The Best War Movies and TV Shows on Showtime

What it's about: A group of working-class friends decides to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans, struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Molly Bloom, a young skier and former Olympic hopeful becomes a successful entrepreneur (and a target of an FBI investigation) when she establishes a high-stakes, international poker game.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: When tyrannical dictator Josef Stalin dies in 1953, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. Among the contenders are the dweebish Georgy Malenkov, the wily Nikita Khrushchev and Lavrenti Beria, the sadistic secret police chief.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: A young man is a reformed gambler who must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs".

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime & Epix) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swofford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: When governments fail to act on behalf of captive missionaries, ex-Green Beret John James Rambo sets aside his peaceful existence along the Salween River in a war-torn region of Thailand to take action. Although he's still haunted by violent memories of his time as a U.S. soldier during the Vietnam War, Rambo can hardly turn his back on the aid workers who so desperately need his help.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: The stranger-than-fiction true story of a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy, and a Cuban spy who teamed up in the early 90’s to sell a Soviet submarine to the Cali Cartel.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime).

What it's about: A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they've left the battlefield.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $9.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: A moving account of the experiences of men exonerated after years, and sometimes decades, in prison following newly found DNA evidence.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime) & stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime).

What it's about: Major league baseball player, Moe Berg, a probably gay man lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $12.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: What happens when the undead return to life? In a world ravaged for years by a virus that turns the infected into zombie-like cannibals, a cure is at last found and the wrenching process of reintegrating the survivors back into society begins.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).

What it's about: In 1976, four hijackers take over an Air France airplane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris and force it to land in Entebbe, Uganda. With 248 passengers on board, one of the most daring rescue missions ever is set in motion.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $9.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: He's a one-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world. They Don't Play by the Rules. You're either on their side...or in their way. America's top counter-terrorist usually works alone...this time he's got company.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Brazil is a contract killer, willing to take any job if the price is right. Flint left the assassin game when a ruthless drug dealer’s brutal attack left his wife in a coma. When a contract is put out on the same coldblooded drug dealer, both Brazil and Flint want him dead – one for the money, the other for revenge. With crooked Interpol agents and vicious members of the criminal underworld hot on their trail, these two assassins reluctantly join forces to quickly take out their target before they themselves are terminated.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Charts the headlong fall of Pinkie, a razor-wielding disadvantaged teenager with a religious death wish.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Inspired by real events, this ribald comedy pits an unlikely gang of students against their principal after she bars safe-sex activities on campus. Protesting Principal Weller's muzzling of free speech, the teens stage a bold and hilarious rebellion.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (PlayStation Store).

What it's about: Corporal Evan Albright joined the elite Marine Corps Security Guards to save the world and see some action-not necessarily in that order. But his first assignment, protecting a U. S. Embassy in a seemingly safe Middle Eastern capitol, relegates his unit to wrangling "gate groupies" protesting outside the compound and honing their marksmanship by playing video games. So Albright and his team are caught off guard when well-armed and well-trained militants launch a surprise attack aimed at killing an informant in the embassy. Heavily out-gunned, they will have to muster all the courage and fire power they can as their once routine assignment spirals into all-out war.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: While filming an advertisement, some extreme sports enthusiasts unwittingly stop a group of terrorists.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime) & rent or buy from $10.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Set on an island off the coast, a techno rave party attracts a diverse group of college coeds and a Coast Guard officer. Soon, they discover that their X-laced escapades are to be interrupted by zombies and monsters that attack them on the ground, from the air, and in the sea, ruled by an evil entity in the House of the Dead... Prequel to the House of the Dead video games.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Showtime), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (Showtime & Epix) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).