There are a lot of different war movies out there, all with different premises. With a lot of different historical wars to pick as a setting, as well as countless great war novels to adapt, it seems like the possibilities are endless, and that the genre will never run out of something new to try. Of course, when so many exist, there are all kinds of ways to rank them. The best set in the Vietnam War, for example.

When it comes to finding the overall best of the best out of every movie and across every war, it may be best to go to Rotten Tomatoes and see what the critics think. With more recent movies mixed with some that are from early last century, the site’s aggregation of critics (with various other metrics) claim that these are the best war movies out there.

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10 Apocalypse Now

     United Artists

Apocalypse Now is based on the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and is considered one of Francis Ford Coppola’s best films. Captain Benjamin Willard is given new orders, now tasked with finding Colonel Walter Kurtz, a promising officer who has gone mad and now threatens the army, and removing him from command with whatever force is necessary.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

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MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Willard joins a navy patrol boat that is heading into the jungle where Kurtz might be, hoping he can get the boat to go far enough up river to find him. He makes the crew into his allies, but as the jungle grows thicker, problems and hindrances begin and only increase as the area grows more and more dangerous. The movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and earned several nominations at the Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

9 Lawrence of Arabia

     Columbia Pictures

The historical drama Lawrence of Arabia is based on the life of T.E. Lawrence, with facts coming from his autobiography Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Lawrence was a British officer who served as a military advisor during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The movie brings to life the times he worked with Prince Faisal as a liaison between the Arabs and the British, as well as the challenges and battles he faced while working with the Prince and while traversing through the harsh desert in hopes to gain a military advantage.

The awards Lawrence of Arabia was nominated for and won spread through many different categories, including winning the Best Picture awards at the Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes. David Lean’s visually stunning epic is often considered to be one of the best films ever made.

8 The Hurt Locker

     Summit Entertainment

Though not based on any kind of stories, The Hurt Locker still draws on personal references and experiences. The movie is set during the Iraq War and occupation, and follows a bomb disposal team. Sergeant First Class William James is the new team leader for the group after the previous one was killed in an explosion. He joins a group of already well-acquainted men who are quick to take issue with James and his way of going about the disposals and diffusions.

Nearing the end of their tour, the stakes ramp up, giving them increasingly difficult situations to try and navigate as well as showing the psychological reactions from the team to all the stress they’re facing as they begin to fall apart. The movie has a long list of awards and nominations, including winning Best Picture from both the Oscars and the BAFTAs, and giving the Best Director Oscar to a woman for the first time.

7 Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a unique comedy war film bringing satire to the Cold War conflict, and was one of the movies that helped create the modern dark comedy. General Jack D. Ripper is the commander of an Air Force Base, one which is currently in charge of several bombers armed with hydrogen bombs, all already airborne and two hours away from their USSR targets.

Ripper orders his executive officer to confiscate all privately owned radios and commence ‘Wing Attack Plan R’, but it’s soon discovered the Pentagon never ordered the attack and Ripper has gone insane. Now it’s a race to see if the radio frequency can be found and the planes can be stopped before the world falls to nuclear radiation. It was nominated for many awards, including at the Oscars, and even won the Best Picture BAFTA. It’s considered one of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpieces and an early hint at what his style would turn into.

6 Army Of Shadows

     Valoria Films

An adaptation of Joseph Kessel’s book of the same name, Army of Shadows is a French film about the French Resistance during World War II. Kessel had mixed together his own experiences as a member of the French Resistance along with fictional versions of other resistance members to bring a realistic telling of the event together.

Philippe Gerbier, an important figure in the resistance, is betrayed by an informant and captured in a Nazi prison camp. Though he escapes and returns to the Resistance after killing the informant, the battle against the Nazi’s continues to push and pull in this vicious cycle full of paranoia and distrust. The movie’s initial French release did poorly due to political issues and unrest surrounding Charles de Gaulle, meaning it wasn’t released in the US until almost 40 years later. A reappraisal led to the restoration and re-release of the film, gaining a lot of popularity among critics.

5 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

     Universal Pictures 

All Quiet on the Western Front is based on a novel of the same name written by Erich Maria Remarque. It was a harrowing and realistic account of trench warfare in WWI, especially focused on how bad it truly was and how no one outside the war really understood just how severe it was. A group of German schoolboys, all about to finally become adults, are moved and rallied together to join the army after their Professor gives a passionate speech about the glories of serving their country.

Their thought was romanticized, however, and they soon came face to face with the grim reality, facing many horrors one after the other that no one at home seems to care about. This adaptation won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and was actually the first talking war film to win any Academy Awards.

4 Dunkirk

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Set in WWII, Dunkirk follows the perspectives of people on land, sea, and in the air in the Dunkirk evacuation. When Germany moved into France, they trapped thousands of Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Many sacrifices were made to try and evacuate these soldiers as they were slowly evacuated from the beach using every possible naval and civilian vessel they could and losing many in the process while Germany continued to advance and hinder their efforts.

The film includes very little dialogue as it relies on a silent type of suspense that is driven by the cinematography and music instead. It went on to receive many award nominations, including at the Oscars, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

3 The Battle of Algiers

     Magna

Bringing to life a real war story, The Battle of Algiers is set during the Algerian War. This battle happened in real life in Algiers as the French tried to stop the Algerian uprisings. Shot to make it feel like a documentary and using many non-professional actors who had lived there during the real battle, it concentrates on Ali La Pointe, a leader in the Algerian Front.

The film depicts the atrocities and brutality that both sides participated in and suffered from, even the innocents that were caught in the crossfire. The movie faced several hardships upon release, including becoming a subject of sociopolitical controversy and its five-year ban in France. Even so, it’s gained critical acclaim, and is thought of very highly by critics; the film is often touted as one of the best political movies ever made.

2 The Grand Illusion

     World Pictures

The Grand Illusion is Jean Renoir’s masterpiece set in WWI and follows a group of French officers who were taken as prisoners of war. The story focuses especially on class relationships and how war seems pointless with the common economic interests of all nations. Though the soldiers grapple with their differences at first, as they get moved around from place to place they keep trying to help each other escape.

After finally making it to a high security prison, one of the officers uses his previously revealed acquaintanceship with the head of the prison to give the others time to escape, proving no one is above each other in war and many of the upper classes have familiarity with each other even across national boundaries. The film is regarded by critics as a masterpiece of French cinema, and is still regularly called a favorite film by many.

1 Casablanca

     Warner Bros.

Casablanca is a romantic drama set during WWII. Rick Blaine, owner of a nightclub in Casablanca that sees all kinds of people from all sides of the war. He soon discovers that his old lover, Ilsa, who had abandoned him suddenly is in town along with her husband, a Czech resistance leader who is currently being hunted by Germans.

Ilsa believes Blaine is the key to help them escape the country and continue to fight against the Germans, but Blaine is reluctant to give them his help after having his heart broken by her once before. Though the cast and crew weren’t sure how the movie was going to be received, it was a quick success and gained a lot of popularity, especially from critics. It was nominated for several Oscars, and won Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.