The bloody events of more than a century ago were reflected in films about the First World War. 38 states were drawn into the conflict. For millions of people those events turned into personal tragedies. The eyewitnesses of the First World War are no longer alive, but cinematography helps to recreate the fates and deeds, victories and defeats of four long war years.
Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)
- Rating IMDB – 7.8
- Genre: War, Action, Drama, History
- Production: Germany, USA, UK / 2022
- Directed by: Edward Berger
- Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grunewald, Edin Hasanovic, Daniel Brühl, Thibault de Montalembert, David Striesow, Andreas Döhler
This is a German film adaptation of Remarque’s great novel, describing the chaos and horrors of the First World War. It was nominated for an Oscar by Germany.
Paul Bäumer, a young recruit, is full of enthusiasm and patriotism. He thinks that in a week the Germans will enter Paris with a victory, and he himself will get the brilliant glory of a hero-liberator. He doesn’t pay attention to the fact that a tag with the name of the previous, ingloriously deceased owner is sewn onto his almost flawless uniform.
Soon this naive hero will learn a cruel life lesson. Later he’ll dwell devastated and terrified to death, just like a little boy, in the trenches of one of the most monstrous wars of mankind.
This film is the most expensive German film project in history.
The King’s Man
- Rating IMDB – 6.3
- Genre: Action, Thriller, Adventure
- Production: UK, USA / 2021
- Budget: $100,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $125,897,478
- Director: Matthew Vaughn
- Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Harris Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Brühl, Todd Boyce, Stanley Tucci
An action-adventure film is based on a comic book and tells about British spies. The film shows the backstory of the creation of a powerful secret organization “King’s Man”. The main participants in the events are Orlando of Oxford, the British Duke, and his son Conrad.
The action takes place on the eve of the First World War. Orlando and Conrad travel to Sarajevo, where they witness the assassination of the Archduke of Austria.
There is a scene in the film where one of the characters receives a white feather as a symbol of cowardice. Similar cases have indeed taken place in history. The “Order of the White Feather” in England sent white feathers to draft dodgers.
Dvēseļu Putenis (Blizzard of Souls)
- Rating IMDB – 7.3
- Genre: Drama, War, History
- Production: Latvia / 2019
- Directed by: Dzintars Dreibergs
- Cast: Oto Brantevics, Greta Trushina, Mārtiņš Wilsons, Rezija Kalnina, Raimonds Celms, Jekabs Reinis, Gati Gaga, Renar Zeltins, Vilis Daudziņš, Ieva Florens
The picture of the Latvian director Dzintars Dreibergs presents the viewer with the story of 16-year-old Arturs Vanags. The young man becomes a Latvian shooter in the ranks of the Russian army during the First World War. However, the end of the war does not mean the end of the struggle for Arthurs. Latvia is in for a civil war, and the main character will have to make a difficult choice.
The film is an adaptation of the book with the same name by Aleksandr Grins. His granddaughter Nora oversaw the making of the film and insisted on changing the crew during the production.
1917
- Rating IMDB – 8.2
- Genre: War, Action, Drama, History
- Production: USA, UK, India, Spain, Canada, China / 2019
- Budget: $100,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $384,937,038
- Directed by: Sam Mendes
- Cast: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough
One of the most exciting films about the First World War. Two British soldiers, Tom Blake and Will Scofield, receive a dangerous mission from the command to deliver the order to cancel the offensive. The soldiers have to overcome the territory occupied by the enemy. If the retreat is not called off, the lives of 1,600 soldiers will be in jeopardy.
The film received 10 nominations and three Oscars. The creators prepared thoroughly for filming: more than 1.5 km long trenches were dug, and the rehearsal of the scenes lasted for 6 months.
