20 Best War Movies On Netflix According To Critics And Audiences

There are movies that recreate some of the most significant events in world history from a variety of perspectives and with a variety of purposes and intentions. The war movies are simply adventured films with war providing a compelling setting and situation. Here we have listed the best war movies on Netflix according to the critics and audience.

 

*Disclaimer: The movies listed in the blog are available on Netflix on a temporary basis.

 

1. War Machine

Director: David Michôd

Stars: Brad Pitt, Daniel Betts, John Magaro

 

An idiosyncratic general confronts opposition from enemies, allies, and bureaucrats while leading a massive rebuilding operation in Afghanistan. This satirical war drama offers a unique take on modern warfare, blending dark humor with the harsh realities of military intervention. Brad Pitt delivers a compelling performance as General Glen McMahon, whose grand ambitions collide with the complexities of the Afghan conflict. The film's witty dialogue and sharp commentary on the absurdities of war make it a standout entry in the genre.

IMDb Ranking: 6.0/10

 

 

2. The Siege of Jadotville 

Director: Richie Smyth

Stars: Richard Lukunku, Danny Sapani, Andrew Stock 

 

Directed by Richie Smyth, this 2016 historical war movie on Netflix is about how an Irish commander along with his 150 men stood against 3,000 Congolese troops which were led by French and Belgian mercenaries. Siege Of Jadotville is one of those good war movies that have a thrilling and respectful look at the heroic group of men who fought with the army of 3,000 Katangese attackers who were on a peacekeeping mission in 1961, some of which were teenagers at the time.

IMDb Ranking: 7.3/10

 

3. Troy

Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Stars: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom

 

Troy is the war movie that is inspired by the Homer's "The Iliad." The plot of the movie kicks into gear when Paris who is the Prince of Troy, falls for the Queen of Sparta and whisks her away from her dastardly husband, King Menelaus. Being one of the top war movies, Troy has an engaging plot. Director Wolfgang Petersen combines the close quarters, the swords-and-sandals combat of Gladiator.

IMDb Ranking: 7.2/10

 

4. The Look of Silence

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer

Stars:  Adi Rukun, M.Y. Basrun, Amir Hasan 

 

Being one of the best war documentaries, The Look of Silence is about a man named Adi Rukun from Indonesia who looks an Indonesia's bitter past where countless people were butchered during that country’s anti-Communist purges of 1965 and 1966. This movie has a surreal, conceptual feel: Men who participated in the death squads, now elderly, agreed to reenact their gruesome deeds.

IMDb Ranking: 8.3/10

 

5. Dhurandhar

Director: Aditya Dhar

Stars: Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt

 

A mysterious traveler slips into the heart of Karachi's underbelly and rises through its ranks with lethal precision, only to tear the notorious ISI-Underworld nexus apart from within. This 2025 espionage thriller is inspired by real events like the 1999 IC-814 hijacking and 2008 Mumbai attacks. With 15 wins and 15 nominations, Dhurandhar has grossed over 900+ crore in India, making it one of the highest-grossing spy thrillers of recent times. Ranveer Singh delivers a powerful performance as Hamza, an intelligence agent operating in hostile territory.

IMDb Ranking: 8.3/10

 

6. Inglourious Basterds 

Director: Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth 

Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth

 

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is one of the best war movies on Netflix which is about the World War II adventure starring Brad Pitt is full of food for thought. Tarantino tells the story in chapters. The movie has the feel of reading a novel visually. Charming, intelligent and ruthless --- Waltz gets every aspect of the part spot-on. Without him, Inglourious Basterds wouldn't have been half the war movie it is.

IMDb Ranking: 8.3/10

 

7. Border 2

Director: Anurag Singh

Stars: Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh

 

Young Indian fighters prepared to protect their homeland from a greater threat during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Border 2 continues the legacy of the iconic Border franchise with a powerful ensemble cast led by Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan, and Diljit Dosanjh. The film showcases the valor and sacrifice of Indian soldiers and has delivered the strongest Hindi opening since 2025 with 231+ crore box office collection. This patriotic action drama captures the intensity and heroism of one of India's most significant military victories.

