Top 35 Prisoners of War Movies
by transitasis | created - 07 Dec 2013 | updated - 01 Jul 2016 | PublicP.O.W Movies
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1. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 258,632 | Gross: $12.10M
2. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,339
3. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,582 | Gross: $0.06M
4. The Hill (1965)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, War
In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch
Votes: 15,152
5. Stalag 17 (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, War
After two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
Votes: 58,767
6. A Man Escaped (1956)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Votes: 24,962
7. 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: 38,844 | Gross: $0.17M
8. To End All Wars (2001)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, four Allied POWs endure harsh treatment from their Japanese captors while being forced to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle.
Director: David L. Cunningham | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland, Ciarán McMenamin, Mark Strong
Votes: 11,642
9. Act of Violence (1948)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller
An embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor
Votes: 5,710
10. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 233,111 | Gross: $44.91M
11. The Colditz Story (1955)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, History, War
Allied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz".
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: John Mills, Eric Portman, Christopher Rhodes, Lionel Jeffries
Votes: 3,072
12. Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Approved | 117 min | Action, Adventure, War
An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà, Brad Dexter
Votes: 15,130 | Gross: $17.11M
13. The McKenzie Break (1970)
PG | 108 min | Action, Drama, War
During WW2, German POWs in Britain plot to escape from their prison camp in Scotland.
Director: Lamont Johnson | Stars: Brian Keith, Helmut Griem, Ian Hendry, Jack Watson
Votes: 1,701
14. Fateless (2005)
R | 140 min | Drama, Romance, War
14-year-old György's life is torn apart in WWII Hungary, as he is deported first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald, where he is forced to become a man in the midst of hatred, and what it really means to be Jewish.
Director: Lajos Koltai | Stars: Marcell Nagy, Béla Dóra, Bálint Péntek, Áron Dimény
Votes: 7,148 | Gross: $0.20M
15. Rescue Dawn (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Biography, War
A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier
Votes: 110,756 | Gross: $5.49M
16. The Ninth Day (2004)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A drama loosely based on Jean Bernard's Nazi-era prison diary.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau
Votes: 1,948 | Gross: $0.07M
17. Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
139 min | Comedy, Drama, War
Villagers in World War II China are unsure what to do with the two enemy prisoners who have been left in their care.
Director: Wen Jiang | Stars: Wen Jiang, Kenya Sawada, Hongbo Jiang, Teruyuki Kagawa
Votes: 8,607 | Gross: $0.02M
18. Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
R | 99 min | Drama, War
Two Russian soldiers, one battle-seasoned and the other barely into his boots and uniform, are taken prisoner by an anxious Islamic father from a remote village hoping to trade them for his captured son.
Director: Sergei Bodrov | Stars: Oleg Menshikov, Sergey Bodrov, Susanna Mekhraliyeva, Jemal Sikharulidze
Votes: 4,749 | Gross: $0.66M
19. Escape from Sobibor (1987 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama, History, War
German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker
Votes: 9,813
20. Crimean (2014)
114 min | Action, Drama, History
The human tragedy and the suffering of the Crimean Turks who were taken hostage as prisoners of war in German prison camps during World War II.
Director: Burak Arliel | Stars: Murat Yildirim, Selma Ergeç, Baki Davrak, Bülent Alkis
Votes: 1,379
21. Son of Saul (2015)
R | 107 min | Drama, War
A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.
Director: László Nemes | Stars: Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnár, Urs Rechn, Todd Charmont
Votes: 51,905 | Gross: $1.78M
22. In the Crosswind (2014)
90 min | Drama, History
"Risttuules" is a very emotional, tragic movie about mass deportation to Siberia based on the memories of Erna. It all started on June 14, 1941, when trucks came for the innocent families ... See full summary »
Director: Martti Helde | Stars: Laura Peterson-Aardam, Tarmo Song, Mirt Preegel, Ingrid Isotamm
Votes: 1,705
23. King Rat (1965)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, War
Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. camp during World War II and uses bribery and larceny to take de-facto control of the camp.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: George Segal, Tom Courtenay, James Fox, Patrick O'Neal
Votes: 5,077
24. 1971 (2007)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Drama, War
Based on true facts, the film revolves around 6 brave soldiers who escape from the clutches of the Pakistan Army and risk death with honour and courage with sacrifice towards their journey home.