War Horse
- Rating IMDB – 7.2
- Genre: Action, Drama, Adventure, War, History
- Production: USA, India / 2011
- Budget: $66,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $177,584,879
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Nils Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Celine Buckens, Toby Kebbell, Patrick Kennedy
The boy Albert is stronhly attached to his friend, horse Joey. The horse even goes after him to the front when the war breaks out. Their friendship began when Joey was still a foal. Albert’s father manages to purchase a grown foal at an auction, despite the high price. The friendship between the boy and the horse grows stronger day by day, but fate and war separate them. Can the friends find each other?
14 horses were cast as Joey. The main performer of the role was the horse Finder. The filming process was constantly monitored by employees of the Society for the Protection of Animals. They gave the film the highest rating in terms of animal treatment.
Testament of Youth
- Rating IMDB – 7.2
- Genre: Drama, military, biography, history
- Production: UK, Denmark / 2014
- Worldwide gross: $5,874,883
- Director: James Kent
- Cast: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Colin Morgan, Emily Watson, Dominic West, Hayley Atwell, Miranda Richardson, Joanna Scanlan, Rachel Redford
Screen adaptation of the memoirs of the Englishwoman Vera Britten. The memories of her youth, dreams and plans for the future, were crossed out by the war. Vera and her brother Edward were born into a wealthy, prosperous family. In 1914, the girl goes to college and dreams of becoming a writer. But the war begins – Vera’s brother, fiancé and two friends are sent to the front.
The girl decides to become a nurse and take care of the wounded soldiers. She doesn’t make any difference between the British and German wounded soldiers and sympathizes equally with both …
The memoirs on which the film was based were called Testaments of Youth. The book was published in 1933.
Birdsong
- Rating IMDB – 7.3
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, military, history
- Production: UK / 2012
- Directed by: Philip Martin
- Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Clemence Poesy, Matthew Goode, Thomas Turgus, Rory Keenan, Richard Madden, Joseph Mole, Simon Nehan, Daniel Serkera, Nicholas Moss
A beautiful and touching story about a deep feeling that turned out to be crossed out by the war. Stephen struggles to survive in the trenches on the front lines in Northern France. He constantly thinks about his beloved Frenchwoman.
Frames of pre-war French landscapes make a sharp contrast with the grey hopelessness of front-line reality. When it seems that there is no way out, fate gives the hero a chance for happiness.
The film is based on the book “Birdsong” by British writer Sebastian Faulks, which is considered a modern classic. Director Philip Martin said about the novel: “It has the most extreme situations in which a person can find himself – no matter if it’s about war or about love.”
Der Rote Baron (The Red Baron)
- Rating IMDB – 6.3
- Genre: Action, drama, melodrama, adventure, military, biography
- Production: Germany, UK / 2008
- Budget: €18 000 000
- Director: Nikolai Mullershon
- Cast: Matthias Schweighofer, Volker Bruch, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes, Hanno Koffler, Julie Engelbrecht, Thomas Koutnick, Thomas Ybl, Albert Frank
The young Baron Manfred von Richthofen is a self-confident guy who perceives war as a game. He and his fellow pilots each time enter into a dogfight like a sporting event. This was at the beginning of the war.
Days pass, and the cruel reality replaces the youthful carelessness. Manfred has to make a choice, realizing the responsibility for his squad.
The plot of the film is based on real events. The German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen has shot down 82 flying machines.
Flyboys
- Rating IMDB – 6.5
- Genre: Action, drama, melodrama, military, history
- Production: UK, USA / 2006
- Budget: $60,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $17,834,865
- Directed by: Tony Bill
- Cast: James Franco, Martin Henderson, David Ellison, Jennifer Decker, Tyler Labine, Abdul Salis, Ruth Bradley, Jean Reno, Karen Ford, Tim Pigott-Smith
A group of American youths who have just graduated from flight courses dream of proving themselves in combat. They arrive to France and join the Lafayette squadron to fight as volunteers.
The guys have a lot to do: to gain the right skills during training, to learn to support their comrades, to take their first fight, which will be the last for someone.
