The Best War Movie Battle Scenes Of All Time

In this battle, in the movie Zulu, the British get a mauling from the Zulus but a resilient defence sees them score a narrow victory.

You can learn more about the history of the battle of Rorke's drift and those involved in it here: Rorke's Drift 1879.

The Royal Regiment of Wales's website has lots of interesting associated information too.

In the opening minutes of Saving Private Ryan the American troops suffer heavy casualties but with overwhelming numbers they manage a comfortable win.

There is a huge amount of information about the Normandy landings on D-Day here; Normandy Landings and here; D-Day.

In Star Wars, despite a massive superiority of firepower the rebels score a last minute victory courtessy of their secret weapon - "The Force".

For those wanting to read about the fictional history of this battle, try Wookiepedia.

With manic leadership from Joan of Arc the French charge to a bloody and brutal victory with massive casualties on both sides. This video montage from the movie contains many excerpts from the battle scenes.

Details on the siege of Orleans can be found here: The Siege of Orleans.

Faced with a massive army of orcs, hillmen, oliphants, trolls and an assortment of other creatures the men of Gondor take a battering until help arrives to sweep away the enemy.

You can read a description of the book's version of the battle here: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Anyone familiar with the movie will see that it varies greatly from this.

Despite a valiant defence the Thai protectors of Ayuttaya are thrashed by an elephant mounted invading Burmese army.

Wikipedia has an article on Queen Suriyothai.

Tricked into thinking they would score an easy victory the English are carved apart by the Scots in a very bloody battle.

The battle as depicted in the movie varies considerably with the real Battle of Sterling Bridge.

A much smaller English vessel disguises itself as a whaler and catches a well-armed French vessel by surprise resulting in an English victory. Huzzah!

For more information on the movie take a look at Wikipedia: Master & Commander; The Far Side of the World

Despite early promise by the slave army, the Romans' experience and numbers pay off for a decisive win.

Remember, this classic movie is based on true events; find out about the Third Servile War.

The Japanese offer a spirited and typically frenzied defense but take a real thrashing by the Americans.

An isolated American force defends well but is slowly losing the day until an all-or-nothing final attack gets them an heroic victory.

Huge bloodshed on both sides sees much of this battle at a stalemate but eventually the American invaders manage a narrow win.

An amazingly poorly thought out attack on a well-defended castle sees the inhabitants of Troy thrash the opposition for a convincing win.

A small English army and settlers retreat from a besieged fortress only to get ambushed by native Americans out for revenge.

The redcoats and entourage take a thrashing.

Despite a determined and well-planned German attack, the British muster up one of the most determined defences of all time for a legendary win.

Historical information about the Battle of Britain can be found on the RAF's website: Battle of Britain.

After a previous defeat the evil Empire comes back with all guns blazing to wipe the floor with the rebel army on Hoth.

This battle scene proves that huge armies of well-trained soldiers are all very well but if you have a magical lion and angry trees on your side you are likely to win any fight.

An overwhelming army of Uru-kai begin to walk over the human defenders until the cavalry show up and win a convincing victory.

Probably the best thing about this battle scene is the build up when thousands of gross-looking Uru-kai warriors baying at the gates of Helms deep before launching a terrifying attack in the rain and dark.

Due to video clips of the battle repeatedly being removed from You Tube this one is currently the best I can find; without original soundtrack.

The movie Tae Guk Gi (Brotherhood of War) was recommended to me in one of the comments on this lens.

The movie follows two brothers who initially both fight for the south in the Korean War and the things they do to survive. The story is told in a similar way to the movie Saving Private Ryan and the battle scenes, although not quite as epic, compare quite favourably to this more famous movie.

This video clip features one of the main battle scenes in which the South Korean forces prevail.

The movie Ironclad was released in cinemas in Spring 2011 and tells the story of the siege of Rochester castle in Kent, England, in the year 1215.

I watched this movie in the cinema, in April 2011, and came out shaking due to the level of violence in it. If this is what the siege of a medieval castle was like, I am very pleased that I never had to be in one; the battle scenes are grotesque, confusing, brutal and show the most hideous scenes of mutilation. If you like your battle scenes realistic, then this would seem pretty real to me; there is a real sense of desperate struggle in the combatants eyes and nothing of the choreographed sword high-fives that you see in many movies.

To some the battle scenes may be frustrating as they are filmed as if you were in the battle, so many events are seen out of only the corner of your eye or briefly - to me it added a sense of realism that was perhaps too much.

If you like movie battle scenes you should definitely check out this movie and form your own opinion. Please don't watch if violence upsets you - this is one of the most violent movies I have ever seen.

There are no battle scenes uploaded to the internet yet, but watch this trailer for a taster.

Here are a few battle scenes which have been suggested to me in the comments section of this lens. If you have any more to add, please leave a comment telling me which scene you think should be included.