37 articles
A Hidden Life (2019 film)
A Hidden Life (2019), German title Ein verborgenes Leben, is Terrence Malick's historical drama about Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter, a Catholic conscientious objector executed in 1943 for refusing to fight for the Nazis, starring August Diehl and Valerie Pachner.
A Journal for Jordan
A Journal for Jordan: Dana Canedy's 2008 Crown memoir about First Sgt. Charles Monroe King's 200-page journal for their son, killed in Iraq 2006, and Denzel Washington's 2021 film with Michael B. Jordan and Chanté Adams.
American Sniper
American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war drama directed by Clint Eastwood, with Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL credited with 160 confirmed kills.
Army of One (2016 film)
Army of One is a 2016 Larry Charles comedy starring Nicolas Cage as Gary Faulkner, a Colorado handyman on a God-given mission to capture Osama bin Laden in Pakistan; Russell Brand plays God. Released November 4, 2016; 25% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Born on the Fourth of July (film)
Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American biographical drama directed by Oliver Stone, starring Tom Cruise as paralyzed Vietnam veteran turned anti-war activist Ron Kovic.
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 American historical epic directed by and starring Mel Gibson as Scottish rebel William Wallace; it won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Culloden (film)
Culloden (1964) is Peter Watkins's BBC docudrama reconstructing the 1746 Battle of Culloden as if covered by a modern TV news crew, with nonprofessional actors, handheld cameras, and interviews; broadcast 15 December 1964, it pioneered British docudrama and led to The War Game.
Defiance (2008 film)
Defiance is a 2008 war drama directed by Edward Zwick, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber as the Bielski brothers, Jewish partisans sheltering refugees in Belarus.
Emancipation (2022 film)
Emancipation (2022) is an Apple Original Films historical drama directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Will Smith as Peter, an escaped Louisiana slave inspired by the 1863 "Whipped Peter" photographs; released December 2, 2022 in theaters and December 9 on Apple TV+.
Geronimo: An American Legend
Geronimo: An American Legend is a 1993 American Western drama directed by Walter Hill. It dramatizes the final campaign against the Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo, starring Wes Studi.
Hacksaw Ridge
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) is Mel Gibson's war drama starring Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector Medal of Honor recipient, who saved 75 men on Okinawa without a weapon; independently financed at $53 million, shot in Australia, Oscar winner for Best Director.
Heaven & Earth (1993 film)
Heaven & Earth, also called Heaven and Earth, is Oliver Stone's 1993 Vietnam War drama, the third in his trilogy, based on Le Ly Hayslip's memoirs, starring Hiep Thi Le and Tommy Lee Jones.
Jarhead (film)
Jarhead (2005) is Sam Mendes's war film adapted from Anthony Swofford's Gulf War memoir, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, and Peter Sarsgaard, notable for depicting a war with almost no combat.
Mangal Pandey: The Rising
Mangal Pandey: The Rising (मंगल पांडे: द राइज़िंग) is Ketan Mehta's 2005 Hindi-English historical drama starring Aamir Khan as the 1857 sepoy rebel, with Toby Stephens, Rani Mukerji, A. R. Rahman's music, a ₹34 crore budget, and a Locarno Netpac award.
Number 24 (film)
Number 24 (Nr. 24) is a 2024 Norwegian war biopic about resistance fighter Gunnar Sønsteby, directed by John Andreas Andersen, starring Sjur Vatne Brean and Erik Hivju; it was 2024's most-visited Norwegian film and a global Netflix hit.
Operation Finale
Operation Finale is a 2018 American historical drama thriller directed by Chris Weitz, starring Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley in the story of Israel's 1960 capture of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina and his trial in Jerusalem.
Patton (film)
Patton (1970), also released as Patton, Blood and Guts, is a Franklin J. Schaffner biographical war film starring George C. Scott as General George S. Patton Jr., written by Coppola and North, filmed in Spain, and winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Pride of the Marines
Pride of the Marines (1945) is a Warner Bros. war drama directed by Delmer Daves, starring John Garfield as blinded Guadalcanal Marine hero Al Schmid, based on Roger Butterfield's book; distinct from the 1936 Columbia film of the same title.
Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky is a 1956 British biographical war film directed by Lewis Gilbert, starring Kenneth More as legless RAF ace Douglas Bader; based on Paul Brickhill's 1954 biography, it topped the 1956 British box office and won the BAFTA for Best British Film.
Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn (2006) is a Werner Herzog war drama based on the true story of pilot Dieter Dengler, detailing his ordeal in a Laotian jungle POW camp.
Sam Bahadur (film)
Sam Bahadur (Samबहादुर) is a 2023 Hindi biographical war drama directed by Meghna Gulzar, starring Vicky Kaushal as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, India's first field marshal, with Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh; released 1 December 2023 by RSVP Movies.
Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden
Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (also Codename: Geronimo) is a 2012 John Stockwell television film on the National Geographic Channel dramatizing the Abbottabad raid, released ahead of Zero Dark Thirty.
Sergeant York (film)
Sergeant York (1941) is a Warner Bros biographical war film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper as WWI Medal of Honor recipient Alvin C. York; Cooper won his first Best Actor Oscar and the film joined the National Film Registry in 2008.
Shershaah
Shershaah is a 2021 Hindi biographical war film on Param Vir Chakra awardee Captain Vikram Batra, directed by Vishnuvardhan, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, released on Amazon Prime Video August 12, 2021, winning 52 awards including Filmfare Best Film.
Taking Chance
Taking Chance (2009) is an HBO Films drama directed by Ross Katz, starring Kevin Bacon as Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, who escorted the remains of 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps from Dover AFB to Dubois, Wyoming, based on Strobl's journal; Golden Globe and Emmy-winning.
The 12th Man (film)
The 12th Man (Den 12. mann) is Harald Zwart's 2017 Norwegian war drama about resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud's 1943 escape to Sweden after eleven comrades were killed, starring Thomas Gullestad and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, with 640,519 Norwegian admissions and three Amanda awards.
The 15:17 to Paris
The 15:17 to Paris is Clint Eastwood's 2018 Warner Bros. drama in which Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler play themselves, reenacting their 2015 foiling of the Thalys train attack; based on their 2016 book, it earned mixed-to-negative reviews.
The Catcher Was a Spy (film)
The Catcher Was a Spy is a 2018 American biographical drama directed by Ben Lewin, starring Paul Rudd as wartime catcher and OSS operative Moe Berg.
The Great Escaper
The Great Escaper is a 2023 British drama directed by Oliver Parker, starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson as Bernard and Irene Jordan, based on the 2014 escape of an 89-year-old D-Day veteran from his Hove care home to attend the 70th D-Day anniversary in Normandy.
The Lost City of Z (film)
The Lost City of Z is James Gray's 2017 biographical adventure drama starring Charlie Hunnam as explorer Percy Fawcett, adapted from David Grann's 2009 book about Fawcett's fatal 1925 Amazon expedition.