10 Most Perfect War Movies of the 21st Century, Ranked

There are underappreciated masterpieces like the Estonian-Georgian drama Tangerines, as well as immensely popular Academy Award winners like Oppenheimer. People who love war films have had very little to complain about over the course of the last 25 years, as these movies are so great that they could very well be counted among the greatest war films of all time.

10 'Downfall' (2004)

The German biopic Downfall is one of the boldest war films of the 21st century. After all, the mere premise of a movie about Adolf Hitler's final days before Germany's defeat during World War II is, to say the very least, ambitious. But in the hands of director Oliver Hirschbiegel and star Bruno Ganz, such a premise led to one of the best war movies of all time.

Ganz carries the whole film on his shoulders like a master of his craft, delivering a towering performance as Hitler that's easily the best part of the movie. Deliberately paced, profoundly thought-provoking, and absolutely riveting, Downfall proposes that it's more beneficial to look at history's greatest monsters as humans, since demonizing can make learning from their mistakes all the more complicated. A film with Hitler as its protagonist cannot possibly be without controversy, but Downfall mostly handles its concept with sensitivity and profound thought, making for one of the most interesting biopics of the 21st century.

9 '1917' (2019)

Before Parasite shocked the world by becoming 2020's Best Picture Oscar winner, the frontrunner for practically the whole 2019-20 awards race was Sam Mendes' 1917. Great World War II movies tend to be more abundant nowadays than great World War I movies, but this gem partially inspired by stories Mendes' grandfather told him about his service in WWI is as exceptional as any 21st-century WWII masterpiece.

Using long takes to make the whole film seem like only two continuous shots (single-handedly making this one of DP Roger Deakins' best films), 1917 is far and away one of the most immersive war films in recent memory. As thrilling as they are harrowing, its combat sequences are absolutely jaw-dropping; and though its characters don't have much depth to them, they're still compelling enough to make following them through the trenches a nail-biting experience.

8 'Tangerines' (2013)

Neither the Estonian nor Georgian film industries typically get much recognition internationally, but Tangerines was nominated for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar—and deservedly so. Set in 1992 war-torn Georgia, the story follows an Estonian man who has decided to stay behind and care for his tangerine crops. But when a wounded man appears at his door, he takes him in.

It's one of the most underrated, near-perfect war movies of the 2010s. Well-acted, deeply thought-provoking, and unexpectedly emotionally stirring for a war film that's less than 90 minutes long (definitely an uncommonly short runtime in this genre), it's a poignant drama about the horrors of war that really deserves more love than it gets nowadays.

7 'Quo Vadis, Aida?' (2020)

One of the highest-rated war movies on Letterboxd, the internationally co-produced war drama Quo Vadis, Aida? also earned a Best International Feature Oscar nomination—also entirely well-deserved. It's a dramatization of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre that took place during the Bosnian War, following a UN translator whose family find themselves in the midst of the event.

It's the kind of devastating, absolutely gut-wrenching war movie that makes you forget how to breathe. It's as much of a thoughtful study of the massacre as it is a general indictment of the nightmare that is war. It's deeply moving without ever feeling condescending, boosted by a towering lead performance by Jasna Đuričić.

6 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009)

Quentin Tarantino has dipped his toes into several genres over the years, and the war genre is no exception. Inglourious Basterds is one of the most perfect war thrillers ever made and many people's favorite Tarantino film. It's a WWII epic that has a humorous edge, sure, but it's when it's at its tensest and most suspenseful that its effect really starts working its magic on the audience.

It's 21st-century war filmmaking at its best, unafraid to go dark and equally unafraid to make its viewers laugh with a pitch-black joke. The acting is phenomenal (Christoph Waltz's Oscar-winning turn as Hans Landa in particular), the writing is as sharp and structurally flawless as one could expect from any Tarantino screenplay, and the abundance of iconic scenes is too large to ignore.

5 'The Voice of Hind Rajab' (2025)

The Tunisian-French war thriller The Voice of Hind Rajab is one of the most important films of our lifetime, and one of the genre's most unique efforts in years. It dramatizes the story of five-year-old Hind Rajab's call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society in 2024, when Israeli forces killed her, six of her family members, and two paramedics coming to her rescue.

As if the movie weren't already more than devastating enough in its own right, it uses real audio recordings of Hind's call to the PRCS—to harrowing effect. It's one of the best war movies of the 21st century, a structurally and formally stunning cinematic achievement that functions as both activism cinema and a riveting, tear-jerking story in its own right.

4 'The Pianist' (2002)

One of the most powerful and devastating Holocaust dramas of the 21st century, The Pianist doesn't follow soldiers on the battlefield. Rather, this engrossing biopic is about the true story of Polish Jewish pianist Władysław Szpilman and how he survived the war in the ruins of Warsaw. Adrian Brody delivers one of the best Oscar-winning performances of the 21st century, for which he became the youngest winner in the history of the Best Actor category.

Profoundly moving and strangely life-affirming as it starts coming to a close, this Palme d'Or winner is proof that war movies can be harrowing and hopeful in equal measure. There are no cheap emotional tricks, just a deeply thought-provoking portrait of the heroism inherent to survival in the face of war's unspeakable horrors.

3 'Incendies' (2010)

Before he broke onto the Hollywood scene with Prisoners and Enemy in 2013, Denis Villeneuve made four exceptional feature films in his native Canada, the best of which is undoubtedly Incendies. It's far and away one of the best Canadian movies of all time, a profoundly affecting war tragedy that was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Feature Academy Award.

It's hard to know where to even start singing the praises of this masterpiece. Perhaps by mentioning the tour-de-force performance delivered by Lubna Azabal? Or the absolutely horrific plot twist that makes this one of the most devastating war movies of the century? Or Villeneuve's commitment to telling an unspeakably bleak narrative without ever resorting to sensationalism? All praise is in order, and then some.

2 'Oppenheimer' (2023)

Christopher Nolan had been delivering knockout film after knockout film for several years, essentially re-defining the Hollywood blockbuster scene—and yet, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hadn't properly given him his flowers until the 2023-24 awards race came along. Everyone knew that Oppenheimer was an undeniable achievement, the kind of epic war biopic that only comes along once in a generation.

It probably hasn't been long enough to call this "a classic" yet, but it's most likely that such a day will eventually come. After all, this is one of the biggest artistic achievements that the world of American blockbusters has ever seen, and one of the most disturbing movies without extreme violence ever made. It's everything that the war movie genre can achieve, and more.

1 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006)

Guillermo del Toro is the master of dark fantasy, and he has been for many years now. He would have never made himself worthy of that title, however, if he hadn't produced one of the greatest R-rated fantasy masterpieces of all time: Pan's Labyrinth, the kind of gem that most filmmakers can only ever dream of making once in their lifetimes.

On the one hand, it's an intelligent and deeply moving critique of fascism and authoritarianism. On the other hand, it's a beautiful yet haunting fairy tale in its own right. It's an absolutely perfect movie, and definitely the biggest 21st-century war masterpiece made thus far. It's essential viewing not just for fantasy fans, but also for pretty much anyone and everyone who would say they love cinema.