I'm terrible company during war shows. I celebrate when somebody finds clean socks. I worry whenever a soldier mentions home. And if two men who've survived something awful start laughing together, I immediately become suspicious of whatever the writers have planned next.
That's what happens when television gives you enough time to become attached to people whose lives are constantly in danger. You begin praying for the smallest things on their behalf. The greatest war stories also make it difficult to enjoy the fighting without confronting its consequences. With that said, these are the 10 greatest war show masterpieces of all time.
10. Catch-22 (2019)
John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott) has a perfectly reasonable ambition. He wants to survive World War II. Unfortunately, he's an American bombardier stationed in Italy, and his commanders keep increasing the number of missions he must complete before being sent home. Catch-22 adapts Joseph Heller's novel into a wonderfully vicious satire where military bureaucracy has become an enemy almost as dangerous as the people shooting at Yossarian's aircraft.
I find Abbott magnificent because Yossarian's growing desperation never feels like cowardice. He's surrounded by men who accept increasingly absurd orders, and his apparent madness comes from recognizing how insane the entire situation has become. Colonel Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) keeps moving the finish line while the airmen pay the price. The comedy can be gloriously ridiculous, but the losses gradually make laughing uncomfortable. That's the brilliance of this adaptation. Every bureaucratic absurdity becomes uglier when you remember that somebody might actually die because of it.
9. Masters of the Air (2024)
At 25,000 feet, there's nowhere to hide. German fighters attack from every direction, flak bursts around the aircraft, and a damaged B-17 might suddenly become an enormous metal coffin. Masters of the Air follows the American 100th Bomb Group through its devastating bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe, particularly pilots Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler) and John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner), alongside navigator Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle).
The Münster mission absolutely broke me. Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal (Nate Mann) manages to bring his damaged aircraft home, only to discover that he is the sole returning bomber from the group's thirteen aircraft that continued toward the target. Imagine surviving something unimaginable and finding practically nobody there to celebrate with you. The enormous aerial battles are technically magnificent, but that terrible absence gives them meaning. This was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
8. The Winds of War (1983)
American naval officer Victor “Pug” Henry (Robert Mitchum) arrives in Berlin in 1939, where his responsibilities place him uncomfortably close to the political developments leading toward World War II. Meanwhile, his family becomes scattered across an increasingly dangerous world, including his son Byron (Jan-Michael Vincent), whose relationship with Natalie Jastrow (Ali MacGraw) places him near the escalating persecution of Europe's Jewish population. The Winds of War transforms Herman Wouk's enormous novel into a sweeping account of the years preceding America's entry into the conflict.
Mitchum is such an inspired choice. Pug isn't a man who enjoys explaining his emotions, and watching him quietly absorb the implications of what he's witnessing is fascinating. Dan Curtis directed the miniseries with an ambition that still impresses me. He moved between military strategy, political conversations, and relationships threatened by events nobody can control. The most painful moments involve people trying to maintain ordinary lives while history makes those lives increasingly impossible. We know what's approaching. They keep hoping there's still time to prevent it.
7. Generation War (2013)
Five young friends gather in Berlin in 1941, expecting that the war will soon end and they'll be reunited. Brothers Wilhelm (Volker Bruch) and Friedhelm (Tom Schilling) head toward the Eastern Front, Charlotte (Miriam Stein) becomes a nurse, Greta (Katharina Schüttler) pursues a singing career, and Viktor (Ludwig Trepte), who is Jewish, faces the escalating danger of Nazi persecution.
Generation War follows their increasingly different experiences as their youthful confidence collapses. Friedhelm's transformation is especially disturbing. He initially questions the war's purpose, but prolonged exposure to violence gradually erodes his resistance to participating in it. The contrast with Wilhelm's exhaustion makes their relationship painful to watch. Philipp Kadelbach directed this three-part German drama.
6. War and Remembrance (1988–1989)
Natalie Jastrow (Jane Seymour) is trapped in Nazi-controlled Europe with her young son and uncle Aaron (John Gielgud), while her husband Byron Henry (Hart Bochner) serves in the American Navy. Their desperate attempts to escape persecution form one of the most harrowing storylines in War and Remembrance, the continuation of The Winds of War. Robert Mitchum returns as Victor Henry, whose military career carries him through the widening conflict in the Pacific.
I find the story of Aaron and Natalie almost unbearably upsetting. They keep searching for another official who might help, another document that might grant safety, another opportunity to leave. Instead, the machinery of persecution keeps tightening around them. Dan Curtis, who directed this adaptation of Herman Wouk's novel, filmed portions at Auschwitz, bringing a profoundly disturbing historical reality into the drama.
