War Prisoners - Movie Recommendations

End All Wars (2001)



The Deer Hunter (1978)



Victory (1981)



Bravo Two Zero (1999)



The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)



Empire of the Sun (1987)



Escape from Sobibor (1987)



The Great Raid (2005)



Hart's War (2002)



King Rat (1965)

The title pretty much speaks for itself. POWs have always been a staple in the massive war movie genre—the suffering, the survival, the escape plans... it’s always grabbed the audience and critics alike. Looking at the sheer volume of titles out there, some have hit it out of the park commercially or artistically, while others missed the mark entirely. I've stuck to the most solid, well-known ones here where the core theme is actually about being a prisoner of war—civilian or military—with just one little outlier, >, since the prisoners in that one are more of a backdrop for a different kind of story... This poll is driven by a bit of a personal whim, really. I've gone through almost all the big ones, but there's always room for one more... so... I'm guessing everyone has seen at least one movie along these lines... which one is the absolute best POW movie in your book?

Here are a few more recommendations for you.
Stalag 17.
The Road to Guantanamo Bay (2006)
Rescue Dawn (2006)

Goodness, this is certainly a difficult survey to tackle. 😁

While *The Deer Hunter* stands out among the top choices offered to me, I personally wouldn't quite place it in the category of a movie about war Prisoners.

If I had to cast my vote, I’d split it right down the middle: 50% goes to Empire of the Sun and the other 50% belongs to Stalag 17.
Or perhaps not. I would personally split my vote right down the middle: 33.33% for Empire of the Sun, 33.33% for Stalag 17, and 33.33% for The Great Illusion.
I'll be standing right here. 😍

Uncommon Valor



Missing in Action 2



Life is Beautiful (1997)



Rambo: First Blood Part II



The Great Illusion (1937)



Rescue Dawn



Stalag 17



The Great Escape (1963)



von Ryan's Express

I turned on the multi-choice voting option, though I'm still a bit fuzzy on how many titles we're looking at or how many votes per person... just a little experiment from someone who's still figuring out the ropes of running polls here 😁

David Price5 said:Here are a few more recommendations for you.
Stalag 17.
The Road to Guantanamo Bay (2006)
Rescue Dawn (2006)

Thanks, David Price5, I've got those on my list... the poll ended up being a bit long, so I split it into two posts just to make the titles look a little cleaner—took me a second longer than expected, though...😉

Yeah, this is my first time voting 😬

To be honest, Stalag 17 is the clear winner here. Though, I haven't seen it in ages, so I really ought to brush up on it. As for the others, I cast my votes for Life is Beautiful, Empire of the Sun, and The Deer Hunter. Mind you, I have to admit I haven't actually sat through most of them.

briskhound2, you should probably run these polls more often. You’ve got a knack for it. 👍

Dennis Cooper3 said:Goodness, this is certainly a difficult survey to tackle. 😁

While *The Deer Hunter* stands out among the top choices offered to me, I personally wouldn't quite place it in the category of a movie about war Prisoners.

If I had to cast my vote, I’d split it right down the middle: 50% goes to Empire of the Sun and the other 50% belongs to Stalag 17.
Or perhaps not. I would personally split my vote right down the middle: 33.33% for Empire of the Sun, 33.33% for Stalag 17, and 33.33% for The Great Illusion.
I'll be standing right here. 😍

I think it’s good to give people a reason to actually stop and think about the titles they've sat through. 😁 I ended up picking Stalag too, but honestly, Escape from Sobibor is my top pick. It was originally made for TV, but the quality is actually better than some of those big-budget, hyped-up movies you see everywhere...

Michael Ortiz68 said:Yeah, this is my first time voting 😬

To be honest, Stalag 17 is the clear winner here. Though, I haven't seen it in ages, so I really ought to brush up on it. As for the others, I cast my votes for Life is Beautiful, Empire of the Sun, and The Deer Hunter. Mind you, I have to admit I haven't actually sat through most of them.

briskhound2, you should probably run these polls more often. You’ve got a knack for it. 👍

Well, thanks... I'm blushing a little here.😍 I've got a few ideas floating around, but it usually takes me a couple of days to get them all squared away... but yeah, stay tuned...

briskhound2 said:I think it’s good to give people a reason to actually stop and think about the titles they've sat through. 😁 I ended up picking Stalag too, but honestly, Escape from Sobibor is my top pick. It was originally made for TV, but the quality is actually better than some of those big-budget, hyped-up movies you see everywhere...

