: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch, Martin Semmelrogge, Bernd Tauber, Erwin Leder, Martin May, Heinz Hoenig, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Claude-Oliver Rudolph, Jan Fedder, Ralf Richter.

Overview: A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War. Soon it becomes hunted itself. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits...

Genres: Action, Drama, Foreign, History, Thriller, War. Countries: Germany, France. Runtime: 2h 29m. Rated: R.

#9 Life Is Beautiful 1997
La Vita è Bella

Director: Roberto Benigni. Cast: Nicoletta Braschi, Roberto Benigni, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano, Amerigo Fontani, Sergio Bini Bustric, Lidia Alfonsi, Horst Buchholz, Pietro De Silva, Marisa Paredes, Giuliana Lojodice, Francesco Guzzo.

Overview: A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Foreign. Country: Italy. Runtime: 1h 56m. Rated: PG-13.

#10 The Great Dictator 1940

Director: Charlie Chaplin. Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Paul Weigel, Grace Hayle, Paulette Goddard, Maurice Moscovitch, Emma Dunn, Bernard Gorcey, Carter DeHaven, Eddie Gribbon, Rudolph Anders.

Overview: Chaplin's first true "talking" picture, The Great Dictator daringly satirizes both Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Chaplin portrays both the dictator Adenoid Hynkel and the poor Jewish barber who is his look-alike.

Genre: Comedy. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 4m. Rated: G.

#11 The Ascent 1977
Восхождение

Director: Larisa Shepitko. Cast: Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergei Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova.

Overview: Two Soviet partisans leave their starving band to get supplies from a nearby farm. The Germans have reached the farm first, so the pair must go on a journey deep into occupied territory, a voyage that will also take them deep into their souls.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Indie, War. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 51m.

#12 The Big Parade 1925

Directors: King Vidor, George W. Hill. Cast: John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Claire McDowell, Claire Adams, Robert Ober, Tom O'Brien, Karl Dane, Kathleen Key, Rosita Marstini, Julanne Johnston.

Overview: The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

Genre: History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 21m.

#13 The General 1927

Directors: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton. Cast: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom, Charles Henry Smith, Frank Barnes, Joe Keaton, Mike Donlin, Tom Nawn.

Overview: The General is a 1927 American silent film comedy from Buster Keaton. The film flopped when first released but is now regarded as the height of silent film comedy. The film is based on events from America’s civil war.

Genres: Comedy, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 18m. Rated: NR.

#14 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957

It spans a whole new world of entertainment!

Director: David Lean. Cast: William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald, Geoffrey Horne, André Morell, Peter Williams.

Overview: A classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson , the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

Genres: Action, Drama, Foreign, History, War. Countries: United Kingdom, Sri Lanka. Runtime: 2h 41m. Rated: PG.

#15 Full Metal Jacket 1987

Vietnam can kill me, but it can’t make me care.

Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Kevyn Major Howard, Arliss Howard, Ed O'Ross, John Terry, Kieron Jecchinis, Kirk Taylor, Tim Colceri, Jon Stafford, Bruce Boa, Ian Tyler.

Overview: Marine recruits endure the grueling ordeal of basic training and later face the unrelenting Viet Cong during the 1968 Tet Offensive in this grim Stanley Kubrick drama, based on a novel by Gustav Hasford. One of the most authentic depictions of warfare ever put on the big screen, the film teems with howling madness, stark images and troubling questions about duty, honor and sacrifice.

Genres: Action, Drama, War. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 1h 56m. Rated: R.

#16 Downfall 2004
Der Untergang

April 1945, a nation awaits its...Downfall

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel. Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch, Christian Berkel, Thomas Kretschmann, Ulrich Noethen, Birgit Minichmayr, Rolf Kanies, Justus von Dohnanyi, Michael Mendl, André Hennicke, Christian Redl.

Overview: In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his Generals and advisers to fight to the last man. "Downfall" explores these final days of the Reich, where senior German leaders (such as Himmler and Goring) began defecting from their beloved Fuhrer, in an effort to save their own lives, while still others (Joseph Goebbels) pledge to die with Hitler. Hitler, himself, degenerates into a paranoid shell of a man, full of optimism one moment and suicidal depression the next. When the end finally does comes, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History, War. Countries: Austria, Germany, Italy, Russian Federation. Runtime: 2h 36m. Rated: R.

#17 Braveheart 1995

Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.

Director: Mel Gibson. Cast: Mel Gibson, Catherine McCormack, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen, Brendan Gleeson, James Robinson, James Cosmo, Sean McGinley, Gerda Stevenson, Mhairi Calvey, Jeanne Marine, Sean Lawlor, Sandy Nelson, Alan Tall.

