22 21 20
24
19
23
Zero Dark
Thirty
RELEASEDATE 2012
Tellingthestoryofthe
assassinationofOsamaBinLaden,
ZeroDarkThirtyis probablyoneof
thequietestwarmoviesyou’llever
see.It startswitha slowbuild-up
ofsurveillance,andendsin one
ofthemosttautbattlesyou’re
likelytosee.Theeeriesilence–
punctuatedbythemutedthuds
ofsuppressedgunfire– creates
anunbearableamountoftension
astheUSNavySEALSsearchfor
theirtargetin themovie’sclimactic
scenes.Slow-burningandperfectly
paced,directorKathrynBigelow
quiterightlyreceivedpraisefor
theauthenticandunglamorous
depictionofoneofthe21st
century’smostinfamous
military actions.
The Killing
Fields
RELEASEDATE 1984
Basedontheexperiencesoftwo
journalistsduringtheerain which
Vietnamesecommunistforces,the
KhmerRouge,enteredCambodia
andinstigateda warwiththe
Cambodiannationalarmy.Sam
WatersonandJohnMalkovich
playSchanbergandRockoff,a
coupleofAmericanswhoteam
upwithlocalCambodianreporter
DithPran,tocapturethetruth
behindPolPot’ssavageregime.
Thisis a brutalandstirringpieceof
filmmaking,inspiredbyanarticle
writtenbytherealSchanbergand
Pran.Thetitlereferstoa numberof
fieldswherethebodiesofa million
Cambodiansremain,afterbeing
killedandburiedbytheKhmer
Rouge.Thattermwascoinedby
DithPran,whosawthose fields
with his own eyes.The Imitation
Game
RELEASEDATE 2004
BenedictCumberbatchis perfect
fortheroleofAlanTuring,
in thismovieabouthowthe
code-breakersatBletchleyPark
managedtocracktheinfamous
GermanEnigmacode.Aswith
mostfilmshereit’sa realthriller,
butTheImitationGamehasmore
ofa heartthanmost,asit focuses
onthelifeanduntimelydeathof
Turing,usingthewarasmoreofa
backdropthanfocus.And,much
likemostothergreatwarmovies,
westillcan’tquitebelievethe
overwhelmingoddsovercomeby
thecharacters,despiteknowing
theactual,historicaleventson
whichit’sbased.In fact,it makes
theeventualdenouementthat
muchmoretragic,asweknowit’s
heavily grounded in reality.Downfall
RELEASEDATE 2004
Evendictatorshavetheirbad
days,buthumanisingHitler(while
farfromexcusinghim)makeshis
crimesallthegreater.Downfall
takesa fly-on-the-wallapproach
totheFuhrer’sfinaltendays,
toldthroughthepoint-of-viewof
hissecretary.In fact,it’sthereal
lifeTraudiJungewhosevoiceis
heardopeningthemovie.Much
wasmadeofhowthefilmpaints
a realisticportraitofa monstrous
man,whodisplayedkindnessto
hisstaffwhilesecondslaterutter
contemptformillionshesentto
theirdeaths.It’sa near-perfect
pieceoffilmmaking,thanks
toBrunoGanzeerily-precise
depiction of Hitler.Fury
RELEASEDATE 2014
Oneofthelesserknowntitles
onthislist,Furyfollowsthe
exploitsofa singletankcrew
in 1945,astheAlliesmaketheir
pushintoNaziGermany.Don’tlet
thepretty-boyHollywoodcast
foolyou– thisis a warmovieas
seriousandunflinchingasmost,
andit hasplentytosayabout
thehorrorsofWW2.WhileBrad
Pittoccasionallyhamsuphisrole
asDon‘Wardaddy’Collier,it’sa
necessarysparkofoptimismas
therestofthecrew- excellently
portrayedbythelikesofShia
LaBeouf(yes,really),Michael
Pena,andJohnBernthal– get
pickedoffone-by-onein theface
ofoverwhelmingodds.It hasa
strongSavingPrivateRyanvibe,
buttellsa moreintimate story
about the war.Grave of the
Fireflies
RELEASEDATE 1988
StudioGhiblihasa giftfor
transformingsomewhatharsh
subjectmattersintolush,playful
movies.TheJapaneseanimation
houseoutdoesitselfwiththis
stunningstory,a bleakreminder
thatit’schildrenwhosufferthe
mostfromwarfare.Theuseof
animationachievesa powerthat
live-actionprobablywouldn’thave
matched,asthemoviefollows
SeitaandSetsuko,twokids
orphanedafterAmericanbombers
destroytheirhometown.Heralded
bymanyasoneofthemost
movinganti-warfilms,it’sa true
tear-jerker from start to finish.The Hurt Locker
RELEASEDATE 2008
BeforehebecametheAvengers’archerJeremyRennertook
ontheroleofa conflictedvet,taskedwithleadinganexplosive
ordnancedisposalteamin Iraq.Notthemosttantalisingjoboffer,
butthat’sthepullofKathrynBigelow’sOscar-winner.Despite
theconstantdanger,forguyslikeSergeantFirstClassWilliam
Jameswaris a drug.He’scontentin thethickofit. Evenwhenhe
ventureswayofftask,gettingbothheandhissquadintohorrible
scenarios(discoveringchildrensurgicallyimplantedwithbombs),
there’sa sensethathe’sexactlywherehewantstobe.This is a
bracing and honest look at what war does to soldiers.
war films