I haven't actually sat down to watch Escape from Sobibor yet, so I suppose you’ve successfully achieved your goal with this poll! 😁
It’s definitely going on my watchlist right alongside Manhunter. 😍

Well, just like always, I only realized after the fact that one of the classics was actually available. VictoryTrash, where Sylvester Stallone plays a goalkeeper. Regardless, that movie stuck with me. When I was a kid, I must have watched it five hundred times, mostly because our local TV station played it on a loop like that. It was during the war years, and we’d sit there in the shelter, passing the time by obsessing over stories from the film—like how Pele scored that goal with nothing but a pair of scissors.
It’s definitely not a masterpiece, but that movie will always stick with me... Ah, childhood. 😢 😬

Victory is leading!
It’s likely thanks to Pele's socks 😬

Michael Ortiz68 said:Victory is leading!
It’s likely thanks to Pele's socks 😬

Lead, but make sure he's with Chuck.😂🤣

Michael Ortiz68 said:Well, just like always, I only realized after the fact that one of the classics was actually available. VictoryTrash, where Sylvester Stallone plays a goalkeeper. Regardless, that movie stuck with me. When I was a kid, I must have watched it five hundred times, mostly because our local TV station played it on a loop like that. It was during the war years, and we’d sit there in the shelter, passing the time by obsessing over stories from the film—like how Pele scored that goal with nothing but a pair of scissors.
It’s definitely not a masterpiece, but that movie will always stick with me... Ah, childhood. 😢 😬

One of my absolute favorites from back when I was a kid—though, let's be real, it's kind of hard to take it seriously given it's got Sylvester Stallone and soccer in there... But man, what a game that was...😁

Dennis Cooper3 said:I haven't actually sat down to watch Escape from Sobibor yet, so I suppose you’ve successfully achieved your goal with this poll! 😁
It’s definitely going on my watchlist right alongside Manhunter. 😍

Well, looks like we've got one happy customer...😁 Hopefully there will be more coming our way soon—and maybe some solid recommendations along with them... It’s gonna feel a little surreal seeing Rutger Hauer playing the romantic lead, honestly, but man, that movie is just perfectly executed. Once they actually make that breakout attempt, those scenes hit with such incredible intensity that I almost wish I could just jump right in and be part of it...

Michael Ortiz68 said:Well, just like always, I only realized after the fact that one of the classics was actually available. VictoryTrash, where Sylvester Stallone plays a goalkeeper. Regardless, that movie stuck with me. When I was a kid, I must have watched it five hundred times, mostly because our local TV station played it on a loop like that. It was during the war years, and we’d sit there in the shelter, passing the time by obsessing over stories from the film—like how Pele scored that goal with nothing but a pair of scissors.
It’s definitely not a masterpiece, but that movie will always stick with me... Ah, childhood. 😢 😬

It’s the exact same situation, especially considering my childhood actually preceded yours. 😁
It’s honestly a pretty nonsensical movie, but there is just something about it that lingers in your mind. Every single time that scene comes around—the one where they provide food to the American Prisoners—I find myself fighting back tears. It hits me right in the heart every time.

Is Rutger actually in love? Oh my god! 😍

The King is back, kudos to briskhound2—another fantastic poll!

Michael Ortiz68 said:Yeah, this is my first time voting 😬

To be honest, Stalag 17 is the clear winner here. Though, I haven't seen it in ages, so I really ought to brush up on it. As for the others, I cast my votes for Life is Beautiful, Empire of the Sun, and The Deer Hunter. Mind you, I have to admit I haven't actually sat through most of them.

briskhound2, you should probably run these polls more often. You’ve got a knack for it. 👍

This time, my humble self is (almost) signing off on your post before even finishing it. So, I went with Stalag 17, Empire of the Sun, The Deer Hunter, and The Great Illusion.

