War films

         War films are a massive section of Hollywood and the world of film, they often deal with the brutality and action concerned with war, but in contrast the genre of anti-war films brings the reality of war to the audience portraying the pain and horror involved with it. War films can be fictional as well as depicting wars from the past, yet it seems the notable and successful films within the genre have mainly been set during one of the worlds past wars. Other successful genres have been prisoner of war films and post Vietnam films. Notable films:

The Thin Red Line (1998)
MASH (1970)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Three Kings (1999)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Das Boot (1981)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Schindler's List (1993)
Saving Private Ryan (1999)
Platoon (1986)
Apocalypse Now (1979)

From the history of war films is clear that a successful war film can either portray a realistic war with lots of action, or show the devastating effect of war in much more subtle way these anti-war films tend to have less action to a typical war film.