The best war movies of all time
The top 3 according to 40 votes from people: Grave of the Fireflies · Apocalypse Now · Schindler's List. (Updated Mar 31, 2024.)
The top of Rotten Tomatoes' 100 best war movies (with Grave of the Fireflies at number one) and the war films most often named in other critics' and audience rankings.
Top 25
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1
Grave of the Fireflies
Isao Takahata, 1988. Two orphans at the end of World War II in Japan; Rotten Tomatoes' number one war film.
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2
Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola, 1979. Captain Willard goes upriver to find Colonel Kurtz; Palme d'Or.
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3
Schindler's List
Steven Spielberg, 1993. Oskar Schindler saves more than a thousand Jews; seven Oscars.
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4
Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg, 1998. The Omaha Beach landing and a search for one soldier.
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5
Paths of Glory
Stanley Kubrick, 1957. Kirk Douglas defends three French soldiers accused of cowardice in World War I.
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6
Come and See
Elem Klimov, 1985. A Belarusian boy witnesses Nazi atrocities; considered one of the most harrowing films ever made.
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7
All Quiet on the Western Front
Lewis Milestone, 1930. Remarque's novel; Oscar for Best Picture.
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8
The Battle of Algiers
Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966. The Algerian war of independence filmed like newsreel; Golden Lion.
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9
Casablanca
Michael Curtiz, 1942. Rick, Ilsa and the letters of transit in wartime Morocco; 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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10
The Great Escape
John Sturges, 1963. The mass breakout from Stalag Luft III and Steve McQueen's motorcycle.
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11
Grand Illusion
Jean Renoir, 1937. French officers in a German POW camp in World War I.
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12
The Thin Red Line
Terrence Malick, 1998. Guadalcanal as a philosophical meditation.
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13
Das Boot
Wolfgang Petersen, 1981. Claustrophobia aboard a U-boat in the Atlantic.
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14
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Stanley Kubrick, 1964. Nuclear-war satire with Peter Sellers in three roles.
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15
The Bridge on the River Kwai
David Lean, 1957. British prisoners build a bridge for the Japanese; seven Oscars.
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16
Full Metal Jacket
Stanley Kubrick, 1987. Boot camp with Sergeant Hartman, then the battle of Huế in Vietnam.
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17
The Deer Hunter
Michael Cimino, 1978. Three steelworkers from Pennsylvania go to Vietnam; five Oscars including Best Picture.
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18
Platoon
Oliver Stone, 1986. Stone's own Vietnam experience through Charlie Sheen's eyes; Best Picture.
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19
Letters from Iwo Jima
Clint Eastwood, 2006. The battle of Iwo Jima seen from the Japanese side.
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20
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Edward Berger, 2022. The German-language adaptation; four Oscars including Best International Feature.
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21
A Man Escaped
Robert Bresson, 1956. A French Resistance fighter plans his escape from a Gestapo prison.
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22
Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean, 1962. T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt in World War I; seven Oscars.
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23
Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan, 2017. The 1940 evacuation by land, sea and air.
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24
1917
Sam Mendes, 2019. Two British soldiers cross no man's land, filmed to look like one continuous shot.
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25
The Pianist
Roman Polanski's 2002 film about Władysław Szpilman's survival in Warsaw; Palme d'Or and three Oscars.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 25… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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26
Hacksaw Ridge
Mel Gibson, 2016. Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector who saved 75 men at Okinawa.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (9)
Das Boot director's cut, 5 hours of claustrophobia, amazing
Casablanca as a war movie? It's a romance
It's set during WWII and is literally about the war. Counts for me.
Apocalypse Now. The helicopter attack with Wagner... iconic.
Come and See is the most harrowing war film ever made.
The Pianist should be here, Adrien Brody was unbelievable.
Grave of the Fireflies at #1 is the right choice. I can never watch it again.
Saving Private Ryan's first 25 minutes are the most intense in cinema
Paths of Glory is Kubrick's best and nobody talks about it