10 Praiseworthy War Movies No One Ever Talks About

Though these praiseworthy war movies don’t get the attention they deserve, they are some of the best films in the genre. War is a popular subject for cinema, and the earliest war films go all the way back to the birth of the medium. The horrific spectacle of violent conflict has always enthralled audiences, and war stories continue to entertain.

The best war movies simultaneously capture their respective conflicts on a large and small scale. Though the films are often about global conflagrations, the stories themselves examine the human side of war. This helps keep the films grounded in reality, and has been used by strong storytellers to resist the glorification of battle. Nevertheless, many great war movies are pure action cinema, which is good for entertainment purposes.

Because so many war movies have been made in the last 100 years, plenty have faded into the background and are nearly forgotten by moviegoers. Legendary classics like Saving Private Ryan will always hold a place in cinema history, while others are relegated to obscurity. Sometimes, war movies simply bomb at the box office, while others touch on subjects that audiences aren’t ready to deal with.

No matter why these movies aren’t talked about, they are undeniably great examples of the war genre. There are praiseworthy forgotten films going all the way back to the 1950s, and the trend continues into the modern day. This list of war films plumbs the depths of bygone cinema, and pulls out examples that deserve more attention than they receive at the moment.

10

Tigerland (2000)

By the year 2000, movies about the Vietnam War had already been played out. That’s probably why Joel Schumacher’s Tigerland was a huge bomb. At Fort Polk in Louisiana, young soldiers go through rigorous training while resisting the authority of their commanding officers. The title of the movie comes from the nickname for the swampy training ground used to simulate conditions in Vietnam.

Though it lacks a ton of originality, Tigerland has plenty of engrossing drama. It highlights a lesser-known aspect of the Vietnam War, and showcases resistance to the conflict on the home front. Schumacher’s direction keeps the movie moving with a brisk pace, and the gritty camera work evokes an almost documentary-like visual style. Tigerland deserves a spot alongside the other war films of the 2000s.

9

A Midnight Clear (1992)

A Midnight Clear is one of the most understated WWII movies ever made, and it’s worth a revisit more than 30 years after its release. During the harsh winter of 1944, an American squad is tasked with capturing a German regiment who are hiding in the woods of France. Neither side wants to fight, but the horrors of war come for them anyway. Ethan Hawke leads a stellar cast of up-and-comers.

The Keith Gordon film shows both sides of the war, and draws parallels between the tired and disillusioned soldiers in the American and German camps. The snowy landscape gives the film an almost dreamlike tone, and A Midnight Clear holds nothing back. It is a tragedy first and foremost, and a truly harrowing anti-war experience.

8

The Big Red One (1980)

Though we’ll never see Samuel Fuller’s original vision for The Big Red One, the praiseworthy war film exists in several equally strong cuts. A battle-hardened WWI veteran leads a group of men during WWII, where they participate in some of the harshest parts of the war. Both the two-hour and three-hour cuts are strong in their own right.

What’s most entertaining about The Big Red One is that it has the look and feel of an epic, but it focuses on the smaller moments instead. Fuller’s hard-boiled filmmaking style is gritty and humanistic, and there is very little idealism to the war flick. Young stars like Mark Hamill star alongside seasoned icons like Lee Marvin, and the 1980 gem is the passing of the torch from one generation to the next.

7

Casualties Of War (1989)

With the nation finally ready to come to grips with the fallout of Vietnam, a slew of war movies released in the late 1980s. Casualties of War is Brian De Palma’s contribution to the genre, and concerns a private who clashes with his CO when the sergeant begins committing heinous war crimes. The movie examines touchy subjects without budging an inch.

As with most De Palma movies, Casualties of War is not necessarily the most grounded story ever told. The director’s stylistic choices lend the film an almost grindhouse aspect, but it never topples into tasteless exploitation. The fact of the matter is that Casualties of War is a tough watch, which is probably why it is overlooked. Nevertheless, it’s a worthwhile journey for war movie fans.

