War Movies on Amazon Prime Video

The best war movies are based on sources that reflect actual lived experiences — whether that’s memoirs, autobiographies, or other oral histories. Then there’s another formidable category of war movies based on dramatised versions of reality, that will keep you hooked from start to end.

Regardless of which kind of war movies on Amazon Prime Video you want to watch, we have some recommendations for you. You can also check out these war movies on Netflix.

Paths of Glory (1957)

This war movie on Amazon Prime Video about WWI is gripping, with the movie kick-starting the plot right from the beginning.

General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) dangles a promotion for General Mireau (George Macready) to attack the Germans in what would be a perilous mission. When the mission goes downhill, General Mireau is forced to take the heat or throw someone else under the bus.

Dax (Kirk Douglas), a commanding officer and a criminal defence lawyer, offers to defend the officers during court-martial proceedings. The interspersing of the war setting and action with the courtroom drama makes this film intriguing to watch in the most devastating ways. Douglas, as a lawyer, is riveting, and the movie has memorable moments that make it one of the best war movies about World War I.

Platoon (1986)

This movie, based on the Vietnam War, is written and directed by Oliver Stone, who also served as an infantryman during the war. His experiences inspired this anti-war movie, making the representation of death, survivor’s guilt, divide among your troops, and other vital themes all the more realistic. The officers are not people trying to emerge victorious; they are victims of war.

The movie follows Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), who, with all his idealism, decides to enlist in the war. When he’s on the battlefield, all this fades away as he realises that war may not be anything more than a gamble on humanity.

This war movie on Amazon Prime Video is for you if you want to learn about the ground realities of war from someone who has actually lived it, but with a cinematic spin.

The chaos and darkness that emerge from a war (including the war of ideals) is a powerful core theme, and the heart-wrenching background score and fantastic acting of Tom Berenger as Sergeant Barnes and Willem Dafoe as Sergeant Elias are the icing on the cake.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Based on the 1962 autobiography by James Jones, who was in the US Army during World War II, this movie uses war, mainly the battle for Guadalcanal, as a vehicle to discuss introspection. It’s not about US troops emerging victorious but about how they cause (and become) casualties of war.

Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), who lived on an island with locals until he was asked to be on active duty, is involved in the ambush against Japanese forces. You will spot an eclectic group of actors playing characters at different ranks within the forces, including George Clooney, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, and more.

The movie is intense yet almost delicate at times. It parallels the beauty of nature with the debauchery of war, and the innocence of the world with the recklessness of officers who should not have been there in the first place. 

Jarhead (2005)

Based on the 2003 eponymous memoir by Anthony Swofford, who was in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Persian Gulf War, this movie is about his journey before the War.

Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) struggles to find his place in the military. In classic Karan (Hrithik Roshan) style from Lakshya (2004), he tries to avoid his duties and is unable to make friends. He begins his actual journey when Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Foxx) asks him to join his sniper course.

From then on, the movie dives into Swofford’s shenanigans, his mental breakdowns, and finally, Operation Desert Storm. The movie is from Swofford's point of view, so we learn about his boredom, isolation, fear, and grief throughout the course of the film, along with Swofford’s experience during the actual war itself.

It’s a must-watch if you want to watch a war movie that’s not about the war but about the people in it.

Fury (2014)

This World War II movie on Amazon Prime Video is an action-packed film that gets into the dirty, gory details about a crew of soldiers who capture Fury, an American Sherman tank. It’s gruesome and disturbing, and the cinematography will floor you.

There are no pre-war storylines or narratives about the soldiers' families, though you may feel disconnected because of that. The focus is on the troops themselves and their reactions to what’s happening around them.

The name of the movie is not just the name of the tank but also the emotion the troops feel about the do-or-die situations they find themselves in. This movie may not be the most historically accurate, but its energy, action and emotion make it a powerful watch.