20th century military films (before World War II)
As simple as that. Military films, both during wartime and in peace, during the 20th century before World War II. In temporal and non-evaluative order and, as always, work in progress.
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- DirectorHelmut KäutnerStarsHeinz RühmannMartin HeldHannelore SchrothA young shoemaker is arrested for stealing a small amount of money, and is released after being jailed for 15 years. He wants to have a pass to get a job and start anew, but without a job he doesn't get a pass; and without a pass, he doesn't get a job. He gets into the net of Prussian bureaucracy, and can't see a solution. Until he enters a small Second-Hand Shop, and sees a Prussian Uniform that fits him like a second skin...
- DirectorKurt MaetzigGünter ReischStarsGünther SimonRaimund SchelcherUlrich TheinThe Russian Revolution is finally triumphant in the Fall of 1917. As soldiers, the engineer Henne Lobke and the stoker Jens Kasten show solidarity with the Russians, eventually disarming their officers to stop the sinking of a Russian cargo ship. Back in Germany, the struggle continues. The dock-workers and sailors of Kiel call for a mass strike to demand the end of the war and the abdication of the Kaiser and his officers. At this point, the admiralty decides to launch the operation 'Nibelungen.' The entire German fleet is to be sent to battle the English in a suicide mission that would preserve German honor while crushing internal mutiny. The workers in uniform put aside their differences to stop this, however, as is the case with chief stoker August Lenz, the radio officer Ludwig Bartuscheck and the assistant to the vice-admiral Jupp Koenig. The film ends with the founding of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).
- DirectorNicholas RayGuy GreenAndrew MartonStarsCharlton HestonAva GardnerDavid NivenDuring the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsGeorge PeppardJames MasonUrsula AndressA young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSteve McQueenRichard AttenboroughRichard CrennaIn 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsRichard ThomasErnest BorgnineDonald PleasenceA young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerHans Christian BlechArmin Mueller-StahlSet during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl (Brandauer), an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.
- StarsRowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonStephen FryStuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.
- DirectorKen OlinStarsDon JohnsonCraig ShefferGabrielle AnwarIn 1932, a modernizing U.S. Army orders the Cavalry to destroy its horses but some sympathetic cavalrymen, defying orders, steal the horses in order to save them from destruction, to the dismay of the top Army-brass.
- DirectorWilliam BoydStarsPaul NichollsDaniel CraigJulian Rhind-TuttJune 1916. The British Army is planning a big offensive in the Somme region in France. We follow a platoon of British soldiers as they sit in a forward trench, anxiously awaiting the order to go over the top.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsRicky SchroderPhil McKeeJamie HarrisFact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I.
- DirectorBrian KirkStarsDavid HaigDaniel RadcliffeKim CattrallAuthor Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
- DirectorPaul GrossStarsPaul GrossMichael GreyeyesJames KotThe lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the bloody World War I battle of Passchendaele.
- DirectorJeremy SimsStarsBrendan CowellHarrison GilbertsonSteve Le MarquandIn 1916, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company is tunneling beneath German fortifications and bunkers to detonate massive explosive charges.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsJeremy IrvineEmily WatsonDavid ThewlisA young farm boy enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. His hopeful journey takes him out of England and onto the front lines as the war rages on.
- DirectorBerengar PfahlStarsSibel KekilliKen DukenFelicitas WollWhen their ship is sunk in the first world war, in the Indian ocean, 50 men have to cross infinite stretches of sea and desert, avoid enemies, find allies and finally make it home to Germany. A breathtaking real-live odyssey.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsDean-Charles ChapmanGeorge MacKayDaniel MaysApril 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.