List of films based on war books — post-1945

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

For earlier conflicts, see the List of films based on war books — 1927–1945.

Chinese Civil War — Final stage

1945–1950

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Left Hand of God

1955

Edward Dmytryk

USA

The Left Hand of God

William E. Barrett

195?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst

1957

Michael Anderson

UK

Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst

Lawrence Earl

195?

Non-Fiction

-

-

-

3

Satan Never Sleeps

1962

Leo McCarey

USA

Satan Never Sleeps

Pearl S. Buck

1962

Novel

-

-

-

4

Farewell My Concubine
霸王别姬

1993

Chen Kaige

China

Farewell My Concubine

Lilian Lee

1993

Novel

-

-

-

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Assembly
集結號

2007

Feng Xiaogang

China

Guan Si

Liu Heng

199?

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ The film's 2008 sequel Assembly 2: The Cold Flame is in fact a prequel. See World War II, China Theatre.

Resistance to Soviet occupation

Baltic countries

1945–

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Utterly Alone

2003

Jonas Vaitkus

Lithuania

Fighters for Freedom

"Juozas L. Daumantas"

1949?/1975

Memoir/
Non-fiction

-

-

-

Greek Civil War

1946–1949

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Eleni

1985

Peter Yates

USA

Eleni

Nicholas Gage

198?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

First Indochina War

1946–1954

#

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

The 317th Platoon

1965

Pierre Schoendoerffer

France

La 317e Section

Pierre Schoendoerffer

1963

Novel

-

-

-

3

The Quiet American

2002

Phillip Noyce

USA

The Quiet American

Graham Greene

1955

Novel

-

-

-

Background

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Lover

1992

Jean-Jacques Annaud

USA

The Lover

Marguerite Duras

1984

Novel/Memoir

-

-

-

Cold War

1947–1989
This section deals with the confrontational elements of the Cold War, including mutual suspicion and espionage.
Actual combat operations, such as proxy wars supported by the two sides, are handled in their own sections.

Iron Curtain

Confrontation

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Third Man

1949

Carol Reed

UK

The Third Man

Graham Greene

1950

Novella

-

-

-

2

The Red Danube

1949

George Sidney

USA

Vespers in Vienna

Bruce Marshall

1947

Novel

-

-

-

3

Seven Days in May

1964

John Frankenheimer

USA

Seven Days in May

Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II

1962

Novel

-

-

-

4

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

1966

Norman Jewison

USA

The Off-Islanders

Nathaniel Benchley

1961

Novel

-

-

-

5

The Shoes of the Fisherman

1968

Michael Anderson

USA

The Shoes of the Fisherman

Morris West

1963

Novel

-

-

-

6

Don't Drink the Water

1969

Howard Morris

USA

Don't Drink the Water

Woody Allen

1966

Play

-

-

-

7

Gorky Park

1983

Michael Apted

USA

Gorky Park

Martin Cruz Smith

1981

Novel

-

-

-

8

Der Bockerer 2

1996

Franz Antel

Austria

Der Bockerer (characters)

Ulrich Becher & Peter Preses

1946

Play

-

-

-

9

Buffalo Soldiers

2001

Gregor Jordan

USA

Buffalo Soldiers

Robert O'Connor

1993

Novel

-

-

-

10

The Good German

2006

Steven Soderbergh

USA

The Good German

Joseph Kanon

2001

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ Vienna during the Allied occupation of Austria.
  • * TV movie.

