Top 10 World War I movies for 100th anniversary

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. That launched the largest war the world had ever seen up until that point. World War I, or the Great War as it was known before World War II, sent the entire world into chaos, although it was mostly centered in Europe. But the fact remains, World War I shaped the way today’s political world is structured. After all, without WWI, there’s no WWII.

Despite its importance in world history, WWI is no longer a major topic among filmmakers. In fact, the moment WWII started, there was almost a simultaneous agreement that WWI would no longer be a focus for Hollywood. However, those who fought in the war had a hard time forgetting about it. The Great War had as much an impact on film as the second World War did.

Interestingly, because of the complicated political causes of World War I that even people who lived through it didn’t understand, filmmakers largely ignored that aspect of the war. For them, the war was about the harsh realities of killing. The war was the first “modern war,” with heavy machinery, tanks and even airplanes brought to the battlefield. The trenches were hell on earth and no one was going to stop filmmakers from showing that.

So, without any further delay, let’s go through some of the great films made about the war.

image of Kirk Douglas, star of ‘Paths of Glory,’ courtesy of Carlos Diaz/INFGoff.com

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10. What Price Glory? - Raoul Walsh, 1926

Raoul Walsh’s What Price Glory? was among the greatest silent war films, centering on two U.S. Marines who have had a friendly rivalry even before they made it to France. Of course, when they arrive there, things are not so rosy and the personal rivalry is set aside and priorities are kept straight. It stars Edmund Lowe and the great Victor McGlaglen, along with the beautiful Dolores Del Rio. This also established Walsh as one of Hollywood’s preeminent directors.

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9. The Dawn Patrol - Howard Hawks, 1931 and Edmund Goulding, 1938

The Dawn Patrol was filmed by Warner Bros. twice. Howard Hawks made the first version and it's actually more affecting than Edmund Goulding’s 1938 version, even if Hawks has all American actors playing English fighter pilots. Nevertheless, it is still a heartbreaking story about the impossible weight on commanders’ shoulders as they ordered their friends to die for an impossible cause.

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8. Le grande illusion - Jean Renoir, 1939

Le grand illusion is one of the best films ever made and was meant to highlight the fact that both the French and German races are human. It's much more than a prison escape film.

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7. Shoulder Arms - Charlie Chaplin, 1918

Shoulder Arms lasts just 46 minutes, but it has been recognized as one of Chaplin’s best movies and one of the best films about the war. Only Chaplin could find humor in the soldier experience.

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6. Sergeant York - Howard Hawks, 1941

Hawks is on this list again, and the focus is the most decorated American soldier of the war, Sgt. Alvin York. Of course, this was released just before the U.S. would enter World War II, so York’s overly pacifist views did have to be muted a bit. But Gary Cooper gave his career-defining performance as York and it’s hard to find fault with Hawks’ direction.

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5. J’Accuse! - Abel Gance, 1919

Running nearly three hours, Abel Gance’s epic looked at the horrors of war for the French. It proved that the only way to really tell the story of the war was to look at the horrors it caused and the trauma it created. The iconic return of the dead sequence remains one of the most chilling moments put to film.

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4. Lawrence of Arabia - David Lean, 1962

Yes, Lawrence of Arabia is actually a World War I movie. Centering on another theater of the war, Lawrence is sent to the Middle East to bring warring tribes together in an effort to create a united front against the Axis. Of course, Lawrence is now seen as the ultimate guide to filmmaking, a how-to on how you can actually keep an audience awake for 200 minutes. It’s hard to do and David Lean was one of the only ones who knew how to do it.

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3. Westfront 1918 - G.W. Pabst, 1930

German filmmakers during the Weimar era surprisingly never sugar-coated how dire the situation was for the defeated Germany. And how films like these were made or even the fact that the public even saw some of these movies may be surprising to Americans who ate up the glamor of Hollywood.

Westfront 1918 is one of the most tragic, heartbreaking war movies anyone could see. Lasting just 90 minutes, Pabst leaves no one safe and all the characters we grew to care for are killed. It’s a traumatic experience to see this film. War is not pretty and no one ever said that as perfectly as Pabst did in Westfront 1918.

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2. All Quiet on the Western Front - Lewis Milestone, 1930

If there is one movie about World War I you ever see, make it Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front. There is just no way to underestimate how much of an impact this movie will make on your perspective on war. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, the film is centered on German kids who are riled up by their adults to go fight a war that forever changes them. That this film was made at the dawn of the sound era is hard to believe because of its level of realism.

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1. Paths of Glory - Stanley Kubrick, 1957

Before Stanley Kubrick was the Stanley Kubrick, he made Paths of Glory, the film that really announced him as a major force. The film stars Kirk Douglas as a French colonel told to lead his troops on an impossible mission. That sounds familiar of course, as it is a theme that runs through all of the movies mentioned on this list.

Essentially, Kubrick made Paths - which runs just 88 minutes - as a tribute to all the great filmmakers whose work on World War I would be largely ignored by modern audiences. We see the great trench warfare shots Milestone perfected in All Quiet. There’s the tragic song sung by a young girl to foreign troops, as seen in Westfront 1918. There’s the clashing with superiors we saw in The Dawn Patrol. And, ultimately, there is the devastating phantom of death seen in J’Accuse!.

Many of the other great WWI movies were made during the silent era. It’s important to really check out both King Vidor’s The Big Parade and William A. Wellman’s Wings, which won the first Oscar for Best Picture. Also, Jean Renoir's Le grand illusion is an absolute masterpiece, so don't miss that one either.

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