Prepare for an adrenaline-pumping cinematic experience with the best war movies on BBC iPlayer in 2023. These movies will keep you on the edge of your seat with their spectacular battles and moving tales of bravery, with strong performances, breathtaking graphics, and compelling storytelling.
You can completely immerse yourself in combat’s action, drama, and intensity. The BBC iPlayer is a British streaming channel, and you can access it if you reside in the UK. The content is geo-restricted outside the UK, and it’s really frustrating when you receive the error that it is blocked in New Zealand.
However, here is the simple trick: by using a VPN service such as ExpressVPN, you can stream BBC iPlayer in New Zealand and watch different genres of movies including the best war films on BBC iPlayer hassle-free.
We have compiled a list of the 15 best war films on BBC iPlayer that you can stream now. So, without wasting time, let’s roll out which are standing in the top 15 BBC iPlayer – films a-z list. Check the recommended best films on BBC iPlayer.
What are the Best War movies on BBC iPlayer to Stream Right Now?
Gear up yourself for a unique cinematic experience in 2023 with the best war movies on BBC iPlayer. Just connect to the best BBC iPlayer VPN in New Zealand and get streaming! These movies will enthrall and entertain you with their potent storytelling, compelling plots, and thrilling action. The 15 best war films on BBC iPlayer include:
1. Defiance
Genre: War, History, Action, Drama
Director: Edward Zwick
Major Cast: Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Liev Schreiber
Runtime: 2 Hours 17 Minutes
Year of release: 2009
The Jewish Bielski brothers, who were living in Belorussia in 1941, managed to flee the German atrocity that took place in the area where their parents were killed. More fugitive Jews soon join them as they hide in the woods.
The oldest brother, Tuvia Bielski, takes charge of the survivors and devises a camp with duties for everyone in the group. However, Zus Bielski wants to fight the Germans and disagrees with Tuvia’s instructions.
Zus decides to join the Russian resistance because he doesn’t think Jews fight. As Zus discovers anti-Semitism among the Russian partisans, Tuvia welcomes any survivor to his camp, where he and his two younger brothers battle for food and supplies.
2. Schindler’s List
Genre: War, Biography, History Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Major Cast: Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson
Runtime: 3 Hours 15 Minutes
Year of release: 1994
When Oskar Schindler decides during the harsh German Nazi administration to make his factory a safe haven for Jews, he goes from being a heartless businessman who only cares about making money to an unexpected hero.
The fact that it is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, who rescued over 1100 Jewish people from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp, makes it a tribute to the fact that there is goodness in each and every one of us.
You can also discover how to download the BBC iPlayer app from outside UK and enjoy watching it on your Android, no matter where you are.
3. The Man with the Iron Heart
Genre: War, Action, Thrill
Director: Cédric Jimenez
Major Cast: Rosamund, Jason Clarke, Jack O’Connell
Runtime: 2 Hours
Year of release: 2017
The aspirational Reinhard Heydrich, who meets the fervent member of the Nazi Party and his future wife, Lina, and rises through the ranks to become Head of the Main Security Office of the Reich, starts off as a disgraced lieutenant of the German Navy, dismissed for immoral behavior.
One heroic Slovak and one brave Czech, the recently enlisted warriors of the Resistance, Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis, prepare for a suicide mission to assassinate Heydrich, the Reich-Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, as the German Fascists stretch their frontiers and scorch Europe from top to bottom.
Can they defeat the strongman with the steel heart?
4. Persian Lessons
Genre: War, Drama
Director: Vadim Perelman
Major Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Lars Eidinger, Jonas Nay
Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
Year of release: 2020
The story starts with Gilles, a young Belgian, who is one of many Jews imprisoned with him in a Nazi concentration camp after being apprehended by the SS. He is able to avoid execution by lying that he is Persian.
As soon as this fabrication saves him, Gilles is assigned what seems to be an impossible mission. He must teach Persian to Koch, the camp’s cookery officer, who has plans to open a restaurant in Iran after the war. Gilles needs to construct a new language one word at a time.
