War movies have been popular since the early days of cinema, but there are a few movies which have helped to shape the genre into what it is today. War movies offer things which no other genre can deliver, since they show real chapters from human history that are more extreme and more shocking than most fiction. The real-world context adds extra weight to the action of war movies.

The war genre has been fairly controversial. There has always been a debate about the ethics of depicting bloodshed for a mass audience, and there are also question marks over the level of realism and historical accuracy that is necessary for a war movie. The most influential war movies of all time have been the ones which have advance this conversation in some way, helping to craft the war genre into something which can depict conflicts without glorifying violence.

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Sergeant York (1941)

Sergeant York Subverts The Norms Of War Propaganda

For as long as there have been war movies, there have been movies used as military propaganda. Sergeant York was released shortly before America waded into the Second World War, and it inspired plenty of young men to enlist. However, Sergeant York is too intelligent and nuanced to be relegated to mere propaganda, and that isn’t even its main purpose.

A lot of World War II propaganda consisted of one of the Looney Tunes pummeling Hitler, or heroic soldiers being welcomed home victorious by beautiful women. Sergeant York is more effective than any of this, because it shows a more realistic view of war. York initially doesn’t even want to join the war, but he becomes a reluctant hero who must reckon with his role as a man who kills for his country. Sergeant York shows that war is not pretty, but it suggests that it can still be noble.

9

Paths Of Glory (1957)

Stanley Kubrick’s Mastered The Anti-War Movie

Stanley Kubrick made several war movies, each of which has influenced the genre for decades. Paths of Glory follows a group of French soldiers during the First World War who defy orders from their superiors to embark upon a suicide mission. The fallout from this insubordinate act highlights the chasm between the generals and officers passing down the orders, and the soldiers who have no choice but to carry them out.

Kubrick’s war movies always had a strong antiwar message. Paths of Glory shows the absurd bureaucracy which sends men to their deaths, and the larger goals of the war are barely mentioned. It’s also hard to ignore the class divide between the soldiers and their superiors. Other antiwar movies throughout the years have taken inspiration from Kubrick’s intelligent framing of a borderline farcical narrative.

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The Battle Of Algiers (1966)

War Movies Often Strive For Realism

Many war movies are judged based on their accuracy and realism, and few can stand up to The Battle of Algiers in that regard. The Italian-Algerian co-production is presented in a documentary style, with newsreel footage, both real and fake, spliced in with the action. The Battle of Algiers uses practical effects, real locations, and amateur actors who actually fought during the Algerian War just a few years earlier.

The Battle of Algiers is the single best example of a war movie which also serves as a historical document. For better or worse, war movies shape the ways that people see different conflicts and war in general. The Battle of Algiers is made to be as realistic as possible, telling the story of the Algerian War from the side of the rebels. Of course, there are still elements of fiction, with the movie suggesting that the very artifice of cinema limits any historical teaching it can provide.

7

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Francis Ford Coppola’s Masterpiece Turns War Into A Parable

There are parts of Apocalypse Now which are shockingly realistic, but other parts feel like scenes from a strange fable. The story is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, which provides a brief glimpse at the horrors of the Belgian occupation of Congo. Apocalypse Now draws parallels between this dark chapter of human history and the violent chaos of the Vietnam War.

Apocalypse Now represents a different approach to war movies. Rather than being a realistic representation of the Vietnam War, it takes the viewer inside the minds of the soldiers there. The landscape in Apocalypse Now is nightmarish and confronting, partly because it reflects the mentality that war creates. The famously troubled behind-the-scenes story of Apocalypse Now has further added to its legend.

6

Come & See (1985)

Come & See Confronts The Viewer In Many Ways

There has been a long-running debate over whether a war movie can ever truly claim to be “anti-war”. One argument suggests that by depicting war, movies feed into the human desire to witness violence, and they can even glorify and fetishize the thing they claim to reject. Come and See serves as a counterpoint to this argument. The Soviet war movie refuses to offer its audience the glory and solace that appear in many other war movies.

Come and See tells the story of the Nazi occupation of Belarus, which is a World War II story that doesn’t get much attention in the Western world. The visually confronting horrors in Come and See leave no room for other interpretations. The message is clear that war can make monsters out of ordinary people, and humanity is a weakness in contemporary conflicts. Come and See redefined the idea of an anti-war movie.

