10 Most Perfect War Thrillers, Ranked

You could argue war movies shouldn’t be thrilling if you think they should be strictly anti-war, but some films manage to balance thrills with moral weight. The piece treats a “war thriller” as a film tagged both “war” and “thriller” on Letterboxd, which helps explain why certain familiar titles don’t appear.

Several entries lean into classic mission-and-rescue thrills. The Guns of Navarone assembles a saboteur team sent to an island to destroy devastating guns before a rescue operation turns deadly, with a tight time limit and high stakes. Where Eagles Dare sends men on a daring operation to free a general from an allegedly impregnable fortress, blending action, adventure, and suspense.

The Train centers on a German colonel trying to spirit away French artwork by rail in 1944 and the Resistance’s efforts to stop him. Other picks emphasize brutality and psychological strain.

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