Gilles is conscious of the fact that any mistake he makes presents the possibility of exposing him as a liar. People are more likely to be distrustful of and jealous of the two men because of their unique bond.
5. The Imitation Game
Genre: War, Drama, Thrill, Biography
Director: Morten Tyldum
Major Cast: Keira Knightley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Goode
Runtime: 1 Hour 54 minutes
Year of release: 2014
One driven to create is viewed as weird in the outside world. Society penalizes those who don’t fit in. A creative transforms nothing into something by using his or her intellect to solve complex puzzles or compose music.
If he is successful in his pursuit, the general public may converge on the term “genius” to describe him. But take note: this implies that they cannot possibly comprehend the accomplishment or seek to match the mind that created it.
The same crowds that gleefully embrace his presents, on the one hand, will push him into a pit of snakes on the other. This is Alan Mathison Turing’s cautionary tale, the puzzle master and inventor of the modern computer.
6. Odette
Genre: War, History, Drama
Director: Herbert Wilcox
Major Cast: Anna Neagle, Trevor Howard, Marius Goring
Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Year of release: 1950
The following is the story of a courageous woman who volunteered her services to the group known as the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II so that she might fight for the Allies.
She was brought by air into occupied France, where she eventually became a member of the French resistance and fought against the Nazis. Even after being apprehended and interrogated by the Gestapo, she refused to reveal the identities of the other conspirators.
7. Operation Crossbow
Genre: War, Action, Drama
Director: Michael Anderson
Major Cast: Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Trevor Howard
Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
Year of release: April 1st, 1965
In the latter phases of World War II, the following is the story of how the Allies were successful in defeating Hitler’s “revenge weapons,” the V1 (doodlebug) and the V2 (rocket).
Even though the Nazis were on the run, they still had a chance to win the war if they had these weapons. This movie references Hannah Reich, a real-life German test pilot, and it’s very cool.
Installing ExpressVPN allows streamers in New Zealand to watch the best action films on BBC iPlayer and stream them from anywhere in the world.
8. 12 Monkeys
Genre: War, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Terry Gilliam
Major Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt
Runtime: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
Year of release: January 5th, 1996
James Cole, a state prisoner in the year 2035, can earn his freedom by traveling back in time to halt the spread of an epidemic. The only safe place for survivors is underground because the air is toxic.
Cole is committed to a mental institution in 1990, six years before the disease outbreak, because his warnings are seen as insane. He comes into contact with Dr. Kathryn Railly and Jeffrey Goines, the deranged son of a well-known virologist.
The authorities in 2035 decide to send Cole back in time, and he winds up in 1996. In order to get assistance, he kidnaps Dr. Railly. When Cole investigates the graffiti left behind by the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, he hears voices, becomes disoriented, and questions whether or not he is going insane.
He is tasked with determining whether or if Goines, a raving lunatic, is the answer to the puzzle.
9. The Adventures of Robin Hood
Genre: War, Adventure, Romance, Action
Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
Major Cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
Year of release: 1938
Prince John assumes the regency while King Richard the Lionhearted is overseas fighting battles in the Holy Land. The Saxon peasants are subjected to harsh treatment by the Normans, and when Prince John discovers that Richard is being held for ransom in Vienna.
He taxes them excessively under the pretense of paying for his release. A Saxon nobleman named Sir Robin of Locksley protests against the Prince and Sir Guy of Gisbourne, who is the Prince’s main henchman.
After being declared an outlaw, he moves to Sherwood Forest and surrounds himself with people who support King Richard, including Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, and the rest.
The stunning Maid Marion orchestrates his escape when the Prince and Gisbourne successfully catch him by holding an archery competition. Richard is protected, and his evil brother is deposed from power when Robin and his men find he is in England.
10. Bringing Up Baby
Genre: War, Comedy
Director: Howard Hawks
Major Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charles Ruggles
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
Year of release: 18 February 1938
When a perplexed paleontologist is trying to secure a donation of one million dollars for his museum, he is being pursued by a flighty and frequently vexatious heiress and her pet leopard, Baby. The heiress is also being vexatious towards the palaeontological. This little one is a leopard.
