Top 25 — Best War Films on Netflix (Ranked)
1) All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
- Runtime: 148 min
- Starring: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer
- Director: Edward Berger
- Genre: War, Drama, Historical
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
Edward Berger’s German-language adaptation is a devastatingly immersive portrait of young soldiers swallowed by the Great War. It follows Paul Bäumer, an eager volunteer whose optimism is quickly stripped away by trench warfare, mechanized slaughter, and endless loss. The cinematography is relentless, showing endless mud, suffocating smoke, and bodies caught in the machinery of battle. Yet, amid the carnage, there are fleeting moments of humanity—letters from home, a stolen meal, or quiet friendship—that remind viewers of what is at stake. The score’s unnerving tones mirror the grinding brutality of the era, underscoring the futility of violence. Carefully modulated performances reveal how institutional pressures reshape moral horizons. The film refuses easy heroics, opting instead for lived detail and ethical clarity. With its unflinching honesty and artistry, it stands tall among the best war films on Netflix.
2) Beasts of No Nation (2015)
- Runtime: 137 min
- Starring: Abraham Attah, Idris Elba
- Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Genre: War, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Set against the backdrop of civil war in West Africa, this raw drama follows Agu, a boy whose childhood vanishes when violence shatters his village. Separated from his family, he is swept into the orbit of the Commandant, played with chilling charisma by Idris Elba, who turns him into a child soldier. The beauty of the lush forest contrasts with the horrors Agu is forced to commit, heightening the emotional punch. Cary Joji Fukunaga balances brutality with lyricism, ensuring the story remains deeply human rather than exploitative. Abraham Attah delivers a breakthrough performance that conveys innocence, fear, rage, and resilience in breathtaking turns. The camera often lingers on Agu’s face, insisting that we read the moral cost in his eyes. Its specificity becomes universal, challenging audiences to confront complicity and empathy. For modern conflicts told with intimacy, this is among the best war movies on Netflix.
3) The Siege of Jadotville (2016)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Jamie Dornan, Mark Strong
- Director: Richie Smyth
- Genre: War, Action, Historical
- IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
This taut true story dramatizes an Irish UN company besieged in the Congo in 1961, grossly outnumbered yet tactically disciplined. Jamie Dornan crafts a thoughtful portrait of Commandant Pat Quinlan, a leader navigating impossible odds while protecting his men. The battle scenes have crisp geography and practical clarity, letting you understand the stakes shot by shot. Political machinations unfold off-site, reminding us that soldiers often pay for choices made in distant rooms. Sound design emphasizes exhaustion—radio static, dwindling ammo, the clatter of spent shells—building a palpable pressure cooker. The film honors professionalism without lapsing into jingoism, finding dignity in restraint. Its focus on small-unit cohesion gives the action emotional ballast. For grit, craft, and historical interest, it’s a prime pick among the best war films on Netflix.
4) Da 5 Bloods (2020)
- Runtime: 154 min
- Starring: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Chadwick Boseman
- Director: Spike Lee
- Genre: War, Drama, Adventure
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Spike Lee’s Vietnam odyssey is part treasure hunt, part reckoning with memory and the unfinished business of America’s wars. Four veterans return to retrieve a fallen friend and a buried cache, only to find old ghosts and new fault lines. Aspect ratios shift as the past intrudes, while Marvin Gaye’s vocals pour over images like elegy and balm. Delroy Lindo delivers a towering performance, his monologue slicing through myth and trauma. The film confronts how wars persist within survivors, complicating ideas of heroism, loyalty, and justice. Images of jungle and city entwine, blurring battlefields with the terrain of grief. Lee’s audacious tonal mix swings from satire to sorrow without losing moral urgency. It’s provocative, tender, and singular—fitting snugly within the best war movies on Netflix.
5) The Forgotten Battle (2020)
- Runtime: 124 min
- Starring: Gijs Blom, Susan Radder, Jamie Flatters
- Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
- Genre: War, Historical, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Set around the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944, this Dutch-Belgian production follows three intersecting lives: a reluctant Axis soldier, a resistance courier, and a British glider pilot. Flooded polders and wind-swept dikes create a striking sense of place, turning geography itself into a character. The narrative resists simplistic binaries, showing how duty, fear, and chance redirect lives with pitiless indifference. Practical effects and understated performances ground the spectacle in human stakes. Editing keeps cross-cut threads tense yet legible, paying off in a bravura finale. The film highlights a crucial but under-taught campaign, expanding the WWII map for general audiences. Nuanced, gripping, and sobering, it earns its slot among the best war films on Netflix.
