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The Top 10 War Films of All Time

As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, we've decided to celebrate our Independence Day by spotlighting our country's two biggest exports - war and entertainment. Here are the Top 10 intersections of War and Film. Also, gotta add that Thin Red Line, Full Metal Jacket, and 1917 were our honorable mentions - all bad ass films in their own right but this top 10 is absolutely stacked.

#10. Team America: World Police

Nothing cuts down to inane absurdity of post 9/11 war on terror like having South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker satirize America's attempt to police the globe with a bunch of profane marionette dolls. Team America holds up as not only a hilarious spoof on gaudy, Michael Bay-style action blockbusters but also a damning indictment of our country's myopic World view and self aggrandizing attitude. Oh, and the songs fucking slap.


#9. Inglorious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino's first foray into revisionist history gives us a much more cinematic (and frankly satisfactory) conclusion to Adolph Hitler's reign as QT flexes his ability to ratchet up tension like no one else. And less you think killing Adolph Hitler is all the payoff you need; seeing the most diabolical villain Tarantino's ever created (Mr. Hans Landa) getting a swastika carved into his forehead by our rag tag gang of heroes puts the cherry on top of this slow burn caper of espionage and revenge.


Read our full deep dive on Inglorious Basterds as part of our Tarantino retrospective here.


#8. Platoon

A Vietnam veteran himself, Oliver Stone delivered a ground level view of the war that divided our country rather than preach about the political ramifications and societal impact it had (don't worry, he'll get to that a little later). Platoon is a gritty firsthand look at what it meant to serve in Vietnam and stands out among it's plentiful war movie peers for doing so. The performances from Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe also help to drive home the authenticity and intensity a great deal as well.


#7. Schindler's List

While most War movies spend the majority of their time focusing on the battlefield, Steven Spielberg's stunning depiction of The Holocaust brings one of the most horrific atrocities in World History to life in heartbreaking fashion. Breathtakingly detailed and painstakingly crafted, Schindler's List shows the rippling effects war can have beyond the battlefield and the good that can be done by saving lives without having to take any.


#6. The Deer Hunter

A harrowing portrait of the Vietnam war and it's lasting effects on those swept into it's carnage, The Deer Hunter is a magnificently well shot film that showcases some of it's generations' finest actors. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale and Meryl Streep all deliver incredible performances but again the real star here is director Michael Cimino. who may be a bit long winded, but his tragic framing of the trauma inflicted on this small town is nothing short of extraordinary.


#5. Paths of Glory

The lone World War I entry on the list - Stanley Kubrick's breakout feature Paths of Glory - is an incredibly well depicted portrayal of trench warfare as well as a philosophical exploration of the unexpected office politics and middle management involved even in the military "workplace". Kirk Douglas plays the officer defending three soldiers court martial-ed for cowardice when they refuse to carry out their commanding officer's suicidal ambush in this emotionally charged anti-authoritarian send up of political butt covering.


#4. Saving Private Ryan

After diving into the devastating tragedy of the Holocaust with Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg went back to the content well of World War II for this graphic and action packed rescue mission that was so realistic there were widespread cases of veterans suffering PTSD in theaters upon viewing it's intense opening sequence depicting the events of D-Day. Saving Private Ryan has the most realistic and gripping battle scenes of any war movie there is and an incredible ensemble cast rounds out one of Spielberg's most decorated films to date.


#3. Born on the Fourth of July

After dropping us into the jungles of Vietnam with Platoon, Oliver Stone returned to tackle the topic of America's most divisive war from the perspective of an all American soldier's pursuit of the American Dream and his eventual realization of what chasing those ideals could cost him. Born on the Fourth of July is a film about more than war - it's about the social programming and romanticized idealization instilled in baby boomers enlisting in a war they didn't fully understand. And the subsequent betrayal they felt, not only from fellow Americans protesting what many gave their lives for, but betrayal from their own country by misrepresenting the war's intentions and selling a glamorized 1950's America that just didn't exist anymore when they returned home.


#2. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

While Stanley Kubrick may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of comedic geniuses, I'd argue there's no satirical comedy as timeless as the masterpiece that is Dr. Strangelove. It's a pitch perfect encapsulation of the lunacy at the core of anti-communist paranoia during the Cold War and the politics of fear mongering to fuel military agendas. Simultaneously brilliant and hilariously idiotic, Dr. Strangelove is a historically bold comedy and a cinematic landmark the effects of which are still resonating to this day. There may be no more iconic image in any war film than Slim Pickens riding atop a nuclear bomb to his imminent demise while whipping his hat over his head like a rodeo cowboy.


#1. Apocalypse Now

Francis Ford Coppola's monumental follow up to winning back to back Oscars for The Godfather and Godfather Part II (not to mention his criminally overlooked thriller The Conversation) is an epic journey upriver, passed the facade of the Vietnam war and straight into the heart of darkness at the root of humanity itself. A stunning visceral experience with haunting visuals and an impeccable soundtrack, Apocalypse Now is a hallucinogenic descent into madness and a disturbing exploration of the depths of the human psyche. As foreboding and ominous as any horror movie out there, Apocalypse Now is the 1970's magnum opus executed to absolute perfection by Francis Ford Coppola at his visionary peak closing out at a golden age of cinema.



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