History DuelingWorks / FilmWar

** '''Implementation:''' ''The Great Escaper'' is based on real life Royal Navy veteran Bernard Jordan and is set in 2014, while ''The Last Rifleman'' follows the fictitious Artie Crawford, is set in 2019 and is inspired by Jordan's story.

** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Two films about a World War II Royal Navy veteran who escapes his care home and travels to France on the anniversary of the D-Day landings.
** '''Implementation:''' ''The Great Escaper'' is based on real-life Navy veteran Bernard Jordan and is set in 2014, while ''The Last Rifleman'' follows the fictitious Artie Crawford, is set in 2019 and is inspired by Jordan's story.

** '''Implementation:''' ''The Great Escaper'' is based on real-life Navy veteran Bernard Jordan and is set in 2014, while ''The Last Rifleman'' follows the fictitious Artie Crawford, is set in 2019 and is inspired by Jordan's story.

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!! Main: [[DuelingWorks/{{Film}} Dueling Movies]]

!! Navigation: [[DuelingWorks/FilmAnimated Animation]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmComedy Comedy]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmDrama Drama]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmHorror Horror]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmPeriodPieces Period Pieces]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmSciFi Sci-Fi]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmSpyFiction Spy Fiction]] | [[DuelingWorks/FilmSuperhero Superhero]] | War | DuelingWorks/FilmCrossGenre

** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Two films about the Dunkirk evacuation, taking place at the exact same time, but told from different perspectives.

** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Two pacifist films released in 1930 about German soldiers in the trenches of the Western front (both even name it in their title) in the later stages of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, with WarIsHell as central theme.

** '''Implementation:''' ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' is an American film based on the famous German novel by Erich Maria Remarque, while ''Westfront 1918'' is a German film based on a lesser known German book, ''Four of the Infantry'', by Ernst Johannsen.

* ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'' (1930) / ''Film/Westfront1918'' (1930)

* ''Churchill'' (2017) / ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017)

* ''Hangmen Also Die'' (1943) / ''Film/HitlersMadman'' (1943)
** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Two movies about the plot to assassinate Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, released within five months of each other and one year after Heydrich was killed, both by anti-Nazi German film directors who'd escaped to Hollywood (Creator/FritzLang and Creator/DouglasSirk respectively)

** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' Two historical war films about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich in Prague during World War II (just like ''Hangmen Also Die'' and ''Hitler's Madman'' in 1943, oddly enough). The two films were released less than a year apart.

* ''Film/TheMonumentsMen'' (2014) / ''Film/{{Fury}}'' (2014) & ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'' (2014)

** '''Implementation:''' ''Iron Eagle'' is about a young pilot leading a rescue mission to save his father (who's in the US Air Force) who got shot down in enemy territory, and the main fighter jet featured in the film is the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. ''Top Gun'' is about the life of a young pilot of the US Navy's aviation at the elite fighter piloting school TOPGUN in Miramar, and the main fighter jet featured in the film is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

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** '''Capsule Pitch Description:''' British-made auteur films chronicling famous military defeats in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, featuring MaximilianSchell as a German officer.

