Highest-Rated Movies about 'War Crime'

Shoah (1985), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Pianist (2002), Lion of the Desert (1980), Incendies (2010), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Come and See (1985), Downfall (2004) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best War Crime movies.

#1. Shoah (1985)

Storyline: Claude Lanzmann directed this 9 1/2 hour documentary of the Holocaust without using a single frame of archive footage. He interviews survivors, witnesses, and ex-Nazis (whom he had to film secretly since they only agreed to be interviewed by audio). His style of interviewing by asking for the most minute details is effective at adding up these details to give a horrifying portrait of the events of Nazi genocide. He also shows, or rather lets some of his subjects themselves show, that the anti-Semitism that caused 6 million Jews to die in the Holocaust is still alive and well in many people who still live in Germany, Poland, and elsewhere.—Gene Volovich <volovich@netcom.com>

Plot Keywords: holocaust, world war two, war crime, jew, nazi, genocide, testimony ...

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#2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Storyline: Opening with the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion under Cpt. Miller fight ashore to secure a beachhead. Amidst the fighting, two brothers are killed in action. Earlier in New Guinea, a third brother is KIA. Their mother, Mrs. Ryan, is to receive all three of the grave telegrams on the same day. The United States Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall, is given an opportunity to alleviate some of her grief when he learns of a fourth brother, Private James Ryan, and decides to send out 8 men (Cpt. Miller and select members from 2nd Rangers) to find him and bring him back home to his mother...

Plot Keywords: rescue mission, world war two, normandy, 1940s, d day, year 1944, shot to death ...

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#3. The Pianist (2002)

Storyline: In this adaptation of the autobiography "The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945," Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish radio station pianist, sees Warsaw change gradually as World War II begins. Szpilman is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, but is later separated from his family during Operation Reinhard. From this time until the concentration camp prisoners are released, Szpilman hides in various locations among the ruins of Warsaw.

Plot Keywords: holocaust, pianist, based on true story, based on autobiography, poland, survival, jewish ...

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#4. Lion of the Desert (1980)

Storyline: In Fascist Italy pre-World War II, the cruel General Rodolfo Graziani is directly assigned by Benito Mussolini to fight in the colonial war in Libya to vanquish the Arab nation. However, his troops are frequently defeated by the national leader Omar Mukhtar and his army of Bedouins. But the Butcher of Ethiopia and Libya uses a dirty war against the natives, slaughtering women, children, and aged people, to subdue Mukhtar.

Plot Keywords: arab, muslim, rebel, world war two, 1920s, 1930s, execution ...

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#5. Incendies (2010)

Storyline: A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Plot Keywords: family relationships, christian, based on play, brother sister relationship, mother son relationship, middle east, university ...

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#6. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Storyline: A two-segment look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam era Marines. The first half follows a group of recruits in boot camp under the command of the punishing Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half shows one of those recruits, Joker, covering the war as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, focusing on the Tet offensive.

Plot Keywords: military, vietnam war, u.s. marine, u.s. marine corps, boot camp, vietnam, violence ...

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#7. Come and See (1985)

Storyline: The feature film directed by Elem Klimov, shot in the genre of military drama. The action takes place on the territory of Belarus in 1943. In the center of the story is a Belarusian boy, who witnesses the horrors of the Nazi punitive action, turning from a cheerful teenager into a gray-haired old man for two days.—Peter-Patrick76 (peter-patrick@mail.com)

Plot Keywords: mass murder, massacre, world war two, partisan, war crime, brutality, year 1943 ...

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#8. Downfall (2004)

Storyline: In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Soviet Armies closing in from the west and south. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his Generals and advisers to fight to the last man. "Downfall" explores these final days of the Reich, where senior German leaders (such as Himmler and Goring) began defecting from their beloved Fuhrer, in an effort to save their own lives, while still others (Joseph Goebbels) pledge to die with Hitler. Hitler, himself, degenerates into a paranoid shell of a man, full of optimism one moment and suicidal depression the next. When the end finally does comes, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

Plot Keywords: bunker, third reich, nazi, suicide, world war two, ss officer, last will and testament ...

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#9. The Great Escape (1963)

Storyline: Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist-type prisoners-of-war are all put in an "escape proof" camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the movie is played for comedy, as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use planes, trains, and boats to get out of occupied Europe.

Plot Keywords: tunnel, escape from prison, escape, prisoner of war, nazi germany, nazi officer, prison camp ...

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#10. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Storyline: It has been three years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial is about 4 judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies. Retired American judge, Dan Haywood has a daunting task ahead of him. The Cold War is heating up and no one wants any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, want to forget the past. But is that the right thing to do is the question that the tribunal must decide.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Plot Keywords: year 1945, nazi germany, courtroom drama, war crime, nazi, judge, death penalty ...

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#11. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Storyline: In 1944 Falangist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

Plot Keywords: fairy, hiding, maze, female hero, strong female character, fear, sacrifice ...

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#12. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)

Storyline: This film showcases Noam Chomsky, one of America's leading linguists and political dissidents. It also illustrates his message of how government and big media businesses cooperate to produce an effective propaganda machine in order to manipulate the opinions of their populations. The key examples featured for this analysis are the simultaneous events of the massive coverage of the communist atrocities of Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia and the suppression of news of the US supported Indonesian invasion and subjugation of East Timor.—Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

Plot Keywords: media, media coverage, media manipulation, vietnam war, intellectual, theory, speech ...

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#13. Platoon (1986)

Storyline: Chris Taylor is a young, naive American who gives up college and volunteers for combat in Vietnam. Upon arrival, he quickly discovers that his presence is quite nonessential, and is considered insignificant to the other soldiers, as he has not fought for as long as the rest of them and felt the effects of combat. Chris has two non-commissioned officers, the ill-tempered and indestructible Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes and the more pleasant and cooperative Sergeant Elias Grodin. A line is drawn between the two NCOs and a number of men in the platoon when an illegal killing occurs during a village raid. As the war continues, Chris himself draws towards psychological meltdown. And as he struggles for survival, he soon realizes he is fighting two battles, the conflict with the enemy and the conflict between the men within his platoon.

Plot Keywords: vietnam war, gore, brutality, marijuana, napalm, 1960s, infantry ...

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#14. The Deer Hunter (1978)

Storyline: Michael, Steven and Nick are young factory workers from Pennsylvania who enlist into the Army to fight in Vietnam. Before they go, Steven marries the pregnant Angela, and their wedding party also serves as the men's farewell party. After some time and many horrors, the three friends fall in the hands of the Vietcong and are brought to a prison camp in which they are forced to play Russian roulette against each other. Michael makes it possible for them to escape, but they soon get separated again.

Plot Keywords: fear, drunkenness, drug use, drink, dead body, boyfriend girlfriend relationship, war crime ...

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#15. Blood Diamond (2006)

Storyline: A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots. With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer's life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him.

Plot Keywords: civil war, elephant, terrorism, africa, journalist, rebel, diamond ...

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