Though their mostly viewed for the spectacles brought to their respective tables of cinematography and special effects, war films throughout Hollywood history have also featured tremendous performances from actors and actresses alike. Whether it’s a film from the 1950s or one that released as recently as last year, this list will take a look at ten performances from war films that set the standard for acting amid high-speed aircraft and random sprays of gunfire.

While a couple of these actors may not be overly familiar, the films in which they’re featured will undoubtedly be more recognizable. And vice versa. If you don’t know the film, you’ll likely know the actor. But either way: these are the ten finest performances from American war movies.

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10 Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

     The Weinstein Company

Upon release, it’s not like this performance was particularly well-acclaimed. However, in hindsight, Mélanie Laurent as the revenge-seeking Shoshanna Dreyfus remains a highlight of Inglourious Basterds (2009) nearly fifteen years down the line.

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From her opening escape scene up until the moment in which she dies via gunshot in the projector room of her own theater, Shosanna was the perfect foil to the film’s antagonist — S.S. Colonel Hans Landa, played by Christoph Waltz. The scene in which Landa sits down with Shosanna, interrogating her to better understand the security of Shosanna’s movie theater in which an important German film will premiere is critical to her emotional value as a character. Throughout the interrogation, the audience isn’t sure whether Landa recognizes her from the film’s opening. Shosanna’s stone-cold answers followed by a crack in her armor as Landa walks away results in an ultimately poignant performance.

9 R. Lee Ermey as Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket (1987)

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Among the most fan-favorite roles of the list, R. Lee Ermey was actually hired by director Stanley Kubrick as a technical adviser here for Full Metal Jacket (1989). Luckily for fans, though, Ermey eventually landed the role as Sergeant Hartman.

Which worked out well for everyone involved, considering Ermey was legitimately a former drill instructor for the Marines. Kubrick has stated that — despite his initial apprehension of the actor’s ability — Ermey’s involvement helped the film achieve a sense of realism from a general directorial standpoint, and his famous scene of improvisation defined for a lot of fans the full experience of Full Metal Jacket.

8 Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Platoon (1986)

     Orion Pictures

The eighties were a seminal decade for war films following a rather barren one in 1970s. Sure, Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Deer Hunter (1978) are great films — more on those later, undoubtedly — but they were really the only two prominent releases of this genre from that particular decade.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (along with Tom Berenger), Willem Dafoedelivered perhaps the best performance of his career as Sergeant Elias in Platoon (1986). Something about the direction of Oliver Stone seemed to facilitate brilliant performances, and none stand out as prominently as Dafoe’s. He left it all out on the battlefield, and ultimately lands here at number eight.

7 Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979)

     United Artists

Known for unsheathing the greatest potential of many lauded actors throughout Hollywood history, Francis Ford Coppola directed numerous high-caliber performances here in Apocalypse Now (1979). From Martin Sheen and Laurence Fishbourne to Harrison Ford and Dennis Hopper, this Vietnam War film featured impressive outings from each performer involved.

One of the most prominent actors of his generation, Marlon Brando was famous for his method acting, and thanks to Apocalypse Now, his career received its final deluge of widespread of acclaim. It was his second time working with Coppola following their collaboration on The Godfather (1972), and it solidified them as a legendary director-actor duo.

6 Denzel Washington as Private Silas Trip in Glory (1989)

     Tri-Star Pictures

At the time in which Glory (1989) released, Denzel Washington had already once been nominated for the Academy Awards. In other words — he was an already an established, accomplished thespian, along with his costar herein Morgan Freeman. Other lead performances include ones from Matthew Broderick and Cary Elwes, and while they may have been popular names, they weren’t as lauded as the other two. And that remains true today.

But no matter the value of their names, when analyzing the individual performances from each actor involved, there’s no doubt about it: Denzel Washington stole the show. He essentially received the Medal of Honor for acting thanks to his role as Private Silas Trip — an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Over forty years later, this remains a pivotal role for both Denzel’s career and the war genre in general.

5 Robert Duvall as Lt. Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979)

For starters: the cast of Apocalypse Now (1979) included the likes of Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, and Harrison Ford — to say Robert Duvall outshone everyone is essentially claiming that he stood out as the North Star amidst a group of shining players. And his line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” is perhaps the most iconic sentence ever uttered in a war movie.

To be frank, his performance throughout the whole scene in which that dialogue was featured went down as simply masterful. At the 52nd Academy Awards, Duvall was nominated for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his work as Lt. Colonel Kilgore in this famous Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. And it was more than well-deserved.

4 Jessica Chastain as Maya Harris in Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

     Sony Pictures Releasing

Though she recently won the Academy Award for Best Actress thanks to her work in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), Jessica Chastain’s role in Zero Dark Thirty (2012) was the first film to garner her a nomination in the category. She’d come up short to Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook (2012), but she did win the award at the Golden Globes.

As CIA intelligence analyst Maya Harris, this lauded actress led every scene in which she was featured with the same passion with which her character approached her job. This film is often called a thriller by many outlets, but can just as easily be classified as a war film. After all: it chronicles the hunt for Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks. And at the heart of the story was Jessica Chastain’s character — most notably her performance thereof.

3 Alec Guinness as Lt. Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

     Columbia Pictures

Though commonly known today as Obi-Wan from the original Star Wars (1977) movie, his role in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) remains by far and away the most respected in the career of Alec Guinness. Directed by David Lean, this film is what put Alec Guinness on the map of Hollywood superstars. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor thanks to his work as Lt. Colonel Nicholson, and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) really relied on his performance through and through.

The character of Lt. Colonel Nicholson will forever define the legacy of Alec Guinness. But his performance here as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II will also go down as one of the most legendary the genre has to offer.

2 Christopher Walken as Corporal Nikanor “Nick” Chevotarevich in The Deer Hunter (1978)

     Universal Pictures

Directed by Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter (1978) follows three steelworkers and soldiers about to serve again in the Vietnam War. And there’s much to write home about regarding its quality. The tension built up in the well-known Russian roulette scenes and the well-executed tone shifts, changing the setting from America to Vietnam — these are some of the film’s biggest takeaways, along with the caliber of its cast.

Managing to stand out among other talented thespians such as Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and John Cazale, Hollywood veteran Christopher Walken won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his work as Nick Chevotarevich. It remains the best performance of his career, and ultimately lands him here at the number two spot.

1 Christoph Waltz as S.S. Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009)

With regard to Inglourious Basterds (2009) as a whole: Quentin Tarantino has stated that Christoph Waltz saved the film not only due to his acting prowess, but also his ability to speak multiple languages. A character of great diplomatic savvy, Hans Landa speaks four total languages throughout the film: German, French, English, and Italian. It was of course hard to track down an actor with this sort of background that could also pull off the character from a standpoint of sheer talent.

But luckily for everyone involved, they found Waltz with talent in spades. He became the first actor from any Quentin Tarantino movie to receive an Oscar for their performance — in this case, it was for Best Supporting Actor. And it’s worth noting that this isn’t just the greatest performance from a war film. Genres aside, it’s one of the best acting efforts in general.