Secret missions

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Action of the Tiger

1957

Terence Young

USA

Action of the Tiger

James Wellard

195?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident

1976

Delbert Mann

USA

Operation Overflight

Francis Gary Powers &
Curt Gentry

1971

Memoir

-

-

-

3

Firefox

1982

Clint Eastwood

USA

Firefox

Craig Thomas

1977

Novel

-

-

-

Espionage

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Iron Curtain

1948

William Wellman

USA

This Was My Choice

Igor Gouzenko

1948

Memoir

-

-

-

2

5 Steps to Danger

1957

Henry S. Kesler

USA

The Steel Mirror

Donald Hamilton

1948

Novel

-

-

-

3

Hot Enough for June

1964

Ralph Thomas

UK

The Night of Wenceslas

Lionel Davidson

1960

Novel

-

-

-

4

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

1965

Martin Ritt

UK

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

John le Carré

1963

Novel

-

-

-

5

The Deadly Affair

1966

Sidney Lumet

UK

Call for the Dead

John le Carré

1961

Novel

-

-

-

6

The Looking Glass War

1969

Frank Pierson

UK

The Looking Glass War

John le Carré

1965

Novel

-

-

-

7

The Russia House

1990

Fred Schepisi

USA

The Russia House

John le Carré

1989

Novel

-

-

-

8

A Different Loyalty

2004

Marek Kanievska

Canada, UK, USA

Kim Philby: The Spy I Loved (uncredited)

Eleanor Brewer Philby (uncredited)

1967

Memoir

-

-

-

9

The Company ♠ *

2007

Mikael Salomon

USA

The Company: A Novel of the CIA

Robert Littell

2002

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ The story of the CIA, from postwar Berlin, through the Hungarian Revolution and the Bay of Pigs, to Gorbachev and Yeltsin.
  • * TV movie.

Defection

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Judgment in Berlin

1988

Leo Penn

West Germany & USA

Judgment in Berlin

Herbert Jay Stern

1984

Memoir

-

-

-

Mariel Boatlift

(analogous to the Berlin Airlift)
1980

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Scarface

1983

Brian De Palma

USA

Scarface (uncredited)

Armitage Trail (uncredited)

193?

Novel

-

-

-

"Bamboo Curtain"

Confrontation

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

On Dangerous Ground *

1996

Lawrence Gordon Clark

Canada, UK

On Dangerous Ground

Jack Higgins

1994

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Secret missions

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Soldier of Fortune

1955

Edward Dmytryk

USA

Soldier of Fortune

Ernest K. Gann

1954

Novel

-

-

-

McCarthy hearings

1954

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Citizen Cohn *

1992

Frank Pierson

USA

Citizen Cohn

Nicholas von Hoffman

1988

Non-fiction

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Frequently filmed: The Crucible

The best-known drama about the Communist witchhunts is set in colonial Massachusetts.

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Les Sorcières de Salem

1957

Raymond Rouleau

France &
East Germany

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

1953

Play

-

-

-

2

The Crucible

1996

Nicholas Hytner

USA

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

1953

Play

-

-

-

  • The Witches of Salem has an adapted screenplay by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Cuban Missile Crisis

October 1962

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Missiles of October *

1974

Anthony Page

USA

Thirteen Days

Robert F. Kennedy

1969

Memoir

-

-

-

2

Thirteen Days

2000

Roger Donaldson

USA

The Kennedy Tapes - Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis

Ernest May & Philip Zelikow

1997

Non-fiction

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Mutually assured destruction

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Bombers B-52

1957

Gordon Douglas

USA

Bombers B-52 (?)

Sam Rolfe

195?

Novel

-

-

-

2

The Hunt for Red October

1990

John McTiernan

USA

The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy

1984

Novel

-

-

-

Doomsday Scenario

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Fail-Safe

1964

Sidney Lumet

USA

Fail-Safe

Eugene Burdick & Harvey Wheeler

1962

Novel

Fail Safe

2000

USA

2

Dr. Strangelove

1964

Stanley Kubrick

UK & USA

Red Alert

Peter Bryant

1958

Novel

-

-

-

3

The Bedford Incident

1965

James B. Harris

USA

The Bedford Incident

Mark Rascovich

1963

Novel

-

-

-

4

Twilight's Last Gleaming

1977

Robert Aldrich

USA

Viper Three

Walter Wager

1971

Novel

-

-

-

5

By Dawn's Early Light *

1990

Jack Sholder

USA

Trinity's Child

William Prochnau

1983

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Grand Fenwick-American War

The embarrassing, and rarely discussed, defeat of the USA by the bowmen of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Mouse That Roared

1959

Jack Arnold

UK

The Day New York Was Invaded aka
The Mouse That Roared

Leonard Wibberley ♠

1955

Novel

-

-

-

2

The Mouse on the Moon

1963

Richard Lester

UK

The Mouse on the Moon

Leonard Wibberley ♠

1962

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ Wibberley was the father of Cormac Wibberley, screenwriter of the National Treasure film series, amongst other titles.