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Grave Of The Fireflies (1988)

A Richly Expressive Story Of Crushed Hope

At the far end of the spectrum of war movie realism sits Grave of the Fireflies. Animation and war movies don’t usually go hand-in-hand, but Grave of the Fireflies is a notable exception. This is because the Japanese movie uses the artificiality of its medium to tell a deep human truth that wouldn’t be possible in live-action. The parameters for accuracy and realism are different for animated movies, so Grave of the Fireflies can push the boundaries.

Grave of the Fireflies subverts the cutesy expectations of animation. It’s rare to see a cartoon character starving slowly to death in a train station, but this juxtaposition reflects the way that war can corrupt every glimmer of youthful exuberance. Aside from defying expectations, Grave of the Fireflies also uses its animated style to imagine scenes which couldn’t take place in live-action. The heartbreaking ending of Grave of the Fireflies shows a brother and sister reunited in the afterlife. Their only solace from constant pain is in death.

4

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan Is War As Spectacle

Long before Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg had already established himself as a master of breathtaking cinematic action with hits such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and the Indiana Jones movies. Saving Private Ryan was a different prospect altogether, but it benefits from his distinctive touch in the same way. The battle scenes are utterly captivating, but they are far dirtier and more frightening thanks to their real-world context.

Saving Private Ryan delivers incredible action while maintaining its focus on its message. Although its battles can be watched again and again, the human drama of Saving Private Ryan shows that Spielberg wants to honor the soldiers, not the conflict itself. Saving Private Ryan is often cited as one of the best war movies of all time, and its jaw-dropping battles are a key reason why. Few directors can transport audiences to the battlefield quite like Spielberg.

3

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The Hurt Locker Captures Modern Conflict

World War II is disproportionately represented among the best war movies of all time. People will be making World War II movies for many more years, but there are conflicts happening all over the world today which deserve the attention of the big screen. The Hurt Locker is among the best war movies about a modern conflict, and this is important since war has changed in many ways over the years.

The old adage states that war never changes, but The Hurt Locker feels more vital and immediate than most other war movies due to its setting. It’s by no means a perfect representation of the Iraq War, and there are some inaccuracies that have drawn criticism, but it has inspired the visual style and moral stance of dozens of modern war movies in recent years. Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker, which gives some indication of its impact.

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Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Tarantino’s War Movie Is A Commentary On War Movies

As Quentin Tarantino has done with other genres, Inglourious Basterds is his take on war movies. There is far more going on than the stylized, blood-soaked violence of Kill Bill, though. Inglourious Basterds is a revisionist fantasy just like Django Unchained, but it also deconstructs the idea of a war movie. There are plenty of jokes, a cast of likable characters, and Brad Pitt’s baffling accent. This all adds up to a war movie set deep in Nazi territory that somehow feels fun.

Inglourious Basterds focuses on the film-within-a-film that Shosanna is forced to screen at her Parisian movie theater. The Nazi propaganda film ends abruptly as she sets fire to the theater, symbolically torching the war genre and the bloodthirsty audience laughing at the violence of it all. Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s fantasy of how World War II could have ended, but it expresses a clear delineation between his famous brand of fictional violence and the real-life violence that other war movies trade in.

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Oppenheimer (2023)

The War Biopic Shows The Action Far From The Battlefield

Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winner is the latest high-profile example of a popular subgenre of war movies: the war biopic. Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, General Patton and many other figures from the Second World War have had their own biopics, but Oppenheimer is a little different. While it contains many of the elements that also appear in these other movies, it does much more than simply show the war through Oppenheimer’s eyes.

The war is just one part of Oppenheimer, with other narrative threads being interwoven expertly. Nolan’s signature non-linear style makes the outcome of Oppenheimer’s work inextricable from the process. Other war biopics often fail to bridge the gap between the politician’s offices and the battlefield. For Oppenheimer, there is no escaping what he has done in the comfort of his sheltered community. Oppenheimer also shows life continuing after the war, when yesterday’s heroes are either cast aside or vilified to serve the latest agenda.