List of films based on war books

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A list of war films that are based on books. If a book has been turned into both a film and a tv series (or tv film), then the tv series is included.

This film, television, or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Contents

[edit] Trojan War

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Troy 2004 Wolfgang Petersen USA & Malta & UK Iliad Homer 8th century BC Epic poetry - - -

[edit] 11th Century Scotland

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Macbeth 1908 J. Stuart Blackton USA Macbeth William Shakespeare 1605? Play - - -
2 Macbeth 1909 Mario Caserini Italy Macbeth William Shakespeare 1605? Play - - -
3 Macbeth 1948 Orson Welles USA Macbeth William Shakespeare 1605? Play - - -

[edit] Hundred Years' War

1337-1453

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France 1944 Laurence Olivier UK Henry V William Shakespeare 1599 Play - - -
2 Henry V 1989 Kenneth Branagh UK Henry V William Shakespeare 1599 Play - - -

[edit] French and Indian War

17541763 See Also: Seven Years' War

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Last of the Mohicans 1920 Clarence Brown & Maurice Tourneur USA The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans 1971 UK
2 Northwest Passage 1940 King Vidor USA Northwest Passage Kenneth Roberts 1937 novel Northwest Passage 1958-1959 USA
3 The Last of the Mohicans 1992 Michael Mann USA The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper 1826 novel - - -

[edit] American Revolutionary War

17751783

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Janice Meredith 1924 E. Mason Hopper USA Janice Meredith Paul Leicester Ford 1901 Novel - - -
2 Drums Along the Mohawk 1939 John Ford USA Drums Along the Mohawk Walter D. Edmonds 1936 Novel - - -
3 The Howards of Virginia 1940 Frank Lloyd USA The Tree of Liberty Elizabeth Page 1939 Novel - - -
4 Johnny Tremain 1957 Robert Stevenson USA Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes 1944 Novel - - -
5 The Bastard* 1978 Lee H. Katzin USA The Bastard John Jakes 1974 Novel - - -
6 The Rebels* 1979 Russ Mayberry USA The Rebels John Jakes 1975 Novel - - -
7 April Morning 1988 Delbert Mann USA April Morning Howard Fast 1961 Novel - - -
8 The Crossing 2000 Robert Harmon USA The Crossing Howard Fast ? Novel - - -
  • * The Bastard and The Rebels are both tv mini-series, and both are a part of John Jakes The Bicentennial Series.

[edit] French Revolution

1789-1799

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 A Tale of Two Cities 1935 Jack Conway USA A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 1859 Novel - - -
2 Scaramouche 1952 George Sidney USA Scaramouche Rafael Sabatini 1921 Novel - - -

[edit] Napoleonic Wars

17991815

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Voyna i mir 1915 Vladimir Gardin & Yakov Protazanov Russia War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1863-1869 Novel War and Peace (mini-series starring Anthony Hopkins) 1972 UK
2 Captain Horatio Hornblower 1951 Raoul Walsh USA & UK The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours (Horatio Hornblower series) C.S. Forester 1937 & 1938 Novel Hornblower 1998-2003 USA & UK
3 War and Peace 1956 King Vidor Italy & USA War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1863-1869 Novel - - -
4 H.M.S. Defiant 1962 Lewis Gilbert UK & USA Mutiny Frank Tilsley ? Novel - - -
5 Voyna i mir 1968 Sergei Bondarchuk Soviet Union War and Peace Leo Tolstoy 1863-1869 Novel - - -
6 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003 Peter Weir USA Master and Commander, HMS Surprise, & The Far Side of the World (Aubrey–Maturin series) Patrick O'Brian 1936 Novel - - -

[edit] American Civil War

18611865

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Birth of a Nation 1915 D.W. Griffith USA The Clansman & The Leopard's Spots Thomas F. Dixon Jr. 1905 & 1902 Novel - - -
2 Gone with the Wind 1939 Victor Fleming USA Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1936 Novel - - -
3 The Red Badge of Courage 1951 John Huston USA The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane 1895 Novel The Red Badge of Courage 1974 USA
4 The Outlaw Josey Wales 1976 Clint Eastwood USA Gone to Texas: The Rebel Outlaw Josey Wales Forrest Carter 1973 Novel - - -
5 North and South 1985 Richard T. Heffron USA North and South John Jakes 1982 Novel - - -
6 North and South, Book II 1986 Kevin Connor USA Love and War John Jakes 1984 Novel - - -
7 Glory 1989 Edward Zwick USA book 1: Lay This Laurel & book 2: One Gallant Rush author 1: Lincoln Kirstein & author 2: Peter Burchard book 1: 1973 & book 2: 1965 Novel - - -
8 Gettysburg 1993 Ronald F. Maxwell USA The Killer Angels Michael Shaara 1974 Novel - - -
9 Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III 1994 Larry Peerce USA Heaven and Hell John Jakes 1987 Novel - - -
10 Ride with the Devil 1999 Ang Lee USA Woe to Live On Daniel Woodrell 1998 Novel - - -
11 Gods and Generals 2003 Ronald F. Maxwell USA Gods and Generals Jeffrey Shaara 1998 Novel - - -
12 Cold Mountain 2003 Anthony Minghella USA Cold Mountain Charles Frazier 1997 Novel - - -
  • The three North and South "movies" listed above are three separate mini-series.

