Book-to-movie adaptations are kind of a common thing in cinema, and they have been for about 100 years now. In fact, there are many movies out there that some don’t even realize have literary origins, as the movies have practically outgrown their sources and have achieved more success. This is true for any genre, from comedy to fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Yes, this is the case with war movies, too. Many in the world have survived war, and many have taken it upon themselves to document their experiences in memoirs. Others still, may choose to write a fictitious story with war as a backdrop.
Many of the finest war films ever made are adapted from books, bringing these extraordinary stories to life so that audiences get to witness the horrors of war from the comfort of their own home, even though no movie can ever truly portray what war is really like.These are the best war movies based on books, which have stunned audiences and kept themselves ingrained in their memoriesfor years.
10’The Last of the Mohicans' (1992)
Based on ‘The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757’ (1826) by James Fenimore Cooper
The Last of the Mohicanstakes place during the Seven Years' War, a global conflict that spread to multiple continents in the mid-18th Century. This fictional story, based on a novel that came out almost 200 years earlier byJames Fenimore Cooper, starsDaniel Day-Lewisas Hawkeye, a European man who is raised by an Indigenous tribe, and who finds himself fighting against the French Empire during the North American theater of the war.
The 1992 film is far from the first movie to be made that is based on the novel, butit is unquestionably the best, with its sweeping adventure and romance keeping things entertainingfor a wide variety of audiences. The movie won an Oscar for Best Sound, and sports a sky-high production value, making it not just a good story, but a feast for the eyes, as well.
The Last of the Mohicans
9’The Thin Red Line' (1998)
Based on ‘The Thin Red Line’ (1962) by James Jones
The Thin Red Linetakes place during the Battle of Guadalcanal, a pivotal moment in thePacific Theater of World War II. LikeThe Last of the Mohicans, the 90s version of the movie isn’t exactly the first film adaptation of an already-established work, but it is undoubtedly the best and most popular adaptation, to date. Set in what is now the nation of the Solomon Islands,The Thin Red Linedetails the defense of Guadalcanal against the invading Japanese force, a crucial fight to ensure that Japan is unable to breach the last Allied line of defense before Australia.
The Thin Red Lineearned seven Oscar nominations, yet astonishingly, didn’t receive a single win, which is honestly kind of criminal. Sure, maybe it didn’t deserve the award for Best Picture, but it definitely deserved something. Regardless, it is a tense, thrilling movie about one of the most important battles in World War II, one that often gets overlooked when contrasted to the ones taking place in Europe, half a world away. It’s a movie thatreally shows the unmatched scale of the war, proving that there were very few places that were safeduring the time period.
The Thin Red Line
8’Black Hawk Down' (2001)
Based on ‘Black Hawk Down’ (1999) by Mark Bowden
Black Hawk Downis based on a non-fiction book of the same name byMark Bowden, which in turn is based on the Battle of Mogadishu, one of the most disastrous US operations in recent history. In the film, a group of special forces are dispatched to the Somali capital during the peak of the Somali Civil War, hoping to capture the advisors of nefarious warlordMohamed Farrah Aidid, who has been stealing UN supply drops from the Somali populace. Unfortunately for the US, they have severely underestimated Aidid, who has studied US battle plans.
What should have been a quick snatch-and-grab spirals out of control both literally and figuratively when an American helicopter is shot down, and fierce resistance arrives. The 30-minute operation descends into a nearly 24-hour standoff resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, and comes as a bitter defeat for Task Force Ranger.Black Hawk Downis absolutely thrilling, with its tense portrayal of combat, and the chaos that it entails. From start to finish, it is pretty much non-stop action, and is sure to keep the blood pumping all the way through.
Black Hawk Down
7’All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930)
Based on ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (1929) by Erich Maria Remarque
All Quiet on the Western Fronthas seen multiple film adaptations in the years since the original novel’s release, with the most recent one coming out in 2022. But the 1930 one is often regarded by critics as being the best one. Coming out just a year after the novel,All Quietis the story of a young German man who becomes enthralled by the propaganda that his country produces during World War I, resolving to join the war effort with his friends from school. Unfortunately for them, they have no idea what they have gotten themselves into.
The novel was actually based onErich Maria Remarque’s personal experience serving in “the war to end all wars,” and the squalid conditions he faced in the trenches, along with the people he lost and the nightmares he endured years later.One of the most classic anti-war movies,All Quiet on the Western Frontis a movie that shows the state of the world’s nationsat the time, along with the biggest destruction of life that the world had seen up until that point.
All Quiet on the Western Front
6’The Pianist' (2002)
Based on ‘The Pianist’ (1946) by Władysław Szpilman
The Pianistis based on a memoir by Polish-Jewish piano playerWładysław Szpilman, who suffered greatly at the hands of the Third Reich during the Holocaust. The film, naturally, is a biopic, withAdrien Brody playing Szpilmanin a role that won him an Oscar. The film dives deep into the darkest part of Szpilman’s life, exploring the terrible things he felt and witnessed from 1939 all the way up until 1945, when the fascist regime plaguing his life finally crumbled.