|| Initiators || Followers || Description || Implementation || Winner? ||
|| ''What Price Glory'' (1926) || ''Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) || Service comedies in which a [[HeterosexualLifePartners pair]] of World War I soldiers spend more time and effort battling each other (particularly over a woman) than the nominal enemy. || ''WPG'' begat a series of sequels (1929-1933) in which Marines Quirt and Flagg have post-war adventures, with a new woman in each sequel. This was followed by [[Creator/JohnFord John Ford's]] 1952 remake. || ''TAK'' Director Lewis Milestone won one of the very first [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]] (category: Direction (Comedy Picture); subsequently eliminated). ||
|| ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'' (1930) || ''Film/Westfront1918'' (1930) || Two pacifist films released in 1930 about German soldiers in the trenches of the Western front (both even name it in their title) in the later stages of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, with WarIsHell as central theme. || ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' is an American film based on the famous German novel by Erich Maria Remarque, while ''Westfront 1918'' is a German film based on a lesser known German book, ''Four of the Infantry'', by Ernst Johannsen. || Most likely thanks to being a Hollywoodian production and being based on a much more well known book to begin with (not to mention the fact that ''Westfront 1918'' almost faded into oblivion due to being banned by the UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}}s in its country of origin), ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' ended up the most famous of the two by a very large margin. ''Wesfront 1918'' ended up in Creator/TheCriterionCollection, whereas ''All Quiet...'' has yet to be added to it. Nonetheless, both films are regarded as highly relevant for the historical context in which they were made and their uncompromising point of view on war. ||
|| ''Hangmen Also Die'' (1943) || ''Film/HitlersMadman'' (1943) || Two movies about the plot to assassinate Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich, released within five months of each other and one year after Heydrich was killed, both by anti-Nazi German film directors who'd escaped to Hollywood (Creator/FritzLang and Creator/DouglasSirk respectively) || ''Hitler's Madman'' was originally called ''Hitler's Hangman'' but had its title changed to avoid confusion with the previously-released Lang film. || Actually both did pretty well. ''Hitler's Madman'' was a super-cheap BMovie that turned out so well it was picked up by [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] and given a wide release. ||
|| ''So Proudly We Hail'' (1943) || ''Film/CryHavoc'' (1943) || Two different dramas with mostly female casts about Army nurses in the middle of the doomed defense of Bataan in 1942, released five months apart in 1943. || ''Cry Havoc'' was straight fiction while ''So Proudly We Hail'' was loosely InspiredBy a book by Army nurse and Bataan veteran Juanita Hipps. || Both did pretty well, but ''So Proudly We Hail'' can probably be judged the winner as it received four Oscar nominations. ||
|| ''Lost Command'' (1966) || ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers'' (1966) || Films about the Algerian War for Independence. Both movies were produced in 1966, though ''Command'' beat ''Algiers'' to American theaters by over a year. || Two films about the same subject could hardly be more different. ''Lost Command'' draws on Jean Larteguy's novel ''The Centurions'', about French paratroopers fighting in Vietnam and Algeria. It's unreservedly pro-French, albeit with a token WarIsHell message added. ''Battle of Algiers'' is a docudrama produced by Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo and sponsored by the Algerian government. Though intended as Algerian propaganda, it provides a relatively even-handed treatment of the conflict. || ''Lost Command'' was a modest box office success but earned terrible reviews and is largely forgotten. ''Battle of Algiers'' received almost universal acclaim, and today is considered an all-time classic. ||
|| ''Film/CatchTwentyTwo'' (1970) || ''Film/{{MASH}}'' (1970) || Deconstructive black comedy war movies released in 1970, with not much combat but a surprising amount of blood, starring ensemble casts of screwballs, [[{{Anvilicious}} and most certainly not using earlier wars as stand-ins for Vietnam]]. || If suicide is painless, perhaps that is the answer to the Catch-22. || ''Catch-22'', despite an all-star cast, got tepid reviews and flopped. ''M*A*S*H'' was a huge success, made Creator/RobertAltman famous, inspired an [[RecycledTheSeries even more successful TV series]], and helped usher in the [[UsefulNotes/NewHollywood '70s auteur era]] in general. ||
|| ''Film/CrossOfIron'' (1977) || ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' (1977) || British-made auteur films chronicling famous military defeats in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, featuring MaximilianSchell as a German officer. || ''Cross'' is fictitious, told from the German perspective, and has heavy UsefulNotes/VietnamWar subtext; ''Bridge'' is explicitly based on real people and events and told from the British/American perspective. || ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' was one of the biggest blockbusters of the year (but so expensive to make that it couldn't recoup marketing); ''CrossOfIron'', despite losing crazy money, was far better-received by critics at the time, but has fallen into greater obscurity. ||
|| ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'' (1998) || ''Film/TheThinRedLine'' (1998) || Both films were released in 1998 to rave reviews. Both featured an all-star cast of actors clambering over each other to appear in bit parts; both featured a 30-minute extended bloody assault on a bunker in the first half of the film followed by a long tramp across the countryside punctuated by violence. Both had HBO SpiritualSuccessor miniseries. || ''SPR'' was set in Europe, ''TTRL'' was set in the Pacific. ''SPR'' came out several months ahead and had the natural crowd appeal of Spielberg, while reclusive director Terence Malick spent extra time on ''TTRL''. Veterans groups complained ''TTRL'' was insufficiently sympathetic to the Allied cause, while critics complained that the second half of ''SPR'' was too mawkish. || ''Saving Private Ryan'' by far among the general public, while ''The Thin Red Line'' is still in heated contention with ''SPR'' among critics and film buffs. \\
\\
In terms of related series, ''Series/ThePacific'' is more often compared to ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' than ''TTRL''. ||
|| ''Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden'' (2012) || ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'' (2012) || Films released in 2012 about the hunt for UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden. || ''Seal Team Six'' was produced by Harvey Weinstein for the Creator/NationalGeographicChannel, directed by the guy who made ''Film/{{Turistas}}'', and features a mostly small-name cast. ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'' was directed by Creator/KathrynBigelow, stars Creator/JessicaChastain, Joel Edgerton, James Gandolfini, and Mark Strong, and is being given a limited release in December 2012 for qualification for the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s. || ''Seal Team Six'' got fairly good ratings, but the reviews were mixed. ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'', while [[FlameBait incredibly controversial]], still received unanimously good reviews and was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Picture. ||