[edit] Battle of Omdurman

September 2, 1898, part of the The Mahdist War (War of the Sudan) See also: Battle of Khartoum, Battle of Abu Klea, Battle of Umm Diwaykarat, and Muhammad Ahmad

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Four Feathers 1915 J. Searle Dawley USA The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
2 The Four Feathers 1921 René Plaissetty UK The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
3 The Four Feathers 1929 Merian C. Cooper, Lothar Mendes, & Ernest B. Schoedsack USA The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
4 The Four Feathers 1939 Zoltan Korda UK The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
5 Storm Over the Nile 1955 Zoltan Korda & Terence Young UK The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
5 The Four Feathers* 1977 Don Sharp UK The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -
6 The Four Feathers 2002 Shekhar Kapur UK & USA The Four Feathers A. E. W. Mason 1902 Novel - - -

* TV movie.

[edit] World War I

1914-1918

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 All Quiet on the Western Front 1930 Lewis Milestone USA All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 1929 Novel All Quiet on the Western Front| 1979 UK & USA
2 Westfront 1918 1930 Georg Wilhelm Pabst Germany Vier von der Infanterie Ernst Johannsen ? Novel - - -
3 A Farewell to Arms 1932 Frank Borzage USA A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 Novel - - -
4 Brown on Resolution 1935 Walter Forde UK Brown on Resolution C. S. Forester 1929 Novel - - -
5 The Road Back 1937 James Whale USA The Road Back Erich Maria Remarque 1931 Novel - - -
6 Three Comrades 1938 Frank Borzage USA Three Comrades Erich Maria Remarque 1937 Novel - - -
7 The African Queen 1952 John Huston UK & USA The African Queen C.S. Forester 1935 Novel - - -
8 A Farewell to Arms 1957 Charles Vidor USA A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 1929 Novel - - -
9 Paths of Glory 1957 Stanley Kubrick UK & USA Paths of Glory Humphrey Cobb 1935 Novel - - -
10 The Blue Max 1966 John Guillermin UK The Blue Max Jack D. Hunter 1964 Novel - - -
11 Johnny Got His Gun 1971 Dalton Trumbo USA Johnny Got His Gun Dalton Trumbo 1939 Novel - - -
12 The Return of the Soldier 1982 Alan Bridges UK The Return of the Soldier Rebecca West 1918 Novel - - -

[edit] Russian Revolution

1917

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Scarlet Dawn 1932 William Dieterle USA Revolt Mary C. McCall Jr. ? Novel - - -
2 Doctor Zhivago 1965 David Lean USA Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak 1957 Novel - - -

[edit] Spanish Civil War

1936-1939

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943 Sam Wood USA For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway 1940 Novel For Whom the Bell Tolls 1965 UK

