12 Greatest British War Movies of All Time

Unfortunately, war is, was, and still will be part of the human experience as time goes on. Therefore, it has become a genre all on its own. Some are heartbreaking tales of the atrocities that humans can do to one another in wartime; others are stories of grit and determination and overcoming all odds to achieve victory. War films have been around since the dawn of cinema and have only gotten better as budgets have gotten bigger. They are also globally made, giving viewers different perceptions of what wartime is like in different countries.

The British have always had a different approach to their style of filmmaking. In terms of telling stories of war, you can feel their sophistication and the rich history they have. They are a country with a long military history that always seems to be around during times of conflict. British war films are not globally known like many other countries’ contributions to the genre, but they still have something to say about the casualties of war and the grand scale of how these stories must be told.

12 A Field in England (2013)

Ben Wheatley directed this film set in the 17th century during the English Civil War. A Field in England is about a group of deserters who are fleeing a battle through an empty, overgrown field. The men then get captured by an alchemist after taking some mind-altering substances and must assist in his quest for a hidden treasure somewhere in the field.

The Absurdity of the War Genre

Ben Wheatley is one of the best indie filmmakers out there right now, with other great films such as Free Fire, Kill List, and his venture into big-budget blockbusters like Meg 2: The Trench. However, people flock to see A Field in England (especially on the big screen) for its striking black-and-white visuals and utter absurdity.

There are going to be a lot of films on this list that line up well with what you would likely see in a war movie, but this movie blends art-house cinema with the brutality of what happens to those who venture into the field of battle. A Field in England is available to stream on Pluto TV.

11 It Happened Here (1964)

Initially released in 1964, It Happened Here is a twist on the Nazis being victorious in World War II. With a grim twist on history, the film follows Pauline (Pauline Murray), an Irish nurse in Great Britain that is now under Nazi law. She finds herself torn between the resistance of Great Britain and Hitler’s Third Reich as she struggles with the crumbling world around her.

A Dreadful ‘What Could’ve Been’

Pair It Happened Here with a television show like The Man in the High Castle. The film’s dread can creep up on you once you realize that this could have been the reality for many if the Nazis had succeeded in their plan of invading Great Britain at the start of World War II. The film was also shot on a bit of a low budget, as it took directors Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo eight years to finish the film, as they kept running out of funds to make it.

However, they got some help from acclaimed directors like Stanley Kubrick, who donated some short ends from Dr. Stangelove to the film to help up the imagery of the film a bit. It Happened Here is available to stream on Pluto TV.

Related: The Man in the High Castle: Best Episodes, Ranked

10 Hope and Glory (1987)

Hope and Glory shift the focus from the military fronts of war to the innocent bystanders who have to suffer through the battles that take place. The film follows a character by the name of Billy Rowan (Sebastian Rice Edwards), who has to try and survive the night of bombings in London from the German front, but in the morning, he and his friends have adventures in the rubble.

Coming of Age in War-Torn London

Director John Boorman pulled from his real-life experiences when making this film. Hope and Glory takes the war drama and turns it into a coming-of-age tale of atrocities being seen through the eyes of a child. It’s an interesting perspective to see Billy being a carefree kid in the rubble after the nightly bombings, while we see his family trembling in fear as to what they are going to do to survive. Hope and Glory is streaming on Tubi.

9 The Guns of Navarone (1961)

The Guns of Navarone is about a group of allied forces who are sent out to the Greek island of Navarone to destroy a Nazi base and rescue some allied troops while doing so. The team of commandos is led by British allied leader Major Franklin (Anthony Quayle), but as he gets injured on the task at hand, American Capt. Keith Mallory (Gregory Peck) takes the lead of the team.

Heightened Drama

The era of the late 1950s and early 1960s gave us World War II films that don’t thrive on the brutality of war but rather on the tactical drama of it all. The Guns of Navarone makes your palms sweaty due to the nerves it causes its audiences.

Will this team make it out okay or not? It’s another great team-up movie of characters that seem like they don’t belong together but share a common goal, and it’s another great performance by the great Gregory Peck. The Guns of Navarone is available to stream on Netflix.

Related: Best Gregory Peck Movies, Ranked

8 Fires Were Started (1943)

Director Humphrey Jennings made Fires Were Started with a very documentary style to it. The movie takes us away from the battles that Great Britain has had to fight and shows us something new with the clean-up crew, as the film gives us a glimpse at the firefighters who have to put out all the fires from the bombings the Germans implemented in London during the Great Blitz.

The Unseen Enemy

What’s very interesting about Fires Were Started is that we know who the enemy is in this film, but the Nazis never really get seen. We see the aftermath of their destruction.

The firefighters’ daunting task fills a viewer with a lot of dread, even if at times the movie hits on some propaganda notes. There’s still a lot played up for the camera as some of these firemen are re-enacting incidents from Blitzkrieg, but the weight of what they needed to do is still felt. Fires Were Started is not available anywhere to stream.

7 Darkest Hour (2017)

Winston Churchill was the glue that kept Western Europe together during World War II, a topic that is studied in the film Darkest Hour. It’s a movie that is not just a biopic of Prime Minister Churchill (Gary Oldman) during this time of war, but rather a study of Great Britain at the time and how he cemented his legacy in history.

An Oscar for Gary Oldman

Under prosthetics, makeup, and a brilliant performance, Gary Oldman walked out with a Best Actor win at the Oscars that year for his portrayal of Winston Churchill. To go along with Oldman’s win, Darkest Hour is directed by Joe Wright, a filmmaker who hails from London and knows how to give a film a lot of European sophistication.