Squadron named Lafayette really existed during the First World War. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, an American and French politician who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Au revoir là-haut (See You Up There)
- Rating IMDB – 7.4
- Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime, War
- Production: France, Canada / 2017
- Budget: €19 750 000
- Worldwide gross: $16,094,346
- Directed by: Albert Dupontelle
- Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Albert Dupontelle, Laurent Lafitte, Niels Arestrup, Emily Dekenne, Mélanie Thierry, Eloise Balster, Philippe Euchan, André Marcon, Michel Vuyermoz
Not the last place in the list of the best films about the First World War is occupied by this French-Canadian film. This is the story of a talented young artist whose fate was forever changed by war and human cruelty.
In the last days of the war, two privates, Edouard and Albert, at the behest of Lieutenant Pradel, find themselves in a situation from which it is almost impossible to get out alive. But the soldiers succeed. And their lives are completely changed. The post-war period will dot the i’s.
The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pierre Lemaitre, which became a bestseller.
Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)
- Rating IMDB – 7.7
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, military, history, music
- Production: France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Romania / 2005
- Budget: $22,000,000
- Worldwide gross: $17,709,155
- Directed by: Christian Karion
- Cast: Diane Kruger, Benno Fuhrman, Guillaume Canet, Gary Lewis, Daniel Brühl, Dani Boon, Alex Furns, Stephen Robertson, Bernard Le Coq, Thomas Schmauser
Can the magic power of Christmas put an end to the war? It turns out it can. Although the truce will be short, but these moments will be the happiest for people on both sides of the trenches.
Events take place around Christmas 1914. German, Scottish and French soldiers are in the trenches. They prepared for the holiday as best they could: hung lanterns and toys. Suddenly someone sang a Christmas song … and someone else picked it up …
The film is based on real events. In 1914, around Christmas, in many sectors of the front, German, British and French soldiers stopped fighting and exchanged congratulations.
Journey’s End
- Rating IMDB – 6.7
- Genre: Drama, military
- Production: UK / 2017
- Worldwide gross: $970,809
- Directed by: Saul Dibb
- Cast: Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge, Alais Lawson, Andy Gathergood, Jack Riddiford, Adam Colborne
War changes people, but young Lieutenant Reilly didn’t think that there will be such massive changes. He got to the front in the last spring of 1918 of the First World War. He came to the front as a volunteer to take part in the battles under the command of Captain Stanhope, a family friend whom he had known since childhood. Reilly does not recognize the once strong-willed man. Meanwhile, the troops are preparing for the decisive battle.
The film was shot based on the play of the same name by R.S. Sheriff, who served in the infantry regiment during the First World War. The heroes of the play have real prototypes – Sheriff’s comrades in arms.
The Trench
- Rating IMDB – 6.0
- Genre: Drama, War, History
- Production: France, UK / 1999
- Director: William Boyd
- Cast: Daniel Craig, Paul Nicholls, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Danny Dyer, James D’Arcy, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, Tam Williams, Anthony Strahan, Michael Moreland
One of the most difficult films about the war tells about a real battle that took place in 1916. This battle was the most serious defeat in British history.
In fact, the film is a revived history, war as it is. The director focuses not on the plot, but on the characters, showing their feelings, emotions, actions. The main characters are very young boys who went to the front as volunteers.
The events in the film actually take place in the trenches.
Beneath Hill 60
- Rating IMDB – 7.0
- Genre: Drama, War, History
- Production: Australia / 2010
- Budget: $9,000,000
- Director: Jeremy Sims
- Cast: Brendan Cowell, Alan Dukes, Alex Thompson, Harrison Gilbertson, Duncan Young, Steve Le Marquand, Guyton Grantley, Warwick Young, Mark Coles Smith, Martin Thomas
The story tells about Australian miner Oliver Woodward who went to the front to lead a squad that will dig tunnels. Their main battle will be an underground fight with the enemy, at Hill 60. Woodward and his soldiers are ordered to defend the mines built here with explosives planted until the arrival of the main forces.
