Over the past few decades, a number of amazing war movies have hit the theaters. Although there are many war movies that have done an excellent job of portraying the conflict and the reality of the situation at hand.

1. 300 (2006, USA)

   Genres: Action | Drama | History | War

   Actors: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan

   Directors: Zack Snyder

   Plot: In 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes sends his massive army to conquer Greece. The Greek city of Sparta houses its finest warriors, and 300 of these soldiers are chosen to meet the Persians at Thermopylae, engaging the soldiers in a narrow canyon where they cannot take full advantage of their numbers.

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2. Braveheart (1995, USA)

   Genres: Action | Biography | Drama | War

   Actors: Mel Gibson, James Robinson, Sandy Nelson, James Cosmo, Sean Lawlor, Alan Tall, Andrew Weir, Gerda Stevenson, Mhairi Calvey

   Directors: Mel Gibson

   Plot: William Wallace is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks, who wishes to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself. When he was a young boy, William Wallace’s father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Once he loses another of his loved ones, William Wallace begins his long quest to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the assistance of Robert the Bruce.

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3. Platoon (1986, USA)

   Genres: Action | Drama | War

   Actors: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, John C. McGinley, Richard Edson, Kevin Dillon, Reggie Johnson, Keith David, Johnny Depp

   Directors: Oliver Stone

   Plot: A gritty and emotional look at the lives of a platoon of American soldiers as they patrol, fight and die in the jungles of Vietnam as seen through the perspective of a young recruit. Two veteran sergeants clash when one of them precipitates a massacre of villagers.

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   Released in 1986 and directed by Oliver Stone, Platoon is still considered by many to be the best war movie ever made. Starring Charlie Sheen and the then-little-known actor Johnny Depp, Platoon reached a depth of realism that many could not fully understand unless they had actually been in the military or experienced the Vietnam War the movie depicted.

4. Apocalypse Now (1979, USA)

   Genres: Action | Adventure | Drama | War

   Actors: Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Frederic Forrest, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, Albert Hall, Harrison Ford

   Directors: Francis Ford Coppola

   Plot: Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descends into the jungle, he is slowly over taken by the jungle’s mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill.

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   Also taking place during the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now presents a unique and magnificent story with finely crafted characters. Released in 1979 and directed by Francis Ford Coppolla, the film is not only a great war story but is also considered by many to represent the dark side of the human psyche. Starring Martin Sheen, Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, and Robert Duvall, the movie certainly enjoys a cast that is to be admired.

5. We Were Soldiers (2002, Germany, USA)

   Genres: Action | Drama | History | War

   Actors: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein, Keri Russell, Barry Pepper, Duong Don, Ryan Hurst

   Directors: Randall Wallace

   Plot:In a place soon to be known as The Valley of Death, in a small clearing called landing zone X-Ray, Lt. Colonel Hal Moore (Mel Gibson) and 400 young fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons, all troopers from an elite American combat division, were surrounded by 4,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The ensuing battle was one of the most savage in U.S. history. We Were Soldiers Once…And Young is a tribute to the nobility of those men under fire, their common acts of uncommon valor, and their loyalty to and love for one another.

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   Based on a novel written by a Lieutenant General and a reporter that were at the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam, We Were Soldiers takes a personal look into the lives of real soldiers and events that took place at the time. Directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson, it is one of only a few war movies to depict the feelings, actions, and thoughts of soldiers on both sides of the war.

Each of these movies stirs the emotions and puts the viewer on the battlefield, showing the emotional, mental, and physical toll the soldiers undergo during wartime and when on the battlefield.