Best War Movies of 2005

Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.

As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.

Set in 1944, Valiant is a woodland pigeon who wants to become a great hero someday. When he hears they are hiring recruits for the Royal Homing Pigeon Service, he immediately sets out for London. On the way, he meets a smelly but friendly pigeon named Bugsy, who joins him, mainly to get away from clients he cheated in a game of find-the pebble, and helps him sign up for the war.

Two brothers are divided by marriage and fate during the 100 horrifying days of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program, three pilots struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control ... before it initiates the next world war.

The Gallipoli campaign of World War I was so controversial & devastating, it changed the face of battle forever. Using diaries, letters, photographs and memoirs, acclaimed director, Tolga Ornek, traces the personal journeys of Australian, New Zealand, British and Turkish soldiers, from innocence and patriotism to hardship and heartbreak.

From HBO's "America Undercover." On June 30, 1969, Lt. Jack Hulme was killed in Vietnam, having never met his newborn son. Thirty years later, filmmaker John Hulme finally seeks out what happened to his father, and who he really was. From family members and childhood friends to the soldiers who fought beside him, John tracks down everyone, chasing his fathers ghost across the country. What he discovers is a life that mirrored a generations struggles...husbands vs. wives, soldiers vs. protestors, America vs. Vietnam. But he also finds wounds that are painfully fresh, especially his mothers. Together, using the accounts of first-hand witnesses, they travel back to Vietnam, to the place where Jack spent the last few moments of his life so they can finally come to terms with his death.

The story of the senior-level preparations for the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 from the time of Dwight D. Eisenhower's appointment as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to the establishment of the beachhead in Normandy.

During World War II, four Britons tunnel out of a German POW camp. One is killed, two are recaptured and one escapes. Scottish Corporal Nicholas McGrade, the lone escapee, is a slacker and reluctant soldier, but is coerced into the secret MI9 Unit and participates in the facilitation of other escapes. Wills and Jack Rose, the two escapees who were recaptured, are transferred to Colditz, a medieval castle in Saxony which has been refitted as an escape-proof, high security institution to house recitative prisoners who repeatedly attempt to escape. At Rose's request, McGrade looks up Rose's girlfriend in Britain only to find out he is falling in love with her. When the faithful Lizzie rejects the advances of the smitten McGrade, he uses his influence to fake Jack's death so as to clear any obstacles to Lizzie.

A re-working, re-editing, and restructuring of Sam Fuller's The Big Red One bringing it closer as originally envisioned by the late filmmaker. It includes forty-seven additional minutes which was not utilized in the film's original release. Supervised by Richard Schickel, Peter Bogdanovich, and editor Bryan McKenzie.

Three prisoners, Jack Rose, Tom Willis and Nick McGrade, embark on an heroic plan to escape from a World War Two POW camp. As Rose And Willis are recaptured by the Germans, McGrade manages to traverse their clutches and travels to London to inform Rose's girlfriend of his capture. So begins a complex love story...

Using never-before-seen footage, Japan's War In Colour tells a previously untold story. It recounts the history of the Second World War from a Japanese perspective, combining original colour film with letters and diaries written by Japanese people. It tells the story of a nation at war from the diverse perspectives of those who lived through it: the leaders and the ordinary people, the oppressors and the victims, the guilty and the innocent. Until recently, it was believed that no colour film of Japan existed prior to 1945. But specialist research has now unearthed a remarkable colour record from as early as the 1930s. For eight years the Japanese fought what they believed was a Holy War that became a fight to the death. Japan's War In Colour shows how militarism took hold of the Japanese people; describes why Japan felt compelled to attack the West; explains what drove the Japanese to resist the Allies for so long; and, finally, reveals how they dealt with the shame of defeat.

Documentary using only original colour footage charts the 12 years from Adolf Hitler's rise to power to the fall of Berlin in 1945. Complemented by eyewitness material, tracks the dramatic transformation of Germany into a Nazi state, looks into Hitler's relationship with his lover Eva Braun and replicates pivotal events, including Nazi rallies, the invasion of Poland, Hitler's meeting with Lloyd George, the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp, Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto, the Battle of Britain and the fall of Berlin.

At the height of Hitler's infamous U-boat war, the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish were heading home after months at sea. They never made it. Now prisoners of war aboard U-boat 429, a small group of American survivors will find their loyalties put to the ultimate test when they're forced to join their German captors to fight for their very lives.

