The first movie to win an Oscar was a war movie – a 1927 silent film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Clara Bow called “Wings,” which took home the Best Picture statuette when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences held its first-ever awards ceremony in 1929.
In the near-century since then, human conflicts of every kind, from every period of history and every corner of the world, have continued to provide powerful subject matter for filmmakers. Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; feudal Japan; our own Civil War; both world wars and the Cold War that followed; our ultimately failed misadventures in Vietnam and the Middle East; even imagined wars in the future – all these and more have provided backdrops for stories of heroism, cowardice, violence, peacemaking, espionage, diplomacy, and humanity in all its variations, usually to the sounds of gunfire or bomb blasts. (These are considered the most accurate war movies of all time.)
To determine the best war movies of all time, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of August 2023, weighing all ratings equally. Documentaries were not considered. Director and cast information is from IMDb.
“Wings” didn’t make the cut, but a film that’s almost as old occupies the No. 18 slot here – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Lewis Milestone’s classic 1930 film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s haunting novel of the same name, depicting the physical and psychological damage suffered by German soldiers during the First World War. (Here’s a list of all the best movies about World War I.)
At No. 10, meanwhile, is a film from this year, still packing audiences into theaters: Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” about one of the most important figures – and most horrific developments – of the Cold War era.
Click here for a list of the best war movies of all time
Among the other celebrated directors who have set films amidst or on the edges of war are Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin, David Lean, and Clint Eastwood. And you’ll find stars like Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, and Matt Damon in the casts of these sometimes inspiring, sometimes gut-wrenching cinematic masterpieces.
40. The Hurt Locker (2008)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (455,104 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (96,200 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (289 reviews)
> Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
> Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
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39. The Caine Mutiny (1954)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (26,715 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (7,564 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (25 reviews)
> Directed by: Edward Dmytryk
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson
38. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (158,118 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (341,132 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (204 reviews)
> Directed by: Clint Eastwood
> Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara
37. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (530,864 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (55,854 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (280 reviews)
> Directed by: Mel Gibson
> Starring: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey
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36. The Man Who Never Was (1956)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (5,387 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (1,745 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (6 reviews)
> Directed by: Ronald Neame
> Starring: Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Robert Flemyng
35. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (158,947 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (207,514 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (43 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Mann
> Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means
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34. The Steel Helmet (1951)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (4,088 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (808 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Samuel Fuller
> Starring: Gene Evans, Robert Hutton, Steve Brodie
33. Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (15,029 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (6,031 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (25 reviews)
> Directed by: Henry King
> Starring: Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill
32. The Train (1964)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (17,051 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (4,310 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (15 reviews)
> Directed by: John Frankenheimer
> Starring: Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, Jeanne Moreau
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31. 1917 (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (595,898 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (30,525 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (458 reviews)
> Directed by: Sam Mendes
> Starring: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
30. Sahara (1943)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (8,432 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (4,891 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (10 reviews)
> Directed by: Zoltan Korda
> Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carrol Naish
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29. Kagemusha (1980)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (34,189 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (12,421 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 88% (26 reviews)
> Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
> Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Ken’ichi Hagiwara
28. The Imitation Game (2014)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (774,531 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (104,116 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (285 reviews)
> Directed by: Morten Tyldum
> Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode
27. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
> IMDb user rating: 7.7/10 (77,493 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (8,145 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (143 reviews)
> Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga
> Starring: Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor
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26. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (1,333,240 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (776,325 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (332 reviews)
> Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
> Starring: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth
25. Platoon (1986)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (395,356 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (240,012 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (69 reviews)
> Directed by: Oliver Stone
> Starring: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
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24. The Killing Fields (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (56,341 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (10,000 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (43 reviews)
> Directed by: Roland Joffé
> Starring: Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich
23. Glory (1989)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (136,710 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (60,300 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (44 reviews)
> Directed by: Edward Zwick
> Starring: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes
22. Fail Safe (1964)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (21,121 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (7,162 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (27 reviews)
> Directed by: Sidney Lumet
> Starring: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver
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21. The Deer Hunter (1978)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (324,627 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (103,588 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (78 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Cimino
> Starring: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale
20. Patton (1970)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (103,341 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (43,344 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (49 reviews)
> Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
> Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young
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19. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (78,648 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (8,681 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (23 reviews)
> Directed by: Stanley Kramer
> Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
18. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (59,343 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (18,059 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (81 reviews)
> Directed by: Lewis Milestone
> Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray
17. The Search (1948)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (4,155 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (759 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (8 reviews)
> Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
> Starring: Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Aline MacMahon
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16. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (211,273 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (54,763 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (61 reviews)
> Directed by: David Lean
> Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins
15. The Big Parade (1925)
> IMDb user rating: 7.9/10 (6,573 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (797 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (12 reviews)
> Directed by: King Vidor
> Starring: John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth
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14. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (746,294 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (324,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (83 reviews)
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio
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13. Stalag 17 (1953)
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (54,031 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (13,214 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (37 reviews)
> Directed by: Billy Wilder
> Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger
12. To Be or Not to Be (1942)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (33,747 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (6,029 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (47 reviews)
> Directed by: Ernst Lubitsch
> Starring: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack
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11. The Great Escape (1963)
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (246,586 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (103,579 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (49 reviews)
> Directed by: John Sturges
> Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough
10. Oppenheimer (2023)
> IMDb user rating: 8.6/10 (345,753 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (10,000 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (448 reviews)
> Directed by: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon
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9. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (60,985 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (10,855 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (91 reviews)
> Directed by: William Wyler
> Starring: Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Fredric March
8. The Great Dictator (1940)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (213,266 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (43,757 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (45 reviews)
> Directed by: Charles Chaplin
> Starring: Grace Hayle, Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard
7. Paths of Glory (1957)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (199,155 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (35,412 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (62 reviews)
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou
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6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
> IMDb user rating: 8.6/10 (1,292,307 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (993,591 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (143 reviews)
> Directed by: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore
5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (467,737 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (209,644 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (92 reviews)
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
> Starring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden
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4. Apocalypse Now (1979)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (629,925 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (286,235 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (96 reviews)
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
3. The Pianist (2002)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (836,046 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (253,429 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (184 reviews)
> Directed by: Roman Polanski
> Starring: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay
2. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
> IMDb user rating: 8.5/10 (279,931 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (69,069 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (40 reviews)
> Directed by: Isao Takahata
> Starring: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi
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1. Schindler’s List (1993)
> IMDb user rating: 9.0/10 (1,359,268 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (411,879 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (128 reviews)
> Directed by: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
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