14 Best War Movies (1990-2020)

By Vlad Zakh · January 5, 2026

United States Drama intense thought provoking

Saving Private Ryan’s opening twenty minutes changed how war looked on screen, and 1917 pushed the format further two decades later with its single-take structure. Lone Survivor is a brutal account of a mission going catastrophically wrong, Zero Dark Thirty is a patient procedural manhunt, Fury is a claustrophobic, unglamorous tank-crew story, and Jarhead is about the strange boredom of waiting for a war. Hacksaw Ridge, We Were Soldiers, Letters from Iwo Jima, American Sniper, The Hurt Locker, Dunkirk and Full Metal Jacket round out the list.

Lone Survivor (2013)

TMDB ★ 7.5

A brutal, physical account of a mission that goes catastrophically wrong.

Directed by Peter Berg · 2h 01m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Starz Apple TV channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

TMDB ★ 7.4

A CIA analyst's decade-long obsession culminates in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow · 2h 37m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Fury (2014)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A battle-hardened tank crew takes on a near-suicidal mission in the last weeks of the war in Europe.

Directed by David Ayer · 2h 15m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Apple TV, Apple TV Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Jarhead (2005)

TMDB ★ 7.0

A Marine sniper spends the Gulf War mostly waiting, bored and increasingly unravelled, for a shot that never comes.

Directed by Sam Mendes · 2h 03m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Starz Apple TV channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 84% Metacritic 71

A pacifist Army medic saves dozens of lives on the front line at Okinawa without ever carrying a weapon.

Directed by Mel Gibson · 2h 19m · Rated R

Won 2 Oscars57 wins & 115 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Angel Studios, Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

We Were Soldiers (2002)

TMDB ★ 7.1

American and Vietnamese forces collide in one of the first major battles of the Vietnam War.

Directed by Randall Wallace · 2h 18m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Philo, Paramount+ Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

TMDB ★ 7.9

The same battle retold entirely from the Japanese soldiers' side, dug into the island's tunnels.

Directed by Clint Eastwood · 2h 21m · Rated R

Where to watch

Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

IMDb ★ 8.2 RT 89% Metacritic 78

Marine recruits endure brutal training before being thrown into the chaos of the Vietnam War.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick · 1h 57m · Rated R

Nominated for 1 Oscar8 wins & 15 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, MGM Plus, Cinemax Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Cinemax Apple TV channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

American Sniper (2014)

TMDB ★ 7.3

The deadliest sniper in US military history struggles to leave the war behind between tours.

Directed by Clint Eastwood · 2h 13m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Hurt Locker (2008)

TMDB ★ 7.6

A bomb-disposal soldier's addiction to danger makes him both brilliant and reckless in the field.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow · 2h 11m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Dunkirk (2017)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 92% Metacritic 94

The evacuation of Allied soldiers told across three overlapping timelines and vantage points.

Directed by Christopher Nolan · 1h 47m · Rated PG-13

Won 3 Oscars68 wins & 236 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Black Hawk Down (2001)

TMDB ★ 7.7

A routine raid in Mogadishu becomes an overnight siege for trapped American soldiers.

Directed by Ridley Scott · 2h 25m · Rated R

Where to watch

Stream: Apple TV, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, MGM Plus, Apple TV Amazon Channel · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

1917 (2019)

IMDb ★ 8.2 RT 88% Metacritic 78

Two young soldiers race across enemy territory to deliver a message that could save sixteen hundred men.

Directed by Sam Mendes · 1h 59m · Rated R

Won 3 Oscars137 wins & 202 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

IMDb ★ 8.6 RT 94% Metacritic 91

A squad of soldiers is sent behind enemy lines to bring home a paratrooper whose brothers have all been killed.

Directed by Steven Spielberg · 2h 49m · Rated R

Won 5 Oscars79 wins & 75 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Peacock Premium, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Peacock Premium Plus · Rent: JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

14 Best War Movies (1990-2020)

Lone Survivor (2013)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Fury (2014)

Jarhead (2005)

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

We Were Soldiers (2002)

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

American Sniper (2014)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Dunkirk (2017)

Black Hawk Down (2001)

1917 (2019)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

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