|| ''Film/PearlHarbor'' (2001) || ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'' (2001) || Both are dramatic retellings of major historical events during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: the former, obviously, being the attack on Pearl Harbor, while the latter is the retaking of Stalingrad from the Nazis by the Red Army. Both stories feature an AllStarCast, a lot of special effects, action sets, violent deaths, and (inexplicably) a love triangle that receives more focus than the real life event the stories are based on. Oh yeah, and one of the two male leads dies towards the end to allow the other to be with the female love interest. || Both stories are fairly similar in how they're told (a romanticized view), but the latter is arguably darker with a more dreary and dirty atmosphere and claustrophobic feel. The former on the other hand is larger in scope, thanks to its bigger budget, and is brighter and more colorful. || A bit of a tough call, but ''Film/PearlHarbor'' ultimately wins this one. While both movies made back their respective budgets and while ''Enemy'' received better reviews overall, ''Harbor'' made back more than twice its budget and is better remembered by most viewers today fondly or otherwise. ||
|| ''Film/BehindEnemyLines'' (2001) || ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' (2001) || 2001 war/actions films released a little less than a month. Each set within the backdrop of a war during the 1990's and centered around American troops who after a mission into hostile territory goes awry must survive the onslaught of the surrounding enemy and try to make it out alive. || ''Behind Enemy Lines'' is set in the December of '95 during the final stages of the Bosnian War and centers around the ordeal of a lone soldier. ''Black Hawk Down'' tells of the Battle of Magdishu that occurred in the October of '93 involving the U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force, and the 160th SOAR. || Whilst ''Behind Enemy Lines'' was a box office success and wound up getting three sequels, albeit direct-to-video ones, critics were not impressed, and it didn't help Owen Wilson break out into becoming a dramatic actor, either. ''Black Hawk Down'' is the clear winner here, as while it hasn't avoided criticism for historical inaccuracies, by and large was well received by critics, made more money at the box office than its competitor even if on a bigger budget to start with, and took home two Academy Awards. ||
|| ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' || ''Film/FreeStateOfJones'' (2016) || 2016 released historical war dramas set in the American 1800's about a revolutionary who starts a revolution against the oppressive southern government. || ''The Birth of a Nation'' serves a telling of the slave uprising led by the slave preacher turned revolutionary Nat Turner whilst ''Free State of Jones'' recounts the story of a militia that forms in Mississippi that fights to secede from the Confederacy. || ''The Birth of a Nation'' is the winner ultimately, but not by a whole lot. ''Free State of Jones'' technically made more money at the box office, but only grossed half of its production budget; whilst inversely, even if ''The Birth of a Nation'' got lower earnings in the physical sense, made about twice its smaller budget, and also got generally positive reviews from critics, whilst its opponent garnered a very mixed reception. The audience reception is harder to pinpoint, given places like Rotten Tomatoes and [=IMDb=] have them flip-flopped from each other. All that being said, ''Birth of a Nation'' in spite of the mostly positive feedback it was getting from critics wound up being OvershadowedByControversy surrounding its star/director Creator/NateParker before it had its wide release. ||
|| ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'' (2002) || ''Film/{{Windtalkers}}'' (2002) || 2002 released Post-''Saving Private Ryan'' historical war films set in a theater in East Asia. || ''We Were Soldiers'' is an adaptation of the autobiographical book by Hal Moore based on his time of service during Vietnam War whilst ''Windtalkers'' is set in the Pacific conflict of World War II and based around the Navajo code speakers there. || ''We Were Soldiers'' takes it, as not only did it sell more at the box office, but it had a smaller budget to begin with. Furthermore, it also got mostly positive reviews, whilst ''Windtalkers'' got generally negative notices from critics. ||
|| ''Film/TheMonumentsMen'' (2014) || ''Film/{{Fury}}'' (2014)\\
''Film/{{Unbroken}}'' (2014)\\
|| 2014 World War II films with in front of and or behind the camera involvement of major Hollywood Superstars. || || ''Fury'' takes this one, as in terms of reviews from critics, it got a generally positive reception; whilst ''Unbroken'' got a polarized one, and ''Monuments Men'' got mixed-to-negative notices. The same can be said in terms of box office as well as user ratings from places like [=IMDb=] and Rotten Tomatoes, as they go in that same order. ||
|| ''Film/HacksawRidge'' (2016) || ''Film/BillyLynnsLongHalftimeWalk'' (2016) || 2016 films about young war heroes who become legends due to going above and beyond in their comrades during battle. || || ''Hacksaw Ridge'' is definitely the winner. It was a commercial success, grossing 175.3 million worldwide on a 40 million budget, and was well received by critics and was nominated for several awards including 6 Oscar nominations which including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor and it won 2 for sound mixing and film editing. ''Billy Lynn'' was a commercial failure, grossing only about 30 million on a 40 million budget, and it also received mixed reviews from critics. ||
|| ''Film/{{Anthropoid}}'' (2016) || ''Film/TheManWithTheIronHeart'' (2017) || Two historical war films about Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader UsefulNotes/ReinhardHeydrich in Prague during World War II (just like ''Hangmen Also Die'' and ''Hitler's Madman'' in 1943, oddly enough). The two films were released less than a year apart. || ''Anthropoid'' is directly based on the historical events and focuses solely on the Czech Resistance side of the operation with a linear narration and Heydrich only showing up for the attack scene. ''The Man with the Iron Heart'' meanwhile is for a good part a {{Biopic}} of Heydrich's life, interwoven in AnachronicOrder with the point of view of the Czechoslovak [[LaResistance Resistance]] operatives, and it is based on a [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]]. || Both can be considered as {{Box Office Bomb}}s (although ''The Man with the Iron Heart'' is a much bigger bomb given its budget) and both got a OK-to-mixed critical reception. ||
|| ''Churchill'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill when he was the UK's Prime Minister during World War II. || ''Churchill'' stars Creator/BrianCox as the eponymous character and deals with his state of mind in the days preceeding the Normandy landings in 1944. ''Darkest Hour'' stars Creator/GaryOldman as Churchill, and follows his early days as Prime Minister, as Britain is in a dire situation during the summer of 1940. || ''Darkest Hour'' had a much better critical reception than ''Churchill'' and grossed more at the box office. ''Churchill'' bombed and didn't receive any award nomination whatsoever. ||
|| ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about the Dunkirk evacuation, taking place at the exact same time, but told from different perspectives. || ''Dunkirk'' depicts the evacuation as it happens on the ground, in the sea, and in the air, focusing on several individual soldiers to convey the dramatic tense of the situation. ''Darkest Hour'' focuses on UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and the political discussions taking place at the exact same time. || Both movies have been critically acclaimed and nominated for Best Picture at the 2018 Oscars, winning 3 and 2 Academy Awards respectively. Both films were box office successes, earning about four to five times their budget, although ''Dunkirk'', as a big-budget blockbuster, grossed far more in total. ||

