7 War movies that had the most realistic battleground scenes

War movies often show us a dramatized version of a historical battle or even a fictional war and depict the tragic and brutal effects that it has on living beings. Whether depicting the inner battle going on inside the mind of a young soldier or how the loss of lives affects the ones who are left behind, these war movies give us a glimpse of a human-prompted tragedy in which we are the ones at a loss.

While most of these war movies depict a fictionalized version of battle scenes, with our focus mainly on the characters and their struggles, some still attempt to depict a realistic view of a battle scene. From a realistic depiction of troop movements to ambush and combat scenes, these war movies successfully bring a realistic view to the screen of one or another aspect of warfare. Let’s look at 7 such war movies that were able to achieve the portrayal of a realistic battle scene.

Disclaimer: The article is based on the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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7 War movies that had the most realistic battleground scenes

7) The Charge of the Light Brigade

Tony Richardson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade is an anti-war movie that depicts the terrible condition of the British Army during the Crimean War. After the Battle of Waterloo, which happened in 1815, the British Army became encircled in bureaucracy and politics and was not ready for a war, as they had to fight the Russians in the Battle of Balaclava.

While there were many changes made to the historical events, there was one thing that the film got right. It accurately depicted the charge of the Light Brigade with a realistic depiction of troop movements, and also, the terrain shown in the battle sequence was accurate, making the charge of the Light Brigade appear more realistic.

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6) Waterloo

In this 1970 film, which depicted the conclusive battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Waterloo. The film depicts the events from the fleeing of Napoleon from his exile on Elba and his beginning his march with the French for the impending war, with first taking down the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army.

To depict an authentic and vast scale of the war, the Soviets took several measures. One of those measures was using almost 17,000 Soviet soldiers as extras in the decisive battleground, giving us a glimpse of the massive number of soldiers that were involved in the war. Although it's nothing close to the real count, it still provided the enormity of it by using a huge number of extras. Furthermore, they also transformed a field in Ukraine to match the real battlefield of Waterloo.

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5) Platoon

Oliver Stone’s Platoon follows Charlie Sheen’s Chris Taylor and his experience in the Vietnam War. The film showcases the fight between Chris Taylor’s infantry Platoon and the North Vietnamese Army.

There are several clashes depicted in the movie, showing the brutality of the situation. In the film, the clashes between the two groups happen at night, in the forest, and even in the rain, giving a realistic view of the difficulty level of the fights taking place in the unknown landscape. For instance, in one of the scenes, the platoon is ambushed by the NVA during a patrol, resulting in the defensive lines being broken. The situation worsens when Lt. Wolfe accidentally starts a fight against his own unit, damaging their forces further. The scene was one of the realistic views of the war, making it one of the war movies that attempted to portray the horror of war as it is.

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4) Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan’s war film, Dunkirk, is regarded as one of the best war movies. It depicts the events that took place while evacuating thousands of Allied forces soldiers from Dunkirk during World War II.

The film received much praise for its realistic depiction of the evacuation process. Other than that, the depiction of a few RAF flights’ close-range fight with the Luftwaffe, the Nazi Air Force, was also authentically shown. Although the characters were fictional, the evacuation and the events surrounding it were realistically depicted in the movie.

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3) 1917

Sam Mendes’ 1917 is one of those war movies that is still remembered for portraying trench warfare in World War I. It gave us a realistic depiction of the condition of the Allied forces’ trenches, packed with soldiers and deformed due to heavy shelling, compared to the German trenches, which were well-built and sanitized.

Other than that, the barbed wire that was heavily used in the trenches and the effects of it on the soldier are shown in the film when George MacKay’s William Schofield scarred his hand due to the barbed wire. Also, his run along the trench during heavy shelling is one of the iconic scenes of the movie.

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2) Saving Private Ryan

When we talk about realistic battle sequences in war movies, you cannot skip Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The opening scene of the film, when the US Army reaches Omaha Beach, and the battle sequence of the scene is regarded as one of the most realistic portrayals.

The gunfire battle between the German and US forces, with the continuous sound of heavy machine gun firing, depicted the horror and brutality of the actual wars with a lengthy scene of just pure violence and gore.

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1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The film that got Lewis Milestone one of his Oscars for Best Director and also one of the war movies that depicted the horror of war, All Quiet on the Western Front, is based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel.

The film that was released over 90 years ago also had one of the most brutal and realistic views of a battlefield. The film didn’t shy away from showing the brutal and gory details of the violence caused in World War I. It perfectly captured the emotions of the young men who went to the war with a romanticized version of war in their minds but found themselves in a horrifying environment for which they were clueless.

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