Best War Movies of 2008

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.

Marines prepare to invade Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom; while the soldiers wait to receive their orders, they learn a Rolling Stone columnist will be embedded with them

Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in 'Tropic Thunder,' an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the most expensive war film. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys.

Based on a true story, during World War II, four Jewish brothers escape their Nazi-occupied homeland of West Belarus in Poland and join the Soviet partisans to combat the Nazis. The brothers begin the rescue of roughly 1,200 Jews still trapped in the ghettos of Poland.

The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

After the Cuban Revolution, Che is at the height of his fame and power. Then he disappears, re-emerging incognito in Bolivia, where he organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to start the great Latin American Revolution. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.

A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.

Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.

“The Soviet Story” is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its crimes were made taboo, and the complete story of Europe’s most murderous regime has never been told. Until now...

In the Jewish tradition of arguing with God, Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz decide to put God on Trial.

Zeitgeist: Addendum premiered at the 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival. Director Peter Joseph stated: "The failure of our world to resolve the issues of war, poverty, and corruption, rests within a gross ignorance about what guides human behavior to begin with. It address the true source of the instability in our society, while offering the only fundamental, long-term solution."

During the Sarikamis Battle, the Ottoman army runs out of ammunition and appeals to the people of Van for help, who happen to have supplies. However, the First World War is on and all men are fighting at four corners of the empire and therefore can not respond to to the appeal. The young children of Van want to do something...

A cast of unknown performers are used in this drama about child soldiers fighting a war in an unnamed African country.

When fluffy, bubble gum movie star Megan Valentine suddenly finds herself broke and humiliated in the public eye, she wanders from the wreckage of a car accident and witlessly enlists in the U.S. Army hoping in vain that it will change her life.

Sergeant Michael Dunne fights in the 10th Battalion, AKA The "Fighting Tenth" with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle

Two young soldiers prepare for battle during World War I.

Recalling Operation Valkyrie, a failed plot devised by German officers to assassinate Adolph Hitler. Included: a look at the events leading up to the July 20, 1944 attempt and the aftermath; interviews with survivors and historians; and archival footage and photographs.

Before the war, in Berlin, Adam was an entertainer- cabaret impresario, magician, musician-loved by all until he finds himself in a concentration camp, confronted by Commandant Klein. Adam survives the camp by becoming the Klein's "dog", entertaining him while his wife and daughter are sent off to die. "Adam Resurrected" is the story of a man who once was a dog who meets a dog who once was a boy.

In 1898, a band of Spanish soldiers heroically defended Baler against Filipino forces for 337 long and grueling days. The battle, now referred to as the Siege of Baler, is the setting of a forbidden love between a Mestizo soldier and a Filipina lass who lived at the end of the 19th century.

A documentary as the title states. DVD extra.

Military service in Israel is compulsive for all able-bodied Jewish men and women. Once their years of service is up they are granted a bonus which many use to travel to India to wind down and recover from their experiences. About 90% of them will use drugs during their travels and every year about two thousand of them will require professional help to recover from this drug use. The extreme psychotic break these people experience is commonly referred to as "flipping out".

July, 1944. As WWII raged on, a group of conspirators, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, plotted to assassinate Hitler and end his reign of terror. Using rare color footage, painstakingly recreated dramatizations, detailed CG reconstructions and exclusive interviews with leading historians, this thrilling documentary presents the definitive record of what happened before, during and after these pivotal events.

When one of the brothers (Ohayn) dies, all the whole family comes for Shiva (Jewish tradition,when the family sits seven days at the home after the death one of their family). A large family with a lot of problems and conflicts between them.

Our story begins at the end of Sharpe's Challenge. Sharpe and Harper are en route to Madras when they encounter a baggage train from the East India Company traveling through hostile territory. Chitu, a legendary bandit leader in control of the area, strikes fear in the members of the party. When an attack occurs Sharpe takes control of the situation, leading the group 300 miles through enemy territory and training the disorganized, rag-tag group to be proper soldiers. Despite all these responsibilities, Sharpe still manages to find time for a little romance...

Drama inspired by the life of Walter Tull who, after years in an orphanage, went on to become a professional footballer and then the first black commissioned officer to lead British troops during WW1. The action concerns Tull's turbulent passage from ordinary soldier to extraordinary officer at officer training camp, where he had to face his own demons as well as fight the prejudice that surrounded him

A response to the failure of the American mass media to provide the public with relevant and accurate information about the standoff between the US and Iran, as happened before with the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. We have heard that Iran is a nuclear menace in defiance of the international community, bent on "wiping Israel off the map", supporting terrorism, and unwilling to negotiate. This documentary disputes these claims as they are presented to us and puts them in the context of present and historical US imperialism and hypocrisy with respect to Iran. It looks at the struggle for democracy inside Iran, the consequences of the current escalation and the potential US and/or Israeli attack, and suggests some alternatives to consider.

During the Vietnam War [1959-1975] a special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Suicide squads of a special kind.

Death in Love is a psychosexual-thriller about a love affair between a Jewish woman and a doctor overseeing human experimentation at a Nazi German concentration camp, and the impact this has on her sons' lives in the 1990s.

Two enemy soldiers get locked up in a tunnel below the World War I front. Sharing the same fate, they need each other to survive.

