Ultimate World War I Dramas List
by thx-16429 | created - 03 Mar 2021 | updated - 25 May 2021 | PublicANZACs, Britons, French, Americans, and Germans in the air and in the mire
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Passed | 152 min | Drama, War
A German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
Director: Lewis Milestone | Stars: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy
Votes: 67,716 | Gross: $3.27M
2. All Quiet on the Western Front (1979 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 150 min | Drama, War
A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Richard Thomas, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm
Votes: 10,545
3. The Red Baron (2008)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
Director: Nikolai Müllerschön | Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 13,162 | Gross: $0.04M
4. The Blue Max (1966)
Approved | 156 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A young pilot in the German air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous, tries ambitiously to earn the medal offered for 20 kills.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Jeremy Kemp
Votes: 7,632
5. Flyboys (2006)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, History
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, Scott Hazell
Votes: 44,504 | Gross: $13.08M
6. The Lost Battalion (1919)
70 min | Drama, War
A battalion of the U. S. Army's 77th Division penetrates deep into the Argonne Forest of France during the First World War. The battalion becomes surrounded and holds out for six long days, awaiting reinforcement and rescue.
Director: Burton L. King | Stars: Robert Alexander, George G. McMurtry, Charles W. Whittlesey, William J. Cullen
Votes: 145
7. The Lost Battalion (2001 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 92 min | Action, Drama, War
Fact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Ricky Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris, Jay Rodan
Votes: 8,234
8. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 38,871 | Gross: $0.17M
9. Paths of Glory (1957)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, War
After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready
Votes: 212,414
10. Joyeux Noel (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, History, Music
In December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
Director: Christian Carion | Stars: Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Natalie Dessay
Votes: 32,003 | Gross: $1.05M
11. 1917 (2019)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, History
April 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays, Colin Firth
Votes: 676,334 | Gross: $159.23M
12. 1917: The Real Story (2020)
TV-MA | 60 min | Documentary, War
Documentary looking at the real events behind the film 1917. What elements were true and the aftermath in the events that followed.
Director: Bruce Vigar
Votes: 194
13. Journey's End (I) (2017)
R | 107 min | Drama, War
Set in a dugout in Aisne in 1918, it is the story of a group of British officers, led by mentally-disintegrating young Officer Stanhope, as they await their fate.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Paul Bettany, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Tom Sturridge
Votes: 11,351 | Gross: $0.16M
14. War Horse: The Real Story (2012 TV Movie)
46 min | Documentary
Documentary about the roughly one million horses that were used by the British army during the first world war.
Director: George Pagliero | Stars: Russell Boulter, Mark Evans
Votes: 50
15. War Horse (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farm boy enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. His hopeful journey takes him out of England and onto the front lines as the war rages on.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch
Votes: 165,677 | Gross: $79.88M
16. Company K (2004)
R | 102 min | Drama, War
World War I troubled veteran Joe Delaney attempts to compile a history of his U.S. Marines company but nightmares about the German soldier he killed haunt him still.
Director: Robert Clem | Stars: Ari Fliakos, Terry Serpico, Steve Cuiffo, Joe Delafield
Votes: 358
17. Gallipoli (1981)
PG | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Two Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, Bill Kerr, Harold Hopkins
Votes: 41,989 | Gross: $5.73M
18. Deadline Gallipoli (2015)
197 min | Drama, War
Four war correspondents accompany troops during WWI and narrate the story of the Gallipoli campaign, an attempt by British and French troops to attack the Ottoman Empire.
Stars: Sam Worthington, Hugh Dancy, Joel Jackson, Charles Dance
Votes: 870
19. Gallipoli (2015)
44 min | Drama, History, War
Four young Australian boys join the military and are sent to Gallipoli.
Stars: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Harry Greenwood, Sam Parsonson, Tom Budge
Votes: 2,389
20. Gelibolu (2005)
114 min | Documentary, History, War
The Allied invasion of and campaign in Gallipoli, Turkey, during World War 1.
Director: Tolga Örnek | Stars: Zafer Ergin, Demetri Goritsas, Jeremy Irons, Sam Neill
Votes: 2,012
21. The Passing Bells (2014)
TV-14 | Drama, War
An epic historical drama spanning the five years of the First World War, as seen through the eyes of two ordinary young soldiers.