IMDb Ranking: 7.3/10

 

8. First They Killed My Father 

Director: Angelina Jolie

Stars: Sareum Srey Moch, Phoeung Kompheak, Sveng Socheata

 

The world is already a big fan of Angelina Jolie's acting skills, but now that she has also entered the director's squad it is more huge than anything else.  First They Killed My Father is a good war movie that offers a valid alternative solution, by assuming the point of view of five-year-old Loung, whose childlike inability to process the events unfolding around her theoretically mirrors our own. Adapted from her book, this war movie tells the story of her childhood, when Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh was invaded in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge.

IMDb Ranking: 7.2/10

 

9. Gladiator II

Director: Ridley Scott

Stars: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal

 

After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people. Set 16-24 years after the original, this long-awaited sequel follows Lucius, son of Lucilla and Maximus, who is enslaved in North Africa by Roman forces. Driven by vengeance, he returns to Rome as a gladiator to fight for Macrinus and challenge the corrupt twin emperors, Geta and Caracalla. The film has been nominated for 1 Oscar and has won 9 awards out of 113 nominations, making it a worthy successor to the classic.

IMDb Ranking: 6.5/10

 

10. Raazi

Director: Meghna Gulzar

Stars: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Rajit Kapoor

 

A Kashmiri woman agrees to marry a Pakistani army officer in order to spy on Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. This 2018 spy thriller is based on the true story of Sehmat Khan, a young Kashmiri woman who becomes a RAW agent. At her dying father's request, she marries a Pakistani military officer to secretly pass crucial intelligence from Pakistan to India in the lead-up to the war. Alia Bhatt's powerful performance in this critically acclaimed film continues to resonate with viewers. The film has won 27 awards and received 55 nominations total.

IMDb Ranking: 7.7/10

 

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11. Walking With the Enemy 

Director:  Mark Schmidt

Stars: Jonas Armstrong, Ben Kingsley, Hannah Tointon 

 

One of the World War II movies where a young Hungarian disguises himself as a Nazi officer to save his family and thousands of his countrymen from the death camps. It is a true war movie about love, courage, and sacrifice. Interesting telling of life for jews at a horrible time in history which is an emotionally wrenching movie which is a fitting tribute to the hero Pinchas Tibor Rosenbaum and a memorial to the Hungarian Jews.

 

IMDb Ranking: 6.3/10

 

12. Tell Spring Not to Come This Year 

Director:  Saeed Taji Farouky 

 

This powerful and beautifully shot war movie is one of the best war documentaries that tracks the intense, grim lives of the Afghan national army as they fight the Taliban alone after the US departed. This film pursues the Afghan National Army (ANA) for one year as they are sent in Helmand territory without the help of NATO out of the blue. Just Like "Restrepo," "Tell Spring Not to Come This Year" explores the deep personal motivations, desire, and struggles of a band of fighting men on the front line.

IMDb Ranking: 6.9/10

 

13. Little Dieter Needs to Fly  

Director:  Werner Herzog

Stars: Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick

 

Werner Herzog's "Little Dieter Needs to Fly'' lets Dieter tell his own story. This war documentary tells the story of such a haunted man, whose memories include being hung upside down with an ant nest over his head, and fighting a snake for a dead rat they both wanted to eat. Werner Herzog is a very great storyteller, and the thing about story-telling is that it creates pictures in our heads. Rated as one of the best war movies on Netflix, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" is a must watch for people who love a real story. 

IMDb Ranking: 8.1/10

 

14. Captain America: Civil War

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson 

 

This avenger meets Captain America film is finely built through the hints that previous Marvel films like Age Of Ultron and Antman showcased. The reason of conflict between the two superheroes is fully justified. Not a complete war movie, but it has to be compiled along with the other best war movies on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking: 7.8/10

 

15. The Battle of Midway 

Stars: John Ford, Dudley Nichols, James Kevin McGuinness

 

This war movie is about the Midway Island that was attacked by the Japanese in the year 1942 giving rise to the Battle of Midway. The movie starts where a man is shown telling about the location of the Midway Island and its strategic importance. Suddenly the account swings to the fight itself with roughly five minutes committed to the guard of the island, the maritime fight, and the consequence. This movie played by stars like John Ford, Dudley Nichols and more is considered as one of the best-rated war movies on Netflix.