6) Narvik (2022)
- Runtime: 108 min
- Starring: Carl Martin Eggesbø, Kristine Hartgen
- Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg
- Genre: War, Historical, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
Amid Norway’s 1940 campaign, the strategic port of Narvik becomes a crucible where global stakes meet domestic calculus. Snowbound vistas and brittle daylight infuse scenes with Arctic tension, while family bonds buckle under occupation. The film excels at translating high strategy into household dilemmas: who to trust, when to resist, how to protect a child. Performances emphasize ordinary people forced into impossible math. Action beats are clean and purposeful, avoiding bombast for clarity. It’s a crisp primer on an overlooked front, welcoming newcomers without sacrificing complexity. By anchoring history in community, it transforms maps into memories. Quietly formidable, it’s one of the best war movies on Netflix for viewers who prefer character-first storytelling.
7) Blood & Gold (2023)
- Runtime: 100 min
- Starring: Robert Maaser, Marie Hacke
- Director: Peter Thorwarth
- Genre: War, Action, Western-tinged
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Set in the waning days of WWII, this German actioner wears a dusty Western spirit, pitting a deserting soldier and a resolute villager against a Nazi unit hunting hidden loot. The moral universe is stark but satisfying, with cruelty confronted by courage and community. Standoffs, ambushes, and grim humor keep the tempo brisk without trivializing stakes. Practical stunt work and readable blocking give every scuffle a tactile jolt. The film’s pulpy veneer conceals a sincere respect for resistance and mutual aid. It’s the kind of war tale that welcomes Friday-night adrenaline without losing historical texture. As a tonal counterweight to heavier dramas, it broadens what counts among the best war films on Netflix.
8) Munich: The Edge of War (2021)
- Runtime: 123 min
- Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons
- Director: Christian Schwochow
- Genre: Historical Thriller, War-adjacent
- IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Less battlefield chronicle than diplomatic thriller, this adaptation tracks two former classmates—now on opposite sides—racing to alter history at the 1938 Munich Conference. Oak-paneled rooms hum with secrets as briefcases, trains, and memos become instruments of fate. Jeremy Irons crafts a quietly complex Chamberlain, reframing appeasement as a desperate hedge against catastrophe. The cinematography extracts suspense from glances and documents, proving that ideas can be as lethal as bullets. For viewers fascinated by the prelude to war, it’s essential context packaged as gripping cinema. It pairs smartly with frontline titles on this list, enriching the arc from negotiation to nightmare. Elegantly mounted and morally searching, it’s easily among the best war movies on Netflix for strategy-minded audiences.
9) First They Killed My Father (2017)
- Runtime: 136 min
- Starring: Sareum Srey Moch, Phoeung Kompheak
- Director: Angelina Jolie
- Genre: War, Biographical, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Adapting Loung Ung’s memoir, Angelina Jolie narrows the lens to a child’s vantage, letting sensory fragments carry history’s weight. Hot dust on bare feet, the hush of fear, the rhythm of labor—these details replace exposition with immersion. The film’s Khmer-language authenticity honors local voices and craft, resisting outsider simplifications. Landscapes are rendered with aching beauty, heightening the violence of upheaval. Family bonds pulse through every frame, giving the narrative a heartbeat that refuses to quit. It’s an intimate portrait of survival, memory, and the cost of silence. The closing movements land with quiet devastation. Humane and unadorned, it belongs among the best war films on Netflix for its ethical clarity.
10) The King (2019)
- Runtime: 140 min
- Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Robert Pattinson
- Director: David Michôd
- Genre: Historical War, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Drawing from Shakespearean histories, David Michôd reimagines Henry V as a reluctant ruler thrust into mud-slick statecraft. The film emphasizes logistics and counsel, asking what kind of truth survives courtly echo chambers. Chalamet’s Hal coils restraint into authority, while Pattinson’s Dauphin skewers scenes with wicked flourish. Battle choreography favors exhaustion over glamour; armor groans, horses stumble, and victory tastes like ash. Production design grounds the story in timber, iron, and cold rain, keeping fantasy at bay. Political turns arrive with the snap of a trap closing. As a meditation on leadership under arms, it’s vital. For viewers seeking period warfare with moral bite, this is one of the best war movies on Netflix.