Partition of India

1947

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Jewel in the Crown *

1984

Jim O'Brien &
Christopher Morahan

UK

Raj Quartet

Paul Scott

1966–1975

Tetralogy

-

-

-

2

Train to Pakistan

1998

Pamela Rooks

UK & India

Train to Pakistan

Khushwant Singh

1956

Novel

-

-

-

3

Earth

1998

Deepa Mehta

India & Canada

Ice Candy Man

Bapsi Sidhwa

1988

Novel

-

-

-

4

Pinjar

2003

Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi

India & Pakistan

Pinjar

Amrita Pritam

1970

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV miniseries.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947

1947–1948

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1948 Arab–Israeli War

1948–1949

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Hill 24 Doesn't Answer Giv'a 24 Eina Ona

1955

Thorold Dickinson

Israel

?

Zvi Kolitz

195?

Story

-

-

-

2

Exodus

1960

Otto Preminger

USA

Exodus

Leon Uris

1958

Novel

-

-

-

3

Cast a Giant Shadow

1966

Melville Shavelson

USA

Cast a Giant Shadow

Ted Berkman

196?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

4

O Jerusalem

2006

Élie Chouraqui

Belgium

O Jerusalem!

Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre

1972

Non-fiction

-

-

-

La Violencia

1948–1958 (including El Bogotazo)

Malayan Emergency

1948–1960

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The 7th Dawn

1964

Lewis Gilbert

UK

The Durian Tree

Michael Keon

196?

Novel

-

-

-

2

The Virgin Soldiers

1969

John Dexter

UK

The Virgin Soldiers

Leslie Thomas

1966

Novel

-

-

-

3

Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers

1977

Norman Cohen

UK

Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers

Leslie Thomas

1975

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ Thomas wrote a third, intermediate novel in his series, Onward Virgin Soldiers (1971).

Korean War

1950–1953

Politics 

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Give 'em Hell, Harry!

1975

Steve Binder & Peter H. Hunt

USA

Give 'em Hell, Harry!

Samuel Gallu

197?

Play

-

-

-

Land operations 

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Fixed Bayonets!

1951

Samuel Fuller

USA

Immortal Sergeant

John Brophy

194?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Men in War

1957

Anthony Mann

USA

Day Without End

Van Van Praag

195?

Novel

-

-

-

3

Pork Chop Hill

1959

Lewis Milestone

USA

Pork Chop Hill: The American Fighting Man in Action, Korea, Spring, 1953

S.L.A. Marshall

1956

Non-fiction

-

-

-

Air operations 

#

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

The Hunters

1958

[...] Powell

USA

The Hunters

James Salter

1956

Novel

-

-

-

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

Military hospitals 

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Great Impostor

1961

Robert Mulligan

USA

The Great Impostor

Robert Crichton

1959

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

MASH

1970

Robert Altman

USA

M*A*S*H

Richard Hooker

1953

Novel

M*A*S*H

1972–1983

USA

  • ♠ The hospital is aboard an RCN destroyer, the HMCS Cayuga.
  • ♦ In the film version, the implicit target of the satire is the Vietnam War, rather than the Korean War.

Involuntary confinement 

POWs 

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Manchurian Candidate

1962

John Frankenheimer

USA

The Manchurian Candidate

Richard Condon

1959

Novel

-

-

-

Mau Mau Uprising

1952–1960

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Simba

1955

Brian Desmond Hurst

UK

Simba

Anthony Perry

195?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Something of Value

1957

Richard Brooks

USA

Something of Value

Robert Ruark

1955

Novel

-

-

-

3

Guns at Batasi

1964

John Guillermin

UK

The Siege of Battersea

Robert Holles

1962

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ Officially, this film does not take place in Kenya, but in a fictional emerging East African country where there is a rebellion against a British garrison. Both Uganda and Tanganyika enjoyed smooth transitions during this period.