Of related series, ''Series/ThePacific'' is more often compared to ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' than ''TTRL''. ||

|| ''Film/PearlHarbor'' (2001) || ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'' (2001) || Both are dramatic retellings of major historical events during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: the former, obviously, being the attack on Pearl Harbor, while the latter is the retaking of Stalingrad from the Nazis by the Red Army. Both stories feature an AllStarCast, a lot of special effects, action sets, violent deaths, and (inexplicably) a love triangle that receives more focus than the real life event the stories are based on. Oh yeah, and one of the two male leads dies towards the end to allow the other to be with the female love interest. || Both stories are fairly similar in how they're told (a romanticized view), but the latter is arguably darker with a more dreary and dirty atmosphere and claustrophobic feel. The former on the other hand is larger in scope, thanks to its bigger budget, and is brighter and more colorful. || A bit of a tough call but ''Film/PearlHarbor'' ultimately wins this one. While both movies made back their respective budgets and while ''Enemy'' received better reviews overall, ''Harbor'' made back more than twice its budget and is better remembered by most viewers today fondly or other wise. ||
|| ''Film/BehindEnemyLines'' (2001) || ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' (2001) || 2001 war/actions films released a little less than a month. Each set within the backdrop of a war during the 1990's and centered around American troops who after a mission into hostile territory goes awry must survive the onslaught of the surrounding enemy and try to make it out alive. || ''Behind Enemy Lines'' is set in the December of '95 during the final stages of the Bosnian War and centers around the ordeal of a lone soldier. ''Black Hawk Down'' tells of the Battle of Magdishu that occurred in the October of '93 involving the U.S. Army Rangers, Delta Force, and the 160th SOAR. || Whilst ''Behind Enemy Lines'' was a box office success and wound up getting three sequels, albeit direct-to-video ones, critics were not impressed. It didn't help Owen Wilson break out into becoming a dramatic actor either. ''Black Hawk Down'' is the clear winner here. It hasn't avoided criticism for historical inaccuracies, but by and large was well received by critics, made more money at the box office than its competitor even if on a bigger budget to start with, and took home two Academy Awards. ||
|| ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' || ''Film/FreeStateOfJones'' (2016) || 2016 released historical war dramas set in the American 1800's about a revolutionary who starts a revolution against the oppressive southern government. || ''The Birth of a Nation'' serves a telling of the slave uprising led by the slave preacher turned revolutionary Nat Turner whilst ''Free State of Jones'' recounts the story of a militia that forms in Mississippi that fights to secede from the Confederacy. || ''The Birth of a Nation'' is the winner ultimately, but not by a whole lot. ''Free State of Jones'' technically made more money at the box office, but only grossed half of its production budget; whilst inversely, even if ''The Birth of a Nation'' got lower earnings in the physical sense, made about twice its smaller budget. It also got generally positive reviews from critics, whilst its opponent garnered a very mixed reception. The audience reception is harder to pinpoint, given places like Rotten Tomatoes and [=IMDb=] have them flip-flopped from each other. All that being said, ''Birth of a Nation'' in spite of the mostly positive feedback it was getting from critics wound up being OvershadowedByControversy surrounding its star/director Creator/NateParker before it had its wide release. ||
|| ''Film/WeWereSoldiers'' (2002) || ''Film/{{Windtalkers}}'' (2002) || 2002 released Post-''Saving Private Ryan'' historical war films set in a theater in East Asia. || ''We Were Soldiers'' is an adaptation of the autobiographical book by Hal Moore based on his time of service during Vietnam War whilst ''Windtalkers'' is set in the Pacific conflict of World War II and based around the Navajo code speakers there. || ''We Were Soldiers'' takes it. Not only did it sell more at the box office but it had a smaller budget to begin with. It also got mostly positive reviews whilst ''Windtalkers'' got generally negative notices from critics. ||

