5 Films That Perfectly Show the Realities of Life During War

War films have consistently held widespread appeal. During the early days of cinema, especially in the Vintage Hollywood era, these films often highlighted the bravery of soldiers without delving into the underlying causes or justifications for the conflicts. In recent times, however, war movies have shifted toward more nuanced portrayals, providing a more authentic depiction by examining various aspects of war and military life.

Das Boot (1981)

The 1981 West German film Das Boot is based on a 1973 book by author Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Buchheim, a journalist, spent much of the Second World War onboard a German U-boat - particularly, U-96 - and later wrote about his experiences as the submarine patroled during the Battle of the Atlantic .

The film was critically acclaimed and nominated for six Academy Awards , including Best Direct and Best Adapted Screenplay. There are two reasons as to how Das Boot so accurately portrayed warfare. Firstly, the set was a recreated model of a 1940s Type VIIC U-boat and, second, rather than show non-stop action, the film lays out the tedium of life at sea. Much of the time, the German sailors are spent waiting for a target before quick bursts of action.

While realistic, not everyone was a fan of the film's depiction of World War II, including Buchheim, who later argued that it glorified war, whereas his book was clearly anti-war.

M*A*S*H (1970)

Until 1970, most war films were serious in tone, but that changed with the release of M*A*S*H . debuted in theaters. This film, which helped launch the careers of Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, and Robert Duvall, highlighted the dark humor found in serving overseas. The doctors in the movie were always prepared to treat wounded soldiers in Korea , but in their downtime, they engaged in practical jokes and tried to romance the nurses.

The famous film critic Roger Ebert wrote of M*A*S*H , "We can take the unusually high gore-level in M*A*S*H because it is originally part of the movie's logic. If the surgeons didn't have to face the daily list of maimed and mutilated bodies, none of the rest of their lives would make any sense."

The movie, of course, went on to inspire an even more famous television show, which aired from 1972 to 1983 and further explored the experiences of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Also titled M*A*S*H , it is widely seen as one of the greatest TV series of all time.

Dunkirk (2017)

Christopher Nolan earned fame for directing The Dark Knight ( Batman ) trilogy and 2010's Inception . In 2017, he brought his filmmaking eye to the war film genre with Dunkirk , where he focused on the chaos and horror of the Dunkirk evacuation from the air, sea and on land.

The evacuation of Dunkirk is a famous moment in British WWII history. While the outcome of the event was so surprising that some referred to it as a miracle, Britain's leaders chose to temper expectations , with Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarking, "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."

In his film, Nolan captures the heroism of the troops on the ground, largely without the use of dialogue. Such depictions include dogfights between RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft, as well as the lack of impact the war was having on the population at home. The movie was a massive critical success, becoming the highest-grossing WWII film ever released.

Come and See (1985)

Most war films depict battle from the combatants' point of view, but Come and See, a 1985 Soviet feature, takes a much different approach. The anti-war movie aims to portray conflict through the eyes of children, focusing on the harrowing experience of the German occupation of Belarus (then Byelorussia) during WWII.

Describing Come and See as realistic is an understatement. Director Elem Klimov noted that ambulances had to be on standby during screenings because of the film's intense subject matter. It also struck a chord with veterans; a survey by SFGATE found that every one polled felt Come and See depicted war with striking realism.

Platoon (1986)

Platoon is different than other war movies for a number of reasons. One of the most prominent is that filmmaker and writer Oliver Stone is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the US Army. Despite his admission into Yale University, he enlisted in the Army, viewing it as a rite of passage, and requested combat duty.

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Platoon follows Chris Taylor, played by Charlie Sheen, who enlists to serve in Vietnam and quickly undergoes a transition into adulthood. Stone aimed to depict the war in a way that would adequately show just what those fighting overseas faced. He based the film on his combat experience and those of his fellow soldiers, so it's no surprise it struck a chord with viewers.