Cuban Revolution

1953–1959

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Gun Runners

1958

Don Siegel

USA

To Have and Have Not

Ernest Hemingway

1937

Novel

-

-

-

2

Che

2008

Steven Soderbergh

USA

Diario del Che en Bolivia

Ernesto "Che" Guevara

1968/1994

Diary

-

-

-

Bay of Pigs Invasion

1961

Bulletin ... film currently in production: Fire Bay by director unknown

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Company *

2007

Mikael Salomon

USA

The Company: A Novel of the CIA

Robert Littell

2002

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Algerian War

1954–1962

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Lost Command

1966

Jean Lartéguy

USA

Les centurions

Jean Lartéguy

1960

Novel

-

-

-

2

Le Crabe-tambour

1977

Pierre Schoendoerffer

France

Le Crabe-tambour

Pierre Schoendoerffer

1976

Novel

-

-

-

3

Là-bas... mon pays

2000

Alexandre Arcady

France

Grande vacance

René Bonnell

19??

Novel

-

-

-

4

Mon colonel

2006

Laurent Herbiet

France & Belgium

Mon colonel

Francis Zamponi

19??

Novel

-

-

-

Suez Crisis

1956

Hungarian Revolution

1956

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Der Bockerer III — Die Brücke von Andau

2000

Franz Antel

Austria

Der Bockerer (characters)

Ulrich Becher & Peter Preses

1946

Play

-

-

-

2

The Company *

2007

Mikael Salomon

USA

The Company: A Novel of the CIA

Robert Littell

2002

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Ifni War

1957–1958

Vietnam War

1957–1975
(See also the First Indochina War)

Politics  

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Ugly American

1963

George Englund

USA

The Ugly American

William Lederer & Eugene Burdick

1958

Novel

-

-

-

2

JFK

1991

Oliver Stone

USA

On the Trail of the Assassins

Jim Garrison ♦

1990

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy

Jim Marrs ♦

1989

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

JFK: The CIA, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy ♣ (uncredited)

L. Fletcher Prouty ♦ (uncredited)

198?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power (uncredited)

John M. Newman ♦ (uncredited)

1992

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Nixon

1995

Oliver Stone

USA

The Final Days

Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Richard Nixon: The Shaping of His Character (uncredited)

Fawn Brodie (uncredited)

1981

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Nixon: the Education of a Politician 1913-62 (uncredited)

Stephen Ambrose (uncredited)

1991

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Nixon: the Triumph of a Politician 1962-72 (uncredited)

Stephen Ambrose (uncredited)

1991

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-90 (uncredited)

Stephen Ambrose (uncredited)

1991

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Nixon: A Life (uncredited)

Jonathan Aitken (uncredited)

1996

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

"The Second Coming" (uncredited)

W.B. Yeats (uncredited)

1920

Poem

-

-

-

4

Kissinger and Nixon *

1995

Daniel Petrie

Canada

Kissinger: A Biography

Walter Isaacson

1992

Non-fiction

-

-

-

5

A Bright Shining Lie *

1998

Terry George

USA

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

Neil Sheehan

1988

Non-fiction

-

-

-

6

Frost/Nixon

2008

Ron Howard

USA

Frost/Nixon

Peter Morgan

2006

Play

-

-

-

  • ♠ Set in the fictional Southeast Asian country of Sarkhan, rather than Vietnam per se.
    Sarkhan, a US ally, is invaded by Communist North Sarkhan.
  • ♦ Technical advisors on JFK.
  • ♣ Prouty's book has an introduction by Oliver Stone.
  • * TV movie.

Background

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Red Dust

1932

Victor Fleming (uncredited)

USA

Red Dust

Wilson Collison

193?

Play

-

-

-

  • ♠ About an American on his rubber plantation in French Indochina.

Land operations

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Green Berets

1968

John Wayne

USA

The Green Berets

Robin Moore

1965

Novel

-

-

-

2

The Deer Hunter

1978

Michael Cimino

USA

Three Comrades (uncredited)

Erich Maria Remarque (uncredited)

1937

Novel

-

-

-

3

Go Tell the Spartans

1978

Ted Post

USA

Incident at Muc Wa

Daniel Ford

1967

Novel

-

-

-

4

Apocalypse Now

1979

Francis Ford Coppola

USA

“Inspired by”
Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

1902

Novella

-

-

-

4

Dispatches (unofficial)

Michael Herr (unofficial)

1977

Non-fiction

-

-

-

5

The Odd
Angry Shot

1979

Tom Jeffrey

Australia

The Odd Angry Shot

William L. Nagle

19??