The BBC iPlayer now has a film you don’t want to miss. Similarly, it is the streaming platform where you can get some of the best romance movies on BBC iPlayer ever made.
11. The Thing from Another World
Genre: War, Horror, Sci-Fi
Director: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
Major Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness
Runtime: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
Year of release: April 6, 1951
Researchers working in an Arctic area specializing in polar studies uncovered a spaceship there. After giving it additional attention, they eventually recovered the pilot, who had been frozen.
All hell breaks loose when they bring him back to their station, where he is unintentionally allowed to thaw out. This weekend, we also compiled a comprehensive list of the finest science fiction shows available on BBC iPlayer for you to watch.
12. The Diary of Anne Frank
Genre: War, Biography, Drama
Director: George Stevens
Major Cast: Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut
Runtime: 3 Hours
Year of release: March 18, 1959
Kraler is the proprietor of a store in Holland during World War II, but the Nazis gain control of the business. He conceals two Jewish families in the loft of his home.
In her journal, the young Anne Frank recounts the daily routines of the Franks and the Van Daans, the threat posed by the Nazis, and the changes within the family.
Both Anne and Margot, Anne’s sister, are green with envy over her connection with Peter Van Daan. Otto Frank eventually makes his way up to the attic, many years after both families have been located, and discovers his late daughter’s diary.
If you’re intrigued by such nature of films you must also enjoy watching the best BBC iPlayer Horror Films in New Zealand on your next movie night.
13. The Fall of the Roman Empire
Genre: War, Drama, History
Director: Anthony Mann
Major Cast: Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness
Runtime: 2 hours, 52 minutes
Year of release: 1964
Emperor Marcus Aurelius gathered governors from all around the Roman Empire to ensure that peace and prosperity would endure after the Germanic tribes were vanquished. Commodus, a horrible man who ought to have been the next emperor because he was his son, had been passed over by Marcus in favor of General Livius.
High treason and heedless ambition make Aurelius corrupt, ushering in a period of oppression, never-ending schemes, and swift destruction. Commodus identifies himself as a deity as night falls on the Empire’s periphery and threatens Lucilla, Aurelius’ daughter.
The Roman Empire: Can it be redeemed?
14. The Jackal
Genre: War, Action, Drama, Crime
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Major Cast: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier
Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes
Year of release: 1997
Terek Murad, a Russian criminal, vowed war on the Russian militia and FBI after his brother was shot in a Moscow nightclub. He commissions the shadowy assassin “The Jackal” to kill FBI Director Donald Brown.
Russian militia Major Valentina Koslova and FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston saw Murad’s brother Murad’s shooting. The only IRA sniper who has seen The Jackal is incarcerated, Declan Mulqueen.
Prior to the Jackal killing, Director Brown, Preston, and Koslova convince Mulqueen to assist them in finding the Jackal.
15. The Outlaw
Genre: War, Drama, Western
Director: Howard Hughes, Howard Hawks
Major Cast: Jack Buetel, Thomas Mitchell, Jane Russell
Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes
Year of release: 1943
Sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico. Doc discovers Billy the Kid and his stolen horse. Unexpectedly, Billy and Doc became friends. The bond between Doc and Pat weakens.
Doc hides Billy in Rio’s home after Billy is shot. In spite of Billy’s abuse, she still loves him. The group is reduced by a last conflict as these four interact in response to an Indian attack.
Wrap Up
In 2023, the BBC iPlayer stands out as a shelter for devoted streamers in a world where war pictures are special in our hearts. The BBC iPlayer offers an immersive and convenient platform to explore the complexity of war.
If you are in New Zealand and want to watch the best war movies on BBC iPlayer, use a trusted VPN such as ExpressVPN. Watch BBC iPlayer on multiple devices, offering an extraordinary streaming experience that will leave you wanting more.
It features enormous conflicts as well as personal human stories. So buckle up, grab some popcorn, and go through fascinating cinema with the best war films on BBC iPlayer in 2023.