Through the eyes of a British "documentary", this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War.

An intimate story set during the 1860s in which a young Irish woman Sarah and her family find themselves on both sides of the turbulent wars between British and Maori during the British colonization of New Zealand.

Sir! No Sir! is a documentary film about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Military during the Vietnam War. It consists in part of interviews with Vietnam veterans explaining the reasons they protested the war or even defected. The film tells the story of how, from the very start of the war, there was resentment within the ranks over the difference between the conflict in Vietnam and the "good wars" that their fathers had fought. Over time, it became apparent that so many were opposed to the war that they could speak of a movement.

This documentary of American soldiers in Falluja offers a revealing and complex portrait of Army life.

A blend of fact and fiction, based on the actual lives of the actors, the film depicts a troupe of actors and dancers struggling to practice their art in the burned-out shell of Cambodia's former national theater, the Preah Suramarit National Theater in Phnom Penh.

The Nomad is a historical epic set in 18th-century Kazakhstan. The film is a fictionalised account of the youth and coming-of-age of Ablai Khan, as he grows and fights to defend the fortress at Hazrat-e Turkestan from Dzungar invaders.

Faith of My Fathers is based on the story of Lieutenant Commander John McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years during the Vietnam War, interleaved with his memories of growing up in a heritage rich with military service.

Evil has spread across the land. Martial Law: 9/11 Rise of the Police State exposes the high-tech control grid that is being set up across America Out of the ashes of the September 11th tragedy, a dark empire of war and tyranny has risen. The Constitution has been shredded and America is now a Police State. This film exposes not just who was behind the 9-11 attacks, but the roots and history of its orchestrators.

In the 1990s, the Yugoslavia Federation falls apart in bloody wars. Perpetual student Milan, a Serb from a patriarchal community, and Kenan, a Muslim cellist, are a gay couple living in Sarajevo. Their lives, intimate and public, are shaken up by the aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose devastating consequences unfold in inter-ethnic hatred.

In an impassioned message from the grave, one concentration camp Liberator forces us to remember the horror humanity is capable of. Utilizing actual photos from the Buchenwald concentration camp, and a soulful performance by Harrison Young, Inheritance is a gut-wrenching experience that not only informs, but puts the burden of defending humanity squarely on the viewer.

After the planes hit on 9/11, Morgan Stanley security chief Rick Rescorla put into effect plans that he had developed years before. Rick had seen the potential for an airborne suicide attack on the twin towers as part of evaluating the risk posed to his wards within their building. After the attack in 1993 Rick took it personally to prepare and avoid the chaotic scenes that came with the 93 attack. This documentary tells the story of the man who predicted the 9/11 attacks and saved thousands of lives and died in the process.

During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood.

The third installment of the highly acclaimed, award-wining Age of Empires series. Command one of eight mighty European powers grappling to conquer the New World. Gain wealth and power for your home country, and colonize vast, uncharted territory.

Pip, a street kid just turning 18, receives his grandfather's World War II-era memoirs and discovers parallels to his own life.

Iraq, 2004: during a routine sortie a US patrol is ambushed and the young soldiers are forced to put their training and skills into action fast. A determined foe with superior local knowledge, the Fedayeen insurgents soon draw them into close quarter combat and a desperate fight for survival.

"The 11th Day" chronicles the story of the men, women, and children of the Cretan civilian resistance movement and their relentless battle against Nazi occupation forces from 1941-1945.

Inya, a heroine of the Philippine resistance against the Japanese during World War II, recalls events involving her husband Edilberto and their childhood friend Ignacio, a transvestite who, masquerading as a woman also named Inya, becomes the lover of the local Japanese commander, Ichiru, and is caught between a duty to be a spy for his country and friends and his reluctant but growing love for Ichiru.

Civil War drama directed by Whitney Hamilton. Grace Kieler disguises herself as a man and takes her brother's place in the Confederate army in an effort to protect him from the horrors of the war. When she meets young war widow Virginia Klaising (Dana Bennison), the two form a bond that may get complicated once Grace reveals her true identity. My Brother's War is based on Hamilton's novel

About Baghdad is the first film made about Iraq after the fall of the Ba'ath regime in July 2003. It is also perhaps the first effort to privilege the voices of the Iraqi people, from all walks of life as well as social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. While many have talked about and for the Iraqi people, few media outlets have sought to probe beyond the simplistic binary of pro-US/pro-Saddam perspective so often found in Western and Arab media portrayals of Iraq. About Baghdad presents Iraqis who describe the pain, complexity and suffering of living under decades of tyranny, oppression, wars, sanctions and now occupation.