|| 2014 World War II films with in front of and or behind the camera involvement of major Hollywood Superstars. || || ''Fury'' takes this one. In terms of reviews from critics it got a generally positive reception whilst ''Unbroken'' got a polarized one and ''Monuments Men'' got mixed-to-negative notices. In terms of box office, as well as user ratings from places like [=IMDb=] and Rotten Tomatoes, they go in that same order. ||

|| ''So Proudly We Hail'' (1943) || ''Film/CryHavoc'' (1943) || Two different dramas with mostly female casts about Army nurses in the middle of the doomed defense of Bataan in 1942, released five months apart in 1943. || ''Cry Havoc'' was straight fiction while ''So Proudly We Hail'' was loosely InspiredBy a book by Army nurse and Bataan veteran Juanita Hipps. || Both did pretty well but ''So Proudly We Hail'' can probably be judged the winner as it received four Oscar nominations. ||

|| ''Film/PearlHarbor'' (2001) || ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'' (2001) || Both are dramatic retellings of major historical events during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: the former, obviously, being the attack on Pearl Harbor, while the latter is the retaking of Stalingrad from the Nazis by the Red Army. Both stories feature an AllStarCast, a lot of special effects, action sets, violent deaths, and (inexplicably) a love triangle that receives more focus than the real life event the stories are based on. Oh yeah, and one of the two male leads dies towards the end to allow the other to be with the female love interest. || Both stories are fairly similar in how they're told (a romanticized view), but the latter is arguably darker with a more dreary and dirty atmosphere and claustrophobic feel. The former on the other hand is larger in scope, thanks to its bigger budget, and is brighter and more colorful. || A bit of a tough call but ''Film/PearlHarbor'' ultimately wins this one. While both movies made back their respective budgets and while Enemy received better reviews overall, Harbor made back more than twice its budget and is better remembered by most viewers today fondly or other wise. ||