The film is based on the true story of Captain Oliver Woodward and the division of the First Australian Tunnel Company, which he led. They organized one of the most powerful explosions during the 1st World War.
Tolkien
- Rating IMDB – 6.8
- Genre: Biography, military, drama, melodrama
- US production / 2019
- Worldwide gross: $9,090,040
- Directed by: Dome Karukoski
- Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Derek Jacobi, Al Bollands, Callum Tolkien, Craig Roberts, Harry Gilby, Colm Meaney, Laura Donnelly, Guillermo Bedward
Maybe you don’t know that the author of The Lord of the Rings, John Tolkien, served in the British army in his youth and took part in the First World War. In the film, the writer is presented as a young guy. At school, his relationships with peers are not easy. However, the guy manages to find friends and meet his love. The friendship of young men only grows stronger from year to year, but the outbreak of war threatens the existence of the established “brotherhood”.
The family of J.R.R. Tolkien stated that they don’t approve the film and don’t support its content. Indeed, the film didn’t aim to accurately convey all the facts from the writer’s biography.
Passchendaele
- Rating IMDB – 6.4
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, military, history
- Production: Canada / 2008
- Budget: CA$ 20,000,000
- Director: Paul Gross
- Cast: Paul Gross, Michael Greyes, James Kot, Jesse Frechette, Rainer Kahl, Landon Liboiron, Carelyn Devernet, Patricia Benedict, Hugh Probyn
The Battle of Passchendaele (another name is the Battle of Ypres) was one of the largest and bloodiest during the First World War. The soldiers fought in very difficult conditions: due to constant rains, the battlefield was a continuous swamp.
The plot of the film was compiled on the basis of the memoirs of the director’s grandfather. The protagonist, like the grandfather of Paul Gross, fights as part of the 10th battalion of the Canadian Corps.
The 10th battalion was called the “Battle Ten”. It is known for the fact that its fighters deserved the maximum number of awards received in one battle.
My Boy Jack
- Rating IMDB – 7.1
- Genre: Drama, military, biography, history
- Production: UK / 2007
- Director: Brian Kirk
- Cast: David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall, Carey Mulligan, Julian Wadham, Martin McCann, Richard Dormer, Ruaidhri Conroy, Lawrence Kinlan, Ciarán Nolan
The biopic tells about the trials that befell the writer Rudyard Kipling and his family during the war years. The writer has always been an ardent patriot of his country. When war is declared, the 17-year-old son of the writer rushes to the front, but doesn’t pass the medical commission – he has a very weak eyesight. The father supports his son in his desire to go to the front line at any cost.
The film is based on the play by David Haig written in 1997. Some episodes were filmed in the old mansion where Kipling lived for a long time.
The Lost Battalion
- Rating IMDB – 7.0
- Genre: Action, Drama, War
- Production: Luxembourg, USA / 2001
- Directed by: Russell Mulcay
- Cast: Rick Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris, Jay Rodan, Adam James, Daniel Caltagirone, Michael Goldstrom, Andre Vippolis, Rhys Miles Thomas, Arthur Kremer
The film shows a real episode of the Meuse-Argonne operation in 1918. An American battalion under the leadership of a former lawyer Charles Whiteleysey is tasked with occupying a strategically important area in the Argonne Forest and holding it. The unfired battalion shows an example of steadfastness and courage. The fighters carry out their combat mission, despite massive losses.
A film where the commander of the “lost company” and his fighters played themselves was released in 1919. The story of the heroic actions of the soldiers in the Argonne Forest gained great popularity in the United States.
