18 Worst War Movies, Ranked

The war genre is a difficult one to tackle appropriately, at least as far as movies are concerned. Such films often have to walk a line between being entertaining (or at least engaging) while also showing the horrors inherent to war, be it the tedium, death, or destruction they cause… or all of the above. Movies tend to have to be compelling on some level, but there’s also a risk in making warfare look too cinematic or exciting, at least as far as some war movies go.

All these things have to be taken into account, but if a war movie stumbles in one of these areas and also feels lacking from a technical perspective, it has the chance to be considered among the all-time lows for the genre. Such movies fit into this unfortunate camp, and can – for one reason or another – be included among the worst war films of all time.

18 ‘Captain America’ (1990)

Directed by Albert Pyun

Just over 20 years before the titular character was done justice, 1990 saw the release of a cheesier and lower quality take on Captain America with a film simply called… Captain America. This was in the days before superhero movies were cool/mainstream, and so anyone returning to this in a post-MCU world will probably be alarmed by how cheap and B-grade (for lack of a better word) it all looks.

It’s predominantly a superhero movie, but given the character of Captain America is tied to World War II – particularly regarding his origin – 1990’s Captain America does operate as something of a war film for some of its runtime. Things get a little wilder and more science fiction as it goes along, but it remains pretty clunky throughout. That means it might appeal to fans of low-budget schlock, but when judged as a war, sci-fi, or superhero film, it’s hard to call it good in the traditional sense.

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17 ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ (2014)

Directed by Noam Murro

The original 300 might be a relic of its time (and that time is only getting further and further away), but it nevertheless delivered when it came to stylish visuals and plenty of action/death. It had a follow-up in the form of 300: Rise of an Empire eight years on from the original, and it’s overall much harder to find defenders of said follow-up than it is to find fans of the first movie.

It’s partly a sequel, but also plays around with time a little, having some events take place before and at the same time as events depicted in 300. It does depict some battles (not necessarily in a historically accurate way) that are said to have happened more than 2000 years ago, but the action isn’t as satisfying, and though 300 wasn’t masterful from a storytelling point of view, it was at least competent in a way that 300: Rise of an Empire ultimately isn’t.

16 ‘Puppet Master: Axis of Evil’ (2010)

Directed by David DeCoteau

There are a surprising number of movies in the Puppet Master series (most aren’t very good), which is largely classifiable as one focused on horror, but at the same time, a few entries also stray into the war genre. Puppet Master: Axis of Evil, the ninth entry overall, is one of these, thanks to having its ludicrous story take place during World War II.

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil
– and its lack of quality – is here to try and make you feel stupid for ever having hope.

As is normal for the Puppet Master series, puppets come alive here and do various evil things, here involving a plan that, if successful, will see the destruction of an American factory. You might think a World War II movie with supernatural elements and killer puppets would be fun, but Puppet Master: Axis of Evil – and its lack of quality – is here to try and make you feel stupid for ever having hope.Watch on Tubi

15 ‘Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire’ (2023)

Directed by Zack Snyder

At least Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, for all its flaws, can claim to look good. Zack Snyder’s movies tend to have visual flair, style, and a level of spectacle that makes them far from irredeemable, but this first half of the lackluster Rebel Moon duology (time will tell if it gets to be anything longer) is pretty disappointing, whether you want to judge is as an action movie, a sci-fi film, or something belonging to the war genre.

It is technically all those things at once, telling a sluggish story about standing up to an advanced military, with the members of a farming village doing all they can to prepare for a looming attack. Yes, it’s kind of like Seven Samurai in space, but whereas everything about that movie works, very little in Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire satisfies.

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14 ‘The Green Berets’ (1968)

Directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg

If The Green Berets had been at least decent, people might look back on it with some respect for being such an early film about the Vietnam War. It takes a certain look at that conflict that can potentially cause discomfort, and does (admittedly, intentionally) lack the sort of grit that came with later movies about the war and America’s controversial involvement in it.

If you know what you’re getting into, and don’t mind seeing a certain take on the Vietnam War that clashes with what most other movies say, maybe there will be parts of The Green Berets that work for you. It’s also noteworthy for being a film John Wayne both starred in and co-directed, though it can’t quite count itself among the ranks of his very best movies, by any means.

13 ‘Ghosts of War’ (2020)

Directed by Eric Bress

Ghosts of War approaches the war genre in an unconventional way, most of all because it’s not strictly a war movie… more of a supernatural horror flick that happens to be set during World War II. The main characters are also American soldiers, and the plot of Ghosts of War sees them having to occupy a strange – and seemingly haunted – French castle.