The Great Escape II: The Untold Story / Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1988)

Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989)

Colditz (2005)

Alright, here are a few more recommendations if you want to watch something actually worth your time... These are TV miniseries that each dive into a different way of life within Prisoner camps. The most impactful one is definitely about the life of Simon Wiesenthal, though I’d say the competition for the most intense watch is a toss-up between The Untold Story and Colditz—keeping in mind the first one is pretty much pure fiction that just loosely touches on a more famous Movie (it's basically a sequel to what happened in the camp), whereas the second one feels like a pretty faithful reconstruction of what actually went down...

Christian Taylor3 said:The King is back, kudos to briskhound2—another fantastic poll!

This time, my humble self is (almost) signing off on your post before even finishing it. So, I went with Stalag 17, Empire of the Sun, The Deer Hunter, and The Great Illusion.

😁 The Great Illusion I haven't watched it yet, even though The Great Escape has been sitting on my hard drive for months. Two and a half hours feels like a massive commitment, and honestly, what am I going to do when I’m already such a lazy slob? 😬
Anyway, first item on my shopping list is... Escape from Sobibor Thanks, briskhound2. I’ve been digging into the actual facts surrounding this event, and I have to say, it's going to be on my watchlist starting tomorrow. 🙂

Edit: Does anyone know of any movies about an escape, or an attempted escape, from the Siberian gulags? The only one that comes to mind is this one: As far as the feet will carry you.Look, a frozen wasteland isn't exactly the ideal setting for an Escape, but I've read that people still managed to pull it off.

The Great Escape and Life is Beautiful👍

"The Great Escape" and "Life is Beautiful" are the ones I voted for—honestly, they're the best in my book.

@ briskhound2
You've been putting together some killer polls lately, seriously, nice work.
But look, I’ve gotta ask—why didn't you set these things to close automatically after a few days?
It would make it way clearer who actually won, though I guess this way works too, if you don't mind the waiting.

Michael Ortiz68 said:😁 The Great Illusion I haven't watched it yet, even though The Great Escape has been sitting on my hard drive for months. Two and a half hours feels like a massive commitment, and honestly, what am I going to do when I’m already such a lazy slob? 😬
Anyway, first item on my shopping list is... Escape from Sobibor Thanks, briskhound2. I’ve been digging into the actual facts surrounding this event, and I have to say, it's going to be on my watchlist starting tomorrow. 🙂

Edit: Does anyone know of any movies about an escape, or an attempted escape, from the Siberian gulags? The only one that comes to mind is this one: As far as the feet will carry you.Look, a frozen wasteland isn't exactly the ideal setting for an Escape, but I've read that people still managed to pull it off.

Take it from me—every single minute of those two and a half hours is going to keep you hooked.👍

Kate Harris4 said:The Great Escape and Life is Beautiful👍

"The Great Escape" and "Life is Beautiful" are the ones I voted for—honestly, they're the best in my book.

@ briskhound2
You've been putting together some killer polls lately, seriously, nice work.
But look, I’ve gotta ask—why didn't you set these things to close automatically after a few days?
It would make it way clearer who actually won, though I guess this way works too, if you don't mind the waiting.

I didn't really feel like putting a time limit on this—it seems like someone always ends up digging through old threads anyway, probably just wanting to weigh in with their own take, so let's just keep things wide open... Anyway, thanks for the support. That first post was really just me testing the waters to see how everything works around here, and then this second one kind of just flowed right out of it. I honestly think these polls are a great way to get some real discussions going about movies, so I figured I'd throw a few more ideas into the ring...

Michael Ortiz68 said:😁 The Great Illusion I haven't watched it yet, even though The Great Escape has been sitting on my hard drive for months. Two and a half hours feels like a massive commitment, and honestly, what am I going to do when I’m already such a lazy slob? 😬
Anyway, first item on my shopping list is... Escape from Sobibor Thanks, briskhound2. I’ve been digging into the actual facts surrounding this event, and I have to say, it's going to be on my watchlist starting tomorrow. 🙂

Edit: Does anyone know of any movies about an escape, or an attempted escape, from the Siberian gulags? The only one that comes to mind is this one: As far as the feet will carry you.Look, a frozen wasteland isn't exactly the ideal setting for an Escape, but I've read that people still managed to pull it off.

Not mentioned. Glad to see there’s some actual interest here...