Summary
- War movies often combine the horrors of warfare with heartbreaking love stories, showcasing the contrast between love and conflict on a global scale.
- Romances in war movies tend to end in tragedy, with characters being killed in action or scarred from the trauma of war, leading to irreparable damage to their relationship.
- War can tear couples apart, whether through one partner being drafted or their town being invaded, showcasing how forces beyond their control can test a romance to its limits.
Some of the greatest war movies ever made, from Atonement to The Deer Hunter, contrast the horrors of warfare with a heartbreaking love story. As the saying goes, all’s fair in love and war, and Hollywood loves combining those two subjects in a movie. War can make an interesting backdrop for a romance, because it juxtaposes two people finding a kindred spirit in one another with conflict and disagreement on a global scale. War can tear couples apart if one of them is drafted to fight or their town is subjected to an invasion. It’s the ultimate example of a romance being tested by forces out of the lovers’ control.
Romances in war movies tend to be the most heartbreaking, because they almost always end in tragedy. This can be because one of the lovers is killed in action, or their spouse comes home from war, or they’re so scarred from the trauma of war that their romance will never be the same again. Pearl Harbor and From Here to Eternity both tell the story of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through the lens of a fictional love triangle. From Doctor Zhivago to Coming Home, there are plenty of great war movies with tragic love stories.
10 Robbie & Cecilia (Atonement)
There are plenty of real-life military efforts from the Second World War depicted in Atonement, like the evacuation of Dunkirk, but the most engaging conflict in the movie is 13-year-old Briony Tallis’ meddling in her older sister Cecilia’s relationship with the housekeeper’s son, Robbie. Briony misinterprets a couple of romantic encounters she witnesses between Cecilia and Robbie and ends up getting Robbie sent to prison and later to war. If Briony had just minded her own business, Atonement’s love story would be a lot less devastating. James McAvoy and Keira Knightley’s impeccable chemistry breathes life into the romance from the pages of Ian McEwan’s novel.
9 Rafe & Danny & Evelyn (Pearl Harbor)
Much like Titanic, Pearl Harbor tells the story of a real-life tragedy through the lens of a fictional love triangle. Rafe McCawley strikes up a romance with Evelyn Johnson, the nurse who es his medical exam for the Eagle Squadron, then when Rafe is shot down and presumed to be killed in action, Evelyn strikes up a new romance with his best friend, Danny Walker. Things get messy when it turns out that Rafe is still alive. Kate Beckinsale shares terrific chemistry with both Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, and Hans Zimmer’s acclaimed musical score captures the complexity and heartache of their romantic entanglement.
8 Almásy & Katharine (The English Patient)
The badly burned fighter pilot who recounts his story to a nurse in The English Patient, played by Ralph Fiennes, is revealed to be a fictionalized version of Hungarian cartographer László Almásy at the end of the movie. Almásy’s retelling of his life story increasingly focuses on his affair with his married friend, Katharine Clifton. When her husband finds out and tries to kill them both, Almásy desperately tries to save Katharine’s life, but he’s too late. Before she dies, Katharine proclaims that she always loved Almásy, offering a tragic window into what could’ve been if they’d met at a different time under different circumstances.
7 Zhivago & Lara (Doctor Zhivago)
Based on Boris Pasternak’s novel of the same name, Doctor Zhivago revolves around the titular physician and poet, played by Omar Sharif, whose life is upended by the Russian Revolution. Julie Christie plays Zhivago’s love interest, Lara Antipova. In a non-wartorn nation, Zhivago and Lara would have a pretty straightforward love story. But thanks to the ongoing civil war, they keep getting pulled apart from each other and sent all over the place. When they’re finally reunited, Zhivago has a fatal heart attack. Fate just wasn’t on this couple’s side.
6 Ada & Inman (Cold Mountain)
Set during the American Civil War, Cold Mountain stars an Oscar-nominated Jude Law as W.P. Inman, a wounded Confederate deserter who embarks on a treacherous journey to reunite with Ada Monroe, the woman he loves, played by Nicole Kidman. Most war films are about what is lost, but Cold Mountain is about what is worth saving – and what is really worth fighting for. There is a glimmer of hope in that Inman’s brief but ionate affair with Ada led to the birth of a daughter, but the ending of Cold Mountain is a sad one.
5 Karen & Warden (From Here To Eternity)
Burt Lancaster’s First Sergeant Milton Warden is so smitten by his commanding officer’s wife Karen Holmes, played by Deborah Kerr, that he risks imprisonment by starting an affair with her in From Here to Eternity. The scene with the kiss on the beach, with the waves rolling in, has become one of the most iconic moments in cinema history, and a ubiquitous image of love. As deeply as they fall for each other, the relationship is doomed from the beginning, because Karen is married and Warden will go to jail if anyone finds out about the affair, so there was never any chance of a happy ending for the couple.
4 Jack & David & Sylvia (Wings)
A groundbreaking effort for air combat films, Wings won the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture. But as impressive as the aerial warfare sequences are, the heart and soul of the movie is the love triangle between Jack, David, and Sylvia. Sylvia prefers David and Jack fails to notice Mary, the girl next door, who’s madly in love with him. During the climactic Battle of Saint-Mihiel sequence, when Jack mistakenly shoots down David in a stolen enemy plane, the movie reveals its true love story: the story of how Jack and David put their differences aside and forgave one another.
3 Sally & Luke (Coming Home)
Jane Fonda and Jon Voight both won Oscars for their performances as Sally Hyde and Luke Martin in Coming Home. Sally’s husband is a captain in the Marine Corps who sees the Vietnam War as an opportunity for career development. Luke is the bitter, wounded veteran she meets while volunteering at the VA hospital. When Luke is discharged and starts rebuilding his life, he and Sally quickly fall in love. The story takes some very dark turns when Sally’s husband learns of the affair. Despite Sally’s best efforts to reconcile with her husband, the damage is done.
2 Frederick & Catherine (A Farewell To Arms)
Out of the two film adaptations of Ernest Hemingway’s semi-autobiographical novel A Farewell to Arms, the 1957 version starring Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones is the most famous. Hudson plays Frederick, a wounded American soldier, and Jones plays his English nurse, Catherine. The pair quickly fall in love, but their romance is tested by the horrors of warfare around them. A Farewell to Arms is a romantic melodrama of the highest order, tugging on the heartstrings at every opportunity – especially in its tearjerking final scenes.
1 Mike & Nick & Linda (The Deer Hunter)
Before being sent to Vietnam and having their lives changed by the horrors of war in The Deer Hunter, Mike and Nick were both in love with the same woman, Linda, in their quaint hometown. Nick spontaneously proposes to Linda just before they’re shipped off to fight, and she accepts the proposal, but, tragically, Mike is the one who comes home while Nick loses his mind and stays in Vietnam. Mike and Linda take comfort in spending time together, but they can’t forget what happened to Nick. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep’s typically breathtaking performances make this complicated love triangle ring true.
