Given the scope of World War II, its (comparative) recency, and the fact that it was able to be exceptionally well-documented, more war movies have explored it than World War I, which was previously known as the Great War. It’s at the point where most of the best-known World War II movies are often also the best-known war movies in general (see Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, and The Thin Red Line, for examples).
Yet there are still a handful of important World War I movies that seek to shed light on the lesser-known – and less-documented – global conflict, including some that were made before World War II happened. The following movies are some of the best, and also generally succeed at feeling realistic and/or authentic in the way they tell stories that take place during the First World War.
10
‘Wings’ (1927)
Directed by William A. Wellman
Don’t let its age fool you: Wings is still a remarkable film on a technical front, as there are sequences here that remain stunning to witness, even though the whole thing was released close to a century ago. Wings is, essentially, a romance film that plays out with World War I in the background, but it’s not just about love, since the most memorable sequences here center on staged dogfights that mostly hold up.
There’s a level of spectacle here that can make the slower parts of Wings easier to tolerate. And, sure, the film’s age might mean it feels dated, and potentially “less” realistic in a superficial sense… but there is still an unpacking of war’s consequences that feels hard-hitting at times, and the scale and filmmaking on offer when it comes to the battle scenes mean they still feel surprisingly realistic.
Wings
- Release Date
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January 5, 1929
- Runtime
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144 Minutes
9
‘Johnny Got His Gun’ (1971)
Directed by Dalton Trumbo
Anti-war movies tend to highlight things that are very real and very disturbing, when it comes to war, as the descriptor makes pretty apparent. And few anti-war films strike a nerve the way Johnny Got His Gun does, with nothing here feeling spectacular or even close to thrilling. After all, the whole movie is about the aftermath of combat, and the way a young man’s life is entirely ruined following a devastating injury.
The only thing that might undo some “realism” is the surreal tone of Johnny Got His Gun, seeing as much of it unfolds in the head of the film’s unfortunate protagonist, who’s otherwise unable to move, speak, or see. But it’s about understanding the psychological impact of war, and unflinchingly unpacking what the worst possible fate for a soldier (arguably worse than death) in war could be.
8
‘1917’ (2019)
Directed by Sam Mendes
There are some aspects of 1917 that might well break immersion, or suggest some level of unreality. The whole thing plays out as if it was one continuous shot, following two soldiers as they trek across No Man’s Land to deliver a vital message, but some shortcuts are taken, and maybe there’s a sense that the journey happens a little too fast, just so 1917 doesn’t exceed two hours.
Combat does feel dangerous in 1917, and there is a certain effectiveness in the way it depicts what being a soldier engaged in trench warfare might’ve felt like.
But then, on the other hand, the approach taken can sometimes be very immersive, and though one character does avoid death on numerous occasions to a rather surprising extent, war is shown to end various other lives in the blink of an eye. Combat does feel dangerous in 1917, and there is a certain effectiveness in the way it depicts what being a soldier engaged in trench warfare might’ve felt like.
1917
- Release Date
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December 25, 2019
- Runtime
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119 minutes
7
‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962)
Directed by David Lean
Lawrence of Arabia isn’t just a World War I movie, by any means, seeing as it’s far too grand an epic – and its narrative spans too many years – to just be focused on that point in history. Still, a good part of T.E. Lawrence’s life did involve World War I, including some fighting in it and then everything that happened in the years following… and it’s that section of the film that says the most about Lawrence, as a person.
Anyway, David Lean knew how to make an epic, and Lawrence of Arabia is his best. It’s perhaps not noticeably realistic or grounded as a World War I movie, beyond touching upon the conflict and telling a real-life story, but hey, it’s Lawrence of Arabia, and if it wasn’t mentioned here, people would probably get mad as hell and not take it anymore.
6
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1930)
Directed by Lewis Milestone
The first Best Picture winner was the aforementioned Wings, and then a handful of years later, another World War I movie won the top award at the Oscars: All Quiet on the Western Front. This is probably the World War I movie, as far as those made before World War II are concerned, and there’s a starkness and brutality to it that’s genuinely surprising to see in a film that’s well over 90 years old.
