War movies are venues for artists and viewers alike to explore wartime experiences and to provide new perspectives.

Other movies, likeLawrence of Arabia, are biographies of people who experienced war up close and personally.

The story follows fictional soldiers during the Battle of Mount Austin, which took place during World War II.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Image via Columbia Pictures

The movie is loosely based on Stone’s own experience as a soldier.

What makesPlatoona masterpiece is that it is a direct rebuke of war stories that glorify war itself.

The heroism shown in Platoon is messy and shows that war always takes a heavy toll.

Cpl. Geoffrey Fife on a river looking to the distance in The Thin Red Line

Image via 20th Century Studios

Mireau has his own selfish reasons for wanting to put his soldiers in danger.

Additionally, Das Boot provides a unique perspective on those who were America’s enemies during World War II.

Lawrence(Peter O’Toole).

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The movie is also considered one of the greatest war epics ever because of its performances.

After Colonel Katz is accused of murder, his superiors determine that he is mentally unstable.

Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War,Apocalypse Nowis a meditation on the brutality of this war.

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Sergeant Hartman screaming and pointing to the camera in ‘Full Metal Jacket’

Image via Warner Bros.

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Lead characters of The Bridge on the River Kwai looking upward in the daylight

Image via Columbia Pictures

Steve McQueen with a baseball glove in The Great Escape

Image via United Artists

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Elias (Willem Dafoe) raises his arms and falls to his knees as he is shot from behind in the jungle, in Platoon

Image via Orion Pictures

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Kirk Douglas holding a gun and blowing a whistle on a poster for Paths of Glory (1958)

Image via United Artists

A sailor leans his elbow on machinery in the U-Boat in Das Boot

Image via Neue Constantin Film

T.S. Lawrence raising a dagger in the desert in Lawrence of Arabia

Image via Columbia Pictures

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Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, looming in the shadows, staring at the camera

Image via United Artists

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The heroes of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in the streets of a ravaged Ramelle.

Image via DreamWorks Pictures

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