World's Best War Films

A scene from David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, who used

guerrilla tactics with a small army to sever communications

and supply lines against the Ottoman Empire in WW1

Updated: 3.18.11 (* = new additions)



I’ve expanded this list to include civilian stories during wartime (A Canterbury Tale, Mrs. Miniver), to the “Indian Wars” (the U.S. vs Native Americans, ie Dances With Wolves, Into the West), Asian wars (Samurai I, The Emperor and the Assassin, Hero, Mongol), even small wars (Gangs of New York, The Wind That Shakes the Barley), and terrorism (The Kingdom, Rendition, United 93)



The Best 100

[AA] - Academy Award for Best picture

• 300 (2006) *


• A Very Long Engagement (2004) France *


• Aliens (1986)


• All Quiet On the Western Front (1930) bw [AA] *


• Apocalypse Now! (1979)


• Army of Shadows (France)


• Atonement (2007)


• Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) France, bw *


• Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Russia, bw


• Band of Brothers (2001) tv


• Battle of Algiers (1965) France, bw


• The Battleship Potemkin (1925) USSR, bw


• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) bw [AA]


• Black Hawk Down (2001) *


• Bloody Sunday (2002)


• Breaker Morant (1979) Australia


• Brideshead Revisited (1981) tv


• The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) [AA]


• Casablanca (1942) bw [AA]


• Che (2008) *


• The Children of Huang Shi (2007) Australia *


• The Civil War (1990) tv


• Come and See (1985) Russia


• The Conformist (1970) Italy


• Control Room (2004, doc.) *


• The Cuckoo (2002) Russia


• Dances With Wolves (1990) [AA]


• Das Boot (The Boat) (1981) Germany


• Days of Glory (2006) Algeria *


• The Deer Hunter (1978) [AA]


• Devils On the Doorstep (2000), China, bw *


• Doctor Zhivago (1965)


• Downfall (2004) Germany *


• Dr. Strangelove (1964) bw


• El Alamein (2002) Italy *


• Enemy at the Gates (2001) *


• Farewell My Concubine (1993) China


• Fateless (2005) Hungary-France-UK, bw *


• Full Metal Jacket (1987)*


• Gallipoli (1981)


• Gladiator (2000) [AA]


• Goodnight Mister Tom (1998) tv


• Grand Illusion (1937) France, bw


• Green Zone (2010) *


• Hero (2002) China


• Hope and Glory (1987)


• The Hurt Locker (2009) *


• I Am Cuba (1964) Cuba-Russia, bw *


• Into the West (2005) *


• Ivan's Childhood (1962) Russia, bw


• John Adams (2008)


• Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) bw


• The Kingdom of Heaven


• The Last Emperor (1987) [AA]


• Lawrence of Arabia (1962) [AA]


• Lebanon (2009) Israel *


• Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2003) New Zealand [AA]


• Lord of War (2005)


• MASH (1970) *


• The Matrix Trilogy (1999-2004) *


• Mephisto (1981) Hungary


• Mister Roberts (1955)


• Mongol (2007) Russia *


• Mrs. Miniver (1942) bw [AA]


• Munich (2005)


• No Man’s Land (2001) Bosnia *


• The Pacific (2010) *


• Paths of Glory (1957) bw


• Patton (1970) [AA]


• Platoon (1986) [AA]


• Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) *


• The Red Badge of Courage (1951) bw *


• Red Cliff (2008) China *


• Reds (1981)


• Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983) tv *


• The Road Warrior (1981) Australia


• Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto (1954) Japan *


• Saving Private Ryan (1998)


• Schindler's List (1993) bw [AA]


• Seven Days in May (1964) bw


• The Seven Samurai (1957) Japan, bw


• The Shop on Main St. (1965) Czechoslavakia, bw *


• Spartacus (1960) *


• Stalag 17 (1953)


• Star Wars Trilogy (1983)


• Sunshine (1999) *


• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)


