62 articles
Rome, Open City
Rome, Open City (Roma città aperta, 1945) is Roberto Rossellini's neorealist drama of the Roman Resistance under Nazi occupation, the first of his war trilogy, shot in ruined Rome in January 1945 with Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi, winner of the Cannes Grand Prix.
Rules of Engagement (film)
Rules of Engagement (2000) is a William Friedkin military courtroom drama starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson about a Marine court-martialed for killing 83 Yemeni civilians; Paramount release, mixed reviews, Arab-American controversy.
Santo Subito!
Santo Subito! (also Santo subito!) is an upcoming Bertrand Bonello thriller starring Mark Ruffalo as a fictional Vatican devil's advocate investigating Pope John Paul II's sainthood after his 2005 death; distinct from Piva's 2019 documentary Santa subito.
September 5 (film)
September 5 is Tim Fehlbaum's 2024 thriller about ABC Sports' live control-room coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis, starring Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro, an Oscar-nominated drama.
Sink the Bismarck!
Sink the Bismarck! is a 1960 black-and-white British war film directed by Lewis Gilbert, based on C. S. Forester's The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck, dramatizing the Royal Navy's 1941 hunt for the German battleship Bismarck, starring Kenneth More.
Sisa (2025 film)
Sisa (2025) is a Philippine-Myanmar historical thriller written and directed by Jun Robles Lana, starring Hilda Koronel as a spy feigning madness in a 1902 American concentration camp. Premiered at Tallinn Black Nights 2025; Philippine release March 4, 2026.
Taps (film)
Taps is a 1981 Harold Becker drama from Twentieth Century-Fox, adapted from Devery Freeman's novel Father Sky, in which military academy cadets led by Timothy Hutton seize their school; also starring George C. Scott, Sean Penn, and Tom Cruise.
The Battle of Algiers
The Battle of Algiers (La battaglia di Algeri) is Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 Italian-Algerian film on the FLN's 1954-1957 fight against French paratroopers, starring Yacef Saadi and Jean Martin, Golden Lion winner, banned in France until 1971.
The Battle of Oslo
The Battle of Oslo (Blücher) is a 2025 Norwegian war drama by Daniel Fahre about Colonel Birger Eriksen sinking the German cruiser Blücher at Oscarsborg Fortress on April 9, 1940, and his 1946 military commission.
The Bedford Incident
The Bedford Incident is a 1965 Cold War drama, James B. Harris's directorial debut, adapted from Mark Rascovich's novel, in which Richard Widmark's destroyer captain stalks a Soviet submarine until an accidental nuclear launch destroys both vessels.
The Brink of War
The Brink of War (2026) is Michael Russell Gunn's debut drama about the 1986 Reykjavík Summit, starring Jeff Daniels as Reagan, Jared Harris as Gorbachev, and J.K. Simmons as Shultz, released by Angel Studios.
The Captain (2017 film)
The Captain (Der Hauptmann) is Robert Schwentke's 2017 German-French-Polish black-and-white war drama about deserter Willi Herold, the Executioner of Emsland, who impersonated a Luftwaffe captain and murdered over 120 people in April 1945.
The Counterfeit Traitor
The Counterfeit Traitor is a 1962 George Seaton spy thriller starring William Holden as real-life Allied spy Eric Erickson, based on Alexander Klein's 1958 book, filmed in Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (film)
The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (Das Verschwinden des Josef Mengele) is a 2025 historical drama by Kirill Serebrennikov, adapted from Olivier Guez's Renaudot-winning novel, starring August Diehl as the fugitive Auschwitz doctor in South America; premiered at Cannes Première 2025.
The Eagle Has Landed (film)
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) is John Sturges's war film adapted from Jack Higgins's novel, starring Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, and Robert Duvall as German commandos plotting to kidnap Churchill in Norfolk.
The Emperor and the Assassin (荆轲刺秦王)
The Emperor and the Assassin (荆轲刺秦王, Japanese title 始皇帝暗殺) is Chen Kaige's 1998 China-Japan-France historical epic about Jing Ke's attempt to kill the King of Qin, starring Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi, and Li Xuejian; it won the 1999 Cannes Technical Grand Prix and five Golden Rooster honors.
The Exception
The Exception (The Kaiser's Last Kiss) is a 2016 WWII romantic war drama directed by David Leveaux, adapted from Alan Judd's 2003 novel, starring Lily James, Jai Courtney, and Christopher Plummer as exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II; distinct from the 2021 Danish thriller of the same name.
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is Kathryn Bigelow's 2009 Iraq War film, written by Mark Boal, about a U.S. Army EOD bomb-disposal team in Baghdad starring Jeremy Renner; it won six Oscars including Best Picture.
The Kill Team (2019 film)
The Kill Team (2019) is an American war drama written and directed by Dan Krauss, adapted from his 2013 Tribeca-winning documentary. Starring Nat Wolff and Alexander Skarsgård, it dramatizes the Maywand District murders of Afghan civilians by US soldiers, released by A24 in October 2019.
The Man Who Never Was
The Man Who Never Was (1956), Ronald Neame's film of Ewen Montagu's Operation Mincemeat book, starring Clifton Webb as Montagu, with Gloria Grahame and Stephen Boyd; BAFTA-winning WWII deception drama.
The Message (风声) (2009 film)
The Message (风声), 2009 Chinese spy thriller co-directed by Gao Qunshu and Chen Kuo-fu, adapted from Mai Jia's novel; five suspects confined at Qiu Manor to find the mole 'Old Ghost'; earned about 250 million yuan.
The Official Story
The Official Story (La historia oficial) is Luis Puenzo's 1985 Argentine drama about a history teacher who suspects her adopted daughter is a desaparecido's child; first Argentine and Latin American Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film (1986).
The Partisan (film)
The Partisan (Skarbek) is a 2024 Polish-British spy thriller directed by James Marquand, starring Morgane Polanski as WWII SOE agent Krystyna Skarbek, with Malcolm McDowell; premiered at Gdynia 2024, released theatrically October 3, 2025.
The Samurai and the Prisoner
The Samurai and the Prisoner (黒牢城, Kokurojo) is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2026 jidaigeki mystery, adapted from Honobu Yonezawa's Naoki Prize-winning novel, starring Masahiro Motoki and Masaki Suda as besieged lord Araki Murashige and prisoner Kuroda Kanbei at 1578's Arioka Castle.
The Wall (2017 film)
The Wall (2017) is an American war thriller directed by Doug Liman, written by Dwain Worrell, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, and Laith Nakli as the voice of sniper Juba; set in 2007 Iraq, shot in 14 days on a $3 million budget, released May 12, 2017.
Thirteen Days (film)
Thirteen Days (2000), Roger Donaldson's historical drama starring Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, and Steven Culp, dramatizes President Kennedy's handling of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the debates over its historical accuracy.
Truth & Treason
Truth & Treason, also known as Truth and Treason, is a 2025 American historical thriller directed by Matt Whitaker about teenage resistance fighter Helmuth Hübener in Nazi Germany.
Unsinkable (film)
Unsinkable, also titled Unsinkable: Titanic Untold, is a 2024 American historical drama directed by Cody Hartman about Senator William Alden Smith's inquiry into the Titanic sinking, starring Cotter Smith, Fiona Dourif, Karen Allen, and Jayne Wisener; distinct from the 2022 Irish documentary and 2023 Danish film of the same name.
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who led the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.
Wife of a Spy (スパイの妻)
Wife of a Spy (スパイの妻, Supai no Tsuma) is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2020 period thriller set in 1940 Kobe, starring Yû Aoi and Issey Takahashi; it won the Venice Silver Lion for Best Director.