History DuelingWorks / FilmWar

|| ''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.||

|| ''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, 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.||

|| ''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. ||

|| ''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 (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 with 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 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 people 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.||

|| ''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 World War I, 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. ||

|| ''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 World War I, 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 Nazis 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. Both films are regarded as relevant for the historical context in which they were made and their uncompromising point of view on war. ||

|| ''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 World War I, 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 Nazis 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 not been added to it yet. Both films are regarded as relevant for the historical context in which they were made and their uncompromising point of view on war. ||

|| ''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 World War I, 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 Nazis 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 not been added to it yet. Both films are regarded as relevent 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. ||

|| ''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 (like ''Hangmen Also Die'' and ''Hitler's Madman'', 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 with 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. ||

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

|| ''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. ||

|| ''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 World War I, 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 Nazis 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 not been added to it yet. ||

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

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

|| ''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 World War I, 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 Nazis in its country of origin), ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' ended up the most famous of the two by a very large margin. Though ''Wesfront 1918'' ended up in Creator/TheCriterionCollection, whereas ''All Quiet...'' has not been added to it yet. ||

|| ''What Price Glory'' (1926) || ''Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) || Service comedies in which a [[HeterosexualLifePartners pair]] of WorldWarI 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 Creator/LewisMilestone won one of the very first [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards]] (category: Direction (Comedy Picture); subsequently eliminated). ||

|| ''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 ''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/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about 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 people 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. ''Dunkirk'', by virtue of being a war blockbuster directed by a prestigious mainstream director whereas ''Darkest Hour'' is a political drama, grossed significantly more at the the box office.||

|| ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/{{Darkest Hour|2017}}'' (2017) || Two films about 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 people 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. ''Dunkirk'' however still grossed significantly higher at the the box office. ||

|| ''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/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. || ''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. ||

|| ''Churchill'' (2017) || ''Film/DarkestHour'' (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. ||
|| ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/DarkestHour'' (2017) || Two films about 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 people 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. ''Dunkirk'' however still grossed significantly higher at the the box office. ||

|| ''{{Film/Dunkirk}}'' (2017) || ''Film/DarkestHour'' (2017) || Two films about 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 people 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 an Academy Award, but ''Dunkirk'' grossed significantly higher at the the box office. ||

|| ''Churchill'' (2017) || ''Film/DarkestHour'' (2017) || Two film 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. ||

|| ''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 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. ||

|| ''Churchill'' (2017) || ''Film/DarkestHour'' (2017) || Two film about UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill 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. ||