5 Best Netflix War Movies To Watch 2025

War movies are a film genre concerned with warfare, Naval, Air, or Land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. They provide an adrenalin rush because they’re intense, dramatic, and filled with scenes of sadness and death.

Even though there isn’t a category for military or war films on Netflix, the streaming site has some amazing war movies you’ll love watching. So if you want to watch war movies that shows courage, strategy, and raw emotions, then keep reading.

Cos this article provides the top 5 best Netflix war movies you’ll love watching in 2025. If you love battle movies or even if war movies aren’t your thing, just grab a seat and popcorn and be prepared to be amazed.

Top Best Netflix War Movies

Beasts of No Nation

Year: 2015

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Stars: Idris Elba, Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye

Rating: NR

Runtime: 120 minutes

Beasts of No Nation, as directed by Cary Fukunaga and based on Uzodinma Iweala’s novel on child soldiers in Africa, is both brutal and heart-wrenching. Idris Elba, a fierce warlord, recruits and trains a young orphan, Abraham Attah, to join his group of child soldiers during the civil war.

In Beasts of No Nation, the horrors of war are not sugarcoated. This is a coming-of-age story of one child's recruitment into an African rebel squad, showing raw emotion in its sorrowful and wicked scenes alongside stunning cinematography.

This war movie is sure to make you laugh, smile, and cry, and when the movie is finally over, you won’t ever forget about it.

The Hurt Locker

Year: 2008

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Stars: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Rating: R

Runtime: 130 minutes

The Hurt Locker received the Academy Award for Best Picture over ten years ago and stars Jeremy Renner as a member of a US Army bomb disposal unit during the second Iraq war in 2004. This isn’t just a war movie but a thriller that keeps you on the edge.

Set during the war, Jeremy acting as Sgt. William James had no option but to realize that his death could come at any time when defusing explosive bombs. This reckless but brilliant bomb specialist will keep you glued to your seats.

Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, her most popular War on Terror picture, made history by making her the first female director to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, and this remains one of her best war movies.

The sensations after nearly two hours of watching this nerve-wracking suspense will make you want to watch more war movies that focus on the psychological battles and not just the blood-spilling combat.

Dunkirk

Year: 2017

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Harry Styles, Jack Lowden, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 106 minutes

During World War II, soldiers from the British Empire, Belgium, and France try to evacuate from the town of Dunkirk during an arduous battle with German forces. The war movie Dunkirk isn’t the typical war movie cos there are no backstories or anything, just captivating storytelling.

Christopher Nolan has always been a filmmaker with opposing tendencies, and he amazes the audience with spectacle while simultaneously capturing the restlessness of the soul, twisting every emotion while also standing outside and objectively observing.

Dunkirk streamlines and focuses on everything Nolan does well and everything he doesn't, everything he struggles against and everything he embraces, everything amazing and horrible about him.

It's the most Christopher Nolan film you could imagine, and it could be his best one, so if you want a visually stunning war movie that captures the urgency and desperation in war times, take a seat with this movie.

War Machine

Year: 2014

Director: David Michôd

Stars: Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, Topher Grace

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 122 minutes

Unlike other war movies on this list, this fictitious dark comedy was based on the real-life experiences of American Army General Stanley McChrystal. It stars Brad Pitt, a well-known Hollywood actor, playing General Glen McMahon, who was ordered to terminate the war in Iraq.

This war movie tells the story of General Glen attempting to gather additional troops for one more assault to win the war. In his attempt to see his strategy through, he faced numerous military and political hurdles.

It shows the confidence of a US Army commander who arrives in Afghanistan to oversee reconstruction efforts and the contradictions met with state enemies, opposition leaders, and allies.

If you’re a fan of the intricacies of war and politics but still want to laugh and enjoy yourself, then War Machine is the movie you need to watch.

Da 5 Bloods

Year: 2020

Director: Spike Lee

Stars: Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo, Norman Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors, Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, Lê Y Lan, Johnny Trí Nguy.

Rating: R

Runtime: 156 minutes

Spike’s Da 5 Bloods follows 4 African American Vietnam War veterans on their search for hidden gold with obstacles on the lengthy path to reconciliation, from trauma, family, and national identity.

In this war movie, Lee draws parallels between the past and present by relating the fight for civil rights, which was cloaked in protest and conscientious objection, to the current American struggle against fascism that is supported by the government.

Bonded Vietnam veterans Eddie (Norm Lewis), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Paul (Clarke Peters), and Melvin go to Ho Chi Minh City to allegedly locate and retrieve the remains of their deceased squad leader, Norman (Chadwick Boseman).

Da 5 bloods is not just about war; it's the blend of history, politics, personal trauma, race, identity, and brotherhood. Plus, it is one of the late Chadwick Boseman’s most memorable roles.

Conclusion

To most of us, the best movies worth watching are war and military conflict-focused movies. They don’t only entertain but also give us deeper insights into the realities of war.

That's why there are so many war movies for you to enjoy when you sign up on Netflix, ranging from films that celebrate veterans who gave it all for their nations in combat to films of war and violence.

Whatever your type of war movie may be, this article contains the top 5 war movies on Netflix for different moods, so open up your Netflix account, grab your blanket, and get ready for the best movie night.