Overview: Enraged at the slaughter of Murron -- his new bride and childhood love -- legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War. Countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 57m. Rated: R.

#18 Inglourious Basterds 2009

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...

Director: Quentin Tarantino. Cast: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, Michael Fassbender, Samuel L. Jackson, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, B.J. Novak, Gedeon Burkhard, Omar Doom, Samm Levine, Paul Rust, Michael Bacall.

Overview: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller, War. Countries: Germany, United States of America. Runtime: 2h 33m. Rated: R.

#19 The Great Escape 1963

Put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it...

Director: John Sturges. Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, Angus Lennie, Nigel Stock, Robert Graf, Jud Taylor.

Overview: The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocates them to a high-security "escape-proof" camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 52m. Rated: NR.

#20 Ran 1985

Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû.

Overview: A story of greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge when an elderly lord abdicates to his three sons, and the two corrupt ones turn against him. A profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, History, Indie. Countries: France, Japan. Runtime: 2h 40m. Rated: R.

#21 Grave of the Fireflies 1988
Hotaru no haka

Director: Isao Takahata. Cast: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, Akemi Yamaguchi.

Overview: In the latter part of World War II, a boy and his sister, orphaned when their mother is killed in the firebombing of Tokyo, are left to survive on their own in what remains of civilian life in Japan. The plot follows this boy and his sister as they do their best to survive in the Japanese countryside, battling hunger, prejudice, and pride in their own quiet, personal battle.

Genre: Animation. Country: Japan. Runtime: 1h 29m. Rated: NR.

#22 The Great War 1959
La grande guerra

Director: Mario Monicelli. Cast: Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Silvana Mangano.

Overview: Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army.

Countries: Italy, France. Runtime: 2h 17m.

#23 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946

Director: William Wyler. Cast: Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O'Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Russell, Gladys George, Roman Bohnen, Ray Collins, Minna Gombell, Walter Baldwin, Steve Cochran, Dorothy Adams.

Overview: The Best Years of Our Lives is a classic film from director Williams Wyler about three war veterans. The film earned seven Oscars in 1946.

Genres: Drama, History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 52m.

#24 Hotel Rwanda 2004

When the world closed its eyes, he opened his arms.

Director: Terry George. Cast: Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Jean Reno, Ofentse Modiselle, Mathabo Pieterson, Neil McCarthy, Desmond Dube, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Tony Kgoroge, Fana Mokoena, Lebo Mashile, Antonio David Lyons, Leleti Khumalo.

Overview: Inspired by true events this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990’s when more than a million Tutsis’ were killed in a Genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Countries: United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America, South Africa. Runtime: 2h 1m. Rated: PG-13.

#25 The Battle of Algiers 1967
La battaglia di Algeri

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo. Cast: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin.

Overview: The French Colonel...who was forced even to torture! One of the many women...who stopped at nothing to win! The Algerian Street Boy...who became a rebel hero!

Genres: Drama, Foreign, War. Countries: Algeria, Italy. Runtime: 2h 1m.

#26 The Deer Hunter 1978

Winner of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1978

Director: Michael Cimino. Cast: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspegren, Shirley Stoler, Rutanya Alda, Pierre Segui, Mady Kaplan, Amy Wright, Mary Ann Haenel, Richard Kuss, Joe Grifasi.

Overview: The Deer Hunter is a 1978 war drama film about a trio of Russian American steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War.

Genres: Drama, War. Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America. Runtime: 3h 2m. Rated: R.

#27 Devils on the Doorstep 2000
Guizi lai le

Director: Wen Jiang. Cast: Wen Jiang, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa.

Overview: During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant's home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?

Genres: Drama, War, Foreign. Country: China. Runtime: 2h 19m.

#28 Andrei Rublev 1966
Andrey Rublyov

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky. Cast: Anatoli Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolai Grinko, Nikolai Sergeyev, Irma Raush, Nikolay Burlyaev, Yuriy Nazarov, Nikolai Grabbe, Mikhail Kononov, Bolot Bejshenaliyev, Rolan Bykov, Yuri Nikulin.

Overview: After four years of production the film by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky would be banned soon after it’s release leading it to be shown only at foreign film festivals. The film is about a Russian icon painter Andrej Rubljow and the relationship of artists and their unique power.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History, Indie. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 3h 25m.

#29 Come and See 1985
Idi i smotri

Director: Elem Klimov. Cast: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Lauciavicius.