Novel

-

-

-

6

Full Metal Jacket

1987

Stanley Kubrick

USA

The Short-Timers

Gustav Hasford

1980

Novel

-

-

-

6

Dispatches (unofficial)

Michael Herr (unofficial)

1977

Non-fiction

-

-

-

7

Platoon Leader

1988

Aaron Norris

USA

Platoon Leader

James R. McDonough

1985

Novel/Memoir

-

-

-

8

White Badge

1992

Jeong Ji-yeong

South Korea

''White Badge: A Korean Novel

'' Ahn Junghyo

198?

Novel

-

-

-

9

We Were Soldiers

2002

Randall Wallace

USA

We Were Soldiers Once… And Young

Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore & Joseph L. Galloway

1953

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ About the South Korean contingent in the Vietnam War.

Air operations

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

A Yank in Viet-Nam

1964

Marshall Thompson

USA

"?" ♠

Jack Lewis

196?

-

-

-

2

Bat*21

1988

Peter Markle

USA

BAT-21

William Charles Anderson

1980

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Air America

1990

Roger Spottiswoode

USA

Air America

Christopher Robbins

1979

Novel

-

-

-

4

Flight of the Intruder

1991

John Milius

USA

''Flight of the Intruder

'' Stephen Coonts

1986

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ The film's New York Times review refers to "a story" but does not name it.

Military bases

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

Involuntary confinement

POWs

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Some Kind of Hero

1982

Michael Pressman

USA

Some Kind of Hero

James Kirkwood, Jr.

197?

Novel

-

-

-

Atrocities

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Casualties of War

1989

Brian De Palma

USA

Casualties of War

Daniel Lang

1969

Novel

-

-

-

1

Casualties of War

Daniel Lang

1969

-

-

-

Refugees and Boat people

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Turtle Beach

1992

Stephen Wallace

Australia

Turtle Beach

Blanche d'Alpuget

1981

Novel

-

-

-

Home front

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Hoa-Binh

1970

Raoul Coutard

France

?

Françoise Lorrain

196?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Friendly Fire

1979

David Greene

USA

Friendly Fire

C.D. Bryan

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

New Yorker articles

C.D. Bryan

197?

Articles

-

-

-

  • ♠ Information on this film is scanty, but it appears to be about the effect of war on Vietnamese children.

Protest

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Steal This Movie!

2000

Robert Greenwald

USA

To America with Love: Letters From the Underground

Anita Hoffman & Abbie Hoffman

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel

Marty Jezer

1992

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

Steal This Book

Abbie Hoffman

1971

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

Chicago 10:
Speak Your Peace

2007

Brett Morgen

USA

Chicago Seven
trial transcripts

Abbie Hoffman, et al.

1969–1970

Non-fiction

-

-

-

Demobilization

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Heaven & Earth

1993

Oliver Stone

USA

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace

Le Ly Hayslip & Jay Wurts

1989

Memoir

-

-

-

1

Child of War, Woman of Peace

Le Ly Hayslip & James Hayslip

1993

Memoir

-

-

-

2

Who'll Stop the Rain

1978

Karel Reisz

USA

Dog Soldiers

Robert Stone

1974

Novel

-

-

-

Casualties physical and mental

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Coming Home

1978

Hal Ashby

USA

Coming Home

George Davis

197?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Birdy

1984

Alan Parker

USA

Birdy

William Wharton

1978

Novel

-

-

-

3

Born on the Fourth of July

1989

Oliver Stone

USA

Born on the Fourth of July

Ron Kovic

1976

Memoir

-

-

-

4

Jacknife

1989

David Jones

USA

Strange Snow

Stephen Metcalfe

1982

Play

-

-

-

  • ♠ For another recent autobiography of a seriously wounded serviceman, see Tumbledown (Falklands War).
    The World War II classic film on this subject is The Men with Marlon Brando (original screenplay, not based on a book).