Director: Amrit Sagar | Stars: Manoj Bajpayee, Ravi Kishan, Deepak Dobriyal, Kumud Mishra
Votes: 2,719
25. The Round Up (2010)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, History, War
A faithful retelling of the 1942 "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" and the events surrounding it.
Director: Rose Bosch | Stars: Jean Reno, Mélanie Laurent, Gad Elmaleh, Raphaëlle Agogué
Votes: 9,364
26. Seven Beauties (1975)
R | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
The defense of honor, a strong value in Neapolitan society, and its effects on the life of everyman Pasquale Frafuso.
Director: Lina Wertmüller | Stars: Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, Shirley Stoler, Elena Fiore
Votes: 6,477 | Gross: $0.01M
27. Essential Killing (2010)
R | 83 min | Action, Thriller, War
An Afghan POW attempts his escape.
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski | Stars: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner, Zach Cohen, Iftach Ophir
Votes: 8,157
28. Man Behind the Sun (1988)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, History, Horror
Japanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.
Director: Tun-Fei Mou | Stars: Gang Wang, Dai Yao Wu, Runshen Wang, Zhe Quan
Votes: 7,264
29. Break to Freedom (1953)
Approved | 88 min | Drama, History, War
In 1944, at a POW camp in Germany the Allied prisoners use a dummy prop named Albert to fool the German guards and escape.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Anthony Steel, Jack Warner, Robert Beatty, William Sylvester
Votes: 471
30. L'enclos (1961)
105 min | Drama, War
This prison camp drama by director and co-scripter Armand Gatti, his first film, reflects the early '60s resurgence of interest in the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis in ... See full synopsis »
Director: Armand Gatti | Stars: Hans Christian Blech, Jean Négroni, Herbert Wochinz, Tamara Miletic
Votes: 132
31. Trial on the Road (1986)
96 min | Drama, War
A Soviet POW joins the partisan guerrillas and proves his loyalty fighting the Germans.
Director: Aleksey German | Stars: Rolan Bykov, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Vladimir Zamanskiy, Oleg Borisov
Votes: 2,584
32. Spirits' Homecoming (2016)
127 min | Drama
Two Korean girls, Jung-Min (14) and Young-hee (15) are kidnapped by the Japanese Imperial Army and taken to a 'Comfort Station' in China. There, they join other kidnapped girls in serving ... See full summary »
Director: Cho Jung-Rae | Stars: Soon-Hyoung Cha, Park Choong-Hwan, Kim Dong-Won, Kang Han-na
Votes: 571 | Gross: $0.12M
33. Land of Mine (2015)
R | 100 min | Drama, History, War
In post-World War II Denmark, a group of young German POWs are forced to clear a beach of thousands of land mines under the watch of a Danish Sergeant who slowly learns to appreciate their plight.
Director: Martin Zandvliet | Stars: Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Votes: 45,716 | Gross: $0.44M
34. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
R | 123 min | Drama, War
During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano
Votes: 19,989 | Gross: $2.31M
35. The Destiny of a Man (1959)
103 min | Drama, War
A Soviet soldier, Andrei Sokolov, has been separated from his family by World War II. Suffering in German captivity, he dreams of meeting his darlings after the victory. But cruel fate turned out otherwise.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Sergey Bondarchuk, Pavel Boriskin, Zinaida Kirienko, Pavel Volkov
Votes: 3,699
36. Breakout (1959)
101 min | Drama, War
In 1943, an Italian-administered P.O.W. camp for captured Allies goes through a series of failed escapes only to culminate in a daring plan for a dramatic mass escape.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Michael Wilding, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 757
37. The Captive Heart (1946)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, War
In 1940, a concentration camp escapee assumes the identity of a dead British officer, only to become a prisoner of war.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 1,175
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