6

The Beast (1988)

The Soviet War in Afghanistan was almost concluded by the time The Beast hit theaters, and the movie failed to move the needle with contemporary audiences. A Russian tank becomes isolated in the Afghan wilderness, and is pursued by a vengeful turncoat and a local out for revenge against the Soviets. Eschewing large-scale spectacle, The Beast is a claustrophobic thrill ride.

Symbolizing the entire bloody conflict, the movie’s characters become increasingly paranoid as their efforts are in vain. The Beast is subtle and engrossing, and nothing like the cartoonish war movies from the Cold War era. Everyone in the story is a human being, for better or worse. The fact that the movie still maintains only a minimal cult following is a tragedy.

5

Gallipoli (1980)

Gallipoli is a beloved classic of Australian cinema, but the film hasn’t made much of an impact on American audiences. During World War I, two best mates enlist in the army and are sent to fight on the front in Turkey. It follows the age-old anti-war format, but Peter Weir’s direction and story make it feel fresh.

A young Mel Gibson headlines alongside Mark Lee, and their chemistry is the heart of the epic war tale. The “young man goes to war” trope isn’t new, but Gallipoli connects it to the distinct aspects of Australian culture. However, it still has universal appeal beyond the land down under, which is why the movie works so well. Gallipoli is a tear-jerker that earns every heartbreaking moment.

4

The Steel Helmet (1951)

Before a certain point, anti-war films were rare because they were seen as unpatriotic, but Samuel Fuller bucked conventions with 1951’s The Steel Helmet. Set during the Korean War, the lone survivor of an attack on his regiment retreats through the jungle where he meets a Korean orphan and two other American officers. Together they make a desperate stand in a monastery. Though it looks like a guns-blazing action flick, it’s actually quite cerebral.

Each of the American officers has their own personal philosophy, and they represent various reactions to the war. Issues like PTSD and racism are confronted with brutal honesty, and The Steel Helmet is as tough and gritty as its name suggests. Because the film was a B-movie, it got away with stuff that mainstream Hollywood couldn’t. However, it deserves to be remembered as classic cinema, and not just B-movie fare.

3

The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2007)

Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley stars Cillian Murphy in one of his most personal and powerful roles. An Irish medical student joins the IRA during the War of Independence, and continues to fight when the Irish Civil War breaks out. While many mainstream war movies avoid the politics of their conflicts, the Palme d’Or winner embraces it.

It’s a detail-oriented war film that is actually a family drama in disguise. Seeing two brothers end up on opposite sides of a conflict is devastating and raw, and makes the pages of history feel more human. Class warfare also takes center stage in the story, something that many other war movies specifically ignore. The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a controversial war movie in the UK, which is likely why it isn’t better known.

2

Soldier Of Orange (1977)

Soldier of Orange is a Dutch film by popular director Paul Verhoeven, and it helped him gain the attention of Hollywood. Two Dutch students join the resistance against Nazi occupation during WWII, while a third becomes a traitor. The story is morally grey and endlessly thorny, a predecessor to Verhoeven’s sarcastic style seen in later films.

It dissects the notion of patriotism and moral superiority, showing that war is a complicated beast. Rutger Hauer is electric in one of the leading roles, and his heroism comes with a cynical edge. Soldier of Orange is so unrestrained that it defies expectations, and is a far cry from the by-the-numbers war films of the past. Foreign movies are almost never as popular as domestic films, but this one deserves more attention.

1

Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

Decades after he was blacklisted from Hollywood, Dalton Trumbo returned to direct the adaptation of his classic novel, Johnny Got His Gun. The story concerns a WWI soldier who is blasted with a shell and loses all of his senses as well as his limbs. Plunged into an endless nightmare of memory and pain, he searches for a way out of his misery. Movies often glamorize war, but Trumbo’s opus does the opposite.

The film borders on being pure horror, and is one of the scariest concepts ever put on screen. Ultimately, it’s a metaphor for how war strips soldiers of their humanity. It manages to be more engrossing than most war flicks, despite having little by way of action. Johnny Got His Gun pulls no punches, and its unflinching realness is probably why so many moviegoers look the other way.