IMDb Ranking: 7.3/10

 

16. Atonement

Director:  Joe Wright

Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn

 

Filmmaker Joe Wright burst onto the scene with his excellent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that remains the greatest modern film about love and war. Atonement really showed the director’s flair for inventiveness. It manages topics - including youthful youthfulness, class contrasts, lying, and enthusiasm - that is excessively unpredictable for everything except the most develop adolescents to truly have the capacity to handle and put in the setting.

IMDb Ranking: 7.8/10

 

17. Beasts of No Nation 

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Stars: Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor 

 

Beasts of No Nation is one of those best war movies on Netflix that throws a bright if baleful light on the special horror of child soldiers. For starters, it’s written and directed by Cary Fukunaga, who’s achieved notable success in both mediums with the movies Jane Eyre and Sin Nombre. Fukunaga’s script is based on Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel of the same name and follows a West African boy, Agu. Agu is shown to be torn out of his family by militants and eventually inducted into a mercenary unit.

IMDb Ranking: 7.8/10

 

18. 6 Days

Director: Toa Fraser

Stars: Jamie Bell, Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish 

 

6 Days is one of the true story movies on Netflix that shows the real-life hostage situation of the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London. Here in this war movie, you'll see Jamie Bell playing a SAS soldier leading a team of heavily armed, black-clad heavies called in as a backup should talk and stall the terrorists. The movie shows the actions that took place over the six days of the siege, moment to moment, the clock ticking and making people glued to their seats.

IMDb Ranking: 6.2/10

 

19. Sand Castle

Director: Fernando Coimbra

Stars:  Nicholas Hoult, Logan Marshall-Green, Henry Cavill 

 

A Netflix Original Movie which is also a war movie being centered upon the small-scale struggle in the early years of the American-Iraqi conflict. That microcosm of the devastating war where the character of Ocre signed up to the Army Reserves two months before 9/11 had to go to war. The main protagonist tells the story in such a way that the audiences get an intimate look at the critical relationships formed and attacks that occurred.

IMDb Ranking: 6.3/10

 

20. Body of Lies

Director:  Ridley Scott

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong 

 

This movies rightly conveys our prejudiced mindset, preconceived notions and exposes the greed and arrogance of the superpowers.  When you have Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe planning special operations to nab the Al Qaeda jihadis, how can the movie not belong to the list of best war movies on Netflix? The script of Body of lies hints at wisdom, moral complexity, suspense even, but it’s all too jargonized and impatient. 

IMDb Ranking: 7.1/10

 

We think that's enough shows to cover your binge-watching needs. Get streaming, because that is what you and we are best at.

 

 

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FAQ

Q: What are some of the best war-based movies of all time?

A: Schindler's List, Full Metal Jacket, The Look of Silence, Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, and Apocalypse Now are among the most acclaimed war films in cinema history.

 

Q: Which Indian war movies are worth watching on Netflix?

A: Raazi (2018), Border 2 (2026), and Dhurandhar (2025) are excellent Indian war and spy thrillers available on Netflix. Raazi is based on a true story from the 1971 Indo-Pak war, while Border 2 and Dhurandhar showcase modern patriotic narratives with stellar performances.

 

Q. How much does Netflix cost in India?

A. Netflix India offers multiple plans to suit different needs. The Mobile plan starts at Rs. 149 per month (480p, one phone or tablet). The Basic plan is Rs. 199 per month (720p, one screen). The Standard plan is Rs. 499 per month (1080p, two screens). The Premium plan is Rs. 649 per month (4K+HDR, four screens). All plans offer an ad-free experience with unlimited downloads on supported devices.