|| ''Film/TheBirthOfANation2016'' || ''Film/FreeStateOfJones'' (2016) || 2016 released historical war dramas set in the American 1800's about a revolutionary who starts a revolution against the oppressive southern government. || ''The Birth of a Nation'' serves a telling of the slave uprising led by the slave preacher turned revolutionary Nat Turner whilst ''Free State of Jones'' recounts the story of a militia that forms in Mississippi that fights to secede from the Confederacy.|| ''The Birth of a Nation'' is the winner ultimately, but not by a whole lot. ''Free State of Jones'' technically made more money at the box office but only grossed half of its production budget whilst inversely even if ''The Birth of a Nation'' got lower earnings in the physical sense made about twice its, smaller, budget. It also got generally positive reviews from critics whilst its opponent garnered a very mixed reception. The audience reception is harder to pinpoint given places like Rotten Tomatoes and [=IMDb=] have them flip-flopped from each other. All that being said, ''Birth of a Nation'' in spite of the mostly positive feedback it was getting from critics wound up being OvershadowedByControversy surrounding its star/director Creator/NateParker before it had its wide release. ||

|| 2014 World War II films with in front of and or behind the camera involvement of major Hollywood Superstars. || || ''Fury'' takes this one. In terms of reviews from critics it got a generally positive reception whilst ''Unbroken'' got a polarized one and ''Monuments Men'' got mixed-to-negative notices. In terms of box office as well as user ratings from places like [=IMDb=] and Rotten Tomatoes they go in that same order. ||
|| ''Film/HacksawRidge'' (2016) || ''Film/BillyLynnsLongHalftimeWalk'' (2016) || 2016 films about young war heroes who become legends due to going above and beyond in their comrades during battle. || || ''Hacksaw Ridge'' is definitely the winner. ''Hacksaw Ridge'' was a commercial success, grossing 175.3 million worldwide on a 40 million budget. It was well received by critics and was nominated for several awards including 6 Oscar nominations which including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor and it won 2 for sound mixing and film editing. ''Billy Lynn'' was a commercial failure, grossing only about 30 million on a 40 million budget. It also received mixed reviews from critics. ||

|| ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about the Dunkirk evacuation, taking place at the exact same time, but told from different perspectives || ''Dunkirk'' depicts the evacuation as it happens on the ground, in the sea, and in the air, focusing on several individual soldiers to convey the dramatic tense of the situation. ''Darkest Hour'' focuses on UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and the political discussions taking place at the exact same time. || Both movies have been critically acclaimed and nominated for Best Picture at the 2018 Oscars, winning 3 and 2 Academy Awards respectively. Both films were box office successes, earning about four to five times their budget, although ''Dunkirk'', as a big-budget blockbuster, grossed far more in total. ||

|| ''Film/CrossOfIron'' (1977) || ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' (1977) || British-made auteur films chronicling famous military defeats in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, featuring MaximilianSchell as a German officer. || ''Cross'' is fictitious, told from the German perspective, and has heavy VietnamWar subtext; ''Bridge'' is explicitly based on real people and events and told from the British/American perspective. || ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' was one of the biggest blockbusters of the year (but so expensive to make that it couldn't recoup marketing); ''CrossOfIron'', despite losing crazy money, was far better-received by critics at the time, but has fallen into greater obscurity. ||

|| Initiators || Followers || Description || Misc || Winner? ||

|| ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about the Dunkirk evacuation, taking place at the exact same time, but told from different perspectives || ''Dunkirk'' depicts the evacuation as it happens on the ground, in the sea, and in the air, focusing on several individual soldiers to convey the dramatic tense of the situation. ''Darkest Hour'' focuses on UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and the political discussions taking place at the exact same time. || Both movies have been critically acclaimed and nominated for Best Picture at the 2018 Oscars, winning 3 and 2 Academy Awards respectively. Both films were box office successes, although ''Dunkirk'', by virtue of being a war blockbuster directed by a prestigious mainstream director whereas ''Darkest Hour'' is a political drama, grossed significantly and expectedly more at the the box office. ||