11) Mosul (2019)
- Runtime: 101 min
- Starring: Suhail Dabbach, Adam Bessa
- Director: Matthew Michael Carnahan
- Genre: War, Action, Modern
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Inspired by real accounts, this urban-combat story follows an Iraqi SWAT unit fighting ISIS amid their own shattered streets. The perspective stays local, sidestepping Western savior tropes in favor of Iraqi voices and stakes. Dust, debris, and sudden ambushes impose a jittery rhythm that never loses spatial clarity. Between firefights, quiet scenes reveal gallows humor, grief, and the stubborn hope that welds a squad together. Performances are lived-in rather than showy, which makes the losses sting. Editing keeps tension taut without numbing sensationalism. It’s lean, propulsive, and fiercely grounded. For contemporary warfare told with authenticity, it’s clearly among the best war films on Netflix.
12) Operation Mincemeat (2021)
- Runtime: 128 min
- Starring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald
- Director: John Madden
- Genre: War, Historical, Espionage
- IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
This finely tailored WWII espionage drama revels in bureaucratic creativity—memos, forged identities, and map pins becoming weapons of imagination. Firth and Macfadyen make delightful co-conspirators, their dry wit offsetting grave stakes. The mechanics of deception are staged with satisfying clarity, turning paperwork into suspense. Costume and production design conjure an era when typewriters could change a campaign. Moments of tenderness complicate professional resolve, reminding us that strategy has human costs. As a story of brains over brawn, it’s a refreshing counterpoint to frontline epics. For history buffs, it’s catnip—and a lock for the best war movies on Netflix list.
13) The Bombardment (2021) — aka The Shadow in My Eye
- Runtime: 107 min
- Starring: Bertram Bisgaard Enevoldsen, Ester Birch
- Director: Ole Bornedal
- Genre: War, Drama, Historical
- IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
Focusing on a tragic 1945 bombing in Copenhagen, this Danish drama asks wrenching questions about error, responsibility, and mercy. By centering civilians—children, nuns, ordinary Danes—it restores names and faces to what is often reduced to “collateral.” Spare dialogue gives space for silent reckonings, while crisp period design grounds moral inquiry in place. The camera’s restraint avoids sensationalism, letting grief speak plainly. Small acts of kindness puncture the despair, reminding us why protection matters. Performances are tender and unsentimental, calibrating sorrow with dignity. It’s a heartbreaking, necessary complement to combat-heavy titles among the best war films on Netflix.
14) Outlaw King (2018)
- Runtime: 121 min
- Starring: Chris Pine, Florence Pugh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
- Director: David Mackenzie
- Genre: Historical War, Action
- IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
David Mackenzie’s chronicle of Robert the Bruce emphasizes the grinding physics of medieval warfare—terrain, fatigue, and morale. Battles are muddy, chaotic, and intimate; you feel the weight of mail and the thud of horses. Pine plays Bruce as a pragmatic survivor, not a marble hero, while Pugh offers vital grace notes of resolve. The film’s sense of logistics—supply, alliances, timing—keeps politics tethered to mud and iron. Its romance with the land gives rebellion a tangible soul. Without mythic varnish, victory feels hard-won and costly. For a tactile slice of history, it earns its place among the best war movies on Netflix.
15) War Machine (2017)
- Runtime: 122 min
- Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace
- Director: David Michôd
- Genre: Satire, War, Comedy-Drama
- IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
Loosely inspired by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, this barbed satire skewers modern military bureaucracy and the corporate vernacular of endless war. Brad Pitt’s granite-jawed general charges through geopolitics like a startup founder chasing KPIs. The humor is uncomfortable by design, making room for sorrow rather than cheap shots. Scenes of briefings and media choreography lay bare how narratives are weaponized. When the fighting arrives, it’s chaotic and unglamorous, undermining the sales pitch. The film’s blend of absurdity and empathy keeps the critique humane. As a tonal outlier, it adds dimension to the best war films on Netflix roster.