During WWII two sisters have stolen some emeralds from the lesbian Nazi SS officer (Rena Riffel) and now are on the run. One gets captured by her and gets tortured with electrified Freddy Krueger glove into revealing the location of the gems. The other escapes to her cousin's house, but her cousin who isn't that pleased with her appearance and blackmails the girl into becoming her personal slave in return for not turning her over to the SS.

Telling the stories of the last soldiers to die in the Great War.

Australia, 1943. On leave from the front, Donald makes one last attempt to save his brother from the life their father has unwittingly prepared for him.

Four high school football stars enlist in the Marines and head off to fight in the war in Iraq. When one of them is killed and another wounded, they return home only to find is extremely difficult to pick up the threads of their old lives. The memories of events in Iraq combined with the lack of public support pushes many of these men to the breaking point.

Chronicles the building and dedication of the first-ever United States Navy monument in Normandy, France. Dozens of interviews with Navy D-Day veterans are included. New England region Emmy Awards for writing and photography. Airing on American Public Television. —Tim Gray

Documentary of the Korean War.

Forget about nuclear missiles, the decisive weapon of the twentieth century is the car bomb. After Iraq we now know you can defeat a Superpower, start a civil war or just blow up your own Government with a trunk load of home-made explosives and a battered old car. From the Middle East, Oklahoma, Ireland and the streets of the City of London the car bomb has shaped human conflict. Even today the car bomb remains the number one terrorist threat across the world. In this film, ex-CIA agent Robert Baer uncovers the history of this extraordinary weapon. With footage of car bomb attacks and interviews with car bombers, Baer reveals how the century of the car turned into the century of the car bomb. And how a dream of freedom turned nightmare.

Alia Izzet Rahmanovic is one of the prosperous and career-savvy Bosniaks of the Tito period Yugoslavia. Captain of Yugoslavia, close guard of Tito, army national team captain and Yugoslavia's first world karate champion. The civil war in Yugoslavia also changes a lot in Alia's life with everyday life. Alia, who lost everything but his family in the war, is forced to take refuge with a Bosnian refugee camp under the protection of the United Nations, along with Anna, a Serb-based wife and two young children. The remaining 65 women were murdered by Bosniak Serbs, consisting of children and elderly people. Alia's wife and children are also among those who died and went to court. Written by ahmetkozan

How much should you negotiate with the enemy? In Israel, the debate over that question evoked fury to the point of assassination. Such was the case of Kasztner. Dr Israel (Rezso) Kasztner, a Hungarian Jew who tried to rescue the last million Jews of Europe by negotiating face to face with Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, was gunned down by another Jew who never set foot in Nazi Europe. After 50 years, his assassin Ze'ev Eckstein breaks his silence on the fateful night he shot and killed Kasztner. (Storyville)

Marine private John Rossi is looking forward to a new assignment in New York City on the night he ventures into a Hell's Kitchen bar, and meets a handsome but lonely boy named Damon Conrad. Damon assumes the Marine just wants sex, but when he proposes they go out on a "real date," Damon begins to think perhaps he has finally found the man of his dreams. The next night, John reveals that earlier that day he learned his division would be heading to the Middle East. Later that night, when the boys are caught-up in a moment of passion, John must choose between his devotion to the Marines and his desire for love and companionship.

Five American soldiers on a routine training mission in the forests of northern Italy encounter the ghost of a German sniper from World War II.

In a small house with oversized furniture, located in a rice field in Asia, some children wearing army clothes and weapons, start playing war, creating between each other two armies and using children's toys, laser weapons, machine guns and helicopters. Slowly, as the game progresses, they start imitating war scenes as seen on TV, such as negotiations and death scenes. At the end of the film, the children are coming out of the house and they deposit their weapons in front of it. The smallest child comes out in the end with a burning bramble stick in his hand and lights the pile of weapons. All the children leave while the pile is burning. In over twenty countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts. Dangerous Games is a work of fiction.

Jedi Knights lead the Grand Army of the Republic against the droid army of the Separatists in the animated series set between Star Wars II and III created by George Lucas and Dave Filoni.

A Documentary with the cast of The Inglorious Bastards

Documentary series using dramatic reconstructions and testimony from witnesses to reveal the 'behind closed doors' politics of the Second World War.

Explores the path of hitler from insignificance, to World domination, and demonstrates the delusions he had that lead to massive deaths during the War.

This programme traces the history of the Avro Vulcan V-Bomber, from conception in the early 1950s as a strategic nuclear bomber, through to departure from the Royal Air Force service, after its use in the Falklands Conflict in 1982.

Modern and historic footage tells the story of the war horse of the 12 Western air forces. The carrier-based Phantom II won its spurs in Vietnam where its extraordinary capabilities led to adaptation for land-based rolls ranging from ground attack through battlefield reconnaissance to defense suppression. McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II covers the first development of the type and its powerful engine and includes a walk-round of an F-4B. The Phantom then joins the fleet and US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Air Forces machines see action in Vietnam.

This programme is a visual presentation of the bombers deployed, and their strategic use, by both the Allied and Axis Forces during the Second World War. The programme includes detailed accounts of the Lancaster, Wellington, Blenheim, Liberator, Flying Fortress, Heinkel HE 111, Stuka, Mitchell, Superfortress, Heinkel HE 177 Greif, Marauder, Whitley, Halifax, Hampden, Stirling, Arado Blitz and more.