This is the same director who gave us films like Atonement and Pride & Prejudice. There are some small historical changes in the film, but the message is clear: Churchill holds a strong place in the history of Britain, and the film shows you why. Darkest Hour is available to stream on Netflix.

6 The Dam Busters (1955)

The Dam Busters is based on true events with the tale of World War II fighter pilots and a bit of science mixed in as well. It’s the true story of Dr. Barnes Walls, who, for years, develops an explosive device that can skip across water and destroy enemy bases, specifically dams. It’s a concept titled “The Bouncing Bomb.” Once developed, he enlists a crew of fighter pilots to use these new bombs on Germany’s Ruhr Dams.

The Dam Busters Raid

The real Dam Busters raid happened on May 16th and 17th, 1843. The Royal Air Force lost a total of fifty-three men during the mission and eight aircraft. The film about the event had some minor changes for dramatic purposes and had some specific effects that in no way hold up today.

However, The Dam Busters isn’t a bad idea for a bit of a reboot of sorts. It’s a war film that is based on truth and falls in line with some of the many small stories of World War II about men who achieved what many thought was impossible. The Dam Busters is not available for streaming at the moment.

5 The Hill (1965)

The Hill is a 1965 prison war drama directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sean Connery. In the movie, Connery plays Sergeant Major Roberts, one of five new prisoners in a North African prison who now must face the hardships of being in a disciplinary camp after being court-martialed, as well as going toe-to-toe with sadistic prison guards.

Compelling War Drama Without Actually Seeing the War

Leave it to director Sidney Lumet to take us out of the battlefields and the high-stakes life-and-death moments of war, put us in prison, and still create a compelling drama. Outside of portraying James Bond, this may be Sean Connery’s best performance of this period of his career.

Other great actors who deliver memorable contributions are Ian Hendry as the tough-as-nails Sergeant Williams and the great Ossie Davis as Jacko King. This film once again adds to the idea that there are so many different kinds of stories that come out of war. Disciplinary jails for soldiers are often overlooked. There are so many opposing personalities in The Hill that you think the place explodes from tension rather than a

bombing. The Hill is available to rent on Prime Video.

4 1917 (2019)

1917 takes place during World War I and is about two British soldiers; Lance Cpl. Blake and Lance Cpl. Schofield, who receive orders for what sounds like a suicide mission. In a race against time, the two must sneak across enemy lines and relay a message to another superior officer that could save thousands of lives, one of whom is Blake’s brother.

A Personal Film for Sam Mendes

Sam Mendes based the story of this film on his grandfather and a story he told Mendes about during his time in the war. If anything, many call this film one of the most gripping tales of World War I in recent memory. It’s an era of war in the history of the world that gets overlooked a lot.

Mendes and cinematographer Roger Deakins shot the film with immersive long takes and quick cuts for the audience to not spot for the most part, so the whole film feels like one big long take. The climax of the film is epic, with the long tracking shot across a battlefield with explosions going off. It feels all too real. 1917 is available to rent on Prime Video.

3 The Imitation Game (2014)

The Imitation Game follows Alan Turning (Benedict Cumberbatch), a Cambridge mathematics genius who is hired by the newly formed British intelligence agency MI6 to crack Nazi codes. Turning and his team solved many codes during World War II, received high praise, and became war heroes. However, years later, the government that stood by him and his work put him in jail due to his sexuality.

The Dark Side of Great Britain’s History

Turning and his team’s work were pivotal in the war effort to defeat the Nazis and the Enigma code. Benedict Cumberbatch has never been better than in The Imitation Game. He captures all the necessary character traits that someone like Turning would have. Like many geniuses, he’s a bit of a tortured soul, making it more of a shame how he was treated years after World War II.

The Imitation Game has a victorious first half of the film that unfortunately shows us a dark side of history in the last half as Turning’s personal life is used against him, and it is just a sad thing to watch unfold. The Imitation Game is available to stream on Tubi.

2 Dunkirk (2017)

Christopher Nolan’s war epic Dunkirk tells the story of just that, when, in May of 1940, German forces trapped allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Through land, air, and sea, British and French troops were methodically toyed with by the German front as they tried to evacuate the beaches. Luckily, across the channel, many brave souls got in their boats and made the trek to aid in rescuing the men who had fought hard trying to survive German advancement.

Nolan’s Anxiety-Inducing War Film

It’s hard not to watch Dunkirk and have a panic attack. The film takes place from many different perspectives of Allied forces trying to get out of the grasp of the German army on the beaches of Dunkirk. Every frame of the film is cause for anxiety, as you never know what could go wrong at any minute. In true Nolan fashion, there are subtle themes in the film.

One of which is that there is a sense of pride that one can feel as the film hits its climax. Operation Dynamo (the Dunkirk evacuation) showed a country’s willingness to back its men in uniform. Dunkirk is available to rent on Prime Video.

1 The Bridge on The River Kwai (1957)

David Lean directs an utter classic about World War II British POWs who are under strict orders by their Japanese captors to build a bridge of great importance in Thailand. In The Bridge on the River Kwai, the group who is sent to work finds a sense of community among them, despite facing what they may feel is certain death. The film, although fictional, feels highly realistic in its adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle.

The Epitome of the British Solider Mentality

The Bridge of the River Kwai is known for perfectly encapsulating the mentality of Great Britain and its men in uniform during this time. You can be from any background, not just England, and feel a sense of pride in yourself and your country while watching this film. The famous line in it goes like this: “One day the war will be over, and I hope that the people who use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers!”

Another great thing about the film is that, despite the bigger events of the war happening in the background of all this, it’s a movie more about these men and their connection with one another through this troubling time. A theme like that is universally studied when crafting a war film, no matter the country that is being represented in it. The Bridge on the River Kwai is available to stream on AMC+.