16) Sand Castle (2017)
- Runtime: 113 min
- Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Henry Cavill, Logan Marshall-Green
- Director: Fernando Coimbra
- Genre: War, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
Set in 2003 Iraq, this intimate drama follows a U.S. Army unit tasked with repairing a water system in a hostile village, where goodwill collides with fear and miscommunication. Nicholas Hoult’s reluctant soldier becomes a lens on moral fatigue and responsibility. The film’s rhythm favors patrols, negotiations, and waiting—reminding us that logistics and trust are battlegrounds, too. Cinematography captures sun-bleached glare and night-vision dread with equal care. Local dynamics are depicted with nuance, avoiding cartoonish binaries. When violence erupts, it’s brief, bewildering, and consequential. Understated and sobering, it’s a valuable character piece among the best war movies on Netflix.
17) The Resistance Banker (2018)
- Runtime: 123 min
- Starring: Barry Atsma, Jacob Derwig
- Director: Joram Lürsen
- Genre: War, Biographical, Thriller
- IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
This Dutch thriller dramatizes Walraven van Hall’s underground bank that financed resistance against Nazi occupation. Ledgers become weapons; audits become ambushes; signatures become acts of war. The film finds nail-biting suspense in paperwork and secrecy, turning economic ingenuity into defiance. Performances stress quiet courage and the peril of trust. Production design meticulously recreates offices and safe houses as arenas of risk. By reframing finance as resistance, it expands what war cinema can dramatize. Intelligent, tense, and unusual, it deserves its place among the best war films on Netflix.
18) War Sailor (Film Version) (2022/2023)
- Runtime: ~150 min (film cut)
- Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Pål Sverre Hagen
- Director: Gunnar Vikene
- Genre: War, Drama, Historical
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Based on true events, War Sailor honors Norwegian merchant seamen who kept supply lines alive while unarmed and relentlessly targeted. The Atlantic becomes an endless horizon punctured by sudden fire, lifeboats, and long separations. Domestic scenes on shore ache with uncertainty as months turn to years. The film excels at dignifying labor under threat, revealing heroism in routine. Performances are weathered and humane, carrying the salt of the sea. Sound and editing conjure both monotony and terror with equal conviction. Few films give civilians at sea their due with such tenderness. It’s a standout among the best war movies on Netflix for widening the map of sacrifice.
19) The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)
- Runtime: 110 min
- Starring: Mario Casas, Alain Hernández
- Director: Mar Targarona
- Genre: War, Biographical, Historical
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
In a camp designed to erase evidence, a Spanish prisoner risks everything to smuggle photographic proof of atrocity. The film’s cold palette and stark compositions capture a system that weaponizes documentation. Every negative becomes a battleground, every darkroom an act of rebellion. Performances emphasize patience and terror held in check. The narrative explores complicity and courage without easy absolution. By foregrounding archivists of truth, it honors a different kind of frontline. Sobering and necessary, it belongs among the best war films on Netflix for its insistence that memory is resistance.
20) The Outpost (2019)
- Runtime: 123 min
- Starring: Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, Orlando Bloom
- Director: Rod Lurie
- Genre: War, Action, Biographical
- IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Recounting the Battle of Kamdesh, the film emphasizes the peril of indefensible geography—an outpost ringed by mountains—where every movement is exposed. Rod Lurie stages combat with punishing clarity, tracking squads through dust, smoke, and panic without losing coherence. Caleb Landry Jones delivers a searing turn that humanizes valor and aftermath. Scenes of downtime—coffee mugs, jokes, routines—deepen the shock when the storm hits. The film honors professionalism over swagger, making courage feel procedural and communal. It’s one of the best war movies on Netflix when available in your region for modern battle realism.
21) Unknown Soldier (2017)
- Runtime: 180 min
- Starring: Eero Aho, Jussi Vatanen
- Director: Aku Louhimies
- Genre: War, Historical, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
This Finnish epic follows a machine-gun company during the Continuation War, giving a panoramic yet intimate account of camaraderie and attrition. The long runtime allows rhythms of soldiering—marching, waiting, banter, dread—to accumulate into lived texture. When combat arrives, it feels like weather you’ve tracked for hours. Performances sketch a chorus of types without reducing them to clichés. Forest and marsh become as consequential as any commander. The film balances national memory with unsentimental detail. For viewers curious about lesser-known fronts, it’s essential and firmly among the best war films on Netflix.