The movie received seven Oscar nominations and three wins, and has resonated with audiences due to its emotional factor, depicting one man’s struggle against the greatest of evils, losing loved ones and pieces of himself along the way.There are very few films that can really capture the true nature of how horrible the Holocaust was, butThe Pianistis one that absolutely nailed it, and that is sure to induce tears in any who watch it.
The Pianist
5’Come and See' (1985)
Based on ‘Khatyn’ (1971) & ‘I Am from the Fiery Village’ (1977) by Ales Adamovich
Come and Seeis a Belarusian movie that is actually based on two books:Khatyn, a novel, andI Am from the Fiery Village, a collection of survivors' testimonies, both of which were written byAles Adamovich, who also co-wrote the movie. Set during World War II, this visceral film shows the atrocities committed by the Nazis during their invasion of the Soviet Union, with how they burned multiple settlements to the ground and slew millions of innocent people just to further their genocidal agenda.
The movie follows Flyora (Yuri Kravchenko) a 16-year-old boy who is drafted into fighting for the partisans against the Nazis, as he is subject to horrors beyond anyone’s imagination. Thepsychological war filmexplores the effects of trauma, loss, and genocide, and doesn’t pull any punches when it does this. It has become infamous as being among the most realistic depictions of war ever found in cinema, one that may be too emotionally distressing for even the most steadfast of viewers. Still, it isa brilliant movie, one that really lets the viewer understand just how bad the Second World War was.
Come And See
4’Lawrence of Arabia' (1962)
Based on ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ (1926) by T. E. Lawrence
Lawrence of Arabiais based on the personal accounts ofT. E. Lawrence, a British military officer who was sent by the Crown as a liaison between them and the Arab insurgents during the First World War. Lawrence’s job was to aid the insurgents in waging desert warfare against the rising Ottoman Empire, which was quickly expanding, and intending to overtake the Ottoman Empire.
Sure, there are some glaring historical inaccuracies in the film, but for the most part,Lawrence of Arabiais an exhilarating epic war movie that takes viewers to an area of World War I not often talked about, and received a whopping ten Oscar nominations for this effort. Of those ten, it won seven of them, including the award for Best Picture.Lawrence of Arabiais anessential and timeless World War I moviethat absolutely must be seen by any cinephile.
Lawrence of Arabia
3’Schindler’s List' (1993)
Based on ‘Schindler’s Ark’ (1982) by Thomas Keneally
Schindler’s Listis a drama film based on the historical fiction novelSchindler’s ArkbyThomas Keneally. Though this novel is presented as fiction, it is actually based on a true story, that ofOskar Schindler(Liam Neeson) a factory owner and member of the Nazi party who becomes disillusioned with the practices of his party, and makes it his personal mission to save the lives of countless Jewish prisoners during the Holocaust by employing them at his factory.
This monochrome flick is arguably among the saddest films ever made, exploring the horror of the Holocaust without sugar-coating anything, and also taking a long, hard look at Schindler’s loss of belief and identity, and his quest to be a better person.Schindler’s Listis often regarded by many as being among the finest World War II movies ever made, one that is compassionate, harrowing, yet somehow spectacular through it all.
Schindler’s List
2’Grave of the Fireflies' (1988)
Based on ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ (1967) by Akiyuki Nosaka
Grave of the Firefliesis based on the semi-autobiographicalnovelette by Akiyuki Nosaka, who wrote the story as an apology letter for his younger sister, who died of starvation during World War II. This Studio Ghibli film is a serious departure from the whimsical, colorful adventures they often produce, instead taking a distinctively adult approach, making it one of themost depressing movies ever made. The story details the lives of Seita and Setsuko, two young Japanese siblings who survive a firebombing and are left struggling to survive in the “everyone-for-themselves” type of environment.
Seita and Setsuko are subject to immense horrors that no child should ever have to witness and become victims to malnutrition and disease as food becomes scarcer and scarcer as Japanese war efforts fade and the Empire begins to fall to the Allies. They have nowhere to go following the loss of their parents and are forced to make some soul-crushing decisions just to survive.Grave of the Firefliesis emotionally moving, heartbreaking, and bitterly crushing, showing what war looks like for average civilians, who are always the ones who suffer the most.
Grave of the Fireflies
1’Apocalypse Now' (1979)
Based on ‘Heart of Darkness’ (1899) by Joseph Conrad
Apocalypse Nowtakes place during the Vietnam War, which occurred long after the original novella byJoseph Conradwas written. The original book,Heart of Darkness, was about merchants in the Congo region of Africa, but the broad strokes of the story are pretty much the same: someone has gone AWOL, and someone is sent upriver to find out what happened to them, with their sanity beginning to spiral out of control as the jungle becomes increasingly perilous.
Even though the movie is in anentirely different genre than the book, it surprisingly keeps most of the same themes of trauma and the things humans will do to survive, as well as criticisms of colonialism and imperialism.Apocalypse Nowcomes fromFrancis Ford Coppola, who also directedThe Godfather, and is of a quality comparable to that of his widely acclaimed mafia films.A more modern reimagining of a timeless story,Apocalypse Nowis definitely the best war film based on a book, even if the book wasn’t a war story per se.