• The Thin Red Line (1998) *


• To Live (1994) China *


• The Train (1964) bw


• Triumph of the Will (1935) Germany, bw *


• Turtles Can Fly (2004) Iran-Iraq *


• United 93 (2006) *


• V for Vendetta (2005) *


• Valkyrie (2008) *


• War and Peace (1968) Russia


• War Photographer (2001) Switzerland *


• Warriors (Guerreros, 2007) Spain *


• When Trumpets Fade (1998)


• The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) *


• Zelary (2003) Czech Republic

The Rest

• A Canterbury Tale (1944) bw *


• Ashes of Time Redux (1994) China


• Australia (2008) *


• Avatar (2009) *


• Ben-Hur (1959) [AA]


• The Big Red One (1980)


• The Book of Eli (2010) *


• Brothers (2004) Denmark *


• Carrie's War (2004) *


• Closely Watched Trains (1966) Czechoslovakia, bw


• The Counterfeiters (2007) Austria


• The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Russia *


• Defiance (2008) *


• Era Notte a Roma (1960) Italy, bw *


• Gangs of New York (2002) *


• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) Italy *


• Gettysburg (1993)


• Gloomy Sunday (1999) Germany *


• Glory (1989)


• Gone With the Wind (1939) [AA]


• Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Japan *


• The Great Escape (1963)


• Hara-Kiri (1962) Japan, bw *


• The Harmonists (1997) Germany *


• House of Flying Daggers (2004) China


• How the West Was Won (1962)


• The Hunt For Red October (1990)


• I Served the King of England (2006) Czech Rep. *


• In the Valley of Elah (2007) *


• The Informer (1935) bw *


• Inglourious Basterds (2009) *


• Iron Man (2008) *


• Kapó (1959) Italy, bw *


• The Kingdom (2007) *


• The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)


• The Longest Day (1963)


• The Power of Nightmares (2007, doc.)


• Rendition (2007) *


• Sahara (1943) bw


• Stalingrad (Russia)


• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)


• Star Trek (2008)


• Throne of Blood (2008) Japan, bw


• Troy (2004)


• The Tunnel (2001) Germany

Band of Brothers is probably the best war on film, so it had to be included; Hanks and Spielberg reportedly spent over $100 million to film the 12-hr series. The Pacific is their followup, the counterpoint that follows the stories of several marines in the war against Japan.



I include Best Years of Our Lives here because it's about the effect of war on its participants and their families for the rest of their lives. Many films on this list won Best Picture oscars: Best Years, Bridge on Kwai, Deer Hunter, Lawrence, Patton, Platoon, Schindler's, All Quiet on the Western Front. Many others were nominated.



Sergei Bondarchuk's War and Peace still has the soapy parts of the novel but also has 250,000 extras from the Red Army, in costume and at the time was the most expensive movie ever made (est. 100m in 1968)



Even though Seven Samurai is a small skirmish, not a war, it still looks like a war film, and as such is one of the best ever.



Apocalypse Now! I like the longer, director's cut version, called "Redux" - it seems to flow more leisurely like a relaxed boat ride up the Mekong (!) Not at good artistically, just more interesting and at nearly an hour longer, if you like something you don't want it to end, right? "One day this war film's gonna end." (Robert Duvall)



I added Breaker Morant (thanks for the commentarian), though not technically a war film, it's a court martial, so really a "legal film", similar to Paths of Glory, but based on a true event of the Boer War. An early Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) masterpiece.



I also added La Grande Illusion, Jean Renoir's anti-war masterpiece, which also has no war scenes but is about Allied prisoners in a WW1 German prison castle. It's a beautifully shot b&w film, the first foreign film nominated for the best picture Oscar®



Seven Beauties garnered Lina Wertmuller the first Oscar® nomination for directing for a woman. Kathryn Bigelow became the first female Oscar® winner for director for The Hurt Locker.