Memorial

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Gardens Of Stone

1987

Francis Ford Coppola

USA

Gardens Of Stone

Nicholas Proffitt

1983

Novel

-

-

-

2

In Country

1989

Norman Jewison

USA

In Country

Bobbie Ann Mason

1985

Novel

-

-

-

Cambodian Civil War

1967–1975

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The [...] Fields

1984

Roland Joffé

UK

The Death and Life of Dith Pran

Sydney Schanberg

1980

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

Nixon

1995

Oliver Stone

USA

The Final Days

Bob Woodward &
Carl Bernstein

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

  • ♠ Cambodia is covered, in addition to Vietnam.

Congo Crisis

1960–1966 (including the Katangan Secession and the Simba Rebellion)

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Dark of the Sun

1968

Jack Cardiff

USA

Train From Katanga
aka The Dark of the Sun

Wilbur Smith

1965

Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ Unofficially remade as Tears of the Sun, set in a fictitious Nigerian Civil War.

Guatemalan Civil War

1960–1996

Sino-Indian War

1962

Borneo Confrontation

1962–1966

Papuan Civil War

1965–ongoing

Rhodesian Bush War

1966–1980

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Albino aka
Whispering Death

1976

Jürgen Goslar

West Germany

The Whispering Death

Daniel Carney

1969

Novel

-

-

-

The Troubles

1966–1998

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Cal

1984

Pat O'Connor

UK & Ireland

Cal

Bernard MacLaverty

1983

Novel

-

-

-

2

Harry's Game *

1982

Lawrence Gordon Clark

UK

Harry's Game

Gerald Seymour

1975

Novel

-

-

-

3

In the Name of the Father

1993

Jim Sheridan

Ireland & UK

Proved Innocent

Gerry Conlon

199?

Memoir

-

-

-

4

The Informant *

1997

Jim McBride

Ireland & USA

Field of Blood

Gerald Seymour

1985

Novel

-

-

-

5

Bloody Sunday *

2002

Paul Greengrass

UK & Ireland

Eyewitness Bloody Sunday – The Truth (uncredited)

Don Mullan (uncredited)

1997

Memoir/
Non-fiction

-

-

-

6

Fifty Dead Men Walking

2008

Kari Skogland

UK & Canada

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Martin McGartland

1997

Memoir

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Six Day War

1967

Biafran War

1967–1970

Prague Spring

1968

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

1988

Philip Kaufman

USA

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Milan Kundera

1984

Novel

-

-

-

2

Der Bockerer IV — Prager Frühling

2003

Franz Antel &
Kurt Ockermüller

Austria

Der Bockerer (characters)

Ulrich Becher & Peter Preses

1946

Play

-

-

-

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

1971

October War

1973

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Kippur

2000

Amos Gitai

Israel

One-Dimensional Man (uncredited)

Herbert Marcuse ✡ (uncredited)

1964

Non-Fiction

-

-

-

2

Golda's Balcony

2007

Jeremy Kagan

USA

Golda's Balcony

William Gibson

2003

Play

-

-

-

  • ✡ Two Israeli reservists discuss Marcuse (as well as used cars) as they drive, looking for the war.

Angolan Civil War

1975–2002

Entebbe Raid

1976

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Rise and Fall of Idi Amin

1981

Sharad Patel

UK

The White Pumpkin

Denis Hills

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

The Last King of Scotland

2006

Kevin Macdonald

UK

The Last King of Scotland

Giles Foden

1998

Novel

-

-

-

Dirty War

1976–1983

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Funny Dirty Little War

1983

Héctor Olivera

Argentina

No habrá más penas ni olvido

Osvaldo Soriano

1979

Novel

-

-

-

2

Night of the Pencils

1986

Héctor Olivera

Argentina

La noche de los lápices

María Seoane & Héctor Ruiz Núñez

198?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Imagining Argentina

2003

Christopher Hampton

Spain, UK, USA

Imagining Argentina

Lawrence Thornton

1987

Novel

-

-

-

Ogaden War

1977–1978

Second Shaba War

1978

Beagle conflict

1978

Uganda-Tanzania War

1978–1979

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Rise and Fall of Idi Amin

1981

Sharad Patel

UK

The White Pumpkin

Denis Hills

1976

Non-fiction

-

-

-

Nicaraguan Revolution

1978–1979

Nicaraguan Civil War

1979–1990

Soviet-Afghan War

1978–1989

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Beast

1988

Kevin Reynolds

USA

Nanawatai

William Mastrosimone

198?

