25 underrated war movies

Fury turns into one of those war movies where people cartwheel around bullets, snipe from miles away and morph into superheroes. But most of the movie is a boiling pot of tension. Brad Pitt does fine work as the tank commander, while the actors around him bring gravity to the situation. 

Guy Ritchie made a movie that says something? Not in a Cockney accent? With The Covenant, he made a movie about the conflict in Afghanistan, how our country left soldiers behind and one man's mission to save the rest. The result is a cinematic act of bravery from a director who doesn't usually take a stance.

Based on the director's own experience in war, The Big Red One doesn't play like any other war movie on our list. That's because it's directed by Samuel Fuller, a man who is known for provoking audiences more than he is winning them over. He brings comedy, pathos and provocation to this masterwork about the horrors of war. 

Ah, Italy, There's nothing like this country's beauty, history and food — so much food! But there was a time when Italy wasn't the number one travel destination for many tourists. The country was decimated after World War II, which gave director Roberto Rosellini the chance to film in bombed-out buildings and use actors who experienced the war firsthand. The result is a movie that feels like it's unfolding before our very eyes. 

War sucks. It makes people do things that you can't even imagine. Stanley Kubrick took war to battle in this story of soldiers being prosecuted for something they didn't do. It's target practice on war itself, with a sharp aim that hits the mark. 

It's a story as old as time: boy meets train. Boy falls in love with train. Boy takes train across enemy lines to save his crush. Buster Keaton made one of the great war movies with this slapstick comedy. 

We know what you're thinking. You're thinking: this is a heist film, you idiot. Yes. But it's also a comedy, a political commentary and a war flick. Thanks to David O. Russell, this movie is many things at once. 

John Wayne. Sean Connery. Henry Fonda. Robert Mitchum. And you haven't seen this movie? To be fair, it's full of cliches, speeches and some of the worst dialogue on our list. But the thrill of watching these actors deliver lines over screeching gunfire carries the day. 

The Battle of Algiers was so realistic they screened it at the Pentagon to study guerrilla warfare. It is realism at its finest, with a story of underground insurgents who pack explosives and explosive hearts. 

Okay, so war isn't supposed to be pretty. But when it's directed by The Archers (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger), it's going to look like a Technicolor daydream. Following the life of a British colonel during the Second World War, this is more about mind games than war games, with a character study that deserves a medal for great writing. 

Jarhead is one of the most horrifying titles on our list and there's barely any combat. Instead, it grinds tensions out of training sequences and waiting for orders. It's like the first act of Full Metal Jacket dragged out for an entire film. 

There's obviously no shortage of suspense in a movie about Nazis taking over Austria, but we like A Hidden Life for the lighter moments —the waterfalls raining down on lush valleys, the pillows of grass where children play, the farmers who toil amidst the clouds. This is Terrence Malick, after all. There aren't many directors who can turn a man's resistance against Nazi rule into an exaltation of nature's beauty.  

We're serious. Starship Troopers is packed with great action sequences and a hilarious commentary on Hollywood blockbusters and satire of fascism and authoritarianism. Paul Verhoeven spoofed Hollywood studios without them even knowing it, as well as the nature of militaristic societies, with stars shooting at aliens and connecting with popular taste instead. 

It's a weird thing to say, but Empire of the Sun's strength is not in its action, but in its story of a young boy who is obsessed with planes like a Miyazaki character with a darker past. You can't take your eyes off Christian Bale, who makes this boy one of the most intense in the genre. 

No, not the remake. We're talking about the 1930 original that won Best Picture. This movie shows the horrors of warfare with moments of lyricism, like a butterfly carelessly floating across a sea of dead bodies.

A war movie without war? That's like making a heist movie without heists. Leave it to Jean Renoir to turn a near action-less picture into one of the most gripping films of all time. It's impossible not be sucked into this tale of prisoners and their captors, and see how they interact on a daily basis. It's a movie that trades soldiers for people and bullets for bullet points. 

A movie that makes Schindlers List look like a walk in the park, Come and See follows a child down the path of war's atrocities. It would be unwatchable if it weren't so darn mesmerizing. Elem Klimov takes an eliptical approach to storytelling that causes you to lean in before your eyes are seared with horror. 

Cheesy? Yes. Does someone burn a bunch of Nazis with a flamethrower? Yes. Does that mean we can't like this movie? No. No, it does not.  

Take the claustrophobia of Das Boot and combine it with the family-friendly vibe of Tom Hanks, and you get Greyhound. A war movie that makes you feel lost at sea, Greyhound got lost in the pandemic shuffle, but is definitely worth a watch if you haven't seen it. 

Abe chopped down cherry trees and every other movie at the box office when this came out, making more money than is accustomed for a historical epic. It wasn't Spielberg's best effort, but what a performance from Daniel Day-Lewis!

Brian De Palma might not be the first director you think of when it comes to war films. I usually think of directors like Spielberg and Kubrick. But he proved more than capable with this 80's war drama. 

Now comes the remake. The blockbuster from Netflix is steeped in the original's anti-war themes but is loaded with a full clip of ammo. It's got way more action, following in the footsteps of blockbusters like 1917.

There are war movies, and then there's Ran. A war movie that doesn't look like anything else, Akira Kurosawa combines samurai epics with war tropes to create a blockbuster unlike any other. The story of a father dealing with the fallout of his choices is awash in blood, mystery, grandeur and color. It needs to be seen to be believed. 

Underrated? Only because most people don't have it on the shortlist of best war movies. It's usually not one of the first titles mentioned, which is shame since Terrence Mallick's masterpiece ranks among the best in the genre.