Highest-Rated Movies about 'Cold War', Sort by Popularity

The Firemen's Ball (1967), The Mouse That Roared (1959), When the Wind Blows (1986), Superman: Red Son (2020), Sputnik (2020), The Power of Nightmares (2004), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), The Fog of War (2003) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Cold War movies.

#1. The Firemen's Ball (1967)

Storyline: In Milos Forman's satire on Communism set in a small Czechoslovakian town in the 1960s, the local firemen decide to organize a ball, however the proceedings are dogged by difficulty at every step. They plan to organize a beauty pageant at the ball, yet struggle tremendously to find enough pretty contestants. A lottery is planned for later in the evening, but the guests begin stealing the prizes. Then, inevitably, there is a fire in the town... It seems that whatever can go wrong, does go wrong.

Plot Keywords: firemen, old man, townsperson, amusing, offbeat, quirky, czechoslovakia ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#3. When the Wind Blows (1986)

Storyline: In this hand-drawn animated tale, elderly married couple Hilda (Peggy Ashcroft) and Jim Bloggs (John Mills) have their quiet, simple lives in the English countryside interrupted when they learn of an impending nuclear attack. Not completely understanding the gravity of their situation, Hilda and Jim react archaically and insufficiently after the attack -- and the film takes a dark turn as the radiation begins taking its toll on the unsuspecting couple.

Plot Keywords: retiree, wife, husband, amusing, disheartening, sad, sussex, england ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#6. The Power of Nightmares (2004)

Storyline: Fundamentalist Islam and neo-conservatism seem to be at odds, but filmmaker Adam Curtis asserts that the two have more in common than one might think. In this documentary, Curtis compares the outlooks of American academic Leo Strauss and Egyptian civil servant Sayyid Qutb, each of whom rebelled against American individualism to form their respective movements. Their shared message is that fear unites, be it during the Cold War or today's War on Terror.

Plot Keywords: philosopher, engineer, civil servant, rousing, passionate, shocking, disheartening ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Storyline: Paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper of Burpelson Air Force Base, believing that fluoridation of the American water supply is a Soviet plot to poison the U.S. populace, is able to deploy through a back door mechanism a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union without the knowledge of his superiors, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Buck Turgidson, and President Merkin Muffley. Only Ripper knows the code to recall the B-52 bombers and he has shut down communication in and out of Burpelson as a measure to protect this attack. Ripper's executive officer, RAF Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (on exchange from Britain), who is being held at Burpelson by Ripper, believes he knows the recall codes if he can only get a message to the outside world. Meanwhile at the Pentagon War Room, key persons including Muffley, Turgidson and nuclear scientist and adviser, a former Nazi named Dr. Strangelove, are discussing measures to stop the attack or mitigate its blow-up into an all ...

Plot Keywords: military officer, russian general, president, pilot, scientist, witty, creative ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#8. The Fog of War (2003)

Storyline: Former corporate whiz kid Robert McNamara was the controversial Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, during the height of the Vietnam War. This Academy Award-winning documentary, augmented by archival footage, gives the conflicted McNamara a platform on which he attempts to confront his and the U.S. government's actions in Southeast Asia in light of the horrors of modern warfare, the end of ideology and the punitive judgment of history.—Jwelch5742

Plot Keywords: secretary of defense, president, viet cong, soldiers, vietnam vet, chilling, patriotic ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#9. The Imitation Game (2014)

Storyline: Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

Plot Keywords: scientist, mathematician, gay man, military official, government official, emotional, powerful ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#11. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Storyline: Major Ben Marco (Frank Sinatra) is an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He served valiantly as a captain in the Korean war and his Sergeant, Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), even won the Medal of Honor. Marco has a major problem however: he has a recurring nightmare, one where two members of his squad are killed by Shaw. He's put on indefinite sick leave and visits Shaw in New York. Shaw for his part has established himself well, despite the misgivings of his domineering mother, Mrs. Eleanor Iselin (Angela Lansbury). She is a red-baiter, accusing anyone who disagrees with her right-wing reactionary views of being a Communist. Raymond hates her, not only for how she's treated him but equally because of his step-father, the ineffectual U.S. Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), who is intent on seeking higher office. When Marco learns that others in his Korean War unit have had nightmares similar to his own, he realizes that something happened to all of them in Korea and that Raymond...

Plot Keywords: war hero, politician, soldier, spy, communist, tense, intricate ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#12. Seven Days in May (1964)

Storyline: An unpopular U.S. President manages to get a nuclear disarmament treaty through the Senate, but finds that the nation is turning against him. Jiggs Casey, a Marine Colonel, finds evidence that General Scott, the wildly popular head of the Joint Chiefs and certain Presidential Candidate in 2 years is not planning to wait. Casey goes to the president with the information and a web of intrigue begins with each side unsure of who can be trusted.

Plot Keywords: president, military officer, assistant, mistress, tense, intricate, suspenseful ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#13. Artists and Models (1955)

Storyline: Painter Rick Todd (Dean Martin) is having difficulty with his career, so he starts taking inspiration from the dreams of his friend and roommate, Eugene (Jerry Lewis), a comic book fan who narrates an adventure story while he sleeps. Unbeknown to Eugene, Abigail Parker (Dorothy Malone), the artist for his favorite comic book, lives in the same building with her roommate, Bessie (Shirley MacLaine), the model for Abigail's drawings. Eventually, the two pairs meet, and Bessie takes to Eugene.

Plot Keywords: painter, friend, illustrator, model, publisher, spy, cheeky ...

Movie Details Click Here!

#14. Kolya (1996)

Storyline: Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady's man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. But he has run up a large debt, and when his friend, the grave-digger Mr. Broz, suggests a scheme for making a lot of money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get her Czech papers, he reluctantly agrees. She takes advantage of the situation to emigrate to West Germany, to her lover; and leaves her five-year-old son with his grandmother; when the grandmother dies, Kolya must come and live with his stepfather - Louka.

Plot Keywords: cellist, wife, son, police officer, friend, endearing, emotional ...

Movie Details Click Here!