Anti/War Films
by modalboy | created - 15 Aug 2020 | updated - 19 Aug 2020 | PublicA selective list of critical and/or alternative representations of war from the early 20th century to the present.
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1. Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Not Rated | 66 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
Director: Sergei Eisenstein | Stars: Aleksandr Antonov, Vladimir Barskiy, Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Ivan Bobrov
Votes: 61,458 | Gross: $0.05M
2. Westfront 1918 (1930)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Romance, War
A group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Fritz Kampers, Gustav Diessl, Hans-Joachim Möbis, Claus Clausen
Votes: 2,423
3. J'accuse! (1919)
Not Rated | 166 min | Drama, Horror, War
The story of two men, one married, the other the lover of the other's wife, who meet in the trenches of the First World War, and how their tale becomes a microcosm for the horrors of war.
Director: Abel Gance | Stars: Romuald Joubé, Maxime Desjardins, Séverin-Mars, Angèle Guys
Votes: 2,054
4. Joyeux Noel (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, History, Music
In December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
Director: Christian Carion | Stars: Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Natalie Dessay
Votes: 31,997 | Gross: $1.05M
5. Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
R | 111 min | Drama, War
During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
Director: Dalton Trumbo | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Kathy Fields, Marsha Hunt, Jason Robards
Votes: 18,357 | Gross: $0.55M
6. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
Votes: 310,587
7. Kyatapirâ (2010)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, History, War
The story of a village woman given the grueling task of looking after (and fulfilling the sexual needs of) her quadruple amputee husband, a Japanese soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War who has been decreed a "War God" by the Emperor.
Director: Kôji Wakamatsu | Stars: Shinobu Terajima, Shima Ônishi, Ken Yoshizawa, Keigo Kasuya
Votes: 1,191 | Gross: $0.00M
8. Germany Pale Mother (1980)
152 min | Drama, History, War
Germany 1939. Hans and Lene marry the day before the war breaks out, and Hans is sent to the Eastern front. During a bombing raid their daughter Anna is born. The house is destroyed and ... See full summary »
Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms | Stars: Eva Mattes, Ernst Jacobi, Elisabeth Stepanek, Angelika Thomas
Votes: 847
9. City of Life and Death (2009)
R | 133 min | Drama, History, War
In 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.
Director: Chuan Lu | Stars: Ye Liu, Wei Fan, Hideo Nakaizumi, Yuanyuan Gao
Votes: 11,720 | Gross: $0.12M
10. Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
139 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Villagers in World War II China are unsure what to do with the two enemy prisoners who have been left in their care.
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Wen Jiang, Kenya Sawada, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa
Votes: 8,617 | Gross: $0.02M
11. Catch-22 (1970)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, War
A man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel
Votes: 26,508 | Gross: $24.91M
12. Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)
Not Rated | 133 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.
Director: Kwang-Hyun Park | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Shin Ha-kyun, Kang Hye-jeong, Ha-ryong Lim
Votes: 7,537
13. Fires on the Plain (1959)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, War
In the closing days of WWII, remnants of the Japanese army in Leyte are abandoned by their command and face certain death by starvation.
Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Eiji Funakoshi, Mantarô Ushio, Yoshihiro Hamaguchi, Osamu Takizawa
Votes: 5,322
14. Fires on the Plain (2014)
87 min | Drama, War
A Japanese soldier endures illness, starvation and brutality in the Philippines at the tail end of WW2.
Director: Shin'ya Tsukamoto | Stars: Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Lily Franky, Tatsuya Nakamura, Yûsaku Mori
Votes: 852
15. The Inextinguishable Fire (1969)
25 min | War, Short
Short film which explores the origins of napalm, it's use in the Vietnam war, and it's evil effects on society.
Director: Harun Farocki | Stars: Gerd Volker Bussäus, Harun Farocki, Caroline Gremm, Hanspeter Krüger
Votes: 339
16. Casualties of War (1989)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly
Votes: 48,139 | Gross: $18.67M
17. In the Year of the Pig (1968)
Not Rated | 103 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary chronicling the background to, and history of, the Vietnam War.
Director: Emile de Antonio | Stars: Harry S. Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Joseph Buttinger, William R. Corson
Votes: 1,917
18. Blue Sky (1994)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Romance
Carly moves with her military husband and their two daughters to an isolated army base, only to quickly become part of a cover-up involving nuclear bomb tests.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones, Powers Boothe, Carrie Snodgress
Votes: 8,186 | Gross: $3.36M
19. No Man's Land (I) (2001)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.
Director: Danis Tanovic | Stars: Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis
Votes: 48,837 | Gross: $1.06M
20. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,683 | Gross: $0.06M
21. Three Kings (1999)
R | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, four soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze
Votes: 180,509 | Gross: $60.65M
22. Redacted (2007)
R | 90 min | Crime, Thriller, War
The devastating reconstruction of the rape and murder of a 15-year-old Iraqi girl by American soldiers in Samarra in 2006.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Patrick Carroll, Rob Devaney, Izzy Diaz, Ty Jones
Votes: 11,258 | Gross: $0.07M
23. 5,000 Feet is the Best (2011)
32 min | Short, Drama
The film is based on two meetings with a Predator drone sensor operator, which were recorded in a hotel in Las Vegas in September 2010. On camera, the drone operator agreed to discuss the ... See full summary »
Director: Omer Fast | Stars: Denis O'Hare, Jennifer Anderson, Maggie Anderson, Michael Artura
Votes: 59
24. Sir! No Sir! (2005)
Not Rated | 85 min | Documentary, History, War
NO! SIR! tells an almost entirely forgotten story of the military men and women who forced the U.S. government to end the Vietnam War
Director: David Zeiger | Stars: Michael Alaimo, Edward Asner, Joe Bangert, Tom Bernard
Votes: 838 | Gross: $0.11M
25. Winter Soldier (1972)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary, History, War
For three days in 1971, former US soldiers who were in Vietnam testify in Detroit about their war experiences. Nearly 30 speak, describing atrocities personally committed or witnessed, ... See full summary »
Director: Winterfilm Collective | Stars: Rusty Sachs, Joe Bangert, Scott Shimabukuro, Kenneth Campbell
Votes: 1,081
26. Turtles Can Fly (2004)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, War
Near the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of an American invasion, refugee children like 13-year-old Kak (Ebrahim), gauge and await their fate.
Director: Bahman Ghobadi | Stars: Soran Ebrahim, Avaz Latif, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Hiresh Feysal Rahman
Votes: 20,763 | Gross: $0.26M
27. Land and Freedom (1995)
Not Rated | 109 min | Drama, War
David is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists. He makes friends between the soldiers.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Ian Hart, Rosana Pastor, Icíar Bollaín, Tom Gilroy
Votes: 12,102 | Gross: $0.23M
28. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, War
Against the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, Orla Fitzgerald
Votes: 54,639 | Gross: $1.83M
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