War is hell.

But that hasn’t stopped filmmakers from recreating some of history’s fiercest battles for display on the silver screen. Others prefer to create fictional battles of equally epic proportions.

As one would imagine, a lot of work goes into making a war film. Thousands of little details must be considered to make the bigger picture a success.

Warning: Potential spoilers ahead!

Top 10 Awesome War Movies

10 War Horse

The movie War Horse is based on a novel of the same name, which was published in 1982. A play was also adapted from that novel in 2007. Coproduced by Steven Spielberg, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards after receiving excellent reviews.

The stars of the show, however, were the beautiful horses. The main one, Joey, was played by 14 different horses. Spielberg has experience with these animals. He has kept a stable of steeds at his home for more than 10 years and loved the equine “actors” he got to work with on set.

He even said, “Joey had a sense of what was happening in the scene. Joey added things, as the cameras were rolling, that none of us ever asked for, that brought a performance to [the audience] that we didn’t expect when we set out to make the movie.”

Some of the well-known human actors in the film also brought some war history to the set. For instance, Benedict Cumberbatch’s grandfather, Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, served as a submarine commander in the British Royal Navy during both world wars.^[1]

9 American Sniper

American Sniper is based on the life of Chris Kyle, who was the deadliest sniper in US military history with 160 officially confirmed kills. The movie was a massive box-office success and was nominated for six Oscars. The film won one Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

The movie reveals Kyle’s struggle to leave the war behind when he returns home to his wife and children. It comes with a rather shocking and tragic ending.

Supposedly, Kyle once said that if a film was ever made about his life, he wanted the filmmaker to be Clint Eastwood and no one else. Kyle got his wish. Eastwood was the director and coproducer of the film. The other producers included Robert Lorenz and Bradley Cooper.^[2]

Cooper, who plays Kyle in the film, had to gain at least 40 pounds for the role. He ate 8,000 calories a day while working out four hours every day for many months. The grueling workouts led to Cooper being able to deadlift 193 kilograms (425 lb), which he did in the film as well.

Cooper also wore Chris Kyle’s actual walking shoes in the film. Afterward, Cooper said during interviews that he was still wearing the shoes at home.

8 Black Hawk Down

The US military raid on Mogadishu in 1993 is depicted in the gritty war film Black Hawk Down, which was released in 2001. Directed by Ridley Scott and produced by both Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer, the film won two Oscars despite a call by the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in California to boycott screenings.

The center believed that Somalis were depicted in a dehumanizing fashion. Some film critics also accused the filmmakers of racism that they claimed was staged openly in the film.

Black Hawk Down was the first war film released after the events of 9/11. The movie effectively showed America that its troops could regroup after a surprise attack, even as the country’s citizens were still reeling from the loss of life when the towers came down.^[3]

7 Full Metal Jacket

“In Vietnam, the wind doesn’t blow. It sucks.”

The tagline for Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is said to have come from coscreenwriter Michael Herr’s nonfiction book, Dispatches. Supposedly, Herr overheard another soldier utter the line in Vietnam.

The film was released in 1987 and received an Oscar nomination as well as critical acclaim. However, some fans may not know that the term “full metal jacket” doesn’t appear anywhere in the novel, The Short-Timers, on which the movie is based.

Kubrick didn’t want to use the book title because people might assume that the film was about individuals who worked half-days. Instead, he happened upon “full metal jacket” while flipping through a gun catalog and decided to use it.^[4]

Kubrick, who was afraid of flying, ensured that the entire film was shot in England. This meant that a British Territorial Army base was used to film scenes for the Marine boot camp in South Carolina.

An abandoned gas works on the Thames was used to shoot scenes depicting Da Nang, Phu Bai, and Hue. In addition, 200 palm trees were imported from Spain and plastic plants were sent from Hong Kong to create a jungle. Meanwhile, a Belgian army colonel, who was a huge fan of the director, decided to lend Kubrick four M41 tanks for the filming.

6 Inglourious Basterds

This Quentin Tarantino gem was the director’s highest-grossing film at the time of its release in 2009. However, it was surpassed by Django Unchained in 2012 and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019. Unsurprisingly, audiences and critics loved Inglourious Basterds, and it ended up receiving eight Academy Award nominations.

Tarantino started on the script for Inglourious Basterds in 1998, but it was shelved because he had to work on Kill Bill and Death Proof. The inspiration to finish the script came from an unlikely avenue in the form of Jason Mraz. Apparently, Tarantino listened to Mraz’s “I’m Yours” on repeat to keep him settled enough to continue writing.

