War has always been a popular topic of debate.
Whether it was about showcasing the drastic events of the two World Wars which would leave a long-lasting effect on the world, or to dive into the world of science fiction and spin-offs, telling their own stories about conflicts, romance and resolution in great times of despair.
You will find some of the best war movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia whether you are interested in learning more about individual stories and smaller battles that ultimately led to the Allies victory over the Axis, or more modern-day issues such as operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
So, if you want to know more about the best movies on Netflix when it comes to action and wars, then continue reading.
Regardless of what intrigues you about the Vietnam war genre, our selection of the best war movies Netflix will satisfy all of your action-packed and high stakes cravings.
Let’s dive straight into the list of military movies on Netflix!
1. War Machine (2017)
Director: David Michod
Writer: David Michôd
Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hayes, Topher Grace
IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
Runtime: 2h 2mins
Glenn McMahon, a successful, charismatic four-star general, takes command of NATO forces in Afghanistan like a rock star, only to be brought down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.
A US Army general lands in Afghanistan as part of rebuilding measures for the ongoing War on Terror, where he confronts opposition leaders, enemies of the state and ally forces, before deciding on military action to guarantee US victory. This film is one of the best war movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia.
2. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Director: J Lee Thompson
Writer: Carl Foreman
Stars: Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Niven
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Runtime: 2h 38mins
The historical drama film follows a team of Allied forces tasked with the rescue of 2000 trapped British fellow soldiers on the desert Greek Island of Navarone, manned by Nazi forces and two enormous long-distance field guns.
The team sails across stormy seas in the midst of an impending rescue deemed impossible.
In order to liberate Allied forces imprisoned on Kheros, a tiny commando unit is dispatched to destroy massive German weapons on the Greek island of Navarone in 1943.
The team includes American Mallory (Gregory Peck), Greek resistance warrior Stavros (Anthony Quinn), and reluctant explosives specialist Miller, and is led by British Major Franklin (Anthony Quayle).
The soldiers face unfathomable odds as they battle stormy waves and cliffs. When Franklin is injured, Mallory assumes charge, and old grudges are rekindled. This is also one of the best drama movies on Netflix.
3. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Director: Spike Lee
Writer: Spike Lee
Stars: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters
IMDb rating: 6.5/10
Runtime: 2h 34mins
A group of African-American US Army veterans who call themselves the ‘Bloods’ secure the CIA plane crash site, recovering a locker of gold bars intended as payment to the indigenous people for helping them in fighting the Viet Cong.
The Bloods decide to keep the gold bars for themselves but in the emerging Vietnamese counter-attack, the squad leader is killed and the area obliterated by a napalm strike, making the site where the gold was buried unrecognizable.
The remaining 4 return to Vietnam upon learning that a landslide has revealed the tail of the crashed plane, in hopes of recovering the buried fortune and the body of their fallen squad leader. This is one of the best War movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia.
4. Stripes (1981)
Director: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, Harold Ramis
Stars: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 1h 47mins
After being fired from his job and deserted by his fiancée, hard-luck cabbie John Winger (Bill Murray) enlists in the United States Army. Russell Ziskey, a close friend of his, joined the army (Harold Ramis).
The irreverent Winger emerges as the figurehead for a ragtag gang of Army misfits after a mediocre performance in basic training. However, when he mistakenly commandeers a military assault vehicle behind enemy lines, his antics threaten to become an international embarrassment. This is one of the best War movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia.
5. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Writer: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Stars: Idris Elba, Abraham Attu, Ama K Abebrese
IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
Runtime: 2h 17mins
A ruthless warlord (Idris Elba) prepares a teenage orphan (Abraham Attah) to join his army of guerrilla troops as a civil war rages in Africa.
A Netflix original movie and the movie centers around escaping from a clash between guerrilla and government forces, the movie follows the tale of a young boy from an unspecified African Country who ends up as a child soldier in the midst of an ongoing civil war.
Aug, the protagonist along with his battalion experience many victories, before being on the run from their enemies and their own military faction. This is one of the best action movies on Netflix
6. Shadow (2018)
Director: Yimou Zhang
Writers: Wei Li, Yimou Zhang, Sujin Zhu
Stars: Chao Deng, Li Sun, Ryan Zheng
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
Runtime: 1h 56mins
Years ago, after the popular and brilliant Commander Ziyu (Deng Chao) lost a duel to the supposedly unstoppable Yang Cang, the kingdom of Pei surrendered the key city of Jingzhou to the kingdom of Yang (Hu Jun).
After learning that Ziyu had challenged Yang Cang to a rematch without permission, the King of Pei (Zheng Kai) is furious. The King requests that Ziyu and Xiao Ai perform a lute performance for him.
Ziyu hates to play and has stated that he would rather have his hand amputated than play the lute. The Commander is now free to depart.
To keep the peace between the two kingdoms, the king decides to marry his beloved sister Qingping (Guan Xiaotong) to Yang Cang’s son Yang Ping (Leo Wu).
