60 Best War Movies Of All Time Ranked

Since the dawn of human existence, war has been a part of our story. While the machinery of war has changed over the countless ages, the grief and loss that invariably accompanies it has remained timeless, with generation after generation telling the same old story in new settings. Whether by swords and shields or tanks and IEDs, the loss of life and utter devastation leave survivors to tell the tale, hoping that future generations will learn from the lessons of history.

From patriotic stories of heroism in the face of human cruelty to warnings against the futility of war, how these stories are told matters, and there's a lesson to be learned in all of them. Films about war foster important discussions on a wide range of topics including motives for warfare, treatment of veterans, and human rights issues while bringing the reality of war into vivid, tangible light. Among the countless great films out there, here are the 60 best war movies of all time ranked.

Updated on June 15, 2022: Great new war films are released all the time. We'll be updating this list every so often to include the best among them, so be sure to check back often so you don't miss a thing.

One aspect of World War II that's rarely presented in Western films is the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, events depicted in "Empire of the Sun." Not long after Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces occupy the Shanghai International Settlement, which is populated with British and American citizens. During the chaotic evacuation that follows, an English tween named Jamie gets separated from his parents and left behind, eventually landing in an internment camp where he creates a trading network to get by. A tale of optimism during trying times, "Empire of the Sun" is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, which draws on author J.G. Ballard's experiences during World War II.

• Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Year: 1987
• Runtime: 152 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

With its release coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty from the U.K. to China, "Our Time Will Come" is director Ann Hui's look at the Hong Kong resistance against Japanese occupation. The story follows resistance fighter Fang Gu on her journey from quiet intellectual to resistance leader. With its female-driven plot and nuanced characterizations, the film is a rare example of a World War II story that presents the necessity of resistance in unvarnished and humanistic terms.

• Starring: Zhou Xun, Eddie Peng, Wallace Huo
• Director: Ann Hui
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 120 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Set during the Gulf War, "Courage Under Fire" explores the ethical implications of military cover-ups through combat flashbacks and a courtroom mystery. The story finds troubled Lieutenant Colonel Serling having to face his own demons as he investigates a case — determining whether or not the first woman nominated for the Medal of Honor in combat deserves the award — that echoes his own wartime experience. Critics praised Denzel Washington's performance as Serling, as well as the film's realistic cinematic portrayal of the Gulf War, and the movie also features one of Matt Damon's earliest and best performances.

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips
• Director: Edward Zwick
• Year: 1996
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Widely regarded as one of the best Vietnam War films ever made, "Hamburger Hill" looks at the 1969 battle of the same name, where American troops tried to take a well-defended hill. Shot in the Philippines and featuring Dylan McDermott in his film debut, the film has been universally praised for its realism and accuracy — from the interactions between soldiers to the tensions of living in the jungle with the enemy nearby — owing in large part to director John Irvin's own wartime experience.

• Starring: Dylan McDermott, Michael Patrick Boatman, Don Cheadle
• Director: John Irvin
• Year: 1987
• Runtime: 110 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Set in the aftermath of World War II, "Land of Mine" paints a bleak picture of Denmark's decision to force 2,000 German prisoners of war to clear millions of land mines buried along the country's west coast. Tense, humanizing, and grim, the film earned a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival.

• Starring: Roland Møller, Mikkel Følsgaard, Laura Bro
• Director: Martin Zandvliet
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

A dark comedy with a satirical take on war, "Catch-22" employs equal parts cynicism and surrealism to establish its anti-war subtext. With performances from Alan Arkin, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Martin Sheen, Orson Welles, and Jon Voight, among others, this adaptation of the 1961 Joseph Heller novel set in a fictional Mediterranean World War II base finds bombadiers forced into a paradox where they can't get out of fighting by pretending to be crazy because that would make them too sane to actually be crazy. Despite being divisive among critics, the film has drawn numerous comparisons to "M*A*S*H" over the years and is viewed by many as one of the most important anti-war films ever made. 

