Best American War Movies

This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best American War Movies" contains films with the following parameters. Style: serious, realistic, captivating, suspense, sad and epic. Plot: war, military, soldier, world war two, battles, world war, death, great war, wartime and army. Genre: War, Drama and Action. Country: USA, UK and Germany.
Best American War Movies
Best American War Movies
TOP Movies: American Sniper (2014), Pearl Harbor (2001), Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Hurt Locker (2008), Apocalypse Now (1979), Brothers (2009), The Outpost (2019), Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Pianist (2002), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Lucky One (2012), Uprising (2001), Saints and Soldiers (2003), Jarhead 2: Field of Fire (2014), All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Beasts of No Nation (2015).

List of Best Movies

Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 7.3
 525K
American Sniper (2014)
Genre: Action, Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story: U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. ...
Style: factual, emotional, realistic, serious, rough ...
Audience: boys' night, manly
Plot: war, iraq war, sniper, military, soldier, violence, navy seal, assassin, american soldier, battles, biopic, middle east conflict ...
Time: year 2014, 2010s, 90s, 2000s, september 11 2001 ...
Place: iraq, middle east, california, usa, texas
Is relevant ?
 6.2
 350K
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Genre: Action, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 183 min.
Story: The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes ...
Style: romantic, sentimental, emotional, epic, period piece ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, teens, date night
Plot: world war two, war, love, military, combat, airplane, love triangle, navy, fighter pilot, wartime, aviation, love and romance ...
Time: year 2001, 1940s, 50s, 20th century, year 1942 ...
Place: hawaii, pearl harbor, japan, asia, america ...
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 588K
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, USA, UK, China
Duration: 139 min.
Story: WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Style: inspirational, touching, sentimental, harsh, motivational ...
Audience: manly
Plot: world war two, war, soldier, conscientious objector, combat, religion, survival, american soldier, military, us military, bible, u.s. army ...
Time: 1940s, year 2016, 2010s, 20th century, year 1945 ...
Place: okinawa, okinawa japan, japan, tennessee, usa
Is relevant ?
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 169 min.
Story: As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
Style: realistic, epic, breathtaking, captivating, tense ...
Audience: manly, chick flick, kids, date night, adult
Plot: war, world war two, military, courage, battles, self sacrifice, sniper, friendship, nazi, army, d day, rescue ...
Time: 1940s, year 1944, year 1998, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: normandy, poland, germany, france, europe ...
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
war movies
war
2395
military movies
3606
soldier movies
4189
 7.5
 472K
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min.
Story: Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
Style: realistic, emotional, tense, serious, rough ...
Audience: boys' night, manly, adult
Plot: iraq war, military, terrorism, sniper, war, soldier, army, bomb squad, marines, terrorist, gulf war, moral dilemma ...
Time: year 2008, 2000s, year 2004, 21st century
Place: middle east, iraq, baghdad iraq, afghanistan, america ...
Is relevant ?
 8.4
 705K
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, War
Country: USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story: At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter ...
Style: bleak, psychological, disturbing, surreal, visual ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: vietnam war, insanity, jungle, mission, anti war, army, military, violence, secret mission, soldier, violent, river ...
Time: 20th century, year 1979, 60s, year 1969
Place: vietnam, cambodia, southeast asia, asia, the philippines
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 145K
Brothers (2009)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min.
Story: When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic ...
Style: touching, tense, melancholic, suspense, heartbreaking ...
Plot: family drama, war, adultery, american soldier, marital infidelity, presumed dead, marine, family problems, brothers, dysfunctional family, soldier, suspicion ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, 21st century
Place: afghanistan, iraq, america, usa
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 40K
The Outpost (2019)
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack. The Battle of ...
Style: suspense, suspenseful, brutal, perverse, cult classic ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: u.s. army, combat, soldier, war, death, taliban, roadblock, army, military, danger, battles, shooting ...
Time: 2000s, year 2008, year 2009, year 2006, year 1984 ...
Place: afghanistan, middle east
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 153 min.
Story: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. ...
Style: suspense, absurd, atmospheric, captivating, tense ...
Audience: boys' night, manly, date night, chick flick, adult
Plot: world war two, vengeance, nazi, war, nazism, revenge, violent, dark humor, alternate history, violence, brutality, working undercover ...
Time: year 2009, 2000s, 1940s, 20th century
Place: paris france, france, germany, america, europe
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 904K
The Pianist (2002)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story: The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he ...
Style: emotional, harsh, bleak, reflective, heartbreaking ...
Audience: adult
Plot: holocaust, world war two, survival, genocide, nazi, classical music, wartime, war, nazism, pianist, nazi occupation, hunger ...
Time: 1940s, year 2002, 20th century, year 1945, 1930s ...
Place: poland, germany, europe, eastern europe, persia ...
Is relevant ?
