War films have been a long-standing staple of Hollywood. Depending on the political leanings of the writer/director, these films can portray historical events in ways that endorse the business of war or condemn it. The "pro-war" film is almost inherently less interesting than the "anti-war" film, a much broader designation that blends political philosophy with the spectacle of war.
As different wars and international conflicts have molded the eras in which they occurred, the films created to protest them, and war as a general concept, likewise helped to sculpt public perception of these conflicts. Here are the ten best anti-war films of all time, as ranked by their IMDb User Scores.
The Thin Red Line (7.6)
Terrence Malick is one of the film world's most enigmatic figures. After directing two films in the 1970s, Malick disappeared from filmmaking for twenty years. The auteur returned in 1998 to make The Thin Red Line, a staunchly anti-war film that uses the director's now-trademark technique of using large ensembles to tell stories less concerned with narrative and more focused on a specific feeling or idea as it pertains to "The Big Picture."
As a result, this film's lengthy polemic set against WWII is a bold, beautiful, and ultimately brutal statement from a singular talent.
Waltz With Bashir (8.0)
Waltz with Bashir is not only a brilliant one-of-a-kind film based on the graphic novel of the same name. The story both tell utilizes testimony from actual participants in the central conflict to reconstruct the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
A harrowing animated film strictly for adults, the film's director is also the film's subject: a man trying to remember his part in the invasion. Using a unique animation style to bring the various interviews to life, the film is a damning portrait of the long-term psychological effects of war. Haunting and unforgettable, this film has never been more relevant than in today's tumultuous times.
The Deer Hunter (8.1)
One of the best films of the '70s was also one of the most scathing condemnations of the Vietnam War. Michael Cimino's directorial career tanked after he made this 3-hour long epic examination of the ways in which the war destroys nearly every single facet of the lives of three soldiers upon their return to a small steel factory town.
Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, and John Cazale all turn in phenomenal performances, but the film belongs in majority to Christopher Walken. The infamous "Russian roulette" scene has lost none of its power over the decades and remains one of cinema's most intense climaxes.
Come And See (8.3)
Come and See is indisputably one of the darkest films ever made. The Russian film takes place in the war-torn lands of Belarus as parties of Nazis make their way across the country, destroying anything and everyone in their wake.
The film's protagonist is a young boy who is eager to join the Belarusian resistance movement, and upon doing so, is exposed first-hand to the uncanny way war brings out man's cruelest depravity. An unforgettable film that challenges the viewer on nearly every level, the film will stay with you for the rest of your days.
Apocalypse Now (8.4)
Francis Ford Coppola's notoriously troubled adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is one of the most ambitious and bizarre films of its kind. The long, sometimes plodding, film is relentlessly dark and only spirals further into the blackness as Martin Sheen's lead character makes his way deeper into Vietnam to assassinate a rogue colonel, played by an eerie and bloated Marlon Brando.
A must-see for film fans, the film is a potent argument against the Vietnam War's psychological casualties.
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (8.4)
Stanley Kubrick made quite a few films about the horrors of war. One of them was this revered black comedy starring Peter Sellers in several iconic roles, including the titular character. Kubrick's comedic direction, and his almost supernatural sense of timing, has never been as on display as it is in this genuinely brilliant film.
Sellers is his typical chameleon self, selling each one of his character creations, each one lampooning another aspect of the Cold War. A risky film for the time, the enduring humor and astute political observations/warnings make the film one of the director's best early works.
Paths Of Glory (8.4)
Right behind Dr. Strangelove is another early Kubrick masterwork, Paths of Glory. A much more bleak affair, the film is a genius deconstruction of military authority and cowardice. The film contains a remarkable performance from Kirk Douglas as a colonel who decides to defend three of his troops in a military court-martial when they are charged with "cowardice in the face of the enemy."
Paths of Glory is one of Kubrick's leanest and meanest films and contains what is likely his best final scene ever. A masterpiece that has a lot to say about war's indifference and unjustness, Paths of Glory is a classic of cinema.
Grave Of The Fireflies (8.5)
Studio Ghibli has managed to become one of the most beloved animation studios in the history of the medium. In their repertoire of mostly-family-fare, the 1988 anti-war tearjerker Grave of the Fireflies stands out.
The film is honest-to-God one of the saddest films ever conceived and created, telling the story of a young brother and sister duo trying to survive in WWII-ravaged Japan. Beautifully animated and possessing a singular power about it, the film is a unique entry in the anti-war film genre that manages to be one of its very best offerings.
Night And Fog (8.6)
At only 32 minutes long, Night and Fog is possibly the most effective piece of documentary filmmaking ever made. In the film, the director returns to Auschwitz and Majdanek a decade after the end of the war to observe the abandoned grounds.
Intercut with the footage of the camps are clips of the atrocities against man committed there just ten years before. The sheer visceral experience of the way the film is edited together make it unforgettable, a film that showcases the power of the image to keep a terrible piece of history alive so it can never be forgotten.
Schindler's List (8.9)
One would be hard-pressed to find a more widely respected film than Schindler's List. Steven Spielberg's widely acclaimed Holocaust drama is, like all great anti-war films, actually an examination of the evils of war-at-large.
Spielberg's bleak imagery combined with the haunting score and genius script makes the film one of the best of all time, and certainly, the best anti-war film yet released. Furthermore, Schindler's List is an important film that should be seen by anyone curious about the darkest possibilities of the world we live in.