Top 20 Non-American War Movies
Then buzz it up
July 7th, 2008 at 11:30 by David Schwartz
It’s a little known fact that wars existed even before America was discovered.
Hollywood has done its very best to correct this mistake since, but there was a time when the world kicked the crap out of each other without any help from the US.
Anyway, to acknowledge the fact, Hecklerspray has rummaged through the annals of history to come up with the 20 best non-American war films.
Now, that’s not to say there are no Americans featured at all – that would be impossible.
But what we have tried to do is come up with either films about wars which did not involve the US at all or war stories told from a different country’s point of view.
It was difficult, we really struggled to cram it down into just 20, so we added a few honourable mentions.
Now, we are sure you have your own suggestions, and we are sure you miserable lot will have no hesitation in telling us which films we missed.
20. The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
We love this film about German paratroopers landing in England and trying to kidnap Winston Churchill so much we even forgot Michael Caine was playing a German. Well, almost.
19. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Ok, so the subject matter is hardly fun family viewing. But it’s a movie you are not likely to forget in a hurry.
18. Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004)
M.A.S.H was never like this.
17. Waterloo (1971)
Some of the best battle scenes ever filmed. Simply stunning.
16. Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
Jiang Wen’s masterpiece about the Japanese invasion of China has the least Hollywood ending of all time. Not your average war film.
15. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Some of the scenes from Gillo Pontecorvo’s movie about the Algerian War of Independence is so real it feels like a documentary.
It was banned in France, which can only be a good thing.
14. Cromwell (1970)
Richard Harris is simply superb as the Protestant leader who ruled England during the 17th century.
Just don’t rely on the film for your history homework.
13. Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Alec Guinness maintains a stiff upper lip, despite being in a Japanese POW camp.
12. The Counterfeiters (2007)
A brilliant film about how the Germans tried to win the Second World War by crippling US and British currency. Of course, politicians these days are doing a very job of doing that without the need of counterfeiters.
11. Ran (1985)
Want to get schoolchildren interested in Shakespeare? Just show them Akira Kurosawa’s brilliant adaptation of King Lear.
10. The Dam Busters (1954)
Whether it’s the clipped British accents, the ridiculous facial hair or the unforgettable soundtrack, leaving out this 50s classic about the incredible success of the bouncing bomb during the Second World War out would be a dash bad show.
Note the Star Wars references in the clip.
9. Dr Zhivago (1965)
Ok, this is probably just an excuse to use a video of Julie Christie back in her heyday.
8. Das Boot (1981)
This film, set in the claustrophobic world of a German U-Boat during the Second World War, is so good you almost feel like rooting for the Germans.
Actually, maybe not.
7. El Cid (1961)
OK, so Charlton Heston is very much American.
But the fact he’s playing an 11th Century Spanish warrior who helps drive the Moors out of his country and spends most of the final scenes as a corpse strapped to a horse means the film gets a pass.
6. Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
Someone once told us there is are no women in David Lean’s masterpiece about the legendary T. E. Lawrence. Can someone tell us if that’s true.
5. Stalingrad (1993)
Vilsmaier’s vision of the battle of Stalingrad from the point of view of a disillusioned German platoon is so brutal and realistic it makes Saving Private Ryan look like a teddy bear’s picnic.
Sorry, the clip above has no subtitles.
4. Downfall (2004)
A gripping account of Hitler’s last days. Happy ending too!
3. Vita è bella, La (1997)
Worth its place purely for doing the impossible: making the Holocaust funny.
2. Come and See (1985)
A movie about the Nazi occupation of Belarus, Come and See is disturbing as it is powerful. Next time you are in the video shop with your girlfriend, recommend it. She’ll love it, honest.
1. Zulu (1964)
What is it about war films and football that makes men blub like babies?
We’ll sit through movies about puppies being tortured without barely a flicker of emotion. But show us a film in which a group of soldiers overcome overwhelming odds and it’s pass the tissues.
If ever there is a film that captures that spirit it’s Zulu. The 1964 movie about a small regiment trying to keep the British end up in Southern Africa in 1879 against all the odds is simply a masterpiece.
The immortal words “Zulus, sir. Thousands of them…” will live long in the memory.
Honourable mentions:
The Cruel Sea
The Pianist
Land and Freedom
The Battle of Britain
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July 7th, 2008 at 11:52 am
[...] but there was a time when the world kicked the crap out of each other without any help from the US Top 20 Non-American War Movies - Hecklers Pray.com posted by at 6:27 am [...]
