Top Rated War Movies on Kanopy

Braveheart

1995

Braveheart

1995
7.9
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
The Pianist

2002

The Pianist

2002
8.4
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2008

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2008
7.8
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
Tropic Thunder

2008

Tropic Thunder

2008
6.7
A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.
First Blood

1982

First Blood

1982
7.5
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Black Hawk Down

2001

Black Hawk Down

2001
7.4
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

1964

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

1964
8.1
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.
Platoon

1986

Platoon

1986
7.7
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Downfall

2004

Downfall

2004
7.9
In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
Enemy at the Gates

2001

Enemy at the Gates

2001
7.4
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.
Brothers

2009

Brothers

2009
7.3
When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.
The Great Dictator

1940

The Great Dictator

1940
8.3
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
Paths of Glory

1957

Paths of Glory

1957
8.3
A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.
Hotel Rwanda

2004

Hotel Rwanda

2004
7.7
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.
Overlord

2018

Overlord

2018
6.7
France, June 1944. On the eve of D-Day, some American paratroopers fall behind enemy lines after their aircraft crashes while on a mission to destroy a radio tower in a small village near the beaches of Normandy. After reaching their target, the surviving paratroopers realise that, in addition to fighting the Nazi troops that patrol the village, they also must fight against something else.
The Great Escape

1963

The Great Escape

1963
7.9
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
Tears of the Sun

2003

Tears of the Sun

2003
6.9
Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician.
The Men Who Stare at Goats

2009

The Men Who Stare at Goats

2009
6
A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.
The English Patient

1996

The English Patient

1996
7.2
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
We Were Soldiers

2002

We Were Soldiers

2002
7.1
The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

Top Rated War Movies on Kanopy

1995

1995

2002

2002

2008

2008

2008

2008

1982

1982

2001

2001

1964

1964

1986

1986

2004

2004

2001

2001

2009

2009

1940

1940

1957

1957

2004

2004

2018

2018

1963

1963

2003

2003

2009

2009

1996

1996

2002

2002