Stars: Patrick Gibson, Jack Lowden, Hubert Burton, Adam Long
Votes: 1,238
22. Our World War (2014)
Not Rated | Action, Drama, War
Three true stories of British soldiers fighting in World War 1. Each one takes place at a different time and place in the war, focuses on a different unit and shows a different aspect to the war.
Stars: Nicki Vickery, Rob Townsend, Gerard Kearns, Shaun Dooley
Votes: 1,892
23. 37 Days (2014)
60 min | History
A TV mini-series that unveils the behind-closed-doors story of the final weeks before the outbreak of World War I.
Stars: Ian McDiarmid, Nicholas Farrell, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 1,563
24. They Shall Not Grow Old (II) (2018)
R | 99 min | Documentary, History, War
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Thomas Adlam, William Argent, John Ashby, Attwood
Votes: 38,476 | Gross: $17.96M
25. The Lighthorsemen (1987)
PG | 131 min | Drama, History, War
In 1917 when the British forces are bogged down in front of the Turkish and German lines in Palestine they rely on the Australian light horse regiment to break the deadlock.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Peter Phelps, Nick Waters, John Larking, Jack Heywood
Votes: 2,025
26. Anzacs (1985)
165 min | Drama, History, War
The lives of a dozen Australian soldiers who served in the ANZACs. Fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, then on the Western Front for the remainder of WWI, it's the story of the hardships, camaraderie and casualties of war.
Stars: Andrew Clarke, Paul Hogan, Jon Blake, Megan Williams
Votes: 848
27. Anzacs in the Face of War (2011)
Not Rated | 52 min | Documentary, History, War
Archive footage of Australia and New Zealand forces during WW1, WW2 and the Vietnam conflict. Plus home life between the wars, especially focusing on the homage we pay to those who so ... See full summary »
Director: Merran Williams | Stars: Thomas Blamey, John Curtin, Duke of Gloucester, George Godfrey
Votes: 11
28. Anzac Girls (2014)
60 min | Action, Drama, History
The true stories of extraordinary young women who witness the brutality and heroism of war and rise to meet the challenge.
Stars: Georgia Flood, Antonia Prebble, Laura Brent, Anna McGahan
Votes: 1,560
29. Passchendaele (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama, History, Romance
The lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the bloody World War I battle of Passchendaele.
Director: Paul Gross | Stars: Paul Gross, Michael Greyeyes, James Kot, Jesse Frechette
Votes: 8,808
30. Beneath Hill 60 (2010)
R | 122 min | Drama, History, War
In 1916, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company is tunneling beneath German fortifications and bunkers to detonate massive explosive charges.
Director: Jeremy Sims | Stars: Brendan Cowell, Harrison Gilbertson, Steve Le Marquand, Gyton Grantley
Votes: 8,810
31. The Trench (1999)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, History, War
June 1916. The British Army is planning a big offensive in the Somme region in France. We follow a platoon of British soldiers as they sit in a forward trench, anxiously awaiting the order to go over the top.
Director: William Boyd | Stars: Paul Nicholls, Daniel Craig, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Danny Dyer
Votes: 4,164
32. Line of Fire: The Somme (2005 TV Movie)
102 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.
Director: Carl Hindmarch | Stars: Laurence Kennedy, Tilda Swinton, Ed Stoppard, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 670
33. Flanders (2006)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Romance, War
Bruno Dumont follows up the controversial Twentynine Palms with this tale of a group of young soldiers who go off to war and experience some life-changing events. Flandres won the Grand Prix Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Director: Bruno Dumont | Stars: Adélaïde Leroux, Samuel Boidin, Henri Cretel, Jean-Marie Bruweart
Votes: 3,270 | Gross: $0.02M
34. In Love and War (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A bitter love story between a talented writer and a gentle nurse.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, Mackenzie Astin, Margot Steinberg
Votes: 9,130 | Gross: $14.48M
35. Aces High (1976)
PG | 114 min | Action, Drama, War
In World War I, the high casualty rate amongst the rookie pilots of the Royal Flying Corps puts an enormous strain on the survivors.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer, Simon Ward, Peter Firth
Votes: 2,990
36. A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Unrated | 80 min | Drama, Romance, War
An American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Philips
Votes: 6,826
37. The Big Parade (1925)
Not Rated | 151 min | Drama, Romance, War
A young American soldier witnesses the horrors of the Great War.
Directors: King Vidor, George W. Hill | Stars: John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Claire McDowell
Votes: 7,285 | Gross: $11.00M
38. The Dawn Patrol (1938)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, War
British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war.
Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp
Votes: 3,421
40. Sergeant York (1941)
Passed | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
A Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias
Votes: 19,795 | Gross: $16.40M
41. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,552 | Gross: $44.82M
42. A Very Long Engagement (2004)
R | 133 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Tells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jodie Foster, Dominique Pinon
Votes: 75,966 | Gross: $6.17M
43. Birdsong (2012)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama, Romance, War
As an English soldier fights in the horrific trenches of northern France, he is haunted by the memories of his forbidden love affair with a French woman.
Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Clémence Poésy, Matthew Goode, Thomas Turgoose
Votes: 6,006
44. The Guardians (2017)
R | 138 min | Drama, War
Women are left behind to work a family farm during the Great War.
Director: Xavier Beauvois | Stars: Nathalie Baye, Laura Smet, Iris Bry, Cyril Descours
Votes: 2,578 | Gross: $0.18M
45. Westfront 1918 (1930)
Not Rated | 75 min | Drama, Romance, War
A group of German solders fight on the front line in France at the end of World War I.
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Fritz Kampers, Gustav Diessl, Hans-Joachim Möbis, Claus Clausen
Votes: 2,423
46. Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
G | 144 min | Comedy, Musical, War
The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the three boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Wendy Allnutt, Colin Farrell, Malcolm McFee, John Rae
Votes: 3,259 | Gross: $0.80M
47. The War Below (2021)
96 min | Drama, History, War
During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
Director: J.P. Watts | Stars: Sam Hazeldine, Tom Goodman-Hill, Kris Hitchen, Andrew Scarborough
Votes: 3,624
48. The Great War (2019)
R | 108 min | Drama, War
During the last days of the Great War, a group of U.S. soldiers are sent behind enemy lines to rescue a lost platoon.
Director: Steven Luke | Stars: Bates Wilder, Hiram A. Murray, Ron Perlman, Billy Zane
Votes: 1,289
49. Private Peaceful (2012)
Not Rated | 102 min | Drama, War
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
Director: Pat O'Connor | Stars: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Jack O'Connell, George MacKay, John Lynch
Votes: 1,720
50. My Boy Jack (2007 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
Director: Brian Kirk | Stars: David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall, Carey Mulligan
Votes: 5,657
51. Behind the Lines (1997)
R | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Based on Pat Barker's novel of the same name, "Regeneration" tells the story of soldiers of World War One sent to an asylum for emotional troubles. Two of those soldiers are England's most important WW1 poets.
Director: Gillies MacKinnon | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, Jonny Lee Miller, Stuart Bunce
Votes: 2,500 | Gross: $0.02M
52. Wooden Crosses (1932)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, War
World War 1 begins and a young man enlists to fight for his country.
Director: Raymond Bernard | Stars: Pierre Blanchar, Gabriel Gabrio, Charles Vanel, Raymond Aimos
Votes: 1,693
53. Shout at the Devil (1976)
PG | 150 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
During World War I, a British aristocrat, an American entrepreneur, and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battlecruiser, which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar.
Director: Peter R. Hunt | Stars: Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, Barbara Parkins, Ian Holm
Votes: 3,356
54. Battle Ground (2013)
R | 95 min | Action, Drama, War
Three British soldiers find themselves stranded in No Man's Land after a failed charge on the German Trenches. Set in France 1916.
Directors: Johan Earl, Adrian Powers | Stars: Johan Earl, Tim Pocock, Martin Copping, Denai Gracie
Votes: 2,126
55. The Long Way Home (2013)
112 min | Drama, History, War
The Long Way Home is set on the outskirts of Kars in Eastern Anatolia in the winter of 1915 and takes us to the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Sarikamis. The film follows a group of ... See full summary »
Director: Alphan Eseli | Stars: Ugur Polat, Nergis Öztürk, Serdar Orçin, Muharrem Bayrak
Votes: 732
56. Josef (2011)
90 min | Action, War
It is a movie about survive in war time (WW1 East front). In dark colors, with interesting characters, mixture of ash and sand, puzzle of stories, cynic, precise, harsh, bitter, Rubick cube of times and events.
Director: Stanislav Tomic | Stars: Neven Aljinovic-Tot, Alen Liveric, Drazen Sivak, Sandra Loncaric
Votes: 470
57. Admiral (2008)
Not Rated | 124 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of admiral Aleksandr Kolchak who remained faithful to his oath to the Russian Emperor and fought against the Bolshevik rule after the 1917 October Revolution.