Play

-

-

-

2

Charlie Wilson's War

2007

Mike Nichols

USA

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

George Crile

2003

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

The Kite Runner

2007

Marc Forster

USA

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

2003

Novel

-

-

-

Sino-Vietnamese War

1979

Iranian Revolution

1979

Iran–Iraq War

1980–1988

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Persepolis

2007

Vincent Paronnaud &
Marjane Satrapi

France & USA

Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi

2000-2003

Memoir/
Graphic Novel

-

-

-

Salvadoran Civil War

1980–1992

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Salvador

1986

Oliver Stone

USA

Flower of the Dragon (uncredited)

Richard Boyle (uncredited)

198?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

Weakness and Deceit: U.S. Policy and El Salvador (uncredited)

Raymond Bonner (uncredited)

1984

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (uncredited)

Hunter S. Thompson (uncredited)

1971

Novel/Memoir

-

-

-

1

Final sermon

Archbishop
Óscar Romero

1980

Sermon

-

-

-

Falklands War

1982

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Tumbledown *

1988

Richard Eyre

UK

When the Fighting Is Over: A Personal Story of the Battle for Tumbledown Mountain and Its Aftermath

John Lawrence & Robert Lawrence

198?

Memoir

-

-

-

2

Resurrected

1989

Paul Greengrass

UK

Summer Soldier

Philip Williams & M. S. Power

1990

Memoir

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Invasion of Lebanon

1982–1985

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Beaufort
בופור‎

2007

Joseph Cedar

Israel

Beaufort

Ron Leshem

2005

Novel

-

-

-

2

Waltz with Bashir

2008

Ari Folman

Israel

Waltz with Bashir: A Lebanon War Story

Ari Folman &
David Polonsky

2009

Memoir/
Graphic Novel

-

-

-

  • † The graphic novel was published after the animated film.

Invasion of Grenada

1983

Sri Lankan Civil War

1983–2009

US Bombing of Libya

15 April 1986

8-8-88 Uprising

1988

Liberian Civil Wars

1989–1996
1999–2003

Sierra Leone Civil War

1991–2002

Collapse of the Soviet Union

Soviet coup of 1991

1991

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Company *

2007

Mikael Salomon

USA

The Company: A Novel of the CIA

Robert Littell

2002

Novel

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Gulf War

1991

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Courage Under Fire

1996

Edward Zwick

USA

"In a Grove" (uncredited)

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (uncredited)

1922

-

-

-

2

The One That Got Away *

1996

Paul Greengrass

UK

The One That Got Away

"Chris Ryan", M.M.

1995?

Memoir

-

-

-

3

Bravo Two Zero *

1999

Tom Clegg

UK

Bravo Two Zero

"Andy McNab"

1993

Memoir

-

-

-

4

Jarhead

2005

Sam Mendes

USA

Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles

Anthony Swofford

2003

Memoir

-

-

-

  • ♠ The events of these books were thoroughly questioned by Michael Asher in The Real Bravo Two Zero: The Truth Behind Bravo Two Zero. (See Bravo Two Zero accounts for the saga of the historiography on this single patrol.)
  • * TV movie.

Yugoslav Wars

1991–2001

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Harrison's Flowers

2000

Elie Chouraqui

France

Harrison's Flowers (?)

Isabel Ellsen

199?

Novel

-

-

-

2

Dezerter Дезертер

2000

Živojin Pavlović

Yugoslavia

"The Eternal Husband"

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

18??

-

-

-

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

-

-

-

2

The Hunting Party

2007

Richard Shepard

USA, Croatia, Bosnia

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation"

Scott Anderson

2000

-

-

-

Somalian Civil War

Battle of Mogadishu

1993

#

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

Non-fiction

-

-

-

Rwandan [...]