Update - just added these: Lebanon (Israel), Days of Glory (Algeria), El Alamein (Italy), Green Zone, Red Cliff (China), War Photographer (Switzerland), I Am Cuba (USSR-Cuba), Prisoner of the Mountains (Russia), Samurai 1 (Japan), United 93, Black Hawk Down

World's Best Westerns

• The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
  
• The Big Country *
  
• Broken Trail (mini-series)
  
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
  
• The Claim
  
• Dances With Wolves
  
• The Grey Fox
  
• Into the West (mini-series)
  
• Heartland
  
• Hidalgo
  
• High Noon
  
• Jeremiah Johnson
  
• Lonesome Dove (mini-series)
  
• McCabe and Mrs. Miller
  
• Open Range
  
• Shane
  
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
  
• Silverado
  
• The Three Burials of Malquiades Estrada
  
• Tom Horn
  
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  
• Unforgiven
  

Runners-Up: Fistful of Dollars, The Good the Bad and the Ugly (wah wah wah...), The High Country*, The Long Riders, The Magnificent Seven, The Man from Snowy River, The Missouri Breaks*, Once Upon a Time in the West*, One-Eyed Jacks*, The Proposition*, Ride the Pink Horse*, The Searchers, The Shooter, Comanche Moon (mini-series)

I included the mini-series here because they were classic westerns and should not be missed. Interesting how many were directed by actors: Dances and Range (both by Costner), Three Burials (Tommy Lee Jones), Unforgiven (Eastwood). Was there ever a villain as bad or as great as Jack Palance in Shane? You kinda had to pull for a guy that well-dressed, especially when Alan Ladd looked like an urban cowboy! Hidalgo, though not technically a western, was about men racing horses cross-country, close enough for me!

[update: 9.18.09]

World's Best Crime Films

The worlds best crime and mystery films
Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars®

• Atlantic City
  
• Chinatown
  
• Chungking Express (China)
  
• City of God (Brazil)
  
• The Conversation
  
• The Departed
  
• Diva (France)
  
• Double Indemnity (bw)
  
• Gangs of New York
  
• The Godfather
  
• The Godfather, Pt. II
  
• Goodfellas
  
• The Grifters
  
• Heavenly Creatures
  
• House of Games
  
• La Femme Nikita (France)
  
• The Lives of Others (Germany)
  
• The Maltese Falcon (bw)
  
• Memento
  
• Night of the Hunter (bw)
  
• Once Upon a Time in America (long version)
  
• Out of the Past (bw)
  
• The Player
  
• Pulp Fiction
  
• Run, Lola, Run (Germany)
  
• The Silence of the Lambs
  
• Sleuth
  
• Sunset Boulevard (bw)
  
• Taxi Driver
  
• Traffic
  
• The Usual Suspects
  
• Witness
  

Runners-Up: American History X, Body Heat, Fargo, Gorky Park, Klute, The Last Seduction, Little Caesar, Mystic River, The Spanish Prisoner, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Topkapi, The Yakuza

Let's see, four entries from Scorsese and three from Coppola, also Sergio Leone - wonder why Italians make great crime movies? Night of the Hunter is the only film directed by actor Charles Laughton, with Robert Mitchum as a villainous preacher so bad that he had both "Love" and "Hate" tattooed on his fingers. The Conversation and The Lives of Others both cover the subject of electronic eavesdropping, and Lives won both a US and a British Academy Award for Foreign Language film.

Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity is given credit for inventing film noir in 1944, and was the first of Wilder's b&w masterpieces, which include Lost Weekend, The Apartment, Some Like it Hot, The Fortune Cookie, One Two Three.

