20 War Movies EVERY Film Fan Should Have Seen

2. The Bridge On The River Kwai

Directed by David Lean, the legendary epic filmmaker behind such acclaimed literary adaptations as A Passage to India and Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of this list's longer offerings, and one of its more morally complex.

Centred around a career best turn from future Star Wars stalwart Alec Guinness, this thrilling war story shifts perspective as it tells the tale of the titular bridge's construction by British POWs imprisoned by Japanese forces in a Burmese prison camp.

Tangibly sweltering, the film rises in tension and dramatic impact as its overheated story unwinds, taking in class division as well as illustrating the humanity of combatants on either side of the conflict, all the while anchored by Guinness' magnetic turn.