What do you want to watch tonight?
Each title says who it's good for, and who it isn't. Tap what you want tonight, or say no to one and why.
Closest to Band of Brothers first
The Pacific 2010
Series
Track the intertwined real-life stories of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone, and Eugene Sledge – across the vast canvas of the Pacific Theater during World War II. A companion piece to the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers.
The sides of The Pacific
- Three real Marines in the Pacific war
- Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa
- Coming home after the fighting
Good for you if
- you want the true stories of Leckie, Basilone and Sledge.
- you want to understand the war against Japan island by island.
- you like battle scenes on the scale of a film.
Bad for you if
- you can't watch combat deaths filmed up close.
- the toll of war on real men's minds is too much for you.
About: war · brotherhood · trauma
Saving Private Ryan 1998
Film
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
The sides of Saving Private Ryan
- The Normandy landing
- Eight men looking for one
- A bridge to hold
Good for you if
- you want to feel what a battle is really like.
- you like Tom Hanks as a captain whose hand won't stop shaking.
- you like a battle you feel in your seat. The landing on Omaha Beach opens the film.
Bad for you if
- very graphic battle wounds are too much for you.
- nearly three hours is too much for one evening.
About: duty · sacrifice · brotherhood
Schindler's List 1993
Film
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
The sides of Schindler's List
- A businessman who saves his workers
- Black and white, and a red coat
- A list that means life
Good for you if
- you like striking black and white images, and a little girl in a red coat you won't forget.
- you like a villain who's frighteningly human.
- you want to understand a true story from the inside.
Bad for you if
- the Holocaust on screen is too much for you tonight.
- over three hours is too long for one evening.
- black and white puts you off.
About: humanity · courage · evil
The Pianist 2002
Film
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
The sides of The Pianist
- A pianist hiding in Warsaw
- Years alone in empty flats
- Music for an enemy officer
Good for you if
- you like a quiet performance of pure survival.
- you like a true story that stays with you.
- you like watching someone hold on through everything.
Bad for you if
- the Holocaust shown in detail is too much tonight.
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
About: survival · art · humanity
Oppenheimer 2023
Film
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
The sides of Oppenheimer
- The man who built the bomb
- A secret town in the desert
- A hearing that decides his fate
Good for you if
- you like a lead performance carried by the eyes.
- you like rooms full of brilliant people arguing.
- you want to feel the first test in your chest.
Bad for you if
- three hours of talking is too much for one evening.
- you want action. It's mostly meetings and hearings.
- you want a story told in order. It jumps between periods.
About: guilt · power · science
American Sniper 2014
Film
U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.
The sides of American Sniper
- The deadliest sniper in US history
- Four tours in Iraq
- A family waiting at home
Good for you if
- you like long, silent moments behind a rifle scope.
- you want a war story that really happened.
- you like a soldier who can't leave the war behind.
Bad for you if
- killings seen through a scope, children included, are too much.
- war trauma and its toll on a family are too heavy tonight.
About: duty · trauma · family
Dunkirk 2017
Film
The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.
The sides of Dunkirk
- Soldiers trapped on a beach
- Small boats coming to the rescue
- A ticking clock that never stops
Good for you if
- you like being tense from the first minute to the last.
- you like war filmed for the biggest screen possible.
- you like a score that ticks like a watch.
Bad for you if
- you want to get to know the characters. We barely learn their names.
- you want a story told in order. Three timelines are cut together.
About: survival · duty · rescue
Hacksaw Ridge 2016
Film
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The sides of Hacksaw Ridge
- A medic who refuses to carry a gun
- A cliff in Okinawa
- One more, Lord, help me get one more
Good for you if
- you like a hero driven by faith and conviction.
- you like Andrew Garfield as a soft-spoken medic who won't carry a rifle.
- you want a war story that really happened.
Bad for you if
- very graphic battle wounds are too much for you.
- you don't watch war films. Half the film is the battle for the ridge.
About: faith · courage · conscience
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas 2008
Film
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.
The sides of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
- A Nazi officer's son near a camp
- A friend on the other side of the fence
- Innocence that can't see
Good for you if
- you're ready to be moved by a friendship across a camp fence.
- you can take a story without comfort.
Bad for you if
- a concentration camp seen through a child is too much tonight.
- you want the Holocaust told from real accounts. This is an invented story, taken from a novel.
About: innocence · friendship · evil
The Last Samurai 2003
Film
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.
The sides of The Last Samurai
- An American officer captured by samurai
- A winter in a mountain village
- A last charge
Good for you if
- you like sword battles and cherry blossoms.
- you like a broken soldier finding honour.
- you like a story about duty and dignity.
Bad for you if
- two and a half hours is too long for your evening.
- battlefield deaths are too much for you.
About: honour · change · redemption
12 Years a Slave 2013
Film
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
The sides of 12 Years a Slave
- A free man kidnapped into slavery
- Twelve years on plantations
- A hope he never lets go of
Good for you if
- you like performances that are hard to watch and impossible to forget.