World's Best Action and Adventure

Action and / or adventure films
Films in gold won Best Picture Oscars®

• The Adventures of Robin Hood
  
• Around the World in 80 Days (original)
  
• Batman
  
• Ben-Hur (10 Oscars)
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China)
  
• El Mariachi (Mexico)
  
• The French Connection
  
• The Game
  
• Gladiator
  
• Hero (Jet Li's, China)
  
• La Femme Nikita (France)
  
• The Man Who Would Be King
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
  
• The Raiders of the Lost Ark
  
• The Replacement Killers
  
• The Right Stuff
  
• The Road Warrior
  
• Run, Lola, Run (German)
  
• The Seven Samurai (Japan, bw)
  
• Spiderman
  
• The Stunt Man
  
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  
• V For Vendetta
  

We now have to include "Jet Li's" with the Chinese film Hero due to a U.S. one with the same name. This one involved two directors and had an incredible sequence used by BOSE for a tv surround sound system ad. Jet said it was the greatest script he had ever read.

The Seven Samurai was the basis for the Western The Magnificent Seven, and for the space film Battle Beyond the Stars.

People laughed at me when I saw Gladiator at the theater and told them it would get at least five Oscar nominations if people saw it.

V For Vendetta is by the Washowski Brothers, who gave us the Matrix Trilogy. This revolutionary tome is even better, see if you recognize the voice behind the mask!

World's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

The worlds best fantasy and science fiction films

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
  
• A Clockwork Orange
  
• Aliens
  
• Back to the Future
  
• Big Fish
  
• Blade Runner
  
• Brazil
  
• Cocoon
  
• Contact
  
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  
• Dune (SF-channel mini-series)
  
• E.T.
  
• The Empire Strikes Back
  
• Field of Dreams
  
• Frequency
  
• Gattica
  
• Gormenghast (SF-channel mini-series)
  
• The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood (TV)
  
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  
• The Matrix
  
• Minority Report
  
• Poltergeist
  
• Pleasantville
  
• The Prestige
  
• The Prisoner (mini-series)
  
• The Sixth Sense
  
• Time Bandits
  
• The Time Machine (remake)
  
• The 12 Monkeys
  
• WALL-E (animated)
  

Runners-Up: 2010, A Boy and His Dog, The Abyss, Outland, Silent Running, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, The Wrath of Khan, Vanilla Sky, 2046 (Japan), Gulliver's Travels (mini-series)

The Prisoner was actor Patrick McGoohan's tv sequel to his first show, Secret Agent Man, and still has a large cult following due to its originality and statements about brainwashing, freedom, individuality, non-conformity, and government repression. It was planned as a 16-part complete series with an ending, first time ever on television, and British of course.

A Clockwork Orange was good, and the first and maybe only film rated X for violence (tame by today's standards), but the book was phenomenol, one of the best ever, Burgess wrote it to exorcise demons from a real life home invasion by a gang. The entire book was in Alex's vernacular, and later editions had a necessary glossary of the invented slang. "Hey, Billy Boy, come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles that is, ya eunuch jelly thou."

Big Fish is my favorite Tim Burton film, a beautiful fantasy of tall tales. Where to you put Poltergeist, is it horror or science fiction? Same with Aliens.

World's Best Horror Films

• Aliens
• American Werewolf in London
  
• The Changeling
  
• Jurassic Park
  
• King Kong (bw)
  
• The Lady in White
  
• Nightmare on Elm St.
  
• Poltergeist
  
• The Ring
  
• The Sixth Sense
  

Also: Thought not traditional horror, Requiem for a Dream from the brilliant David Aronofsky (only his 2nd film, Pi was the other) is the scariest film of the decade, and fans of hiding in the closet or even some gore won't be disappointed (warning though: NOT for the squeamish or under-18, and I'm not kidding)

Five of these are monster movies, five are ghost stories. Some of these can easily double as Fantasy-Science Fiction films, like Aliens and Poltergeist, so they are on both lists.

King Kong makes it as the original monster movie, and still the best. The Changeling is a classic-style horror story with George C. Scott. The Exorcist could be here if it wasn't so laughable and boring; same with Jaws (one thrill every 15 minutes on cue, sending all the kids at my theater screaming up the aisles!).