The 50 Best Historical Dramas: ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ ‘Dunkirk’ & More War Stories
Everyone loves a good war story. Despite its heartbreaking, painful, and at times gruesome nature, there’s something undeniably compelling about its epic scope, downtrodden heroes, and a common enemy (that, often being the war itself). Throughout the media’s history, war has been documented and retold countless times, ranging back to the 1930 American anti-war film All Quiet On The Western Front, which was not only praised as one of the best 100 movies in 100 years by the American Film Institute but even garnered more acclaim in its German 2022 adaptation of the same name (going so far as to receive four Academy Award nominations).
These stories often capture the astounding heart of its protagonists, allowing audiences to root for them while also condemn the violence we so often hear or read about but rarely witness. From works by Steven Spielberg to Christopher Nolan, check our top war historical dramas below.
Transatlantic (Netflix)
For 13 tense months in Nazi-occupied France, American journalist Varian Fry (Cory Michael Smith, Gotham) works with the Emergency Rescue Committee to arrange safe passage across Europe for Jewish artists and refugees. Community’s Gillian Jacobs (above, with Smith) costars in this 2023 limited series (adapted from Julie Orringer’s novel The Flight Portfolio) as Mary Jayne Gold, the American heiress who funded and assisted his efforts.
Dunkirk (Peacock)
From May 26 to June 4, 1940, 400,000 Allied soldiers were trapped on beaches near a strategic port town during the Fall of France. With German troops closing in, they were forced to evacuate by sea. In this 2017 Oscar-winning epic, director, writer and producer Christopher Nolan brings the Miracle of Dunkirk to life by way of an all-star ensemble that includes Kenneth Branagh (above), Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Harry Styles (in his film debut).
The Pacific (Max)
A companion to the 2001 hit Band of Brothers (and once again produced by Steven Spielberg, Gary Goetzman and Tom Hanks), this excellent 2010 series comes from the World War II memoirs of two U.S. Marines. As portrayed by James Badge Dale and Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park), Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge fight in and around the Pacific islands, giving audiences a front-row seat to the brutality of combat—and the brotherhood and humanity that shine through (above: Jon Seda as Sgt. John Basilone). It culminates in the triumphant but bittersweet return after V-J Day. — Zhanna Slor
Bomb Girls (Prime Video)
When a large portion of the nation’s men were abroad fighting World War II in Europe during the 1940s, it was up to the women to fill the void at work, where (among other things) they manufactured bombs for the Allied forces. This compelling 2012–13 Canadian series gives insight into their labor and their lives at home, both fraught with peril. Kate Andrews (Charlotte Hegele, right), for example, is on the run from her abusive father, and privileged Gladys Witham (Jodi Balfour), just 22, gets a thrill out of taking on the factory’s most dangerous jobs.
Saving Private Ryan (Paramount+)
Steven Spielberg’s 1998 masterpiece remains one of film’s best-told war stories with its opening minutes graphically capturing the devastating losses suffered by the American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach during D-Day. After learning that three brothers from one family have been killed in action, Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks, above) leads a ragtag team through occupied France to find and send home the missing fourth sibling: Pvt. James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon).
Band of Brothers (Max)
It’s almost impossible to talk about war retellings and not lavish praise on this 2001 Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning series created by Saving Private Ryan’s Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s book of the same name, it accurately dramatizes the history of “Easy” Company’s experiences during World War II, starting with the group’s initial training in 1942 and ending with the conclusion of the war.
With the background of Ambrose’s research and recorded interviews with veterans, the 10- hour, $125 million project (which originally aired on HBO) tells a gut-wrenching and explosive story of trauma, hope, hardship and camaraderie—aided by winning performances from Damian Lewis (above, center), Donnie Wahlberg, Ron Livingston, Scott Grimes, David Schwimmer and Michael Cudlitz. What sets it apart from other WWII narratives—including the aforementioned Saving Private Ryan—is its focus on an ensemble story that plays out more like journal snippets than a drama that follows specific players. Easy Company was a group of ordinary soldiers who served their country by fighting, and sometimes dying, in battle. This is a no-holds-barred inside look at their sacrifice. —Andrea Towers
Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)
This 2024 limited series gives us the story of World War II through the eyes of the 100th Bomb Group (also known as the “Bloody Hundredth”), who performed daylight air raids over Nazi Germany. Callum Turner and Austin Butler (above, from left) star as BFF airmen and lead a tight ensemble that includes Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Ben Radcliffe, Branden Cook and Doctor Who’s Ncuti Gatwa. There’s no shortage of wartime realism in this intense series: You’ll feel every gruesome experience and emotional moment.
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