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min.
Story: When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a ...
Style: emotional, touching, sad, heartbreaking, tear jerker ...
Audience: kids, teens, family outing, family friendly, teen drama ...
Plot: world war two, holocaust, concentration camp, war, children, childhood, nazi, friendship, nazism, gas chamber, boy, morality ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, ancient times, year 2008
Place: germany, poland, europe, berlin germany, switzerland
Is relevant ?
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 170 min.
Story: Based on the graphic novel by James Jones, The Thin Red Line tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II ...
Style: epic, visually stunning, visual, philosophical, visually appealing ...
Plot: war, sergeant, jungle, soldier, world war two, infantry, anti war, pacific war, pacific island, existentialism, survival, world war ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, 90s, year 1998
Place: asia, america, japan, pacific ocean
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 113K
The Lucky One (2012)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story: U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive-a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Learning her name is Beth and where she lives, he shows ...
Style: romantic, touching, emotional, sentimental, scenic ...
Audience: chick flick, girls' night, teens, date night
Plot: love story, love affair, true love, love and romance, soldier, veteran, destiny, marines, obsessive quest, single mother, loss of loved one, happy ending ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, 21st century
Place: north carolina, usa
Is relevant ?
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
Genre: Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Malta, Morocco
Duration: 144 min.
Story: An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
Style: intense, suspenseful, realistic, tense, factual ...
Audience: manly
Plot: cia, war, terrorism, rescue mission, mercenary, swat team, military, navy seal, courage, gunfight, commando, combat ...
Time: 2010s, year 2012, year 2016, year 2011, 21st century
Place: libya, middle east, africa, pentagon, langley virginia ...
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 5K
Uprising (2001)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 177 min.
Story: Jews rise up in the Warsaw Ghetto against the Nazis in 1943.
Style: uplifting, captivating, rough, serious, political ...
Plot: holocaust, world war two, jewish ghetto, resistance, anti semitism, nazi, ghetto, heroism, rebellion, human spirit, shoah, survival ...
Time: year 2001, 1940s, year 1943, 20th century
Place: germany, warsaw poland, europe, poland
Is relevant ?
Saints and Soldiers (2003)
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Five American soldiers fighting in Europe during World War II struggle to return to Allied territory after being separated from U.S. forces during the historic Malmedy Massacre.
Style: touching, intense, emotional, rough, epic ...
Plot: world war two, military, behind enemy lines, soldier, war, world war, battles, winter, survival, friendship, pow, allies ...
Time: 1940s, year 1944, 20th century
Place: belgium, germany, europe, chicago, new york ...
Is relevant ?
Jarhead 2: Field of Fire (2014)
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: Battle-scarred and disillusioned by the war, Corporal Chris Merrimette is put in charge of a unit whose next mission is to resupply a remote outpost on the edge of Taliban-controlled territory. While driving through the hostile Helmand province, a ...
Style: tense, serious, realistic, captivating, exciting ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: navy seal, taliban, military, male nudity, battles, heroic mission, wartime life, against the odds, soldier, danger, heroes, terrorism ...
Time: 21st century
Place: afghanistan, middle east
Is relevant ?
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA, UK
Duration: 148 min.
Story: Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the ...
Style: suspenseful, captivating, entertaining, thrilling, novela ...
Audience: adult
Plot: world war one, trench warfare, battles, military, battlefield, soldier, death of friend, german army, infantry, dying young, german soldier, death ...
Time: year 1917, year 1914, 2020s, year 1918, 1910s ...
Place: germany, france
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
army movies
1662
emotional movies
6204
combat movies
2332
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Genre: Action, Adventure, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story: 12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the ...
Style: exciting, intense, tense, suspense, serious ...
Audience: manly, boys' night
Plot: world war two, redemption, squad, behind enemy lines, military, soldier, nazi, world war, psychopath, battlefield, u.s. army, machismo ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, year 1967, year 1944
Place: america, europe, france, brittany, london
Is relevant ?
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: While flying a routine reconnaissance mission over Bosnia, fighter pilot Chris Burnett photographs something he wasn't supposed to see and gets shot down behind enemy lines, where he must outrun an army led by a ruthless Serbian general. With ...
Style: suspense, exciting, dramatic, suspenseful, rough ...
Audience: teens, boys' night
Plot: sniper, military, survival, behind enemy lines, courage, fighter pilot, u.s. navy, war crime, fighter plane, rescue, bosnian war, aviation ...
Time: year 2001, 20th century, year 1995, 21st century
Place: bosnia, balkan, serbia, former yugoslavia, europe ...
Is relevant ?
Beasts of No Nation (2015)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min.
Story: A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country. Follows the journey of a young boy, Agu, who is forced to join a group of soldiers in a fictional West African country. While Agu fears ...
Style: disturbing, political, bleak, harsh, dramatic ...
