30 Powerful War Films That Reveal History's Harsh Realities

The Children of Huang Shi

2008 • 125 min • Budget $40M • Box office $7M

Drama, War

In 1937, during the Japanese occupation of China, young British journalist George Hogg teams up with a brave Australian nurse to rescue a group of orphaned children.

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The Soviet Story

2008 • 86 min

Documentary, War, History

"The Soviet Story" reveals the history of an Allied nation that aided the Nazis in their persecution of Jews and committed mass atrocities against its own citizens. With Western support, this nation achieved victory on May 9th, 1945. Its crimes…

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We Are from the Future

2008 • 110 min • Box office $8M

War, Science Fiction, Action

Four Russian men searching for Nazi artifacts at a World War II battlefield accidentally discover a wormhole. The lake transports them back to a battle in the Soviet Union during 1942.

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Adam Resurrected

2008 • 107 min • Budget $10M

Drama, War

Having failed in another attempt to kill someone, a Jewish man with a hidden history and remarkable abilities – intelligence, charm, and physical control – goes back to a mental institution and uncovers something unexpected.

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Johnny Mad Dog

2008 • 97 min

Drama, History, War

This drama tells the story of child soldiers caught in a conflict within a country in Africa, the nation unspecified. The film features a cast of actors with little prior recognition.

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Tunnel Rats

2008 • 96 min • Budget $8M

Action, Drama, War

Set during the Vietnam War (1959-1975), a US special forces unit is deployed to track down and eliminate Viet Cong soldiers in intense close-quarters combat within the extensive tunnel systems beneath the Vietnamese jungle. The unit operates as essentially suicide…

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In Tranzit

2008 • 113 min

Drama, Romance, War

Following World War II, Nazi prisoners of war accused of terrible crimes are held in a Soviet women's prison overseen by guards seeking retribution. To determine guilt, the innocent are forced to suffer. The film explores whether former enemies can…

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Standard Operating Procedure

2008 • 117 min • Box office $322K

Documentary, War

Errol Morris investigates the abuse and torture of detainees by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

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God on Trial

2008 • 86 min

History, War, Drama

Facing unimaginable horror in Auschwitz, Jewish prisoners engage in a defiant act: they decide to hold God accountable. They stage a trial, confronting the divine in a desperate attempt to understand and reconcile with their suffering.

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Che: Part Two

2008 • 135 min • Budget $58M • Box office $8M

Drama, History, War

Following the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara is a celebrated figure of influence. He then vanishes and reappears in Bolivia, where he assembles a small team of Cuban allies and Bolivian supporters to launch a larger Latin American revolution. The film…

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A Woman in Berlin

2008 • 131 min • Box office $1M

Drama, War, History

During the final days of World War II, a woman struggles to survive as Soviet troops invade Berlin.

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Admiral

2008 • 123 min • Budget $2M • Box office $38M

War, Drama

This is a story about a powerful love story set against the backdrop of Russia's most turbulent time. Admiral Kolchak is a celebrated war hero, devoted husband, and father. He falls deeply in love with Anna, who is married to…

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Zeitgeist: Addendum

2008 • 123 min

Documentary, History, War

Zeitgeist: Addendum premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival. Director Peter Joseph states that the world's ongoing problems with war, poverty, and corruption stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of human behavior. The film explores the root cause of societal…

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The Red Baron

2008 • 106 min • Budget $18M • Box office $2M

Action, Adventure, Drama

Richthofen enlists in the war alongside countless others. As fighter pilots, they quickly become legendary figures for the troops. Known for their fair play, precision flying, and chivalrous conduct, they live by a strict code of honor. However, he soon…

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Battle of the Warriors

2006 • 133 min

Action, War, Adventure

In 370 B.C., China is divided into seven nations and numerous smaller tribes, including the city-state of Liang. The powerful nation of Zhao, led by the ruthless Xiang Yangzhong, sets its sights on conquering Liang. Ge Li, from the Mo-Tsu…