• Starring: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin
• Director: Mike Nichols
• Year: 1970
• Runtime: 121 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

Quentin Tarantino's alternate history of World War II, "Inglourious Basterds" is a revenge fantasy that explores two fictional plots to take out the Nazi high command. In one storyline, you've got Nazi-hunting Jewish commandos taking scalps and cracking skulls. In the other, you have a young Jewish woman with revenge in her heart and a theater full of very flammable materials. Of course, the ultimate draw here is Christoph Waltz's Oscar-winning performance as Hans Landa, a truly smarmy Nazi and one of Quentin Tarantino's best villains. On that note, Tarantino's over-the-top stylistic approach to filmmaking is as bloody and hyperbolic as ever, but as Salon's Matthew Rozsa points out, it's a timely reminder that anyone committing genocide is undeserving of nuanced humanization.

• Starring: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent
• Director: Quentin Tarantino
• Year: 2009
• Runtime: 153 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

A big-budget blockbuster dealing with the psychological aspects of brinksmanship from a military perspective and featuring a stunning Hans Zimmer score, "Crimson Tide" is an action thriller that finds the United States scrambling to deal with a possible nuclear threat from Russian ultranationalists. The film focuses more narrowly on the intense breakdown that occurs on the submarine the USS Alabama as the bullish commander and his more cautious XO struggle with whether or not to launch their nukes.

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, James Gandolfini
• Director: Tony Scott
• Year: 1995
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

"Stalag 17" is a witty snapshot of American POWs biding their time in a Nazi prison camp. They keep themselves occupied playing volleyball and hosting Christmas parties, but in between the pranks and the boredom, there's a dark undercurrent, as they're all convinced that one among them is snitching to the Germans. Growing afraid and angry, the soldiers in Barracks 4 begin to turn on the man they believe is at fault — a cynical soldier who thinks everything has a price. But is he really the traitor? Balancing humor and drama through snappy dialogue, the film emphasizes the importance of finding levity in the darkest of times.

• Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger
• Director: Billy Wilder
• Year: 1953
• Runtime: 120 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Set around the events of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, "From Here to Eternity" is an emotional and humanizing look at the lives of the U.S. soldiers whose lives were impacted by the events of that day. The film was warmly received by critics and general audiences and racked up eight Academy Awards including best screenplay and best supporting actor for Frank Sinatra.

• Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
• Director: Fred Zinnemann
• Year: 1953
• Runtime: 118 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

From the hilarious mind of Charlie Chaplin, "The Great Dictator" is a satire that takes full, unapologetically mocking aim at fascism, Nazis, and anti-Semitism. Chaplin stars as both a Jewish barber and Adenoid Hynkel, the fictional fascist dictator of Tomainia (a play on "Romania" and "ptomaine," a period word for food poisoning) — a situation that results in a case of mistaken identity. Made before the U.S. was at war with Nazi Germany, many modern critics see the film as decades ahead of its time, and while it definitely has its hilarious moments — like Hynkel's world-domination dance sequence — there are plenty of passionate calls to action, like the film's final moving monologue.

• Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
• Director: Charlie Chaplin
• Year: 1940
• Runtime: 128 minutes
• Rating: G
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Told through the perspective of Hitler's personal secretary Traudl Junge, "Downfall" details the final days of Adolf Hitler as he hides in the Führerbunker while his regime rapidly collapses around him. By humanizing the dictator's final days, the film serves to warn viewers that behind all of the Nazi atrocities, there was nothing more than a disturbed racist clinging desperately to power. Plus, while the famous shouting scene has been memed into oblivion, the original scene is still a virtuoso performance by Bruno Gaz.

• Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch
• Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
• Year: 2004
• Runtime: 154 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Set during the Bosnian War, "No Man's Land" finds a Bosnian soldier and a Serb, both wounded, caught together in a trench between the lines of their two sides. Now, they're stuck ... with no place to go without getting killed. Disturbing, funny, and smart, the film won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for best foreign film in 2002.

• Starring: Branko Đurić, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Šovagović
• Director: Danis Tanović
• Year: 2001
• Runtime: 98 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Set during the Cambodian Civil War, "The Killing Fields" is a biopic centered around Cambodian journalist Dith Pran and American journalist Sydney Schanberg as they document the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge before Schanberg escapes and Pran is left behind to suffer under the Pol Pot regime. This powerful film, which won eight BAFTAs and three Oscars, shines a light on the bravery of journalists who risk their lives to capture news in war-torn regions around the world.

• Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich
• Director: Roland Joffé
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 141 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

"Zulu" is an epic war film that paints a violent picture of the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War, a bitter and brutal period in the annals of British colonialism. While the topic of British colonialism represents a dark chapter in history, critics have always held polarizing opinions about whether this film upholds colonialism or is a repudiation of it. Inadvertently or otherwise, the film does an excellent job of demonstrating the strength and defiance the Zulus showed against the evil of imperialism.

• Starring: Michael Caine, Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins
• Director: Cy Endfield
• Year: 1964
• Runtime: 135 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"The Deer Hunter" looks at the personal and psychological impact of the Vietnam War through the perspective of three friends from a small Pennsylvania steel mill town. Told in three acts, the story begins with the optimism of youth, takes the central characters through the absolute nightmare of war, and ends with what remains of their bodies and souls after they land back where they started. As much about the experience of living in small-town America as it is about the war, the film shines thanks to the performances of its central cast, including Christopher Walken giving a truly devastating and Oscar-winning turn.

• Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep
• Director: Michael Cimino
• Year: 1978
• Runtime: 183 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

A biopic set during the final four months of Abraham Lincoln's life, "Lincoln" focuses primarily on the president's efforts to push the passage of the 13th amendment while the United States is being torn apart by the Civil War. Audiences and critics alike praised Daniel Day-Lewis' believable and nuanced performance as Lincoln, and the emphasis on the political aspects of the war and the amendment's passage lend insight to the era and the president that aren't found in most depictions of the period.

• Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Year: 2012
• Runtime: 149 minutes
• Rating: PG-13 
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Oliver Stone's adaptation of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic's 1976 autobiography, "Born on the Fourth of July" is a moving film, detailing Kovic's transition from a patriotic youth eager to serve his country to a paraplegic anti-war activist. Like Stone's other war films, "Born on the Fourth of July" does a good job of driving home the chaos and horror of war while leaving the audience to contemplate the wisdom of unconditional patriotism. It also features a bravura performance from Tom Cruise, proving he's far more than just an big blockbuster kind of guy.

• Starring: Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Willem Dafoe
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Year: 1989
• Runtime: 144 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

A reimagining of Shakespeare's "King Lear," "Ran" is a Japanese epic action film set during the feudal 16th century, and it also happens to be one of Akira Kurosawa's greatest directorial efforts. When an aging warlord decides to divide his empire among his three sons, the the kingdom is plunged into turmoil with multiple armies facing off in an epic battle. This film is a colorful and stunning example of Japanese cinema at its finest.

• Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu
• Director: Akira Kurosawa
• Year: 1985
• Runtime: 162 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

Of all the countless stories to come out of World War II, one of the most unbelievable is the tale of Operation Mincemeat, the real British effort to throw off the Nazis with false intel planted on a corpse dressed as a Royal Marine. Despite a few side stories that may not add much to the overall plot, "Operation Mincemeat" gives an interesting look at a stranger-than-fiction piece of World War II history, with a solid cast and an intense caper-like plot that'll keep you on the edge of your seat.

• Starring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald
• Director: John Madden
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 128 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

General George S. Patton was a larger-than-life figure — controversial, brilliant, and one of a kind. So it only makes sense that he'd receive a larger-than-life movie. Beginning with his entry into World War II in North Africa, "Patton" details the wartime efforts of the notorious leader that helped lead the Allies to victory in Europe and Italy. With a memorable performance from George C. Scott as Patton — one that earned him an Oscar (which he turned down) — this character-driven retelling of the war is an excellent introduction to the controversial historical figure. Plus, when it comes to opening scenes that grab you by the collar and won't let you go, it's hard to beat this film's wild opening monologue.

• Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, David Bauer
• Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
• Year: 1970
• Runtime: 171 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

Serving as a companion piece to "Flags of Our Fathers," Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" is a Japanese-language film that was produced to give a humanizing view of the Japanese soldiers who fought in World War II — particularly the men who fought during the Battle of Iwo Jima. With its focus on historical accuracy and empathetic portrayals of the soldiers involved, the film has been praised for its sensitivity by both American and Japanese viewers.

• Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara
• Director: Clint Eastwood
• Year: 2006
• Runtime: 141 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Directed by Oliver Stone, "Platoon" draws on the filmmaker's own experiences as an infantryman and is meant to present the war through a critical lens. Set in 1967, the story follows Army volunteer Chris Taylor, who's stationed near the border of Cambodia in South Vietnam as he finds himself torn between two different sergeants with conflicting approaches to the war. Widely considered the best of Oliver Stone's Vietnam films and one of the best war films of all time, "Platoon" is unapologetically anti-war.

• Starring: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Year: 1986
• Runtime: 120 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%

A World War I film based on German writer Erich Maria Remarque's novel recounting his experiences in the Imperial German Army, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made. Like many movies that take such a stance, "All Quiet" begins with a group of young patriotic men eager to find glory on the battlefield ... only to find that war is quite literally hell. Released pre-Code, this film gives a grim look at the wartime horrors that marked World War I, including trench warfare, shrapnel injuries, and starvation.

• Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
• Director: Lewis Milestone
• Year: 1930
• Runtime: 134 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Set during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, "The Pianist" is the heartbreaking tale based on Polish-Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman's experience hiding from the Nazi occupiers around Warsaw after becoming separated from his family. A poignant tale told in a muted palette with a transcendent, Oscar-winning performance from Adrian Brody as Szpilman, the film aptly imparts the isolation, fear, and uncertainty felt by many during the Holocaust.

• Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay
• Director: Roman Polanski
• Year: 2002
• Runtime: 150 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Like his later films "Full Metal Jacket" and "Dr. Strangelove," "Paths of Glory" is a Stanley Kubrick film with a clear anti-war sentiment. Set during World War I, the movie depicts the futility and horror of trench warfare through the tale of an overzealous Allied general pressing his subordinates to engage in what is effectively a suicide mission. When his men refuse to walk into a hail of bullets, he randomly selects three of them to face the death penalty, setting up a harsh, dramatic trial. With its experimental use of space, light, and camera movement, the film bears hallmarks of Kubrick's style that would become more prominent in his later projects.

• Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Year: 1957
• Runtime: 86 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

"Europa Europa" is the harrowing tale of an orphaned Jewish teen named Salek who ends up passing as a German Aryan, joining the Hitler youth, and falling in love with an anti-Semitic girl named Leni. The Golden Globe-winning film, based on the real experiences of Solomon Perel as told in his 1989 biography, deals with themes of identity and has been praised for its youth-accessible coverage of the Holocaust.

• Starring: Marco Hofschneider, Julie Delpy, Hanns Zischler
• Director: Agnieszka Holland
• Year: 1990
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Shot only in black and white with a single pop of symbolic red, "Schindler's List" is the haunting account of a real German business owner who managed to save about 1,200 Jews with jobs at his enamelware factory in Kraków. After Oskar Schindler, who considers himself a Nazi, witnesses the massacre of Jews by SS commander Amon Göth, he begins a campaign to save them that includes bribing Göth. While this film is emotionally shattering, visually disturbing, and difficult to watch, it is often cited as the most realistic depiction of the Holocaust.

• Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Year: 1993
• Runtime: 195 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

Set during the Iraq War, "The Hurt Locker" follows an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit tasked with defusing bombs in a military effort plagued with IEDs. In addition to the white-knuckle horror accompanied with diffusing bombs, things are made even more intense with the arrival of a reckless adrenaline junkie who gets his kicks deactivating IEDs, putting him very much at odds with his understandably worried comrades. Written by Mark Boal, a journalist who spent time embedded with an explosive unit in Iraq, the film presents a realistic and thoughtful examination of the psychological impact of dealing with guerilla warfare.

• Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes
• Director: Kathryn Bigelow
• Year: 2008
• Runtime: 127 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Francis Ford Coppola's shattering psychological war epic, "Apocalypse Now" is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella "Heart of Darkness," only set during the Vietnam War. The story finds insane U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Kurtz in a remote corner of Cambodia where he's waging an unauthorized guerilla war. When special operative Captain Willard is dispatched to terminate Kurtz's command, his own sanity begins to rapidly deteriorate the closer he gets to his target. A darkly hallucinogenic trip through the blackest regions of the human psyche, "Apocalypse Now" is arguably the most scathing critique of war ever made, as well as a study in the frailty of the human mind in the face of unthinkable atrocities.

• Starring: Marlon Brando, Rubert Duvall, Martin Sheen
• Director: Francis Ford Coppola
• Year: 1979
• Runtime: 153 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%