While critical scores are important in determining which movies to watch in a sea of endless content, somewar moviesare better than their Rotten Tomatoes scores indicate. The war film genre is an old one, and some of the bestwar movies go back to the golden eraof Hollywood, with films arriving after the First World War.
There are some truemasterpieces in the war movie genre, from classics likePaths of Gloryto modern releases likeThe Hurt Locker. In between, there have been great releases,includingSchindler’s ListandBlack Hawk Down. At the same time,there have been underrated war films, many of which are superior to their review scores.
Sam Mendes was at the top of his career when he releasedJarheadin 2005.Mendes was coming off his Oscar-winningAmerican Beautyin 1999 and his Oscar-worthy gangster movieRoad to Perditionin 2002. WithJarhead, he set out to create a smaller story dealing with soldiers' lives while fighting during a war.
Jarheadstars Jake Gyllenhaal as Anthony Swofford, a Marine during Operation Desert Shield andOperation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. The movie’s entire purpose is to show how the war mentally affected the soldiers involved. However, the movie has a lower 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a drop for Mendes’s films.
Jarheadis much better than that score indicates. For one thing, this is not a movie about fighting a war so much as it is a film about a soldier’s life as he waits for the next mission. The futility of fighting in another war, knowing the wars will never end, was a sobering idea in the movie, andJarheadexcelled at this theme.
9The Wall (2012)
Doug Liman was not known for war movieswhen he madeThe Wall.The closest he previously came wasThe Bourne Identity,which dealt more with attacks on American soil. He then excelled in his next movie, Edge of Tomorrow, which took war movie themes and placed them in a sci-fi setting.
WhileThe Wallwas much smaller than either of those movies, it deserves more praise than its 65% Rotten Tomatoes score indicates.The Wallwas a small movie with only two main actors on screen. A U.S. Army sniper and his spotter were sent to investigate the reports of an enemy sniper at the end of the Iraq War.
The cast was what led critics to count off the movie’s success. John Cena, years before he finally found his comfort zone in Hollywood, stars as the sniper, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as his spotter. The movie also has a shocking ending that left most viewers devastated, but as a war movie, that is important to show occasionally.
8Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)
The reasonKingdom of Heavenhas a low 39% Rotten Tomatoes scoreis that the studio took the movie away from Ridley Scott and cut it before releasing it. However, the reviews that came afterScott released his director’s cut on home videoshowed how the movie was supposed to look.
The movie takes place in the Third Crusade and stars Orlando Bloom as Balian of Ibelin, a blacksmith who fights to defend Jerusalem from the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin. Joining him in the cast are stars like Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, and Eva Green.
Even in the poor reviews from its theatrical release, critics praised the cast. Once Ridley Scott added back in the scenes cut out of that version, critics then praised the story as well. The director’s cut is a true epic full of detail with well-rounded characters.
7Midway (2019)
Midwaywas always going to push critics' buttons the wrong waythanks to director Roland Emmerich. Mostly for his disaster films,Emmerich made a historical war moviethat focused on the first six months of the Pacific Theater in World War II. This provided the director with a good opportunity to depict the U.S.’s entry into the war.
Emmerich has always been great at shooting disaster scenes, and this movie started with the attack on Pearl Harbor and then moved to the U.S. entry into World War II. The film then showed the soldiers' work as they slid into the ongoing war, and it all led to the Battle of Midway.
Critics gave the movie a 42% Rotten Tomatoes score, primarily criticizing the script. However, Emmerich succeeded in depicting the war’s action and devastation, and the actual battles were spectacularly shot with great special effects, taking viewers inside the war. It is a war movie that celebrates heroism.
6Green Zone (2010)
Green Zonere-teamed Matt Damon with hisBourne Supremacydirector, Paul Greengrass, for an anti-war movie. Sadly, this movie didn’t come close to matching the success of theBournefranchise. It was a box office failure, not even making back its budget, and finished with a low 53% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Damon stars as Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, a man sent to find the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that the United States claimed existed in the country. By the end of the movie, he realizes there are no such weapons, his superiors lied about them, and they now want to kill anyone who knows the truth.
