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Best War Movies of the 1970s

War films released 1970–1979, ranked by TMDB rating among titles with at least 500 votes.

1. 
   #1 Apocalypse Now (1979) · ★ 8.3 · 9,419 votes · 2h 27m · drama, war

   At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and el…

2. 
   #2 The Deer Hunter (1978) · ★ 8.0 · 4,404 votes · 3h 3m · drama, war

   Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their live…

3. 
   #3 Barry Lyndon (1975) · ★ 8.0 · 3,284 votes · 3h 8m · romance, drama, history

   An Irish rogue uses his cunning and wit to work his way up the social classes of 18th century England, transforming himself from the humble Redmond Barry into the noble Barry Lyndo…

4. 
   #4 Love and Death (1975) · ★ 7.5 · 988 votes · 1h 25m · comedy, history, war

   In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.…

5. 
   #5 Patton (1970) · ★ 7.4 · 1,260 votes · 2h 52m · drama, history, war

   "Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion…

6. 
   #6 Kelly's Heroes (1970) · ★ 7.4 · 861 votes · 2h 24m · comedy, adventure, war

   A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.…

7. 
   #7 A Bridge Too Far (1977) · ★ 7.2 · 983 votes · 2h 55m · drama, history, war

   The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over th…

8. 
   #8 The Duellists (1977) · ★ 7.2 · 654 votes · 1h 40m · drama, war

   In 1800, as Napoleon Bonaparte rises to power in France, a rivalry erupts between Armand and Gabriel, two lieutenants in the French Army, over a perceived insult. For over a decade…

9. 
   #9 Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) · ★ 7.2 · 623 votes · 2h 24m · drama, history, war

   In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code w…

10. 
    #10 Cross of Iron (1977) · ★ 7.1 · 505 votes · 2h 13m · action, drama, history

    It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultim…

11. 
    #11 The Tin Drum (1979) · ★ 7.0 · 562 votes · 2h 42m · drama, history, war

    In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.…

12. 
    #12 The Beguiled (1971) · ★ 7.0 · 523 votes · 1h 45m · thriller, drama, war

    Offbeat Civil War drama in which a wounded Yankee soldier, after finding refuge in an isolated girls' school in the South towards the end of the war, becomes the object of the youn…

13. 
    #13 M*A*S*H (1970) · ★ 6.9 · 1,194 votes · 1h 56m · comedy, drama, war

    One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Thou…

14. 
    #14 Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1976) · ★ 6.3 · 2,376 votes · 1h 57m · drama, horror, war

    Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.…

15. 
    #15 1941 (1979) · ★ 5.8 · 733 votes · 1h 58m · action, comedy, war

    In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.…

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