Top 10 War Movies of All Time
Here’s a listing of the best 10 war DVDs and videos in our opinion (arranged in alphabetical order), spanning from the 70s, 80s, 90s, to 2k:
| Genre | Action / Adventure / Drama / War |
| Description | Captain Benjamin L Willard (Martin Sheen), an American soldier, is sent out to track down and kill Colonel Walter E Kurtz (Marlon Brando), an American Colonel who has supposedly gone insane and murdered hundreds of people. (Also known as Apocalypse Now Redux – extended version.) |
| Cast | Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Albert Hall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, G. D. Spradlin, Jerry Ziesmer, Scott Glenn, Bo Byers. (Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.) |
| Rated | R for disturbing violent images, language, sexual content and some drug use |
| Genre | Action / Drama / History / War |
| Description | Movie based on the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden which depicts the Battle of Mogadishu, a part of the U.S. military’s 1993 campaign to capture Osman Ali Atto and Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, two senior lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. |
| Cast | Josh Hartnett as Ranger Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, Ewan McGregor as Ranger Specialist Grimes, Tom Sizemore as Ranger Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight, Eric Bana as Delta Sergeant Frist Class “Hoot” Gibson, William Fichtner as Delta Sergeant First Class Jeff Sanderson, Ewen Bremner as Specialist Sergeant Shawn Nelson, Sam Shepard as Major General William F. Garrison. (Directed by Ridley Scott.) |
| Rated | R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language |
| Genre | Action / Drama / History / War |
| Description | The story of the Allied defeat at Arnhem in 1944. |
| Cast | Dirk Bogarde as Lieutenant General Frederick “Boy” Browning, James Caan as Staff Sergeant Eddie Dohun, Michael Caine as Lieutenant Colonel “Joe” Vandeleur, Sean Connery as Major General Robert Urquhart, Edward Fox as Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks, Elliott Gould as Colonel Bobby Stout, Gene Hackman as Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski, Anthony Hopkins as Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, Hardy Kruger as General Ludwig, Laurence Olivier as Doctor Spaander, Ryan O’Neal as Brigadier General James M. Gavin, Robert Redford as Major Julian Cook, Maximilian Schell as Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich. (Directed by Richard Attenborough.) |
| Rated | PG |
| Genre | Action / Adventure / Drama / Thriller / War |
| Description | Story follows a group of Marine recruits from boot camp to the battlefronts of the Vietnam War. |
| Cast | Matthew Modine as Private Joker, Adam Baldwin as Animal Mother, Vincent D’Onofrio as Private Pyle, R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Dorian Harewood as Eightball, Arliss Howard as Private Cowboy. (Directed by Stanley Kubrick.) |
| Rated | R |
| Genre | Action / Drama / War |
| Description | A realistic film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. A necessary movie to see. |
| Cast | Anthony Barrile as Vincent “Alphabet” Languilli, Michael Boatman as Motown, Don Cheadle as Private Washburn, Michael Dolan as Murphy, Don James as McDaniel (“Mac”), Dylan McDermott as Sergeant Frantz. (Directed by John Irvin.) |
| Rated | R |
| Genre | Action / Drama / War |
| Description | The fictional account of a veteran of the French and Indian Wars and widower raising seven children on his farm driven to fight against the British in the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened. |
| Cast | Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, Heath Ledger as Gabriel Martin, Joely Richardson as Charlotte Selton, Jason Isaacs as Colonel William Tavington, Chris Cooper as Colonel Harry Burwell. (Directed by Roland Emmerich.) |
| Rated | R for strong war violence |
| Genre | Action / Drama / War |
| Description | Movie based on Director Oliver Stone’s firsthand experience as an American soldier in Vietnam. Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. |
| Cast | Tom Berenger as Sergeant Barnes, Willem Dafoe as Sergeant Elias, Charlie Sheen as Chris, Forest Whitaker as Big Harold, Francesco Quinn as Rhah, Johnny Depp as Lerner. (Directed by Oliver Stone.) |
| Rated | R |
| Genre | Action / Drama / War |
| Description | Academy Award Winner including Best Cinematography and Best Director. War film set in World War II. Soldiers are sent on a mission to bring home the last remaining son whose three brothers were killed in combat. |
| Cast | Tom Hanks as Captain Miller, Tom Sizemore as Sergeant Horvath, Edward Burns as Private Reiben, Barry Pepper as Private Jackson, Adam Goldberg as Private Mellish, Vin Diesel as Private Caparzo, Giovanni Ribisi as T/4 Medic Wade, Jeremy Davies as Corporal Upham, Matt Damon as Private Ryan, Ted Danson as Captain Hamill, Paul Giamatti as Sergeant Hill. (Directed by Steven Spielberg.) |
| Rated | R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence, and for language |
| Genre | Action / Drama / War |
| Description | The tale of United States forces during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. Adapted from the novel The Thin Red Line written by James Jones. |
| Cast | Sean Penn as 1st Sergeant Welsh, Jim Caviezel as Private Witt, John Cusack as Captain Gaff, Ben Chaplin as Private Bell, Nick Nolte as Lieutenant Colonel Tall, Woody Harrelson as Sergeant Keck. (Directed by Terrence Malick.) |
| Rated | R for realistic war violence and language |
| Genre | Action / Drama / History / War |
| Description | Based on the book We Were Soldiers Once … And Young by retired Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway who were at the Battle of Ia Drang, the first major battle of the Vietnam War. |
| Cast | Mel Gibson as Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, Madeleine Stowe as Julie Moore, Greg Kinnear as Major Bruce Crandall, Sam Elliott as Sergeant Major Basil Plumley, Chris Klein as 2nd Lieutenant Jack Geoghegan, Keri Russell as Barbara Geoghegan, Barry Pepper as Joseph Galloway. (Directed by Randall Wallace.) |
| Rated | R for sustained sequences of graphic war violence, and for language |
[tags]war movies[/tags]