Overview: A boy is unwillingly thrust into the atrocities of war in WWII Byelorussia, fighting for a hopelessly unequipped resistance movement against the ruthless German forces. Witnessing scenes of abject terror and accidentally surviving horrifying situations he loses his innocence and then his mind.

Genres: Action, Drama, Foreign, History. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 2h 22m.

#30 Grand Illusion 1937
La grande illusion

Director: Jean Renoir. Cast: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim, Georges Péclet, Werner Florian, Jean Dasté, Sylvain Itkine, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette, Gaston Modot.

Overview: During 1st WW, two French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds, as Rosenthal, son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later, they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History, Indie, War. Country: France. Runtime: 1h 54m.

#31 Platoon 1986

The first casualty of war is innocence.

Director: Oliver Stone. Cast: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Francesco Quinn, Richard Edson, Reggie Johnson, Keith David, David Neidorf, Mark Moses, Chris Pedersen, Ivan Kane, Paul Sanchez, J. Adam Glover.

Overview: A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Genres: Action, Drama, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h. Rated: R.

#32 Rome, Open City 1945
Roma, Città Aperta

Director: Roberto Rossellini. Cast: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Francesco Grandjacquet, Marcello Pagliero, Harry Feist, Maria Michi, Vito Annichiarico, Ákos Tolnay, Joop van Hulzen, Carla Rovere, Giovanna Galletti.

Overview: Open City is a landmark in film history. Filmed in secrecy during the Nazi occupation of Italy, the film shows a realistic portrayal of the underground resistance in Italy in 1945. The film has strong impacting imagery with it’s mix of fiction and reality that strengthened Italian Neo-realism and the film industry.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Country: Italy. Runtime: 1h 45m.

#33 Gone with the Wind 1939

Director: Victor Fleming. Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Thomas Mitchell, Leslie Howard, Barbara O'Neil, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Polk, Butterfly McQueen, Marcella Martin, Harry Davenport.

Overview: An American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Genres: Drama, Romance. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 3h 39m. Rated: G.

#34 Stalag 17 1953

Director: Billy Wilder. Cast: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Richard Erdman, Peter Graves, Neville Brand, Sig Ruman, William Pierson, Gil Stratton, Jay Lawrence.

Overview: Stalag 17 is a war time film from director Billy Wilder set in a German prison camp. The story follows a group of Americans that want to break out.

Genres: Drama, History, Romance, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 56m.

#35 Army of Shadows 1969
L'Armée des ombres

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville. Cast: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret.

Overview: Atmospheric and gripping, Army of Shadows is Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece about the French Resistance underground fighters who must grapple with their own brand of honor in their battle against Hitler’s regime.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History, Thriller. Countries: France, Italy. Runtime: 2h 25m.

#36 Incendies 2010

Director: Denis Villeneuve. Cast: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard.

Overview: A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Indie. Countries: Canada, France. Runtime: 2h 11m. Rated: R.

#37 To Be or Not To Be 1942

Director: Ernst Lubitsch. Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan, Charles Halton, Henry Victor, Maude Eburne.

Overview: During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, History. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 1h 39m.

#38 All Quiet on the Western Front 1930

Director: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Lew Ayres, Arnold Lucy, John Wray, Louis Wolheim, Ben Alexander, Scott Kolk, Owen Davis Jr., Walter Rogers, William Bakewell, Slim Summerville, Zasu Pitts, Beryl Mercer.

Overview: A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I. Together with several other young German soldiers, he experiences the horrors of war, such evil of which he had not conceived of when signing up to fight. They eventually become sad, tormented, and confused of their purpose.

Genres: Action, Drama, History, War. Country: United States of America. Runtime: 2h 20m. Rated: PG.

#39 Ballad of a Soldier 1959
Баллада о солдате

Director: Grigori Tchoukhrai. Cast: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova.

Overview: During World War II, 19 year old soldier Alyosha gets a medal as a reward for a heroic act at the front. Instead of this medal he asks for a few days leave to visit his mother and repair the roof of their home. On the train eastwards he meets Shura who is on her way to her aunt. In those few days traveling together they fall in love.

Genres: Foreign, Indie, Romance. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 28m.

#40 Ivan's Childhood 1962
Иваново детство

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky. Cast: Valentin Zubkov, Yevgeni Zharikov, Stepan Krylov, Nikolai Grinko, Dmitri Milyutenko, Valentina Malyavina, Irma Raush, Nikolay Burlyaev.

