Modern Warfare Films
by vectormanp | created - 31 Mar 2011 | updated - 10 months ago | PublicThis list contains movies depicting modern warfare methods and practices. Some of them are clearly propagandistic in tone while others are made with a clear scope for entertainment or are filled with anti-war sentiments.
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1. First Blood (1982)
R | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney
Votes: 275,357 | Gross: $47.21M
2. Uncommon Valor (1983)
R | 105 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Ten years after his son went M.I.A. in Vietnam, U.S. Marine retired Colonel Jason Rhodes assembles a private rescue team to find Americans held in P.O.W. camps in Laos.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Gene Hackman, Patrick Swayze, Robert Stack, Fred Ward
Votes: 11,641 | Gross: $30.50M
3. Missing in Action (1984)
R | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Colonel Braddock launches a mission deep into the jungles of Vietnam to find the POW camp that he escaped from and free the Americans still held captive there.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Chuck Norris, M. Emmet Walsh, David Tress, Lenore Kasdorf
Votes: 16,518 | Gross: $22.81M
4. Commando (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells
Votes: 174,763 | Gross: $35.10M
5. The Delta Force (1986)
R | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After a plane is hijacked by terrorists, The Delta Force is sent in to resolve the crisis.
Director: Menahem Golan | Stars: Chuck Norris, Lee Marvin, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop
Votes: 21,902 | Gross: $17.77M
6. Top Gun (1986)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama
As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
Votes: 502,225 | Gross: $179.80M
7. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, War
Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn
Votes: 48,167 | Gross: $42.72M
8. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,443 | Gross: $59.74M
9. Resurrected (1989)
96 min | Drama, War
Surviving soldier is accused of cowardice and desertion. His former comrades-in-arms decide to judge him bypassing the law.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Tom Bell, Rita Tushingham, David Thewlis, Rudi Davies
Votes: 547
10. Navy Seals (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A battle-hardened SEAL Team set off on a mission to destroy a shipment of US-built Stinger missiles that have fallen into terrorist hands.
Director: Lewis Teague | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Joanne Whalley, Rick Rossovich
Votes: 17,959 | Gross: $25.07M
11. The Finest Hour (1991)
R | 105 min | Drama, War
Two soldiers form a lasting bond during training to be Navy Seals but soon grow apart as they are sent off to fight in Desert Storm.
Director: Shimon Dotan | Stars: Rob Lowe, Gale Hansen, Tracy Griffith, Eb Lottimer
Votes: 754
12. Under Siege (1992)
R | 103 min | Action, Thriller
An ex-Navy Seal turned cook is the only person who can stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleship.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Steven Seagal, Gary Busey, Tommy Lee Jones, Erika Eleniak
Votes: 95,438 | Gross: $83.36M
13. Sniper (1993)
R | 98 min | Action, Thriller, War
A veteran US Marine sniper is partnered with a rookie sniper as his spotter to take out a politician and a rebel leader in the jungles of Panama.
Director: Luis Llosa | Stars: Tom Berenger, Billy Zane, J.T. Walsh, Aden Young
Votes: 25,466 | Gross: $18.99M
14. Crimson Tide (1995)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
On a U.S. nuclear missile sub, a young First Officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy Captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Matt Craven, George Dzundza
Votes: 123,233 | Gross: $91.40M
15. Courage Under Fire (1996)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A U.S. Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty
Votes: 59,515 | Gross: $59.03M
16. Three Kings (1999)
R | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, four soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze
Votes: 180,392 | Gross: $60.65M
17. Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A disillusioned pilot shot down over war-torn Bosnia goes on the run from the local military and an assassin, as his commanding officer risks all to save him.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson, Gabriel Macht, Charles Malik Whitfield
Votes: 112,833 | Gross: $59.07M
18. Black Hawk Down (2001)
R | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana
Votes: 423,318 | Gross: $108.64M
19. K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
PG-13 | 138 min | Drama, History, Thriller
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings, Christian Camargo
Votes: 67,369 | Gross: $35.17M
20. Tears of the Sun (2003)
R | 121 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A Special-Ops commander leads his team into the Nigerian jungle in order to rescue a doctor who will only join them if they agree to save 70 refugees too.