Audience: adult
Plot: war, civil war, child soldier, life is a bitch, children in wartime, adaptation, violence, justice, military, moral ambiguity, violent, culture clash ...
Time: year 2015, 90s, 20th century, 2010s, 21st century
Place: africa, west africa
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 54K
Mudbound (2017)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story: In the post–World War II South, two families are pitted against a barbaric social hierarchy and an unrelenting landscape as they simultaneously fight the battle at home and the battle abroad.
Style: southern gothic, period piece, costume drama, thought provoking, tense ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: racism, african american, civil rights, post war, misery, black, husband wife relationship, black history, poverty, black man, social injustice, civil war ...
Time: year 1941, year 2017, year 1945, year 1939, 1940s ...
Place: mississippi, indiana, belgium
Is relevant ?
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 179 min.
Story: In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his ...
Style: black and white, political, suspenseful, emotional, disturbing ...
Plot: courtroom drama, judge, genocide, holocaust, justice, lawyer, court, legal, courtroom, trial, politics, nazi ...
Time: 20th century, year 1946, 1940s, year 1961, 60s ...
Place: germany, europe
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
suspense movies
20963
mission movies
3204
great war movies
446
world war movies
1068
 6.6
 106K
Overlord (2018)
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, War
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 110 min.
Story: On the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers is dropped behind enemy lines to carry out a mission crucial to the invasion’s success. But as they approach their target, they begin to realize there is more going on in this Nazi-occupied ...
Style: anime, action adventure, anamorphic, suspense, scary ...
Audience: adult
Plot: zombie, world war two, nazi, nazi zombie, supernatural, behind enemy lines, paratrooper, nazi occultism, war, fascist, laboratory, wartime ...
Time: year 1944, 1940s, 2010s, 20th century
Place: france, normandy
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 144K
Glory (1989)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
Style: epic, inspirational, suspense, realistic, rough ...
Plot: american civil war, civil war, battles, slavery, freedom, military, racism, prejudice, war, black history, army, human spirit ...
Time: 19th century, 1800s, 20th century, year 1989, victorian era ...
Place: massachusetts, america, south carolina, georgia, africa ...
Is relevant ?
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Spain, USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story: During the war in Afghanistan, a local interpreter risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of grueling terrain.
Style: suspense, serious, tense, suspenseful, captivating ...
Plot: war in afghanistan, military, ambush, translator, soldier, taliban, american soldier, chase, assignment, life risking, train conductor, risk ...
Time: 2000s, 2010s
Place: afghanistan
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 94K
Midway (2019)
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong
Duration: 138 min.
Story: The story of the soldiers and aviators who helped turn the tide of the Second World War during the iconic Battle of Midway in June 1942.
Style: historical drama, bleak, exciting, scary, suspense ...
Audience: adult
Plot: world war two, sea battle, aerial combat, naval battle, air battle, warship, fighter plane, navy, aircraft carrier, fighter pilot, u.s. navy, war ...
Time: 1940s, year 2019, year 1942, 1930s, 20th century ...
Place: pearl harbor, pacific ocean, tokyo, washington d.c., honolulu hawaii ...
Is relevant ?
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min.
Story: An epic tale of three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of 1900s USA and how their lives are affected by nature, history, war, and love.
Style: emotional, sincere, serious, scenic, sentimental ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, adult
Plot: world war one, love triangle, lovers, conflict, relationships, love, sibling relationship, native american, father son relationship, love story, death, vengeance ...
Time: 19th century, 1910s, 1920s, 1900s, year 1995 ...
Place: america, usa, montana
Is relevant ?
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story: As the English and French soldiers battle for control of the American colonies in the 18th century, the settlers and native Americans are forced to take sides. Cora and her sister Alice unwittingly walk into trouble but are reluctantly saved by ...
Style: epic, exciting, period piece, costume drama, historical drama ...
Audience: chick flick, family friendly
Plot: native american, indians, american indian, wilderness, army, colonial america, war, colonialism, freedom, fight scenes, american history, revenge ...
Time: 18th century, middle ages, georgian era, ancient times, 20th century ...
Place: persia, usa
Is relevant ?
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same ...
Style: futuristic, mind bending, exciting, clever, captivating ...
Audience: teens, boys' night, family friendly, chick flick
Plot: time loop, time travel, alien invasion, alien, invasion, battles, repeated event, military, danger, soldier, time paradox, space and aliens ...
Time: future, year 2014, near future, 2010s, 2020s ...
Place: france, paris france, united kingdom, europe, big ben london ...
Is relevant ?
Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
Related movie lists
holocaust movies
804
captivating movies
34092
touching movies
11218
survival movies
6883
nazi movies
1414
sad movies
sad
2538
death movies
16719
violence movies
15772
tense movies
16020
intense movies
5142