22) The King’s Choice (2016)
- Runtime: 133 min
- Starring: Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo
- Director: Erik Poppe
- Genre: War, Historical, Drama
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
A dignified portrait of King Haakon VII as he faces Germany’s invasion of Norway in 1940, this drama finds suspense in constitutional duty. Fog, forests, and train corridors become theaters of destiny where symbolism and survival entwine. Jesper Christensen embodies a monarch negotiating humanity amid history’s crush. The film suggests that leadership can be a form of resistance, even when power is mostly ceremonial. Dialogue and silence trade weight with equal force. It’s restrained, moving, and instructive for anyone curious how countries choose themselves. Quietly majestic, it merits its place among the best war movies on Netflix.
23) The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)
- Runtime: 129 min
- Starring: Chris Evans, Michael K. Williams
- Director: Gideon Raff
- Genre: Historical Thriller, War-adjacent
- IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
Based on a covert operation to evacuate Ethiopian Jews to Israel via a fake seaside resort in Sudan, the film blends caper mechanics with humanitarian stakes. Sun-bleached beaches and shadowy checkpoints create a tension between cover and danger. Ensemble chemistry keeps the tone nimble without undercutting peril. The narrative honors logistics—buses, papers, timing—as lifelines. Michael K. Williams brings quiet gravitas, centering the mission’s purpose. While more thriller than frontline combat, it expands our sense of wartime courage. Accessible and engaging, it earns a nod among the best war films on Netflix for mission-driven drama.
24) The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)
- Runtime: 111 min
- Starring: Alexander Dreymon, Mark Rowley
- Director: Edward Bazalgette
- Genre: Historical War, Action
- IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
This rousing coda to the beloved series delivers shield-wall battlecraft, political scheming, and an elegy for a passing age. Even newcomers can track Uhtred’s arc, while longtime fans will feel the full weight of farewells. Action is staged with muscular clarity—lines crash, formations flex, and ground matters. The film embraces loyalty and fate without romantic fog. Costumes, sets, and a sense of lived-in grit make the Dark Ages vivid. It’s streamlined yet emotionally generous. For those who like their history with steel and honor, it belongs among the best war movies on Netflix.
25) Troy (2004) — Regional Availability
- Runtime: 163 min (theatrical)
- Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Peter O’Toole
- Director: Wolfgang Petersen
- Genre: Historical War, Epic
- IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
Though its Netflix presence rotates by region, Troy remains an accessible gateway to Bronze Age warfare—sieges, duels, and diplomacy filtered through myth’s long shadow. Petersen stages large-scale action with classical clarity; the Hector-Achilles duel still crackles with tragic inevitability. Production design leans into sun, stone, and bronze, giving the epic a tactile sheen. Political chess—envoys, councils, alliances—adds brains to the brawn. Performances pitch between operatic and intimate, finding human notes inside legend. When it’s available in your catalog, it makes for a crowd-pleasing capstone to a war-movie weekend. As rotating titles go, it’s a worthy inclusion among the best war films on Netflix.
How we picked the best war movies on Netflix
Our selection was shaped by four key principles: authenticity, craft, diversity of perspective, and relevance. We highlighted films that not only depict battles but also explore the aftermath of war, the politics behind it, and the personal stories that give history meaning. We included global cinema to capture experiences beyond Western narratives, such as Scandinavian campaigns, African conflicts, and Southeast Asian struggles. The goal was to create a guide to the best war movies on Netflix that satisfies fans of historical epics and those who prefer intimate, character-driven tales. Each entry was carefully evaluated for its artistic impact and likely availability on the platform, while noting that catalogs vary by country and over time.
Conclusion — Finding the best war films on Netflix for every mood
In times of uncertainty, revisiting the past through film can be a powerful way to process the present. The best war films on Netflix offer more than entertainment; they are cultural artifacts that preserve memory and ask urgent questions about humanity’s choices. Titles like All Quiet on the Western Front remind us of the futility of mechanized slaughter, while Beasts of No Nation exposes the lingering scars of conflicts too often ignored. If you prefer political thrillers, Munich: The Edge of War demonstrates how diplomacy can shape destinies, while Operation Mincemeat proves that intelligence and imagination can redirect entire campaigns. For modern relevance, Mosul and The Outpost capture contemporary warfare’s immediacy and aftermath with bracing clarity. To explore how cinema interprets history across decades, see reporting and criticism from The New York Times, and for deeper historical context, browse features at Smithsonian Magazine. Taken together, these selections ensure the best war movies on Netflix span continents, eras, and tones—offering catharsis, challenge, and, crucially, remembrance.