Director: Antoine Fuqua | Stars: Bruce Willis, Cole Hauser, Monica Bellucci, Eamonn Walker
Votes: 130,481 | Gross: $43.73M
21. Jarhead (2005)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, War
A psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Scott MacDonald
Votes: 206,346 | Gross: $62.66M
22. The Kingdom (2007)
R | 110 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman
Votes: 132,241 | Gross: $47.54M
23. Lions for Lambs (2007)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Michael Peña
Votes: 52,678 | Gross: $15.00M
24. Rambo (2008)
R | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish
Votes: 244,442 | Gross: $42.75M
25. Body of Lies (2008)
R | 128 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A CIA agent on the ground in Jordan hunts down a powerful terrorist leader while being caught between the unclear intentions of his American supervisors and Jordan Intelligence.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani
Votes: 239,321 | Gross: $39.39M
26. The Hurt Locker (2008)
R | 131 min | Drama, Thriller, War
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce
Votes: 473,582 | Gross: $17.02M
27. Green Zone (2010)
R | 115 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear, Igal Naor
Votes: 142,669 | Gross: $35.05M
28. Act of Valor (2012)
R | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.
Directors: Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh | Stars: Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano, Rorke Denver
Votes: 71,768 | Gross: $70.01M
29. Rules of Engagement (2000)
R | 128 min | Drama, Thriller, War
An attorney defends an officer on trial for ordering his troops to fire on civilians after they stormed a U.S. embassy in a Middle Eastern country.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley
Votes: 50,299 | Gross: $61.34M
30. Special Forces (2011)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, War
A French journalist in Afghanistan is kidnapped by the Taliban.
Director: Stéphane Rybojad | Stars: Diane Kruger, Djimon Hounsou, Benoît Magimel, Denis Ménochet
Votes: 19,525 | Gross: $0.01M
31. Lone Survivor (2013)
R | 121 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Marcus Luttrell and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster
Votes: 306,522 | Gross: $125.10M
32. The Dogs of War (1980)
R | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Mercenary James Shannon, on a reconnaissance job to the African nation of Zangaro, is tortured and deported. He returns to lead a coup.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Colin Blakely, Hugh Millais
Votes: 9,415
33. Eye in the Sky (2015)
R | 102 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Col. Katherine Powell, a military officer in command of an operation to capture terrorists in Kenya, sees her mission escalate when a girl enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute over the implications of modern warfare.
Director: Gavin Hood | Stars: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi
Votes: 91,435 | Gross: $18.70M
34. American Sniper (2014)
R | 133 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner, Cole Konis
Votes: 528,917 | Gross: $350.13M
35. 13 Hours (2016)
R | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale, David Denman
Votes: 160,542 | Gross: $52.85M
36. 12 Strong (2018)
R | 130 min | Action, Drama, History
12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11; under the leadership of a new captain, the team must work with an Afghan warlord to take down the Taliban.
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig | Stars: Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban
Votes: 91,759 | Gross: $45.82M
37. The Outpost (2019)
R | 123 min | Action, Drama, History
A small team of U.S. soldiers battles against hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Scott Eastwood, Caleb Landry Jones, Orlando Bloom, Jack Kesy
Votes: 40,473
38. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
R | 157 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Mark Strong
Votes: 318,787 | Gross: $95.72M
39. Guy Ritchie's the Covenant (I) (2023)
R | 123 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
During the war in Afghanistan, a local interpreter risks his own life to carry an injured sergeant across miles of grueling terrain.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Sean Sagar, Jason Wong
Votes: 162,002
40. The Yellow Birds (2017)
R | 94 min | Drama, War
Two young soldiers, Bartle (21) and Murph (18) navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Director: Alexandre Moors | Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Daniel Jose Molina, Mikey Collins, Tye Sheridan
Votes: 4,687
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