Of course, anti-war films would push things further and get even more intense than what was seen here, but this first adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front was an early anti-war film that really got that whole ball rolling. Given its focus on young soldiers losing their innocence, and the fact that war often makes victims of the young to this day, so much here still feels real and relevant.
5
‘The White Ribbon’ (2009)
Directed by Michael Haneke
More of a drama than a war movie, admittedly, The White Ribbon still feels uncompromising and grounded, and takes place in the lead-up to World War I, so the conflict plays a role in the narrative to some extent. It’s all stark and very matter-of-fact, as can be expected from Michael Haneke, and it’s an arthouse film, to some extent, albeit one that feels very real.
The characters in The White Ribbon live in a small village in Germany, with the upcoming conflict and various unpleasant secrets within the village all being explored and uncovered, very slowly, over the film’s runtime. It’s brutal and sad without necessarily being in-your-face about it, and the effect it has is also difficult to describe. It more just has to be experienced by anyone who’s ready to feel miserable about lots of things, generally speaking, once it’s all over.
The White Ribbon
- Release Date
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September 24, 2009
- Runtime
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144 minutes
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Christian Friedel
The School Teacher
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Ernst Jacobi
The School Teacher as an Old Man (voice)
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-
4
‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ (1943)
Directed by Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
An all-time classic, and one of cinema’s greatest war movies, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a bit of an epic, and works as a war movie about several wars. It begins with the then-ongoing World War II, and then has flashbacks that explore the military and romantic life of a general (not a colonel), which includes time spent in the Boer War and World War I.
It might be cheating a little to include it here, as a result, but still, World War I plays a part here in any event. And The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp does have a good deal to say about that war, and the nature of war in general, all while also being romantic and (occasionally) comedic. It bites off a lot, yet still manages to chew/digest it all.
3
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (2022)
Directed by Edward Berger
92 years on from that aforementioned All Quiet on the Western Front, there was another adaptation. Okay, there was also one in 1979, but that was a TV movie. So, call 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front the second theatrical film to adapt the novel of the same name, or the third, do whatever. People fought in various wars so you could have such freedoms, and others.
Anyway, the plot is very much the same here in 2022, compared to the 1930 version, but things are somehow more soul-crushing, and the intensity of the combat sequences is also considerably upped. The realism here makes the film intense and harrowing for a good chunk of its runtime, using modern-day filmmaking techniques to go further than many other comparable films have when it comes to visualizing the barbarity of trench warfare.
All Quiet on the Western Front
- Release Date
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September 29, 2022
- Runtime
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143 Minutes
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Felix Kammerer
Paul Bäumer
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Albrecht Schuch
Stanislas ‘Kat’ Katczinsky
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2
‘Gallipoli’ (1981)
Directed by Peter Weir
Not just a realistic World War I movie, but an admirably realistic and haunting war movie generally speaking, Gallipoli is a bit like All Quiet on the Western Front, on the narrative front, at least. Its two main characters are young men who are convinced that there will be some level of excitement and adventure to war, and so they enlist, leaving behind their lives in Australia.
They eventually get to the titular Gallipoli, and soon find they’re basically to be used as cannon fodder, with little chance at surviving combat or otherwise getting out. It’s all very simple, but that bluntness is key to ensuring Gallipoli hits as hard as it does. It’s a tragic movie for sure, but not shying away from the intensity of such tragedy helps it feel so heartbreakingly real.
Gallipoli
- Release Date
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August 28, 1981
- Runtime
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110 Minutes
1
‘Paths of Glory’ (1957)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Though old, Paths of Glory still hits unfathomably hard, and it’s unlikely that it’ll ever feel aged or irrelevant. There is some combat depicted here, but mostly in the film’s opening act. The trench warfare seen here is brutal and a failure, and so some high-ranking military members decide to make a handful of soldiers scapegoats, punishing them in military court for the failure of the event as a whole.
This makes Paths of Glory a World War I film and something of a courtroom drama in equal measure, and the whole thing is undeniably harrowing. Stanley Kubrick never really pulled punches, even as far back as 1957, and though Full Metal Jacket (released 30 years later) was more visceral, Paths of Glory is pretty much just as devastating on an emotional and psychological level.