House of Bamboo (1955), Fires on the Plain (1959), Crossing the Line (2006), The Thin Red Line (1998), King and Country (1964), Cold Mountain (2003), The Moo Man (2013), The Flying Deuces (1939) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Desertion movies.
Storyline: In post-World War II Tokyo, Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack) is on a U.S. Army special assignment to investigate a murderous clique led by ex-soldier Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan). Kenner ingratiates himself with Dawson and his inner circle, gaining their trust while starting a relationship with Mariko (Shirley Yamaguchi), the wife of a murdered gang member. But the sinister Dawson suspects there's a traitor among them when the police are tipped off about a planned robbery.
Plot Keywords: soldier, crime boss, gang member, woman, police officer, brooding, intense ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: It is the Philipines, 1945. The Japanese Imperial Army has been reduced to a ragtag mob hiding in the jungles. Among them is Pvt. Tamura. The situation goes from bad to worse and in the face of the brutal conditions facing the men, some go insane and resort to murder and cannibalism. In the midst of this, Pvt. Tamura tries to survive without giving up his principles.—Eugene Ly <euge.ly@utoronto.ca>
Plot Keywords: soldier, doctor, dark, chilling, bleak, island, philippines ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: With Americans on all sides of the issue up in arms and Congress embroiled in a knock-down-drag-out policy battle over how to move forward, CROSSING ARIZONA tells the story of how we got to where we are today. Heightened security in California and Texas has pushed illegal border-crossers into the treacherous Arizona desert in unprecedented numbers - an estimated 4,500 a day. Most are Mexican men in search of work, but increasingly the border-crossers are women and children seeking to reunite with their husbands and fathers. This influx of migrants crossing through Arizona and the attendant rising death toll have elicited complicated feelings about human rights, culture, class, labor and national security. "Crossing Arizona" examines the crisis through the eyes of those directly affected by it. Frustrated ranchers go out day after day to repair cut fences and pick up the trash that endangers their livestock and livelihoods. Humanitarian groups place water stations in the desert in an attempt to save lives. Political activists rally against anti-migrant ballot initiatives and try to counter rampant fear mongering. Farmers who depend on the illegal work force face each day with the fear that they may lose their workers to a border patrol sweep. And now there are the Minutemen, an armed citizen patrol group taking border security into their own hands. As up-to-date as the nightly news, but far more in-depth, "Crossing Arizona" is an indispensable primer on what is already the most divisive issue of this election cycle.—Crossing AZ LLC
Plot Keywords: narrator, soldier, officer, government official, engaging, fascinating, uneasy ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: U.S. Army Private Witt (AWOL) is found and imprisoned on a troop carrier by his company First Sergeant, Welsh.The men of C Company,1st Battalion,27th Infantry Regiment,25th Infantry Division have been brought to Guadalcanal as reinforcements in the campaign to secure Henderson Field and seize the island from the Japanese. They arrive near Hill 210, a key Japanese position. Their task is to capture the hill at all cost. What happens next is a story developing about redemption and the meaningless of war. Regardless the outcome.
Plot Keywords: deserter, soldiers, native, military officer, enemy, japanese soldier, dreamy ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: During World War I, the British troops are entrenched at Passchendaele, Belgium. Amongst the volunteers, there is a young British soldier, Private Arthur James Hamp (Sir Tom Courtenay), who is the sole survivor of his original company. Hamp spent three years in the trenches, and this makes him a veteran. He has never been accused of cowardice, but one day, he simply decides to leave the war behind him and walk all the way home to Britain. In Calais, France, he is challenged by a Military Police patrol, who promptly arrests him for leaving without permission. Hamp's commanding officers decide to convene a court-martial and charge him with desertion. If found guilty, Hamp could be shot by a firing squad. Captain Hargreaves (Sir Dirk Bogarde) is assigned to be Hamp's defending attorney, but he seems skeptical about the deserter's chances of acquittal. During their first talk, Captain Hargreaves is impressed by his client's utter sincerity and naivete. He learns that his client volunteered on a dare by his friends back home, spent three years in the front-line trenches, remained sole survivor of his company, and that he decided to leave the war and return home. When Hargreaves asks Hamp why he decided to leave the war, Hamp simply says that he got tired of watching his comrades die, and that the noises of war made him sick. On top of that, Hamp argued he received news from home about his wife's unfaithfulness. All of these reasons made him want to leave the war behind and return home to England. Captain Hargreaves remains unsympathetic. The military doctor's report indicated that deserter Hamp does not suffer from shell-shock and Captain Hargreaves accepts that fact. However, suspecting that his client's case is a more complex and peculiar case, Captain Hargreaves believes that Hamp is not responsible for his actions. He prepares the best he can for the upcoming court-martial.—nufs68
Plot Keywords: private, captain, military officer, lawyer, gritty, bleak, england ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: This Civil War saga addresses romance, friendship, and the ravages of war--both in the field and on the home front. Captures the horrors of war for both those fighting it, and for those left behind. This is a tale of hope, longing, redemption, second chances, and faith.