The title of the movie is deliberately misspelled to distinguish it from the 1974 war film, The Inglorious Bastards. Also, Adam Sandler was originally given the role of Donny Donowitz, but he soon dropped out to make Funny People instead.^[5]

Top 10 Wild Facts About Iconic War Films

5 Dunkirk

There is a lot more to the movie Dunkirk than the fact that Harry Styles stars in it.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film portrays the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. It received eight Academy Award nominations and won three. It was also a huge success at the box office, earning the title of highest-grossing World War II film.

To keep the movie as authentic as possible, it was shot in Dunkirk, France, where the real-life event took place. Nolan ensured that he would carry through the accuracy by reconditioning actual warships, including French Navy destroyer Maille-Breze. Instead of CGI, he used cardboard cutouts of soldiers and vehicles as well as 325 extras.^[6]

And yes, the fact that Harry Styles was on set filming caused problems. Not only did he reportedly always have his own bodyguard around but female fans also invaded the set at any given time just to see Styles in person.

4 Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a Francis Ford Coppola classic that starred heavy hitters Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. Even though it got mixed reviews at first, the film received the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival before being released in August 1979.

Today, the movie is considered one of the best films ever made. It was even selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Coppola almost wasn’t the director as George Lucas was going to shoot the film as a faux documentary. However, Lucas was too busy with Star Wars and American Graffiti, so he handed the reins to Coppola.

As Apocalypse Now is a war movie, several scenes depict dead bodies. However, one of the props managers on set took things a little too far in his quest to make these scenes look authentic. He sourced human cadavers but was forced to stop after it was revealed that his “supplier” was robbing cemeteries to provide the “stock.”

Also in the name of authenticity, the water buffalo slaughter in the film was all too real. This irked animal rights groups. They didn’t care that the production team had struck a deal with locals that included the tribe’s slaughter of a water buffalo (which had been given to them as a gift) in exchange for the rights to film on their land.^[7]

3 The Thin Red Line

Terrence Malick hadn’t made a film in 20 years when he returned to direct The Thin Red Line. He must have been happy that he did because the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Also, Martin Scorsese said that it was his second-favorite film of the 1990s.

The movie stars a host of big names, including George Clooney, John Travolta, Woody Harrelson, Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, and many more. The role of Private Witt went to Jim Caviezel but was highly sought after by Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Matthew McConaughey. During the making of the film, some of the lead roles were reduced to smaller characters, including those of Adrien Brody and John C. Reilly.^[8]

Being cautious and indecisive, Malick took over a year to cast all the roles. Supposedly, high-profile actors such as Depp, Pitt, and McConaughey weren’t given parts because Malick wanted fans to believe in the characters and not simply watch the film for its stars.

2 Midway (1976)

The original Midway film, released in 1976, stars Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda. The movie chronicles the drama of a US Navy aviator falling in love with a Japanese girl while leading up to the Battle of Midway. A remake of the film saw the light in 2019.

When the original was released, it became the tenth biggest movie of 1976. (Some sources list it as the ninth biggest film of the year.) In either case, the magic of Sensurround drew crowds to movie theaters. Sensurround used low-frequency Cerwin-Vega speakers that created a “rumbling” sound during battle scenes and seemingly made the entire theater vibrate. It was used for the last time during screenings of Rollercoaster by Universal in 1977.

Made even more exciting by Sensurround, the battle scenes were actually all recycled footage from other films. Scenes were licensed from 1970’s Tora! Tora! Tora!, 1960’s Storm Over the Pacific, 1956’s Away All Boats, and 1944’s Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Some of the cast were actual World War II veterans, including Fonda, Heston, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, and Cliff Robertson.^[9]

1 1917

The World War I experiences of director Sam Mendes’s paternal grandfather served as the inspiration for 1917, which was released in 2019. Alfred H. Mendes, a lance corporal at age 17, was tasked with carrying messages across no man’s land.

Many of 1917’s scenes were set in trenches. As a result, the production team dug almost 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) of trenches to get their geography right. Although many technical difficulties had to be overcome during shooting, one of the most annoying issues was a cigarette lighter that just wouldn’t ignite when it was needed during a scene. Almost an entire day’s filming was wasted due to the difficult lighter.

Here’s one of the ickiest details about the filming of 1917. At least 100 extras urinated on a nearby tree simply because the available toilets were so far away from the set. George MacKay, the star of the film, had to sit under that tree with his head against it to shoot the final scene of the movie.^[10]

10 Common Things You Get Wrong About War (Thanks To Hollywood)

They say it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and that’s just if you’re a dog. They’re cute and can get away with simple things like that. Other creatures are not so lucky so when it comes to self-defense they need to up their game. While most animals in the world rely on things like teeth and claws, camouflage, speed, or subterfuge for defense, a few take things to the next level. Some have even resorted to biological methods of modern warfare with projectile and explosive weaponry.