The Silent Mountain
- Rating IMDB – 5.5
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, adventure, war, history
- Production: Austria, Italy, USA / 2014
- Directed by: Ernst Gossner
- Cast: William Moseley, Eugenia Constantini, Claudia Cardinale, Emily Cox, Werner Daen, Corrado Invernizzi, Michael Cadeddu, Fritz Karl, Harold Windisch, Brigitte Jaufenthaler
This is the love story of an Austrian man and an Italian woman. Events take place in Austria-Hungary. Ander Gruber is the son of the hotel’s owner. His sister is marrying an Italian. At the wedding, Ander meets an Italian girl, Francesca. Young people fall in love. It would seem that a wonderful future should await them, but on the same day a war is declared between Italy and Austria-Hungary. At one point, Italians and Austrians become enemies.
The shooting of the picture was carried out in the Dolomites, so you can see shots of magnificent mountains.
Un long dimanche de fiançailles
- Rating IMDB – 7.6
- Genre: Drama, melodrama, detective, military
- Production: France, USA / 2004
- Budget: $56,600,000
- Worldwide gross: $69,424,389
- Directed by: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Cast: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon, Chantal Neuwirth, André Dussolier, Tikki Olgado, Marion Cotillard, Dominique Bettenfeld, Jodie Foster, Jean-Pierre Darroussin
At the end of the First World War, the girl Matilda is looking for her fiancé Manek. During the battle on the Somme, he was among the five French soldiers under the tribunal. They were accused of self-inflicted wounds to evade hostilities.
Soldiers expect an unusual punishment – they are sent to neutral territory between their own and the enemy. Here they are doomed to die inevitably … But Matilda intends to figure out what really happened.
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and lead actress Audrey Tautou previously worked together on the film Amélie.
Trench 11
- Rating IMDB – 5.4
- Genre: Horror, Thriller, War
- Production: Canada / 2017
- Director: Leo Sherman
- Cast: Rossif Sutherland, Robert Stadlober, Charlie Carrick, Sean Benson, Ted Atherton, Luke Humphrey, Jeff Strom, Adam Hertig, Karine Vanasse, John B. Lowe
A horror film about Burton, a Canadian who served as a tunnel worker during the First World War. The war is coming to an end, but Burton and his colleagues will have to penetrate the German underground base, where strange things are happening.
A dangerous biological weapon is being developed here that can turn people into killer zombies. The Germans themselves no longer control the evil they have created. Burton’s squad falls into a trap, the exit is cut off.
At the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, the film won the Audience Award and three Special Awards.
Forbidden Ground
- Rating IMDB – 4.9
- Genre: Action, Drama, War
- Production: Australia / 2013
- Budget: A$ 1,500,000
- Directed by: Johan Earl, Adrian Powers
- Cast: Johan Earl, Tim Pakok, Martin Copping, Denay Gracie, Sarah Moby, Barry Queen, Damian Sommerlad, Oliver Trajkowski, Igor Smilzevic, Byron J. Brochmann
The action takes place in France in 1916. Allied troops attack German positions. However, the attack is unsuccessful, and three British soldiers fall into neutral territory between their own and the enemy – under the crossfire. Soldiers are forced to move to their own, their lives can end at any moment.
When the heroes come under a German gas attack, they save themselves in a way that was actually used during the war – covering their faces with wet rags.
They Shall Not Grow Old
- Rating IMDB – 8.2
- Genre: Documentary, war, history
- Production: UK, New Zealand / 2018
- Worldwide gross: $20,502,132
- Directed by Peter Jackson
- Cast: Thomas Wretlam, William Argent, John Ashby, Attwood, Walter Ost, Donald Bain, Thomas Baker, George Banton, Walter Becklake, Arthur Beaton
This documentary is definitely one of the best movies about the First World War. Its release on the screens was timed to coincide with the centenary of the end of the war.
The director used photographic and video materials that had been kept in the Imperial War Museum in London for many years. He added colors to them and literally breathed life into them. The audience may feel that they are next to the soldiers and participate in what is happening.
Peter Jackson was always interested in the theme of the First World War. His grandfather died as a result of wounds received in the war. Therefore, to shoot a picture on this topic was a matter of honor for Jackson.