Set during World War II, Yank! chronicles the romantic relationship between two servicemen long before don't-ask-don't-tell was part of the national discussion. With a lively score inspired by the pop sounds of the 1940s, Yank! captures the spirit and exuberance of the era even as it explores questions of prejudice, courage and survival. It tells the story of Stu—a photographer for Yank magazine—and Mitch, an Army Private, who fall in love and struggle to survive in a time and place where the odds are stacked against them. - Broadway World

A Documentary on the attempts by the British forces to destroy the Bismark's sister-ship the Terpitz.

The Director's Cut of Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven' adds several new scenes that enhance the plot and re-integrate violent scenes that were not in the Theatrical Cut. Therefore, the running time of the Director's Cut is more than 3 hours.

There is no plot.. but rather an observation of Platoon 1141, Company C, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. From the initial bus ride to the depot until graduation.

In the twelfth century, blacksmith Balian travels to Jerusalem, a city seething with religious wars. He transforms into a defending warrior who saves the city and its people.

Based on David Maraniss' book, They Marched into Sunlight, the film tells the story of two seemingly unconnected events in October 1967 that changed the course of the Vietnam War.

The German Luftwaffe entered World War II in September 1939, employing as its main day fighter the Messerschmitt Bf-109, one of the classic fighter aircraft designs of all time. When war broke out, it was already riding high on a reputation derived from its successful blooding in the Spanish Civil War. 1941 saw the introduction of the Focke Wolf Fw-190 over the English Channel. Its superiority over the Spitfire Mk. V saw it rapidly become the Luftwaffe fighter arm's 'second iron' and was to play a major role in the widening conflict from 1941 onwards.

The aerial bombing in the summer of 1943 devastated the people, port and buildings of Hamburg, reducing a once prosperous city to nothing more than a pile of ashes. Whilst Allied bombers pounded the city, the terrified citizens took cover in cellars and purpose-built bomb shelters, in hopes of enduring the raids. Survivors emerged to find their city engulfed in flames, in what was to become known as the Hamburg Firestorm. With the level of destruction; culture and architecture being completely destroyed, the city was never to recover to its former glory. Such was the nature of the onslaught that scars of the aftermath of the bombings still remain to this day.

Meet tough-as-nails Marine "Colonel" Bill Henderson, and P-51 Mustang flyboy Bill Brown. Now in their eighties, these ancient warriors return to the black sands of Iwo Jima to disciple a new generation in the art of Christian manhood. Joining these men are sons whose fathers never returned — the Isacks brothers and "Johnny Boy" Butler — all heirs to a treasure trove of fatherly wisdom penned from the battlefield.

There is something delightfully nostalgic about the Lancaster Bomber that aircraft experts and enthusiasts alike will always appreciate. Reliable, versatile and readily available, the Avro Lancaster's arrival in 1942 made way for a new calibre of the four-engined bomber that would become Bomber Command's primary weapon during the Second World War. Participating in some of the most daring and famous missions of the day, the Lancaster marked a momentous period in British aviation history, and has maintained an iconic status ever since. Using original wartime footage and recent colour film of one of the few operational Lancaster's remaining in the world, this programme relays a full and fascinating account of the Lancaster's story, which will prove both informative and highly dramatic.

Three prisoners, Jack Rose, Tom Willis and Nick McGrade, embark on an heroic plan to escape from a World War Two POW camp. As Rose And Willis are recaptured by the Germans, McGrade manages to traverse their clutches and travels to London to inform Rose's girlfriend of his capture. So begins a complex love story...

Follow the fascinating story of America's journey into World War II and discover the remarkable, selfless courage and bravery of Americans both at home and abroad that literally turned the tide of the war against Adolf Hitler.

7-second short film about a couple who are separated during World War II

In April 1864, 1,800 Union Army soldiers were attacked along a supply road deep in the muddy forests of South Arkansas. This is the story of those US soldiers, their Confederates attackers, and the battle that ensued during Red River Campaign.

Experience how the Phantom II won its spurs in Vietnam and became a world beater in an extraordinary variety of roles.