10 War Movies Military Experts Praised For Accuracy & Realism (2024)

Although war movies take most of their elements from real life, some of them are more accurate than others, but thanks to the insight of military experts the most realistic war movies are easy to pinpoint. War movies, no matter which specific conflict they cover, address delicate and well documented topics. Whether it's a film set in World War 2 or Ancient Greece, war movies are subjected to deep analysis by military experts, veterans, and historians, perhaps more than any other genre in the film industry.

Bringing war stories to the big screen opens the doors for creativity, meaning that not all war movies will be entirely accurate, and many elements will be changed or added for narrative and dramatic purposes. The accuracy of any war movie is immediately a topic of discussion among viewers, but there’s a difference between historical and military accuracy. Rarely does a war movie turn out to be historically and militarily accurate, with success in one often meaning failure in the other. However, the most realistic war movies tend to receive praise from historians and miltiary experts alike.

10 Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

The True Story Of Desmond Doss' Moral Stand In World War II

Hacksaw Ridge is a biographical drama war film directed by Mel Gibson and based on Terry Benedict’s 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector. Hacksaw Ridge is the true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), an American pacifist combat medic during World War II, who refused to carry or use a weapon of any kind.

Seven years after Hacksaw Ridge’s release, World War II historian James Holland did a breakdown of the movie with Penguins Books UK and praised its accuracy and realism. Some of the elements that Holland pointed out as accurate were the Japanese battle tactics, the weapons depicted, and the “insane levels of violence” which add to the movie as a visceral and brutal experience.

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9 Black Hawk Down (2001)

A Depiction Of The Chaotic Battle Of Mogadishu

Black Hawk Down was directed by Ridley Scott and was based on the 1999 non-fiction book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by journalist Mark Bowden. Black Hawk Down tells the story of the U.S. military’s 1993 raid in Mogadishu and a Black Hawk helicopter that went down in enemy territory. Although Black Hawk Down has been criticized for its historical inaccuracy, military experts have praised its realism.

Speaking to Insider, a retired Delta Force operator said Black Hawk Down did a good job at capturing “the violence of action”, and in the book Combat Films, author Steven J. Rubin called it “amazingly realistic”, pointing out that the movie had Colonel Tom Matthews as its military technical advisor. Black Hawk Down's depiction of Mike Durant and his capture also played a role in the movie.

8 Das Boot (1981)

A Claustrophobic Look At Soldiers Aboard A WWII Sub

Das Boot is a West German 1981 war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen that adapts Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s 1973 novel of the same name that recounts his experiences aboard the German submarine U-96. War History Online has pointed out Das Boot’s accuracy, explaining that the production created a submarine and the process to simulate depth charge attacks. The rockets and bomber plane were both real, while the British ships were models. War History Online adds that the actors of Das Boot were trained as submariners, and learned how to quickly navigate their tight quarters.

7 We Were Soldiers (2002)

The Bloody Real-Life Battle Of Ia Drang In Vietnam

2002's We Were Soldiers is a Vietnam War movie directed by Randall Wallace based on the 1992 book We Were Soldiers Once… and Young by Lt. General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway. We Were Soldiers is a dramatization of the Battle of la Drang, and according to Moore and Galloway themselves, the movie is about 60-80% accurate (via U.S. News).

The site History Matters points out that the action of We Were Soldiers adheres closely to actual events. Like most war movies based on specific battles, We Were Soldiers has historical inaccuracies, but it has been mostly praised for its realism by veterans and experts, including those involved in the real skirmish.

6 Glory (1989)

The Story Of The Real Black Civil War Regiment

Glory was directed by Edward Zwick and was based two books — 1973's Lay This Laurel by Lincoln Kirstein and 1965's One Gallant Rush, by Peter Burchard. Glory depicts the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment from the formation of the regiment to their heroic actions at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner.

War History Online points out that the assault on Fort Wagner shown in Glory is one of the most realistic depictions of American Civil War combat, and the equipment used in the war is shown in realistic detail. The aftermath of the attack is also realistically portrayed in Glory, and many men of the 54th were killed and buried in unmarked graves.

5 Dunkirk (2017)

The Desperate Evacuation Mission Of British Soldiers In WWII

2017's Dunkirk is a tense war thriller directed by Christopher Nolan that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II from the perspectives of the land, sea, and air. Dunkirk has been praised for its realistic representation of the historical evacuation. Among its accurate depictions are a few Royal Air Force airplanes dogfighting the Luftwaffe over the sea and a small boat attempted to evade aerial attack.

However, perhaps the most important historically accurate aspect of Dunkirk soldiers returning to England and finding a civilian population largely unaware of or unaffected by the war, and British officers initially refusing to evacuate French forces. Veterans confirmed the realism of Dunkirk, though it’s important to remember that the characters and storyline are fictional.

4 Lone Survivor (2013)

The Harrowing True Story Of Soldiers Trapped In Hostile Territory

2013 war movie Lone Survivor was directed by Peter Berg and based on the 2007 nonfiction book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson. Lone Survivor is set during the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan, and it dramatizes the unsuccessful United States Navy SEALs counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings.

Lone Survivor has been praised for its realistic military combat scenes and reenactments of the deaths of real-life Navy SEALs, for which Berg used real autopsy reports to get the details right. According to Daily News, the Navy gave the production of Lone Survivor access to incident reports and retired and active SEALs served a tour of duty on the set, helping the actors and training them on live ammo.

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A Look At Soldiers' Journey From Boot Camp To The Vietnam War

1987's Full Metal Jacket was directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on Gustav Hasford’s 1979 novel The Short-Timers. It follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training under abusive drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Lee Ermey) and into the experiences of some of those Marines in the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Huế during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

The first part of Full Metal Jacket, the one covering the Marines’ training, has been pointed out by veterans and people with experience in US military boot camps for its accuracy, which in big part can be attributed to Ermey’s experience as a U.S. Marine drill instructor in the Vietnam War.

2 Platoon (1986)

The Nightmarish Experiences Of A Young Soldier In Vietnam

Platoon was directed by Oliver Stone, and it’s based on his own experience from the war. Platoon follows a U.S. Army volunteer serving in Vietnam while his Platoon Sergeant and his Squad Leader argue over the morality in the platoon and of the war. Platoon’s battle sequences have been praised for their realism, with former Marine and technical adviser to military movies, James Dever, claiming Platoon’s Vietnam battle sequences are very accurate.

The accuracy of this pivotal war movie even includes the weapons and the tactics used by the characters. Platoon’s depiction of the violence against Vietnamese civilians is also painfully accurate, making it one of the most intense and realistic war movies in film history.

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1 Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Soldiers Embark On A Mission In The Early Days Of WWII

Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg. Set during World War II, Saving Private Ryan follows a group of soldiers on their mission to extricate the title Private James Ryan from the war after his three brothers are killed in battle. Many consider Saving Private Ryan the best war movie ever made, especially when it comes to the Second World War, and its thanks in part to Spielberg's ability to capture the intensity and futility of the conflict so well.

Saving Private Ryan has been praised for the accuracy of the Omaha Beach assault, and many World War II veterans have described the opening scene as the most realistic representation of combat, so much so that some of them had trouble finishing watching the movie as it brought back memories (via Time). Saving Private Ryan isn’t accurate on many other aspects, but for the most part, veterans have praised it for its realism.

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Sources: Penguin Books UK, Insider, Steven J. Rubin, War History Online, U.S. News, History Matters, Daily News, Time.