10. Bombardier Beetles Shoot Boiling Chemical Bombs

You can’t talk about creatures that employ artillery as a defense mechanism without mentioning the bombardier beetle. These tiny bugs pack a full-on chemical weapon punch for anything foolish enough to eat them that is reminiscent of the premise behind the explosives used in Die Hard with a Vengeance, which gives the beetle tons of extra street cred.

Inside the beetle’s abdomen are two sacks. One contains hydrogen peroxide. The other is hydroquinone. You’re probably familiar with hydrogen peroxide as most of us have it in a medicine cabinet or first aid kit. Hydroquinone is also used cosmetically as a skin-lightening agent that reduces melanin. They’re typically pretty safe, too.

When the beetle is threatened, it shoots these chemicals out of its backside mixed with a third compound that acts as a catalyst and causes an instant chemical reaction. The two normally benign chemicals mix and form boiling water and benzoquinone. The spray and gas mixture hits the beetle’s target at 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius, the temperature of boiling water.

Small creatures like other insects will be killed immediately. Larger creatures can be blinded and even a human will be burned and scarred. This is because of the temperature but also the caustic nature of the chemicals which can affect the respiratory system, as well. 

The beetles have enough juice to fire off about 20 bursts before they run out and they’re also known to have impeccable aim. The orifice through which they fire the mixture has a full 270 degrees of movement to aid in aiming at predators, too, meaning there aren’t a lot of safe ways to come at a bombardier beetle.

9. Velvet Worms Shoot Slime From Biological Gun Turrets

In the animal kingdom, being blind doesn’t mean you can’t shoot your shot when it counts. Velvet worms live in forests and jungles around the world and there are over 200 species of them. They have developed a unique defensive ability which has been described as a “silly string of death,” so you know it has to be good.

The worms feel changes in air currents to know when prey is nearby and then, when they get close enough, two nozzles extend from their head to fire foot-long ropes of goo. The substance coats its target and dries quickly, rooting the victim in place. It can also be used defensively to escape a predator, either holding a small predator in place or, at the very least, slowing one down as it deals with a face full of fast-drying sludge. 

Once trapped, the worm can approach its prey and use a knife-like protrusion in its mouth to slice a hole in it. They then fill the trapped snack with digestive saliva which will liquify it and allow the worm to slurp it up instead of doing anything messy like chewing. 

8. Hagfish Expel Slime That Expands 10,000 Times

The velvet worm may think he’s hot stuff with his little slime ropes but the hagfish is the unparalleled slime goat of the animal kingdom. These off-putting creatures have no jaws, no spines, live on the ocean floor, and have changed little in 500 million years. But none of that is why they’re famous.

When threatened, hagfish produce slime. It’s a defense mechanism meant to fend off a predator to prevent the fish from being eaten. So far so good. But the hagfish slime is unlike anything you can imagine. Their bodies are covered in glands that expel mucus and miles and miles of thread-like compounds to ward off predators. As soon as this stuff hits the seawater it expands at a staggering rate. The slime will grow 10,000 times in an instant, turning the water into Jell-O in the blink of an eye.

If a predator is trying to eat a hagfish, it will have to immediately back off or deal with suffocation as its mouth and gills are overwhelmed with sludge it can’t breathe and can’t escape. Not only is the substance incredibly soft it’s stretchy and remarkably strong, so you can just break through it to get free. 

7. Sea Cucumbers Shoot Internal Organs From Their Anus

Sea cucumbers aren’t winning any beauty contests soon but they do attract a lot of attention for their unusual self-defense strategy. They use their butts as a cannon and fire out their insides.

There are variations in how this works depending on the kind of sea cucumber. Some of them shoot out internal organs, kind of like a fighter jet releasing flares to attract enemy missiles, that will then grow back later. Others fire off strands of a sticky substance that can snare their potential predators while the cucumber escapes.

In the latter case, the threads released are called a Cuvierian organ. These tubes are attached to the organs the cucumber uses to breathe, which they do through their butts. If a predator comes along and tries to eat the cucumber, the organs are ejected and expand as they fill with seawater.

Because they’re sticky like a spider web, they can snare the attacker and sometimes even kill it if they can’t break free.

6. Texas Horned Lizards Shoot Blood Out of Their Eyes

Sometimes looking hardcore and dangerous is not enough to convince a predator to leave you alone. The Texas horned lizard, for instance, looks like a dangerous little foe for any predator. His back is covered with those aforementioned horns making it look like a modern-day dragon. It’s also really well camouflaged when hiding in sandy, rocky areas in and around its habitat. But it still has a hidden defense in case horns and hiding don’t work. 