7. Cold Mountain (2003)
Director: Anthony Minghella
Writers: Charles Frazier, Anthony Minghella
Stars: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 2h 34mins
A wounded Confederate soldier sets out on a long and dangerous journey home, where his sweetheart battles to rescue her farm with the support of a feisty stranger. For this drama, which also stars Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
In this classic love story set during the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman (Jude Law) quits his company and travels across the South, hoping to reunite with his young wife, Ada (Nicole Kidman), whom he left behind to maintain their farm.
Ada fights to keep their home intact while Inman makes his risky journey home, with the help of Ruby (Renée Zellweger), a mystery vagabond sent to help her by a sympathetic neighbor. This is one of the best War movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia.
8. Ip Man (2008)
Director: Wilson Yip
Writers: Edmond Wong, Tai-lee Chan
Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan
IMDB Rating: 8/10
Runtime: 1h 46mins
Foshan, founded in 1935, is a center for Southern Chinese martial arts, with students from diverse schools competing against one another. Ip Man, the town’s most accomplished martial artist, keeps a low profile while honing his skills in friendly, closed-door competitions with other masters.
Yuan, a neighborhood troublemaker, loses his kite one day, which lands in the Ip family’s back yard. Yuan sees Ip defeat fellow kung fu master Liu in a sparring bout while recovering it, and spreads the news throughout town, unwittingly shaming Liu.
Yuan’s brother Lin, a restaurant owner and Liu disciple humiliate Yuan in public while attempting to organize a rematch between Liu and Ip, and Yuan flees his home.
9. Five Came Back (2017)
Director: John Farrow
Writers: Jerome Cady, Dalton Trumbo, Nathanael West
Stars: Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie
IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
Runtime: 1h 23mins
In this film from the list of best War movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia, nine passengers from various walks of life and a three-person crew board a plane heading for Panama City from Los Angeles, but an unexpected storm throws them off course, causing the plane to crash in the Amazon jungle.
Ex-prostitute Peggy (Lucille Ball), pilot Bill Brooks (Chester Morris), Detective Crimp (John Carradine), and their fellow passenger’s fight to fix the plane as the danger of death at the hands of vicious natives rises, but only five can escape.
10. First They Killed My Father (2017)
Director: Angelina Jolie
Writer: Angelina Jolie
Stars: Sareum Srey Moch, Kompheak Phoeung, Socheata Sveng
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 2h 16mins
In the aftermath of the US evacuation from Cambodia, Loung Ung is a 5-year-old child when terrorist military faction Khmer Rouge assumes power and starts a reign of genocide and terror, spanning over four years.
The movie revolves around the journey of the protagonist as a young soldier and her siblings as members of a labor camp, in one of the darkest times in Cambodia’s history. The film’s focus was mostly on this young soldier.
11. Defiance (2008)
Director: Edward Zwick
Writer: Edward Zwick
Stars: Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Alex Davalos
IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
Runtime: 2h 17mins
Based on the events that unfolded in WW2, the movie focuses on Polish Jewish brothers who seek shelter from mass killings and oppression conducted by Nazi Forces, by hiding out in Belarussian Forests.
Thousands of Eastern European Jews are slaughtered by Nazi forces in 1941. Tuvia (Daniel Craig), Zus (Liev Schreiber), and Asael (Jamie Bell) are three brothers who manage to flee and seek sanctuary in the forest where they used to play as children.
The brothers turn their everyday fight for existence into a battle against the Nazis in order to revenge the murders of their loved ones. Others join the fray as word of their exploits spreads, prepared to sacrifice their lives for even a moment of freedom. Change your Netflix region to Australia to watch this film.
12. The King (2019)
Director: David Michôd
Writers: David Michôd, Joel Edgerton
Stars: Tom Glynn-Carney, Gábor Czap, Tom Fisher
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
Runtime: 2h 20mins
Henry, Prince of Wales, also known as “Hal,” is King Henry IV of England’s emotionally distant eldest son. Hal has no desire to follow his father and instead spends his days in Eastcheap drinking, whoring, and jesting with his companion John Falstaff. His father summons Hal and informs him that the throne would be inherited by Hal’s younger brother, Thomas.
Thomas is dispatched to put down Hotspur’s insurgency, but he is overshadowed by the appearance of Hal, who challenges Hotspur to single combat. Despite the fact that Hal kills Hotspur, the battle ends without more conflict, Thomas argues that Hal has taken his glory. Thomas is killed in battle shortly after carrying his campaign to Wales.
13. Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
IMDB Rating: 8.5/10
Runtime: 3h 22mins
Francis Ford Coppola and his collaborator Kim Aubry started work on the new cut. Coppola then attempted to recruit Murch, who was first hesitant. He anticipated that recutting a film that had taken two years to edit would be incredibly tough.
After working on the reconstruction of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, he altered his mind. Coppola and Murch then looked over some of the film’s rough prints and dailies. The decision was made early on that the editing of the picture would be similar to editing a whole new film.
The new French plantation sequence was one such example. Watch this film as it is one of the good war movies on Netflix to Watch in Australia.