Plot Keywords: soldier, farmer, deserter, wife, housekeeper, bleak, sad ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Modern British dairy farms must get bigger and bigger or go under but Farmer Stephen Hook decides to buck the trend. Instead he chooses to have a great relationship with his small herd of cows and ignore the big supermarkets and dairies. The result is a laugh-out-loud emotional roller-coaster of a film, a heart warming tearjerker about the incredible bonds between man, animal and countryside in a fast disappearing England.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: martial artist, master, landlord, corrupt businessman, intense, gripping, outlandish ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Oliver is heartbroken when he finds that Georgette, the inkeeper's daughter he's fallen in love with, is already married to dashing Foreign Legion officer Francois. To forget her, he joins the Legion, taking Stanley with him. Their bumbling eventually gets them charged with desertion and sentenced to a firing squad. They manage to escape in a stolen airplane, but crash after a wild ride.—Paul Penna <tterrace@wco.com>
Plot Keywords: stan, soldier, commander, dream girl, innkeeper, ollie, amusing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Set during the Civil War, Free State of Jones tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.
Plot Keywords: farmer, medic, confederate soldier, slave, fugitive, rebel, brooding ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Mordecai Jones is a rural con artist (a 'flim-flam man') who takes on a young army deserter; Curley as his protege, and teaches him the tricks of the trade. Sheriff Slade is in hot pursuit of the pair, and rich girl Bonnie Lee Packard becomes romantically involved with Curley, and helps the fleeing duo stay one step ahead of the sheriff.—alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords: con artist, deserter, sheriff, rich girl, mother, father, amusing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Aristocratic Prudence Cathaway shocks her family by enlisting in the WAFs. After enlisting, a fellow WAF sets her up on a blind date with handsome, but moody Clive Briggs. Prudence learns Clive is a deserter, but still loves him and senses he'll eventually prove himself a patriot.—Daniel Bubbeo <dbubbeo@cmp.com>
Plot Keywords: aristocratic lady, soldier, aunt, best friend, hotel owner, father, intense ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Bitter over his wife's death due to what he believes was army negligence, Capt. Viktor Kaleb deserts the cavalry and disappears into the southwestern wasteland. But when marauding Apaches set up a stronghold just out of the cavalry's reach in Mexico, Kaleb is given amnesty in exchange for leading a small band of especially trained soldiers to wipe out the Indian stronghold.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: deserter, general, colonel, engineer, wife, scout, gritty ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: When the Texas rangers are disbanded, outlaws move in. Ex-Ranger Roy joins the Cavalry but deserts when the Calvalry is unable to stop the outlaws and his brother is killed. Ex-Senator Harvey has organized the State Patrol and Roy soon learns it's a protection racket with those not joining burned out or murdered.—Maurice VanAuken <mvanauken@a1access.net>
Plot Keywords: roy rogers, texas ranger, love interest, senator, brother, trigger, rousing ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: "Wicked" Lily Bishop joins a wagon train to California, led by Michael Fabian and Johnnny Trumbo, but news of the Gold Rush scatters the train. When Johnny and Michael finally arrive, Lily is rich from her saloon and storekeeper (former slaver) Pharaoh Coffin is bleeding the miners dry. But worse troubles are ahead: California is inching toward statehood, and certain people want to make it their private empire.—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Plot Keywords: deserter, poker player, prospector, saloon girl, irishman, landowner, engaging ...
Movie Details Click Here!Storyline: Sarajevo June 28, 1914. Dushan, the Serbian mayor of a Hungarian town, has come to see the parade of Archduke Ferdinand. While there he runs into Geza, an old friend in the Hungarian Army and invites him to come to his house and visit him and his new wife. Tensions between the Serbs and the Hungarians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire reach their boiling point when a Serb assassinates the Archduke and war breaks out. Dushan returns home desperately trying to keep the Serbs in his town loyal to Austro-Hungary while protecting his people from the suspicious Hungarian army. His new wife, Irina, sides with the Serbs and hides deserters in the barn. Geza arrives to search the premises. Dushan gives his word there are no deserters at his home but afterwards his wife tells him the truth and talks him into using his servant Panto to help the deserters escape while she distracts Geza by flirting with him. Geza sees through her ruse but lets the deserters escape because he is beginning to fall in love with Irina and she with him. After the war, the city falls under Serbian control and Panto becomes the head of the police. He pursues Geza just as Dushan begins to suspect that his wife and Geza are lovers.—Brian Cady <cadyb@home.com>
Plot Keywords: mayor, wife, captain, steward, deserter, commander, intense ...
Movie Details Click Here!