The best World War I movies
The top 3 according to 51 votes from people: 1917 (2019) · All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) · Paths of Glory (1957). (Updated Jul 10, 2026.)
Trenches, deserters and a single unbroken take: the best films about the Great War, ranked from Looper, whatNerd and the Doughboy Foundation.
Top 10
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1
1917 (2019)
Two soldiers carry a message across no man's land, in what looks like one take.
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2
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
The German adaptation that won four Oscars.
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3
Paths of Glory (1957)
A colonel defends three soldiers accused of cowardice, by Kubrick.
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4
La Grande Illusion (1937)
French officers in a German prison camp, by Jean Renoir.
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5
Gallipoli (1981)
Two Australian sprinters at the Dardanelles, by Peter Weir.
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6
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, by David Lean.
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7
Joyeux Noël (2005)
The Christmas truce of 1914.
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8
King & Country (1964)
A British soldier tried for desertion, by Joseph Losey.
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9
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
German schoolboys sent to the front: Best Picture Oscar.
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10
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Restored, colourised archive footage, by Peter Jackson.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 10… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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11
War Horse (2011)
A farm horse sent to the front, by Spielberg.
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12
Westfront 1918 (1930)
Four infantrymen in the last year of the war, by G.W. Pabst.
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13
A Very Long Engagement (2004)
A young woman searches for her fiancé after the war, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
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14
Sergeant York (1941)
The pacifist farmer who became a war hero, with Gary Cooper.
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.
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Comments (1)
Paths of Glory should be first, but the 2022 All Quiet really is brutal.