- you want history shown without looking away.
- you like a true story taken from Solomon Northup's own memoir.
Bad for you if
- the cruelty of slavery shown in full is too much tonight.
- whippings shown at length are too hard for you.
About: slavery · survival · dignity
Chernobyl 2019
Series
The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
The sides of Chernobyl
- The night a reactor exploded
- Scientists against the lies of a state
- Men sent onto the roof
Good for you if
- you like dread that never lets go.
- you want to understand a real disaster.
- you can take a grim, unflinching story.
Bad for you if
- radiation sickness shown in detail is too hard for you.
- you can't watch animals being shot. Soldiers clear the zone of the pets left behind.
About: truth · sacrifice · lies
Game of Thrones 2011
Series
Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.
The sides of Game of Thrones
- Power games and scheming
- Nobody is safe
- Dragons, battles and a huge world
- Families at war
- Characters you change your mind about
Good for you if
- you like following a dozen families and their schemes at once.
- you like a show where loyalties shift and no one is ever safe.
- you like schemers fighting over the Iron Throne, where a whisper can matter more than an army.
Bad for you if
- brutal deaths and battle wounds ruin a show for you.
- you'd rather skip sex scenes, or you're watching with others.
- eight seasons is more than you want to start.
About: power · loyalty · family · war
Fury 2014
Film
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.
The sides of Fury
- A tank crew deep in Germany
- A young clerk thrown into war
- A last stand at a crossroads
Good for you if
- you like being trapped in a tank with five men.
- you like World War II in its last weeks, fought from a tank across the German countryside.
- you like a crew bound by everything they've done.
Bad for you if
- very graphic killing is too much for you.
- you need some hope. In Fury the war wears the crew down to the very last scene.
About: brutality · brotherhood · innocence lost
1917 2019
Film
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
The sides of 1917
- Two soldiers carrying one message
- A war filmed as if in one shot
- A burning town at night
Good for you if
- you like a race against time through enemy land.
- you like a camera that never seems to cut.
- you like war landscapes that look unreal.
Bad for you if
- you want to know the characters well. It's one long run.
- bodies in the mud are hard for you to see.
About: duty · survival · brotherhood
Jojo Rabbit 2019
Film
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.
The sides of Jojo Rabbit
- A boy in the Hitler Youth
- An imaginary friend who is Hitler
- A girl hidden in the walls
Good for you if
- you like satire that dares to laugh at Nazis.
- you like a comedy that suddenly breaks your heart.
- you like a ten-year-old boy who starts to question everything he was taught.
Bad for you if
- a Jewish girl hiding in the walls from the Gestapo is too much for you.
- you'd rather not see war up close. Children are handed weapons in the final battle.
About: innocence · hate · love
As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.
The sides of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
- The biggest battles of the trilogy
- Two hobbits climbing a mountain
- Saying goodbye
Good for you if
- you want the siege of Minas Tirith and the charge of the Rohirrim on a big screen.
- you like an ending that takes its time to say goodbye.
- you've loved this world and want to see it through.
Bad for you if
- over three hours, with several endings, is too much for you.
- you roll your eyes at big, sincere speeches. Aragorn rallies an army at the Black Gate.
About: friendship · sacrifice · home
The Imitation Game 2014
Film
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
The sides of The Imitation Game
- Breaking the Nazi code
- A genius nobody likes
- A secret he couldn't tell
Good for you if
- you like a race against time won with maths.
- you like a brilliant, awkward lead performance.
- you like a true story about the people who broke the Enigma code.
Bad for you if
- you want war action. This one happens at desks.
- a genius punished for being gay is too hard for you to watch.
About: genius · secrecy · injustice
The Irishman 2019
Film
Pennsylvania, 1956. Frank Sheeran, a war veteran of Irish origin who works as a truck driver, accidentally meets mobster Russell Bufalino. Once Frank becomes his trusted man, Bufalino sends him to Chicago with the task of helping Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful union leader related to organized crime, with whom Frank will maintain a close friendship for nearly twenty years.
The sides of The Irishman
- A hitman looking back from a nursing home
- Jimmy Hoffa
- Decades of the mob
Good for you if
- you like a slow, reflective gangster story.
- you like legends acting together one last time.
- you like an ending about loneliness and regret.
Bad for you if
- three and a half hours is far too long for you.
- you want a fast gangster film.
About: loyalty · ageing · regret
The Revenant 2015
Film
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
The sides of The Revenant
- A man left for dead in the snow
- A bear attack you feel in your bones
- Revenge across a frozen wilderness
Good for you if
- you like real landscapes filmed in natural light.
- you like watching someone stay alive against everything.
- you like the American frontier of the 1820s, fur trappers and all.
Bad for you if
- a bear mauling and raw wounds are too much for you.
- you want a story told in words. There are few.
- two and a half hours of struggle is too long for you.
About: survival · revenge · nature