War film is a
film genre concerned with
warfare, typically about
naval,
air, or
land battles in the twentieth century, with combat scenes central to the drama. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war films often end with them. Themes explored include combat, survival and escape, sacrifice, the futility and inhumanity of battle, the effects of war on society, and the moral and human issues raised by war. War films are often categorized by their milieu, such as the Korean War; the most popular subject is the
Second World War. The stories told may be
fiction,
historical drama, or
biographical. Critics have noted similarities between the
Western and the war film.