Because horned lizards are pretty small, about the size of a bullfrog, they are vulnerable to larger predators even with their spikes. To fend off these creatures, the lizard will shoot a jet of its blood out of its eyes, like some kind of horror movie come to life. 

When threatened, blood flow to the lizard’s head is restricted. This causes the ocular sinus to fill as the pressure builds. The lizard can then contract the muscles around its eyes and cause the sinus to burst outward, shooting a jet of blood as far as five feet. They can do it multiple times as well. 

Few animals like being squirted, just try squirting your cat with a water bottle sometime, so the tactic can be fairly effective. Also, the blood apparently tastes bad, so it helps convince predators to move on. 

5. Northern Fulmar Gulls Use Vomit As a Defense

When it comes to forcibly firing something at a predator or prey, biology only gives us so many options. Whatever is being shot has to come out of some sort of orifice and most life forms only have so many to choose from. With northern fulmar gulls it’s the mouth. And the ammunition they fire comes from the most obvious place you can think of – the stomach. These gulls have weaponized vomit.

The stomachs of the fulmar gulls contain an oil that is described as being both foul and sticky, so we’re off to a good start. If a predator bird comes to their nests, the birds can vomit on them to force them away. But their use of this weapon is more insidious than just being disgusting. 

When the gulls vomit on other birds, it strips away the coating that sea birds need on their feathers to stay afloat. It can also mat the feathers in such a way that the bird can no longer fly, which is essentially a death sentence for any bird. 

4. Archerfish Shoot Prey With Water Jets

We’ve already covered a couple of underwater creatures that have fired off effective defenses while being submerged, but the archerfish is a little different. While it lives in the water like any other fish, its weapon is meant for prey on the land and in the air. 

Described as an “anti-aircraft gun,” the archerfish can fire a jet of water into the air to knock prey from the sky or from off of plants hanging over the water. Once the prey falls into the water, the fish can swoop in and swallow it whole.

The fish are just a few inches long so their prey isn’t particularly big – usually just tasty-looking flies or crickets. But the archerfish can spy them from the depths, rise to the surface, and fire off a jet to a distance of several feet with amazing accuracy so much so that they can tag insects in flight. 

Even if the aim is a little off, the archerfish is working with an automatic weapon. On a single mouthful of water, it can fire up to seven shots in quick succession to hit its target. Studies have shown that the fish likely won’t need this, though, since they rarely miss.

3. Spitting Spiders Spit Silk at Prey

Arachnophobia is a common fear among humans and you have to assume smaller insects are terrified of spiders as well. The webs and the venom make them formidable predators. The only upside is that many of them are passive and even the aggressive ones need to chase prey. Except for spitting spiders. 

As the name suggests, spitting spiders can fire off a spit attack at prey. The spit attacks travel at 30 meters per second which is over 67 miles per hour. It snares the prey with silk, trapping it in place so the spider can quickly inject it with venom. 

2. There’s An Exploding Species of Termite

In the jungles of French Guiana, there’s a species of termite that spends its entire life waiting to die. Philosophically, you could make that argument about any living thing. But these guys take it to an explosive new level.

As these termites age, their body secretes a blue liquid produced by a pair of specialized glands. The liquid crystalizes in an abdominal pouch and it just stays there. More and more of it builds up as the termite ages such that the oldest termites will have an unhealthy dose of this stuff that they may never use. But then again they might.

If the colony is attacked, the oldest termites become the front line of defense. Because they’re older, these termites are less useful to the colony as foragers and workers. Their mandibles dull over time, making them slower and less useful. But their blue crystals give them value still.

When threatened, the termite can force their pouch full of crystals to explode. It mixes with their saliva to create a toxic solution that can paralyze and kill attacking termites. The older the termite, the more potent the reaction and though the termite also dies, it does so to protect the younger members of the colony. 

1. Pygmy Sperm Whales Shoot Poop Clouds

Whales rarely have a lot to worry about in terms of predators, except for humans. In the wild, few animals challenge a whale simply because of its size. But that only counts for large whales and not all of them get to monumental size. Take pygmy sperm whales, for instance. At eight to 14 feet they’re not outside the range of what a shark or orca whale might attack. 

To escape predators, pygmy sperm whales have evolved a unique sort of smoke bomb defense. Except instead of smoke it’s poop. Inside their intestines is a sack filled with a dark, reddish-brown liquid. In a pinch they can shoot out three gallons of the sludge which produces an ink cloud like a squid, giving the whale time to flee.