1994

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

A Sunday in Kigali

2006

Robert Favreau

Canada

A Sunday at the pool in Kigali

Gil Courtemanche

2000

Novel

-

-

-

2

Shake Hands with the Devil

2007

Roger Spottiswoode

Canada

Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda

Roméo Dallaire

2003

Non-fiction

-

-

-

First Chechen War

1994–1996

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Prisoner of the Mountains

1996

Sergei Bodrov

Russia

"The Prisoner of the Caucasus"

Leo Tolstoy

18??

-

-

-

Kargil War

1999

21st Century

"War on Terror"

2001–ongoing

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

The Guys

2002

Jim Simpson

USA

The Guys

Anne Nelson

2002

Play

-

-

-

2

Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story *

2003

Robert Dornhelm

USA

Rudy!: An Investigative Biography of Rudy Giuliani

Wayne Barrett

2000

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

The Path to 9/11 *

2006

David L. Cunningham

USA

The Cell

John Miller & Michael Stone

200?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

1000 Years for Revenge: International [...] and the FBI – the Untold Story

Peter Lance

2003

Non-fiction

-

-

-

3

Relentless Pursuit

Samuel M. Katz

200?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

4

A Mighty Heart

2007

Michael Winterbottom

USA

A Mighty Heart

Mariane Pearl

200?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Prior international [...]

Prior to 11/09/2001

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Barcelona

1994

Whit Stillman

USA

The Scarlet Pimpernel ♠ (uncredited)

Baroness Orczy (uncredited)

1903 & 1905

Play & Novel

-

-

-

  • ♠ A victim of [...] is read the novel in his hospital bed.

War in Afghanistan

2001–ongoing

Iraq War

2003–ongoing

Politics

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

W.

2008

Oliver Stone

USA

Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President (uncredited)

J.H. Hatfield (uncredited)

1999

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

The Perfect Wife (uncredited)

Ann Gerhart (uncredited)

200?

Non-fiction

-

-

-

1

Ambling Into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush (uncredited)

Frank Bruni (uncredited)

2002

Non-fiction

-

-

-

Operations

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Saving Jessica Lynch ♠ *

2003

Peter Markle

USA

Because Each Life Is Precious

Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief

2003

Non-fiction

-

-

-

2

Green Zone

2010

Paul Greengrass

USA

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone

Rajiv Chandrasekaran

2006

Non-fiction

-

-

-

  • ♠ A Lynch's authorized biography is Rick Bragg's I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story, 2003.
  • * TV movie.

Atrocities

Home front

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

Demobilization

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

Casualties

#

Film

Date

Director

Country

Source
work

Author

Date

Type

TV

Date

Country

1

Taking Chance *

2009

Ross Katz

USA

"Taking Chance Home"

Lt. Col. Michael Strobl

200?

Article

-

-

-

  • * TV movie.

Memorial

This is the present day.
For future conflicts which have yet to occur, see the List of films based on war books — future.

Bibliography

  • Clarke, James. Virgin Film: War Films, Virgin Books, London, 2006.
  • Lavington, Stephen. Virgin Film: Oliver Stone, Virgin Books, London, 2004.
  • Russell, Jamie. The Pocket Essential Vietnam War Movies, Pocket Essentials, Harpenden, Herts, 2002.
  • 100 greatest War Movies, special issue of Military History Magazine, Weider History Group, Leesburg, Virginia, 2007.
The Cinema of North Korea
  • Delisle, Guy. Pyongyang: A Journey to North Korea, L'Association, Paris, 2003; Drawn & Quarterly, Montreal, 2005.

See also

  • List of films based on war books
  • List of films based on war books — pre-1775
  • List of films based on war books — 1775–1898
  • List of films based on war books — 1898–1926
  • List of films based on war books — 1927–1945
  • List of films based on war books — peace
  • List of films based on war books — future
  • List of films based on war books — fantasy
  • War film
  • War novel
  • List of war films
  • Fiction based on the Vietnam War
  • List of United States military books
  • Assassinations in fiction


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