One of the most influential, profitable and popular genres in American cinema. Although influenced by films and film-makers in the silent and early talking picture eras, war films as a Hollywood genre came of age during and after the Second World War. From the 1940s to the 1990s these Second World War films, and related movies about Korea and Vietnam, both reflected and effected changes in American cinema and society.

Initial Second World War movies mobilized the American people for the war effort, usually through patriotic tales of bravery and defiance in defeat (Wake Island, 1942), martyrdom (The Purple Heart, 1944), resistance to fascism (The North Star, 1943), family sacrifice (The Sullivans, 1944), women in war (So Proudly We Hail, 1943) and the home front (Mrs Miniver, 1942). Because many of these films were either subsidized or supported by various government agencies, there was little cinematic criticism of the armed services and of war policy and strategy.

Propaganda gave way to realism and social commentary in many postwar films, which explored the plight of returning veterans (The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946), the toll on those who fought and commanded (Twelve O’Clock High, 1949), racism (Home of the Brave, 1949) and the conditions of physical and mental misery which faced the common soldier (Battleground, 1949).

Mixed messages of patriotism, sacrifice and uncertainty about the necessity of war continued through the Korean and Cold War eras of the 1950s and 1960s, up to the early years of the Vietnam War. Yet, such films did little to advance the structure of the genre, established in the 1940s. Since that decade a number of common themes in plot, dialogue and direction have resulted in distinct subgenres of war movies. “Platoon” films portray a cross-section of American society who find themselves thrown together to face unknown and savage perils (Bataan, 1943; Platoon, 1986). The emotional and physical difficulties in ordering men to their deaths shape “Commander” movies (The Dawn Patrol, 1938; Command Decision, 1948). Those who wait and serve the war effort in non-combatant roles are the focus of “Home Front” films (Since You Went Away, 1944; Coming Home, 1978). “Epics” provide semi-documentary accounts of campaigns, battles, or heroes’ accomplishments (The Longest Day, 1962; A Bridge Too Far, 1977). While antiwar sentiments are part of every war movie, some, like Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957) clearly convey pacifist messages. Some of the best of these have been black comedies that satirized war and the politicians and generals who started and continued them (M*A*S*H, 1970; Catch-22, 1970).

The evolution of war movies can be seen in the works of two directors, Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930; A Walk in the Sun, 1946; The Halls of Montezuma, 1950; Pork Chop Hill, 1959) and Sam Fuller (The Steel Helmet, 1951; Fixed Bayonets, 1951; The Big Red One, 1980). Their influential films encompass a number of the subgenres and have been benchmarks in the changing images of American war and society. Since 1998, new attention has been paid to war movies due to the critical and popular success of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.