[edit] World War II

1939-1945

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Mrs. Miniver 1942 William Wyler USA Mrs. Miniver Jan Struther 1939 Novel (originally newspaper columns) Mrs. Miniver (TV film) 1960 USA
2 Edge of Darkness 1943 Lewis Milestone USA Edge of Darkness William Woods 1942 Novel - - -
3 Raduga 1944 Mark Donskoy Soviet Union Tęcza Wanda Wasilewska 1944 Novel - - -
4 A Walk in the Sun 1945 Lewis Milestone USA A Walk in the Sun Harry Brown (writer) 1944 Novel - - -
5 Twelve O'Clock High 1949 David Lean UK & USA Twelve O'Clock High Sy Bartlett & Beirne Lay Jr. 1948 Novel Twelve O'Clock High (TV series) 1964-1967 USA
6 The Cruel Sea 1953 Charles Frend UK The Cruel Sea Nicholas Monsarrat 1951 Novel - - -
7 From Here to Eternity 1953 Fred Zinnemann USA From Here to Eternity James Jones (author) 1951 Novel - - -
8 The Dam Busters 1954 Michael Anderson UK The Dam Busters Paul Brickhill 1951 Novel - - -
9 The Caine Mutiny 1954 Edward Dmytryk USA The Caine Mutiny Herman Wouk 1951 Novel - - -
10 The Man Who Never Was 1956 Ronald Neame UK The Man Who Never Was Ewen Montagu 1954 Novel - - -
11 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 David Lean UK & USA The Bridge on the River Kwai Pierre Boulle 1952 Novel - - -
12 Ill Met by Moonlight 1957 Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger UK Ill Met by Moonlight W. Stanley Moss 1950s Novel - - -
13 Dunkirk 1958 Leslie Norman UK 1: The story of Dunkirk 2: The Big Pickup 1: Lt. Col. Ewan Butler & Major J.S. Bradford MBE MC 2: Trevor Dudley Smith 1: 1955 2: 1955 Novel - - -
14 Never So Few 1959 John Sturges USA Never So Few Tom T. Chamales 1957 Novel - - -
15 Sink the Bismarck! 1960 Lewis Gilbert UK The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck C.S. Forester 1959 Novel - - -
16 The Guns of Navarone 1961 J. Lee Thompson Yugoslavia & USA The Guns of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 Novel - - -
17 The Longest Day 1962 Ken Annakin & Andrew Marton & Bernhard Wicki USA The Longest Day Cornelius Ryan 1959 Novel - - -
18 The Great Escape 1963 John Sturges & Andrew Marton & Bernhard Wicki USA The Great Escape Paul Brickhill 1950 Novel - - -
19 The Thin Red Line 1964 Andrew Marton USA The Thin Red Line James Jones (author) 1962 Novel - - -
20 633 Squadron 1964 Walter Grauman UK & USA 633 Squadron Frederick E Smith 1958 Novel - - -
21 Von Ryan's Express 1965 Mark Robson USA Von Ryan's Express David Westheimer 1964 Novel - - -
22 The Dirty Dozen 1967 Robert Aldrich UK & USA The Dirty Dozen E.M. Nathanson 1965 Novel - - -
23 Battle of Britain 1969 Guy Hamilton UK The Narrow Margin Derek Wood and Derek Dempster 1961 Novel - - -
24 Catch-22 1970 Mike Nichols USA Catch-22 Joseph Heller 1961 Novel - - -
25 Slaughterhouse-Five 1972 George Roy Hill USA Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 1969 Novel - - -
26 A Bridge Too Far 1977 Richard Attenborough UK & USA A Bridge Too Far Cornelius Ryan 1974 Novel - - -
27 Force 10 from Navarone 1978 Guy Hamilton UK Force 10 From Navarone Alistair MacLean 1967 Novel - - -
28 The Sea Wolves: The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse 1980 Andrew V. McLaglen UK & Switzerland & USA Boarding Party James Leasor 1980? Novel - - -
29 Empire of the Sun 1987 Steven Spielberg USA Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard 1984 Novel - - -
30 Schindler's List 1993 Steven Spielberg USA Schindler's Ark Thomas Keneally 1982 Novel - - -
31 The English Patient 1996 Anthony Minghella USA The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Novel - - -
32 The Thin Red Line 1998 Terrence Malick USA & Canada The Thin Red Line James Jones 1962 Novel - - -
33 Enemy at the Gates 2001 Jean-Jacques Annaud USA, UK, Germany, & Ireland 1: War of the Rats & 2: Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad 1: David L. Robbins 2: William Craig 1: 1999 2: 2001 Novel - - -
34 Captain Corelli's Mandolin 2001 John Madden USA Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières 1994 Novel - - -
35 Hart's War 2002 Gregory Hoblit USA Hart's War John Katzenbach 1999 Novel - - -
36 The Great Raid 2005 John Dahl USA & Australia Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor William Breuer 1994 Novel - - -
37 Flags of Our Fathers 2006 Clint Eastwood USA Flags of Our Fathers James Bradley 2000 Novel - - -

| 38| Saving Private Ryan

[edit] Korean War

1950-1953 (cease fire, war not yet officially concluded)

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Bridges at Toko-Ri 1955 Mark Robson USA The Bridges at Toko-Ri James Michener 1953 Novel - - -
2 MASH 1970 Robert Altman USA M*A*S*H Richard Hooker 1953 Novel M*A*S*H 1972-1983 USA
3 The Hunters 1958 USA The Hunters James Salter 1956 Novel

[edit] Vietnam War

1957-1975

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Quiet American 1958 Joseph L. Mankiewicz USA The Quiet American Graham Greene 1955 Novel - - -
2 Apocalypse Now 1979 Francis Ford Coppola USA “Inspired by” Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 1902 Novella - - -
3 Full Metal Jacket 1987 Stanley Kubrick USA The Short-Timers Gustav Hasford 1980 Novel - - -
4 Casualties of War 1989 Brian De Palma USA Casualties of War Daniel Lang 1969 Novel - - -
5 Air America 1990 Roger Spottiswoode USA Air America Christopher Robbins 1979 Novel - - -
6 Flight of the Intruder 1991 John Milius USA Flight of the Intruder Stephen Coonts 1986 Novel - - -
7 We Were Soldiers 2002 Randall Wallace USA We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway 1953 Novel - - -
8 The Quiet American 2002 Phillip Noyce USA The Quiet American Graham Greene 1955 Novel - - -

[edit] Cold War

1947-1989

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 The Hunt for Red October 1990 John McTiernan USA The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 Novel - - -

[edit] Gulf War

1991

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Jarhead 2005 Sam Mendes USA Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles Anthony Swofford 2003 Novel - - -

[edit] Bosnian War

1992-1995

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Welcome To Sarajevo 1997 Michael Winterbottom USA & UK Natasha's Story Michael Nicholson 1993 Novel - - -

[edit] Battle of Mogadishu

1993 See Also: Somalian Civil War

# Film Date Director Country Source
work
Author Date Type TV Date Country
1 Black Hawk Down 2001 Ridley Scott USA Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War Mark Bowden 1999 Novel - - -

[edit] See also