The war genre has been prevalent throughout film history, dating back to the silent era and remaining a popular and relevant genre to this day. It speaks to the unfortunately universal nature of war that these stories continue to be told and resonate with viewers and critics alike, given war itself never seems to go away. War movies can cover contemporary conflicts, past wars that are still in living memory for some, and wars that were fought hundreds - or even thousands - of years ago.
Any attempt to rank the greatest war movies of all time naturally needs to cover multiple countries and highlight movies about numerous conflicts. There exist many perspectives on many different wars, and it's safe to assume that for as long as wars are fought, movies that shed light on war's horrors - while sometimes acknowledging the sacrifices individuals have made - remain relevant. Here are some of the best war movies of all time, ranked below from great to greatest.
45 'Gettysburg' (1993)
Directed by Ronald F. Maxwell
War movies don’t get a whole lot bigger in scope or runtime than Gettysburg, which can claim to be one of the longest American movies ever made. It earns its runtime by having close attention to detail in depicting the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, which played out over three days and ended up being a decisive event in bringing about the eventual end of the conflict.
Focused more on showing the events in as broad a manner as possible, Gettysburg is less about telling a character-focused story and more about being an experience/recreation. On that front, it’s hugely successful and quite awe-inspiring. And, yes, the runtime that goes well over four hours may be challenging, but given it’s sort of the length of three relatively short movies in one – and it covers a space of three days – it’s pretty easy to watch it in thirds for anyone otherwise intimidated by the length.
Gettysburg
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- Release Date
- October 8, 1993
- Director
- Ron Maxwell
- Cast
- Tom Berenger , Martin Sheen , Stephen Lang , Richard Jordan
- Runtime
- 271 minutes
44 'Play Dirty' (1969)
Directed by André de Toth
It's quite astounding how many movies Michael Caine has appeared in throughout a career that’s lasted approximately six decades. As both a leading man and a supporting player, he’s always great to watch, but his prolific filmography means there are plenty of titles that have slipped under the radar of many. One of those would have to be 1969’s Play Dirty, which is an exceptionally underrated war film.
The setting here is North Africa, and the war covered is World War II, with the narrative focusing on British commandos disguising themselves and going behind enemy lines for a dangerous mission that involves destroying an oil depot. Play Dirty manages to be engaging and sometimes even entertaining while also feeling bleak and effectively anti-war, hitting a unique tone that proves hard to shake once the film ends; it’s certainly one that’s likely to stick with you.
43 'Mister Roberts' (1955)
Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy
John Ford was perhaps the go-to American director when it came to the Western genre, but by no means were all his films Westerns; indeed, many of his great ones belonged to different genres. Take Mister Roberts, for example, which is a World War II movie focused on a group of people working in the Navy, telling a sometimes funny and sometimes serious story about how tedious such a way of life could surprisingly be.
As a dramedy, Mister Roberts succeeds in being about finding things to do – and moments of levity – within otherwise trying circumstances, which is something plenty of other war dramedies have done in this film’s wake. It feels influential to something like M*A*S*H or arguably even Jarhead, and has an absolutely dynamite cast of stars that includes Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell.