War Documentaries
Documentaries that explain and tell stories about war in different countries.
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- DirectorAnthony WonkeStarsRobert GatesStanley McChrystalMike MullenOn February 13, 2010, American-led coalition forces launched the biggest military operation since the beginning of the Afghanistan War. Their target was the town of Marjah, a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. There, the Marines had four tasks: remove the Taliban, hold all ground seized, build infrastructure and governance, and transfer control to Afghan security forces. In this powerful account, award-winning journalist Ben Anderson tells the story of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, and its commanding officer, Captain Ryan Sparks. At the battle's outset, Sparks and the 272 men of Bravo are flown 12 miles and dropped into the center of Marjah, where the Taliban lie in wait. For the young Marines, their first task begins. Embedded with Bravo Company, Anderson provides an intimate and sobering look at the realities of counterinsurgency warfare.
- DirectorAmir Bar-LevStarsPat TillmanJosh BrolinMary TillmanChronicles the life of the late Pat Tillman, who walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals in 2002 to join the Army but died from friendly fire in Afghanistan.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsAlex GibneyBrian Keith AllenMoazzam BeggAlex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.
- DirectorJanus MetzDanish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They're stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal - no actors.
- DirectorDanfung DennisStarsNathan HarrisAshley HarrisThe Marines of Echo CompanyWhat does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and intimacy no previous film about the conflict in Afghanistan has been able to achieve. It is a masterpiece in the cinema of war.
- DirectorTim HetheringtonSebastian JungerStarsThe Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat TeamJuan 'Doc RestrepoDan KearneyA year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.
- DirectorDavid ZeigerStarsMichael AlaimoEdward AsnerJoe BangertNO! SIR! tells an almost entirely forgotten story of the military men and women who forced the U.S. government to end the Vietnam War
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRobert McNamaraJohn F. KennedyFidel CastroThe story of America as seen through the eyes of the former Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert McNamara.
- DirectorDavid KeaneStarsDavid JeremiahHussein AididMohamed Farrah AididReal footage is shown to prove that the film Black Hawk Down (2001) was very true to the real events that occured in Mogadishu in 1993. Actual militia and US rangers are interviewed to tell us the different sides of the conflict when Somalia was under the power of Aidid.
- DirectorRobert GreenwaldStarsKaty Helvenston-WettengalScott HelvenstonDonna ZovkoRobert Greenwald looks at war profiteering in Iraq by private contracting companies Halliburton, CACI, and KBR.
- DirectorDeborah ScrantonStarsZack BazziDuncan DomeyBen FlandersCalled up for service in Iraq, several members of the National Guard were given digital video cameras. This film, edited from their footage, provides a perspective on a complex and troubled conflict.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzMartin SheenRudolf HessThis six-part series traces the Second World War, from the rise of the Nazis to the surrender of the Japanese, with detailed portraits of key figures.
- DirectorEugene JareckiStarsGore VidalJohn McCainKen AdelmanIs American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
- DirectorIan OldsGarrett ScottStarsMatthew BacikChris CorcioneEric ForbesIn January, 2004, in Al-Falluja, Iraq, a documentary film crew follows an infantry squad of the 82nd Airborne, US Army. Cameras accompany the squad of seven on day and night patrols, as they watch their backs, kick down doors, search for weapons, interrogate women, detain a few people, and listen to the complaints of locals. At their barracks, a former Baathist retreat called Dreamland, the men talk: about why they enlisted, civilian prospects, feelings about the war and Iraqis, where they were when a comrade died a few weeks before. We see them wait for translators and try a few words of Arabic; we hear their frustrations. We watch them pressured to reenlist. Tensions mount in Falluja.
- The story of the war in Afghanistan: filmed by soldiers, shot by soldiers.
- DirectorAlan LoweryJohn PilgerStarsJohn PilgerStuart EwenMelvin GoodmanThought-provoking documentary on war propaganda: how governments manipulate the facts and how most media let them get away with it.
- DirectorAdam CurtisStarsH. Rap BrownNikita KhrushchevRichard NixonThe story of America's rise to power starting with 1959; it uses archive footage and American pop music to highlight the consequences to the rest of the world and in the peoples' minds.
- DirectorChristian FreiStarsJames NachtweyChristiane AmanpourHans-Hermann KlareDocumentary about war photographer James Nachtwey, considered by many the greatest war photographer ever.
- DirectorPetra EpperleinMichael TuckerStarsBryant DavisDevon DixonJavorn DrummondAmerican soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the "Gunners," tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country.
- StarsAndrew HastieVince ConnellyThis 2 part series shows what it takes to pass the Australian SAS course which is known to be the toughest military selection trial in the world. Most will not complete this 21-day trial.
- DirectorKirby DickStarsAmy ZieringKirby DickKori CiocaAn investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military.
- DirectorDror MorehStarsAmi AyalonAvraham ShalomAvi DichterA documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.
- DirectorEdmon RochStarsRupert AllasonJosé Antonio EscorizaAline GriffithA compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.
- StarsDanny WallaceThis documentary explains when and how the C.I.A came in to existence and the crimes committed by the C.I.A in the name of America, among many other things it explains 'Black site's' In military terminology, a black site is a location at which an unacknowledged black project is conducted. Recently, the term has gained notoriety in describing secret prisons operated by the United States (U.S.) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), generally outside of U.S. territory and legal jurisdiction. .[citation needed] It can refer to the facilities that are controlled by the CIA used by the U.S. government in its "War on Terror" to detain alleged unlawful enemy combatants.[1] U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged the existence of secret prisons operated by the CIA during a speech on September 6, 2006.[2][3] A claim that the black sites existed was made by The Washington Post in November 2005 and before this by human rights NGOs (non-governmental organizations).[4] Many European countries[who?] have officially denied they are hosting black sites to imprison suspects or cooperating in the U.S. extraordinary rendition program..[citation needed] Not one country has confirmed that it is hosting black sites. However, a European Union (EU) report adopted on February 14, 2007, by a majority of the European Parliament (382 MEPs voting in favour, 256 against and 74 abstaining) stated the CIA operated 1,245 flights and that it was not possible to contradict evidence or suggestions that secret detention centres were operated in Poland and Romania.[1][5] In January 2012, Poland's Prosecutor General's office initiated investigative proceedings against Zbigniew Siemitkowski, the former Polish intelligence chief. Siemitkowski is charged with facilitating the alleged CIA detention operation in Poland, where foreign suspects may have been tortured in the context of the War on Terror. The possible involvement of Leszek Miller, Poland's Prime Minister in 2001-2004, is also considered.
- DirectorBill GuttentagDan SturmanStarsHugo ArmstrongRosalind ChaoStephen DorffThrough readings of historical account by actors and the testimony of survivors, the events of the Nanjing Massacre are recounted.