While critical reviews were only average, at best, positive reviews called the movie “thrilling.” It is a nice film that takes real-life events and adds fictional moments that help reveal the events behind the war in Iraq.
5Defiance (2008)
Edward Zwick is no stranger to war movies, as he has also directedCourage Under FireandThe Last Samurai.However, withDefiance, he took his story into the occupation of Belarus in the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. The film showed the battle of the Jewish people caught in the crosshairs.
Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay star as the Bielski brothers as they saved and recruited Jews in Belarus to fight for their lives and freedom against the Nazi occupiers, whose only goal was the extermination of all Jewish survivors.
With a 58% Rotten Tomatoes score, critics praised the direction, but felt that the script lacked depth. However, it is an emotionally intense movie that makes the lives of these people mean something, and the forest setting for the battle makes it a war movie with a fairy tale feel.
4Enemy At The Gates (2001)
Released in 2001 by French film director Jean-Jacques Annaud,Enemy at the Gatesis based on the novelEnemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.This follows the Battle of Stalingradin the winter of 1942-1943. The two main characters are snipers during World War II, and the film leads to a duel between the two men.
Jude Law plays Vassili Zaitsev, considered the Hero of the Soviet Union in World War II. The duel is between Zaitsev and a German sniper school instructor sent to kill Zaitsev named Erwin Konig, played by Ed Harris. With double agents and plenty of intense sniper action, this war movie has a lot to love.
However, critics only awarded it a 54% Rotten Tomatoes score, much lower than it deserves. The film works great as a battle between two men, and it stands out as a rare story about the courage of Soviet soldiers standing up to and helping defeat Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in World War II.
3Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Not all war movies need to be serious affairs; sometimes, a lighthearted yet action-packed war movie is just what a person needs. That is whatBehind Enemy Linesoffers movie fans. To show what to expect,Owen Wilson is the main star, as a naval flight officer shot down over Bosnia.
While Wilson is not what anyone would expect from anything but an action-comedy, this movie takes itself seriously. It does leave things a little lighthearted thanks to Wilson’s personality and charisma. To weigh things out, Wilson’s co-star is Gene Hackman, who plays the admiral who wants to send in a search and rescue team.
Critics weren’t impressed, awarding it an extremely low 36% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, it was a box office success and spawned three sequels. Although critics complained, the movie proved entertaining, boasting a significantly higher 62% audience score.
2Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Critics and fans mostlyhated Michael Bay’s moviePearl Harbor, which was high on action and explosions, but low on anything that resembled humanity among the soldiers. However, for anyone who wants a better version of the World War II attack,Tora! Tora! Tora!has one of the most realistic depictions of the bombing.
The real attack on Pearl Harbor lasted for just under two hours.Tora! Tora! Tora!plays out the attack in an incredible 45-minute scene, offering a horrific look at death, destruction, and mayhem, all while the soldiers fight to find a way to survive and stop the bombing.
Critics only offered it a 57% Rotten Tomatoes score, but this movie was one of the most accurate portrayals of the bombing ever shown in a film. It shares some complaints with Bay’s movie, as it is about the attack and not the survivors, but the wartime action is intense, and the film deserved all five of its Oscar nominations.
1Red Tails (2012)
Red Tailswas an important movie, andGeorge Lucas played a significant role in its production. The film, directed by Anthony Hemingway, was about a group of Black U.S. Army Air Forces servicemen in World War II. While all the characters were fictional, they were based on real individuals and their World War II journey.
The movie follows the 332nd Fighter Group, starting with the racism they faced throughout their recruitment and onto their combat missions in Italy. By the end of the movie, they are all heroes and receive a Presidential Unit Citation for their service.
Critics were lukewarm, with only a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, with a great cast that includes Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., and David Oyelowo, the cast alone makes this a movie worth watching. It remains an essential look at race in the military, andRed Tailsis awar moviethat far surpasses its Rotten Tomatoes score.