14. The Outpost (2020)
Director: Rod Lurie
Writer: Eric Jhonson
Stars: Caleb Landry Jones, Orlando Bloom, Scott Eastwood
IMDb rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 2h 3mins
Based on true-life events, this War film tells the true story of a small unit of American soldiers stationed at PRT Kamdesh (later called Combat Outpost Keating) situated deep in the valleys along with the Hindu Kush.
The soldiers had to battle against some 300 Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack in the Battle of Kamdesh, what’s to be known as the bloodiest American engagement of the war in Afghanistan during operations in 2009.
You can also watch Blackhat on Netflix Australia.
15. Too Young the Hero (1988)
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writers: Calvin Graham
Stars: Ricky Schroder, Jon De, VriesDebra Mooney
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 1h 37mins
Calvin Graham (Ricky Schroder), a 12-year-old youngster who appears to be older than his years, arrives in uniform at a naval base with a set of sealed orders. He is seized (without reason) and transported to the brig when his orders are examined. In prison, he has a sequence of flashbacks in which he enlists in the US Navy, completes basic training, and is assigned to the USS South Dakota after forging his mother’s signature (BB-57).
Graham tries unsuccessfully to get out of prison by claiming he is underage, but no one believes him. He subsequently discovers that he is imprisoned for desertion and, as a result, is unable to communicate.
16. Green Zone (2010)
Director: Paul Greengrass
Writers: Brian Helgeland
Stars: Matt Damon, Jason Isaacs, Greg Kinnear
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 1h 55mins
In 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his team of inspectors are on a mission to locate Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass devastation stocks. Miller and his team fail to uncover any chemical agents or other weapons as they travel from one risky spot to the next. Instead, they uncover a complex cover-up in which truth is the most elusive weapon. Just watch this film from the list of Netflix war movies and you won’t be disappointed.
17. Tears of the Sun (2003)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Alex Lesker
Stars: Bruce Willis, Cole Hauser, Tom Skerrit
IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
Runtime: 2h 22mins
Navy seal commander Lieutenant A.K. Waters leads his time in the midst of a Nigerian jungle, to rescue US Citizen Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks who refuses to leave without taking her patients with her, as rebel forces advance on the jungle safe zone.
Most War films are boring but this War film will leave you in tears.
18. The Wolf’s Call (2019)
Director: Antonin Baudry
Writer: Antonin Baudry
Stars: François Civil, Omar Sy, Mathieu Kassovitz
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
Runtime: 1h 55mins
The French submarine Titan – Titane (Titanium) in the original French version – is dispatched to the Mediterranean coast of Tartus, Syria, to recover a French Special Forces unit that has been operating in the area. Captain Grandchamp and Executive Officer (XO) D’Orsi are in charge of the submarine. During their operation, though, they come upon an unidentified sonar contact.
The submarine’s sonar expert, Chanteraide — nicknamed “Socks” and serving as “golden ear,” the underwater acoustics officer — initially misidentifies the contact as a wounded whale, but it soon becomes clear that the contact is an unknown submarine transmitting its position to an Iranian frigate and a maritime helicopter operating in the area.
19. War Dogs (2016)
Director: Todd Phillips
Writer: Jonah Hill
Stars: Jonah Hill, Bradley Cooper, Miles Teller
IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Runtime: 1h 54mins
Based on a true story, the movie follows two men who win a $300 million dollar Pentagon contract, tasked with supplying ammunition to America’s Allies in the east as part of the ongoing War on Terror.
With the conflict in Iraq still raging, a young man (Jonah Hill) offers a childhood buddy the opportunity to make large money as an international arms dealer. They work together to take advantage of a government initiative that permits businesses to compete on military contracts in the United States.
Starting small enables the couple to amass wealth and live a high life. After landing a $300 million agreement to feed Afghan forces, they quickly find themselves in over their heads, doing business with some extremely dubious people.
20. Operation Finale (2018)
Director: Chris Weitz
Writer: Matthew Orton
Stars: Oscar Isaac, Ben Kingsley, Mélanie Laurent
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10
Runtime: 2h 2mins
A team of top-secret Israeli spies flies to Argentina fifteen years after World War II ends to track down Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer who oversaw the transportation operations that sent millions of innocent Jews to their execution in detention camps.
Agent Peter Malkin, hoping to get him out of the country so he may stand justice, suddenly finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the legendary war criminal. This is one of the best Vietnam war movies.
Conclusion
Stretching from World War 2 movies on Netflix to more recent conflicts raging in Afghanistan and Iraq, the list of best war movies on Netflix covers it all and is the best of the war genre and others that Netflix has to offer to its viewers in Australia. Like you can watch Siberia on Netflix in Australia.
War movies are one of the best entertaining genres of films. These movies have been in the making for many years, so there are many options available to watch. We don’t want your movie night to get ruined by streaming some boring movie. So, in this article, we present to you some of the best war movies of all time. You can also watch movies like 3096 days on Netflix in Australia.
Use the best Netflix VPNs to bypass the geo-restrictions and for bufferless streaming.
Happy Watching!
Chris Mack
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