July 7th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I AM miserable and I’d like to add:Went the Day Well (1942)Basically the same plot as the Eagle has Landed - but brilliantly done in a semi-documentary style, with ‘nice’ characters actually getting killed and Thora Hird shooting Nazis with almost homicidal relish!The Battle of the River Plate (1956)Not held to be Powell and Pressburger’s best but still worth a lookThe Wild Geese (1977)Harris, Burton (and just about everyone else) lark about in AfricaThe Hill (1965)Connery takes a break from Bond for this school of hard VERY hard knocks.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:55 am
How about Breaker Morant?
July 8th, 2008 at 2:56 am
What? What about No Mans Land; about the Serbian civilar war.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:09 am
I would take ‘Zulu Dawn’ over ‘Zulu,’ myself. Bob Hoskins, Peter O’Toole, Sir John Mills, Denholm Elliot, Burt Lancaster, and about 30,000 Zulu. Too bad the DVD transfer was so lousy …
July 8th, 2008 at 3:11 am
Where the hell is Letters From Iwo Jima?
July 8th, 2008 at 3:13 am
What about the Kusturica’s movies? Underground is about a never ending war, and there’s another one called “Life it’s a miracle”…
July 8th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Oh Yeah!!! Ran! My favorite Shakespeare cinema adaptation by one of my favorite directors.
If I have assembled this list I would have included Tony Richardson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” The screenplay, which shows England being stampeded into a pointless, failed military expedition seems especially relevant today.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Letters From Iowa Jima deserves to be on this list.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Well, so long as the Nazis are invading England, we can’t forget Bed knobs and Broomsticks” and continuing in the Disney vein is “The Sound of Music”.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:30 am
There are no female speaking roles in Lawrence of Arabia, but there are a few scenes with women in.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:36 am
ditto on the miserable, how in the world is No Man’s Land not on this list? This is the best depiction of the meaninglessness/pointlessness of war I have ever seen!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:39 am
Wow! Good to see Zulu finally at the top of the list somewhere. Dad had me sit with him and watch it anytime it came on television. “This is what disciplined fire power can do in the face of overwhelming odds,” was the lesson he repeated every time we watched it. He had been a Marine BAR gunner in Korea, and went through several human charges, and could testify first hand to what it could do.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Seems there are a few more that could be added: Gallipoli, Breaker Morant, All Quiet on the Western Front, War & Peace (The Soviet version), Heaven & Earth, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Hill, The Enemy Below (OK, it’s American), Hell in the Pacific (John Borman is English), Paths of Glory,….the list goes on…
July 8th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Ridiculous to not have Breaker Morant on the list even if few cared about the Boer War.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:56 am
Um, Galipoli?
July 8th, 2008 at 4:03 am
a very long engagement? An excellent war movie, I thought, from the french perspective.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Zulu was a great movie, never gets old.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Ummm, a list of the 20 greatest non-American war films that doesn’t include “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930 version)? “Tunes of Glory”? “Gallipoli”? Fires on the Plain(aka, Nobi)? This list needs remediation.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I’m pretty sure there were women in Lawrence of Arabia for the beginning scenes at TE Lawrence’s funeral. IMDB credits a couple of actresses, including Barbara Cole as a nurse and Cher Kaoiu as Khitan. However, the site does say that there are no women with speaking roles.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I’d have to include Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War on my list
July 8th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Bah! No Gallipoli? Stoopid list…
/misery
July 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
What about Office Space? It really deconstructs the war of attrition between management and Milton (the stapler is the prize of war).
July 8th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Shake Hands with the Devil is another film on the Rwandan Genocide. This time from the view of Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, commander of the UN Force. The person Nick Nolte played in Hotal Rwadan was based on Dallaire.
Shake Hands is very good movie and shows the short comings of the UN. The book by the same name is very good too, if depressing.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Fraggle Rock?
July 8th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Waterloo is in that list but Bondarchuk’s War and Peace is not?!
I seriously doubt your qualifications for putting up this list.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Yeah. Your qualifications! Do you have a permit?
A merit badge? A note from your Mom? A PhD in
child psychology? We want qualifications, dammit!
We need a pedigree to believe you! Your opinion is
only valid if you have expensive pieces of vellum
with crappy fake Latin writing on them! Are you fully
qualified to have an opinion? Do you have our permission?
Flint, I doubt your qualifications as well.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:32 am
The “Downfall” clip has parody subtitles, I prefer the XBOX Live account suspension version, the one you have is about a vote in Ireland. There is a version on youtube with the correct translation.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Enemy At The Gates did Stalingrad very well, too.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am
How about my personal favorite, “Cross of Iron”?
July 10th, 2008 at 2:39 am
thank you missedone no mans land is a briliant film and deserves a mention
July 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
How about the finnish contributions?
July 11th, 2008 at 1:01 am
[...] from certain domination or destruction. However, there are other views on the world of warfare and this list is quite educational - there a are a few films in this list that I might be interested in watching after reading about [...]
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Gallipoli
Breaker Morant
The Lighthorseman
All great Assie films