5 Best World War Movies Of All Time

By Author: Jaxson
Total Articles: 64
Comment this article

There is nothing in this world more inspiring than a world war film. These films encourage you to see the anguish, pain, and suffering of our prosaic life as nothing but an inconsequential grouse. There is no fear worse than not seeing your family ever again, and there is no bravery better than standing up for your motherland even if it means losing everything.

Soldiers’ represent human emotions of the highest order. The grit, sacrifice, and tenacity shown by them during the second world war still blow our mind. Of course, we cannot see them now as most of them have passed away, but we can certainly witness their stories through movies and let our minds fervor with a cathartic sentiment which does make us bow our heads in deference.

However, what makes a world war movie great is the fact that it shows violence only to make us abhor it. Rather than endorsing it, a great world war film shows the consequences of a war reminding us of the horrors that had gripped the world in the early 20th century.

So, keeping all these in our minds, let us look at five films that can easily be regarded as one of the best ...
... world war films ever created.

Some films haven’t been included in the list such as The Book Thief, Darkest Hour, Imitation Game, Schindler’s List and The Great Dictator may arguably deserve an inclusion more than others in the list. This was done so that we can separate the films that relay the story of a soldiers’ anguish and the battlefield trauma from the films that explore the lives of civilians and other people who were equally affected by the war.

Fury

The 2014 Brad Pitt starrer portrayed war scenes of the highest order. The realistic depiction of wars, along with its effect on soldiers, was accepted globally as the film garnered worldwide critical acclaim and affluence.

The film is a little underrated product on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes’ website, to be honest, mainly because fans were expecting more from Pitt. The underwhelming performance has been attributed to the bar he set for himself with Quentin Tarantino’s film “Inglourious Basterds.”

If you are not someone with an elite mentality, you will find plenty to like about in “Fury.” Just watch it for action (if you haven’t) if not for anything else.

1917

A Golden Globe winner in the best drama category and a nominee for the Best Picture Award at the 2020 Oscars, 1917 is certainly Sam Mendes’ best work up until now. The film holds the pedigree of not only being a rare World War 1 film made in the modern era but also for its ingeniously shot scenes that look like untampered continuous footage of a real event.

When you watch 1917, you feel as if you are right there in the battle experiencing soldiers’ fear, anguish, and determination.

Dunkirk

The film gave Christopher Nolan his first Academy Award nomination and was certainly a film that was very bold and innovative.

The non-linear narrative has never ever been tried before in a war film, but Nolan’s ingenious ability to tell a pretty ordinary story in an extraordinary form helped him blend the themes of survival, suspense, thriller, and trauma into a singular masterpiece.

With all due respect to Nolan’s work behind the camera, the breathtaking part of the film had to be its sound mixing which also saw Richard King and Alex Gibson getting a nod at the 90th Academy Awards. Hans Zimmer, who was the creator of the original soundtrack, was also nominated after receiving worldwide acclaim for his clever use of “Shephard tone.”

Saving Private Ryan

The Tom Hanks starrer was a phenom in 1998, and the evidence of it is its sweep at the 1999 Oscars which ultimately handed Steven Spielberg his second win as the director.

The film has been regarded as one of the finest films ever made, and its 22-minute intense sequence of Normandy beach battle is still talked about to this day.

“Saving Private Ryan” swept the 71st Oscars with a total 11 major nominations (winning 5 of them). Apart from being a worldwide success during its time ($500 million), the film garnered immense praise from critics who hailed the film for its depiction of realness, cinematography, suspense, background score, screenplay, and direction.

Hacksaw Ridge

It has to be my favorite of the lot that is out there. The film will touch your heart so immensely that it will make you remember it for years to come.

I will not talk about its achievements because I want you to personally search for this film (if you haven’t). In fact, I cannot even describe the emotions that the film instilled in me. And I will not even try, just understand like this, I have watched over 50,000 films to this day, and “Hacksaw Ridge” goes right up there on top.

However, I believe we should not rank films. People take decades to develop a story, and we are nobody to describe something as unworthy of a winner.

Everybody is biased, and their prejudice is sometimes revealed in the kind of films they like. And that’s okay. Whether you like a war film or not, I am content with the fact that everybody is coherent with the notion that sees war as an incomprehensible horror that nobody deserves to witness in reality.

Source: 5 Best World War Movies of All Time.