Overview: Twelve-year-old Ivan, after his childhood was yanked away by German soldiers, commits himself to the Soviet cause, infiltrating enemy territory to gather strategic information. Stubborn and weary, he no longer bears any traits of the lively youth he once was.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, Indie, War. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 35m.

#41 Battleship Potemkin 1926
Bronenosets Potyomkin

Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein. Cast: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigori Aleksandrov, Ivan Bobrov, Mikhail Gomorov, Aleksandr Levshin, Beatrice Vitoldi.

Overview: Battleship Potemkin is the classic masterpiece silent film from director Sergej Eisenstein from 1925. The film is based on the true events of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The film had an incredible impact on the development of cinema and was a masterful example of montage editing.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, History. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 15m.

#42 Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War 2004
Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo

Director: Je-gyu Kang. Cast: Dong-gun Jang, Bin Won, Eun-ju Lee, Hyeong-jin Kong, Yeong-ran Lee, Kil-Kang Ahn, Jin Jung, Jae-hyeong Jeon, Min-ho Jang, Yun-hie Jo, Min-sik Choi, Do-Hee Go, Taek-ha Hwang, Dae-Hoon Jeong, Doo-hong Jung.

Overview: In 1950, in South Korea, shoe-shiner Jin-tae Lee and his 18-year-old old student brother, Jin-seok Lee, form a poor but happy family with their mother, Jin-tae's fiancé Young-shin Kim, and her young sisters. Jin-tae and his mother are tough workers, who sacrifice themselves to send Jin-seok to the university. When North Korea invades the South, the family escapes to a relative's house in the country, but along their journey, Jin-seok is forced to join the army to fight in the front, and Jin-tae enlists too to protect his young brother. The commander promises Jin-tae that if he gets a medal he would release his brother, and Jin-tae becomes the braver soldier in the company. Along the bloody war between brothers, the relationship of Jin-seok with his older brother deteriorates leading to a dramatic and tragic end.

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, History, War. Country: Korea. Runtime: 2h 20m.

#43 Fires on the Plain 1959
Nobi

Director: Kon Ichikawa. Cast: Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa, Mickey Curtis, Mantarô Ushio, Kyû Sazanka, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi.

Overview: An agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during World War II, Kon Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain is a compelling descent into psychological and physical oblivion. Denied hospital treatment for tuberculosis and cast off into the unknown, Private Tamura treks across an unfamiliar Philippine landscape, encountering an increasingly debased cross section of Imperial Army soldiers, who eventually give in to the most terrifying craving of all. Grisly yet poetic, Fires on the Plain is one of the most powerful works from one of Japanese cinema’s most versatile filmmakers.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, War. Country: Japan. Runtime: 1h 48m.

#44 The War Game 1965

Director: Peter Watkins. Cast: Michael Aspel.

Overview: The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city.

Genres: Action, Documentary, Drama, Foreign. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 48m.

#45 To Live 1994
Huozhe

Director: Yimou Zhang. Cast: You Ge, Li Gong, Ben Niu.

Overview: Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, War. Countries: China, Hong Kong. Runtime: 2h 5m.

#46 Au revoir les enfants 1987

Director: Louis Malle. Cast: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Philippe Morier-Genoud, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, François Berléand, François Négret, Xavier Legrand, Pascal Rivet, Irène Jacob, Richard Leboeuf, Peter Fitz, Arnaud Henriet, Luc Etienne, Jean-Paul Dubarry.

Overview: A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. He becomes the roommate of top student in his class. Rivals at first, the roommates form a bond and share a secret.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, War. Country: France. Runtime: 1h 44m.

#47 The Cranes are Flying 1957
Летят журавли

Director: Mikhail Kalatozov. Cast: Tatyana Samojlova, Aleksey Batalov, Vasili Merkuryev.

Overview: Veronica plans a rendezvous with her lover, Boris, at the bank of river, only for him to be drafted into World War II shortly thereafter.

Genre: Drama. Country: Russian Federation. Runtime: 1h 37m.

#48 A Matter of Life and Death 1946

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough.

Overview: When a young airman miraculously survives bailing out of his aeroplane without a parachute, he falls in love with an American radio operator. But the officials in the other world realise their mistake, and despatch an angel to collect him.

Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Romance. Country: United Kingdom. Runtime: 1h 44m.

#49 The Shop on Main Street 1966
Obchod na korze

Director: Elmar Klos. Cast: Ida Kaminska, Martin Gregor, Jozef Króner.

Overview: Slovakia during WW2. Tono lives a poor life, but the authorities offer him a take over the Jewish widow Lautman's little shop for sewing material.

Genres: Drama, Foreign, War. Country: Czech Republic. Runtime: 2h 8m.