It’s not exactly the same as Michael Mann’s flawed but interesting The Keep, but there are enough similarities to say you should probably just check that one out over Ghosts of War, if you really want something fantasy/horror-themed in a World War II-set movie. Ghosts of War is kind of bland, repetitive, and uninspired, lacking much that’s compelling when judged as either a work of horror or a war film.

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12 ‘Rock the Kasbah’ (2015)

Directed by Barry Levinson

Bill Murray has starred in many great movies. Rock the Kasbah is not one of them, and stands as perhaps one of the worst war films to have been released in the past decade or so. It has understandably been forgotten as the years have ticked along, but it attracted a surprisingly strong cast, considering Murray stars alongside the likes of Zooey Deschanel, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, and Danny McBride.

It was also directed by Barry Levinson, who made a much better war/comedy/music film almost 30 years earlier: Good Morning Vietnam. Whether it’s trying to be funny, dramatic, or moving, Rock the Kasbah never quite works or comes together into something coherent or fulfilling. It’s not talked about much at all nowadays, and it’s not too hard to see why.

11 ‘Pearl Harbor’ (2001)

Directed by Michael Bay

Those who want a genuinely good (and somewhat accurate) movie about Pearl Harbor are better off watching Tora! Tora! Tora! from 1970, rather than the infamous Michael Bay-directed film, simply called Pearl Harbor. It’s a notoriously long and drawn-out movie, and doesn’t really strike much by way of balance between its love triangle plot and the wartime scenes involving the attack on Pearl Harbor.

It feels like it’s trying to scratch the same itch as 1997’s Titanic, which was also an epic-length war movie that balanced high-intensity action/disaster sequences with romance, but did so in a far smoother manner. Pearl Harborisn’t really worth anyone’s time, especially when it takes so much time to watch, and even those who are willing to defend most of what Michael Bay’s made tend to struggle with this one.

10 ‘Alexander’ (2004)

Directed by Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone has made a handful of good historical/biographical films in his time, but Alexander was not one of them. It can’t be faulted for its ambitions, given it’s an epic that runs between 167 and 214 minutes, depending on which one of the four cuts you watch, and spans a great many years in its attempt to tell the life story of Alexander the Great.

There are aspirations for greatness, but this Alexander movie is not Great at all, sadly. It jumps around and feels all over the place narratively, and has some very “interesting” casting decisions, not all of which pay off. At its worst, Alexander can also be very boring, but some of the technical qualities – and the admittedly impressive scale of the battle sequences – do prove to be small glimmers of light/quality in an otherwise dim film.

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9 ‘Ambush at Cimarron Pass’ (1958)

Directed by Jodie Copelan

There are some qualities to Ambush at Cimarron Pass that make it something of a curiosity or oddity, but sitting through it is still a bit of a slog. That’s really saying something, considering the film is just 73 minutes long, and stands out for being one of Clint Eastwood’s earliest starring roles… but these are the only qualities that come close to making the film watchable.

Otherwise, Ambush at Cimarron Pass is a bland blending of war and Western genres, narratively being about various soldiers banding together to fight against numerous Native American warriors. It’s an old-fashioned film that feels a little like a war movie, owing to the amount of combat and the fact that some characters are soldiers. Regrettably, the action here is tedious, and the characters barely have any interesting qualities. It’s the sort of movie where most people involved probably sleepwalked through it, and, funnily enough, anyone who tries to watch it will probably just sleep through it.

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8 ‘Cavalcade’ (1933)

Directed by Frank Lloyd

Cavalcade may have won an Academy Award for Best Picture, but nowadays, it feels like an absolute slog to get through, and there are plenty of movies from the 1930s that hold up a whole lot better. It’s a movie that takes place over several decades, starting at the very end of the 19th century and ending in the early 1930s, following the trials and tribulations of two different English families across the decades.

Given the Second Boer War and World War I occurred during this period of time, they get touched upon during Cavalcade, turning this drama into a war movie for some of its runtime. Whether it’s dealing with war or not, Cavalcade is consistent in being dull, and will probably only be of interest to anyone who wants to watch every single Best Picture winner (and even then, watching this might make you regret such a commitment).

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7 ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ (2001)

Directed by John Madden

Nicolas Cage has appeared in a surprisingly high number of war movies that aren’t particularly good, with 2001’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin being one of them. It’s about a love triangle with a woman at the center, brought about because her husband goes off to fight in World War II, leading to her falling in love with another man stationed nearby: the titular Captain Corelli (Cage’s character).

It’s melodramatic and kind of goofy, but not quite enough to feel particularly funny, nor could it really be called so bad it’s good, either. It’s got a memorably dumb title, and there is some amusement to be found in how all-over-the-place all the accents are (with Cage playing an Italian soldier, after all), but Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is also sluggish and tedious in its worst moments. It’s probably best avoided, in all honesty.

