10 Best War Movies Of 2023

2023 has been a fantastic movie year, with several great war films of varying styles and periods released. War movies can offer some of the most thrilling, heart-wrenching narratives of any genre, as their violence often feels less contrived than that of a typical action movie. While not everyone takes place on the battlefield, many of the best war movies do. They’re a vital subgenre of historical fiction that explores humanity at its bravest and its most vile.

War movies continue to evolve with changing times. Like with the Western, modern war movies tend to offer a more critical, revisionist approach that examines genre standards of the past. While there are still modern epics like 1917 and Dunkirk, these films tend to explore a darker and more realistic portrayal of war instead of the romanticized heroic adventure war films of the 20th century, which have lost their charm on younger viewers. Many of 2023’s war movies are bloody, violent, or subversions of classics in the genre.

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10 Blood & Gold

Directed by Peter Thorwarth

Released on Netflix, Blood & Gold is a German film set at the end of World War II, where a soldier and a young woman cross paths with an SS troop in search of hidden gold. It’s one of the year’s more intense, chaotic war dramas, with comparisons made to Inglourious Basterds for its graphic violence. However, Blood & Gold is simple and predictable, and the violence is often tasteless.

9 Plane

Directed by Jean-François Richet

Plane isn’t a traditional war film, though it takes place on an island in the Philippines with an active rebel war occurring. It’s primarily an action movie, and its popularity at the box office was enough to earn it a sequel. Following the pilot of a plane forced to land on the island to avoid a storm, many of the passengers are taken hostage while waiting for rescue, turning the movie into a rescue thriller. It’s not the most complex or inventive movie of the year, but it’s undoubtedly a lot of fun and a decent Gerard Butler action movie.

8 One Life

Directed by James Hawes

A war film that takes place far from the battlefield, One Life tells the story of Nicholas Winston, a British humanitarian who helped Jewish children flee before the start of World War II. Anthony Hopkins plays the lead character, with Helena Bonham Carter and Jonathan Pryce in supporting roles, all of whom have been praised for their performances. The film premiered at TIFF in September 2023 and will be released to the public in January 2024.

7 The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die

Directed by Edward Bazalgette

2023 didn’t have any sword-wielding war films besides The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, which largely relies on the viewer having seen the TV series, concluding its story. Much of the acclaimed Netflix show’s cast returns for the film, and Seven Kings Must Die is loosely based on actual historical events. The sequel is packed with gritty, visceral action, making for one of the year’s bloodiest and most gruesome war movies. While entertaining, Seven Kings Must Die doesn’t do much for those who haven’t already been invested in The Last Kingdom.

6 The Covenant

Directed by Guy Ritchie

The closest example to a traditional war film in 2023 is Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the movie is set during the war in Afghanistan, exploring the bond between a soldier and an interpreter. The Covenant is a thrilling, dramatic war movie about camaraderie that’s been applauded for its realism and performances. While it’s not the most inventive war film of 2023, it’s an effective return to form for Guy Ritchie.

5 The Creator

Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Creator is different from most war films of the year in that it’s entirely fictional and futuristic. Still, the movie explores themes of war and nuclear annihilation, set in a dystopian setting where America is actively engaged in a conflict to eliminate artificial intelligence from the planet. It’s one of Gareth Edwards’ best films, but The Creator falls short of being anything spectacular. It’s an entertaining sci-fi war movie, but it lacks the substance of many of the year’s strongest films despite its bright, thought-provoking subject matter.

4 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

Directed by William Friedkin

With a fantastic cast including Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Clarke, and the late great Lance Reddick, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial makes for one of the best legal dramas of the year, centered around a Navy officer accused of mutiny. It’s a riveting, dialogue-driven film with stellar performances based on a classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. While not the grandest or most extravagant war movie of 2023, it’s undoubtedly one of the most clever, letting the actors showcase their talents for nearly two hours.

3 Napoleon

Directed by Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott has made some of the greatest war movies ever, from modern classics like Black Hawk Down to sword-and-sandal epics like Gladiator. He returns to the genre with Napoleon, a film about the life of the French general and emperor. As much as the movie has epic war sequences, Scott’s biographical drama primarily focuses on the relationship between Napoleon Bonaparte and his first wife, Joséphine. Joaquin Phoenix portrays Napoleon as a weird and tragic man who, despite his great genius, success, and glory, can’t command the respect of the person most dear to him. Still, it’s less detailed and nuanced than the year’s best war films.

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2 The Zone Of Interest

Directed by Jonathan Glazer

A24 has produced many of the year’s best and most prestigious projects, and The Zone of Interest may be one of their most challenging films yet. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it was met with great acclaim, telling the story of Rudolf Höss, a German SS officer who was the longest-serving commandant at Auschwitz. The film probes the life of one of World War II’s most notorious war criminals, prompting the audience to examine the monotony of his evil. It’s a bleak, disturbing war movie and one of the year’s best.

1 Oppenheimer

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Oppenheimer was not only 2023’s best war movie but also one of the best films of the year, widely celebrated critically and commercially. Though not a traditional war film, given its exploration into the Manhattan Project and the race to build the first atomic bomb, it’s hard not to classify Christopher Nolan’s epic in the war genre. World War II movies have seen characters on both sides of the battlefield and political landscape. However, Oppenheimer broke ground in its examination of war technology and the drastic effect having nuclear weapons has had on humanity. On top of all that, it’s a terrific character study with a phenomenal lead performance.