Director: Andrey Kravchuk | Stars: Konstantin Khabenskiy, Elizaveta Boyarskaya, Sergey Bezrukov, Vladislav Vetrov
Votes: 8,610
58. Johnny Got His Gun (1971)
R | 111 min | Drama, War
During World War I, a patriotic young American is rendered blind, deaf, limbless, and mute by a horrific artillery shell attack. Trapped in what's left of his body, he desperately looks for a way to end his life.
Director: Dalton Trumbo | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Kathy Fields, Marsha Hunt, Jason Robards
Votes: 18,359 | Gross: $0.55M
59. King & Country (1964)
Not Rated | 86 min | Drama, War
During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.
Director: Joseph Losey | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Tom Courtenay, Leo McKern, Barry Foster
Votes: 2,490
60. The Water Diviner (2014)
R | 111 min | Drama, History, War
An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try to locate his three missing sons.
Director: Russell Crowe | Stars: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, Isabel Lucas
Votes: 77,931 | Gross: $4.19M
61. The Crimson Field (2014)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, War
During the First World War, Kitty Trevelyan tries to put the past troubles behind her as she joins two other girls to volunteer at one of the busy war hospitals in northern France.
Stars: Hermione Norris, Oona Chaplin, Richard Rankin, Marianne Oldham
Votes: 3,396
62. Parade's End (2012)
TV-MA | 57 min | Action, Drama, Romance
Revolves around a love triangle between a conservative English aristocrat, his mean socialite wife and a young suffragette.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Roger Allam, Adelaide Clemens
Votes: 10,746
63. Gallipoli: End of the Road (2013)
101 min | Action, Drama, History
April, 1915. First World War in Canakkale, Ottoman Empire. Two brothers leave their mountain village to fight on the front line. One is an experienced sniper fighting for Ottomans against ... See full summary »
Directors: Kemal Uzun, Serdar Akar, Ahmet Karaman | Stars: Gürkan Uygun, Berrak Tüzünataç, Umut Kurt, Stephen Chance
Votes: 5,153
64. The Battle of Gallipoli (1931)
75 min | Drama, War
Two friends enlist in the British army during World War 1 and take part in the Gallipoli campaign.
Directors: Anthony Asquith, Geoffrey Barkas | Stars: Fay Compton, Tony Bruce, Carl Harbord, Dennis Hoey
Votes: 90
65. Walter's War (2008 TV Movie)
60 min | Biography, Drama, War
The substantially true story of Walter Tull, a black man whose grandfather was a slave but who was born in Folkestone, Kent, in England, and who, in the years prior to the First World War, ... See full summary »
Director: Alrick Riley | Stars: O-T Fagbenle, Paul Westwood, Zac Fox, Kwame Kwei-Armah
Votes: 120
66. King of Hearts (1966)
Not Rated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, War
During World War I, a British private, sent ahead to a French town to scout for enemy presence, is mistaken for a King by the colorful patients of an insane asylum.
Director: Philippe de Broca | Stars: Alan Bates, Geneviève Bujold, Pierre Brasseur, Jean-Claude Brialy
Votes: 4,342 | Gross: $0.02M
67. Hell Below (1933)
Passed | 101 min | Romance, Drama, War
In 1918, U.S. Navy Lt. Tommy Knowlton participates in dangerous submarine missions, disobeys orders, gets court-martialed and romances a married woman who happens to be his C.O.'s daughter.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Walter Huston, Madge Evans, Jimmy Durante
Votes: 561
68. Lafayette Escadrille (1958)
Approved | 93 min | Drama, Romance, War
American youth and flying ace flies for France in World War I, meets and loves a French girl and a prostitute.
Director: William A. Wellman | Stars: Tab Hunter, Clint Eastwood, Etchika Choureau, Marcel Dalio
Votes: 932
69. The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017)
R | 106 min | Drama, War
This movie is a love story between an idealistic American nurse and a Turkish officer in World War I.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 26,676
70. Secret Agent (1936)
Not Rated | 86 min | Mystery, Thriller
After three British Agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Robert Young, Peter Lorre
Votes: 9,045
71. Ryan's Daughter (1970)
R | 200 min | Drama, Romance
Set in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married woman in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Christopher Jones
Votes: 10,688 | Gross: $30.85M
Tell Your Friends