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6 ‘Jarhead 2: Field of Fire’ (2014)

Directed by Don Michael Paul

2005’s Jarhead could well be up there as an all-time great war movie, or at least one of the most underrated of the past couple of decades, delving into and depicting the tedium of war without ever feeling too boring to watch. Quite bafflingly, it was a film that ended up getting three direct-to-video sequels released throughout the 2010s, the first (and arguably worst) being 2014’s Jarhead 2: Field of Fire.

It’s really just a generic war movie, featuring combat (but boring combat) in a way that goes against what the first film was trying to say. It really just maintains the name, and is otherwise very dissimilar to the first Jarhead, unsurprisingly carrying over little by way of story, characters, or cast members. It’s hard to know who was asking for a film like Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, but nevertheless, it established Jarhead as a “series” and got two more sequels.

5 ‘Missing in Action’ (1984)

Directed by Joseph Zito

Though Missing in Action might succeed as a brainless Chuck Norris action movie, it doesn’t fare nearly as well when judged as a war movie (and even action fans are going to have to overlook some tedium and technical shakiness throughout). It feels like a First Blood/Rambo sequel, but perhaps even a little worse, with Norris starring as a one-man army tasked with rescuing American soldiers who are being held captive in Vietnam.

Throughout Missing in Action, there are a good number of explosions, guns fired, and other acts of violence/destruction committed, but it’s all captured pretty lifelessly and eventually feels repetitive. Even some fun character actors showing up – like M. Emmet Walsh and James Hong – can only do so much in giving Missing in Action more of a pulse, and it ends up being shockingly boring for something that’s technically so action-packed.

4 ‘Time to Kill’ (1989)

Directed by Giuliano Montaldo

Somehow, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is not the only time Nicolas Cage has played an Italian soldier in a movie, as he did the same thing 12 years earlier in an even worse movie called Time to Kill. This is real bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, made with a shoestring budget and having uncomfortable scene after uncomfortable scene, making it hard to recommend, even to people who might otherwise like to see Cage giving a bizarrely passionate performance for a film that doesn’t really deserve it.

Time to Kill
almost feels like an exploitation film, but not a good or fun one.

He plays a soldier who unravels psychologically while having to find his way to a hospital after being hurt and separated from his fellow soldiers, yelling, screaming, and committing heinous acts along the way. Time to Kill almost feels like an exploitation film, but not a good or fun one. It’s honestly odd and would probably be completely forgotten, had it not featured a young Cage in a starring role. Even with Cage, it’s still mostly forgotten, and maybe the more forgotten it remains, the better.

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3 ‘Air Strike’ (2018)

Directed by Xiao Feng

On the surface, the generically named Air Strike looks like it might have something to offer, being a war movie about a clash of cultures, and having a story about an American pilot training people in China during World War II. It also stars two well-known American actors, Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody, though ultimately was a Chinese production.

Unfortunately, neither Willis nor Brody do any of their best work here, but it’s not like they were given much to work with screenplay-wise. Outside the writing, Air Strike barely feels coherent as far as the editing goes, stringing together one tedious scene after another, and never really impressing when it comes to combat scenes, either. It’s the kind of movie that’s been done before, but better; just about any vaguely war-related movie about flying and dogfights is worth watching over this one.

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2 ‘USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage’ (2016)

Directed by Mario Van Peebles

If you were after a trilogy of bad Nicolas Cage war movies, you’ve got one in the form of Time to Kill, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and then USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage, which is perhaps the worst of the lot. The last of those might sound promising as a funny bad film, though, given it’s a World War II movie that ends up being more about surviving against shark attacks, once the titular vessel is destroyed, and its crew members find themselves stranded at sea.

USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage is confounding and very silly at times, retelling a true story and making it schlocky in a way that feels more than a bit disrespectful. But because of that loose true story, it can never really lean into the cheese or go all-out action-wise. It’s almost funny-bad at times, but is perhaps more baffling because of the no man’s land it occupies between seriousness and schlock.

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1 ‘Sniper: Special Ops’ (2016)

Directed by Fred Olen Ray

Those wanting some good action will find absolutely nothing of the sort in Sniper: Special Ops, though it’s purportedly a war/action movie that stars Steven Seagal, who’s of course best known for his action films. He spends most of Sniper: Special Ops sitting down, mumbling, and occasionally shooting people, giving one of the most disinterested and static lead performances in cinema history.

Otherwise, Sniper: Special Ops is pretty tedious and laughably barebones as far as production values go, making a story about rescuing an American congressman from the Taliban feel strangely boring and entirely lacking in energy. It’s the sort of film that’s so still and boring that it kind of has to be seen to be believed, but the absurdity of its existence and execution does mean it might offer some laughs for those who approach it with the right frame of mind.

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