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2008 • 94 min • Budget $12M • Box office $20M

Drama, War, History

When Bruno's family relocates from Berlin to a new house in Poland, he befriends Shmuel, a boy living beyond a fence who wears striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's situation as a Jewish prisoner or his father's role in it, Bruno…

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Passchendaele

2008 • 114 min

Drama, Romance, War

Sergeant Michael Dunne served with the 10th Battalion, known as the "Fighting Tenth," as part of the 1st Canadian Division. He took part in all major Canadian battles of the war and earned the most individual bravery awards by any…

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Female Agents

2008 • 117 min

War, History

May 1944. A team of French women in the resistance are recruited by the British Special Operations Executive, led by Louise Desfontaines and her brother Pierre. Their task: to rescue a British geologist who was observing the Normandy beaches.

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Waltz with Bashir

2008 • 90 min • Budget $1M • Box office $11M

Drama, Animation, War

An Israeli film director speaks with other veterans of the 1982 Lebanon War. He uses their stories to piece together his own recollections of serving in the conflict.

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Miracle at St. Anna

2008 • 160 min • Budget $45M • Box office $9M

Drama, War

Miracle at St. Anna tells the story of four American soldiers from the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division who are stationed in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II.

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The Sky Crawlers

2008 • 121 min

Animation, Action, Adventure

The Kildren are young people who live forever as teenagers. Aware that each day could be their last, they fight a war – a conflict staged and controlled by adults for their amusement. However, accepting their fate, they make the…

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Che: Part One

2008 • 134 min • Budget $58M

Drama, History, War

In 1956, Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara and a group of Cuban exiles, under Fidel Castro's leadership, land in Cuba from Mexico. Within two years, they build a popular movement and an army, ultimately overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

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Winter in Wartime

2008 • 103 min • Budget $4M • Box office $530K

Drama, History, War

In the winter of 1944-45, the western Netherlands suffers a severe famine during World War II. As people seek food elsewhere, fourteen-year-old Michiel is eager to join the Dutch resistance, a desire his father opposes. The father, the village mayor,…

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Red Cliff

2008 • 145 min • Budget $80M • Box office $250M

Adventure, Drama, History

In 208 A.D., as the Han Dynasty was crumbling, the clever Prime Minister Cao persuaded Emperor Han that war with the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south was the only path to uniting China.…

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Stop-Loss

2008 • 113 min • Budget $25M • Box office $11M

Drama, War

After serving a tour in Iraq, a veteran soldier's life is disrupted when the Army unexpectedly orders him back to field duty.

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Saturday Kitchen Live

2008 • 118 min • Budget $6M

History, War, Action

Max Manus is a 2008 biographical war film about the life of Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus (1914–96). The film chronicles Manus's activities from the start of World War II in Norway through to the end of the war and…

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Defiance

2008 • 137 min • Budget $32M • Box office $51M

Action, Drama, History

During World War II, four Jewish brothers flee Nazi-occupied West Belarus in Poland and join the Soviet partisans to fight against the Nazis. The brothers then undertake a mission to rescue approximately 1,200 Jews still confined to ghettos throughout Poland.

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The Hurt Locker

2008 • 131 min • Budget $15M • Box office $49M

Drama, Thriller, War

Set during the Iraq War, the film follows a Sergeant newly assigned to an army bomb squad. His unconventional approach to the job creates friction and conflict with his fellow squad members.

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Tropic Thunder

2008 • 107 min • Budget $92M • Box office $195M

Action, Comedy, Adventure

A group of self-centered actors aims to create the highest-budget war movie in history. When expenses spiral out of control and the studio pulls the plug, the director, determined to finish the film, takes the cast to Southeast Asia. There,…

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Rambo

2008 • 92 min • Budget $50M • Box office $113M

Action, Thriller, War

In Thailand, former Green Beret John James Rambo joins a team of mercenaries on a mission into war-torn Myanmar. Their objective: to rescue a group of Christian aid workers who have been kidnapped by a brutal local infantry unit.

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