Published: November 11, 2025
By Leigh Hewett
Honor, courage, and resilience take center stage this Veterans Day. From powerful war dramas to inspiring true stories, these films pay tribute to the men and women who’ve served with heart and heroism. Whether you’re reflecting, learning, or simply watching with gratitude, these movies capture the spirit of service and sacrifice.
SERGEANT YORK
SERGEANT YORK stars Gary Cooper in a movie based on the true story of a conscientious objector who became the greatest American hero in World War I. SERGEANT YORK is a profoundly Christian movie, with a brilliant performance by Gary Cooper. It powerfully explores the role Christians should play in times of war.
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TOP GUN: MAVERICK
TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a great sequel to the popular 1986 hit starring Tom Cruise, where Tom’s character, an expert Navy fighter pilot named Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, is demoted and ordered to train a group of elite Navy pilots for a deadly mission to take out a uranium enrichment facility in a foreign country. TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a terrific movie, with emotionally powerful scenes, exciting action and a strong Pro-American, patriotic, morally uplifting worldview, but it’s marred by too many obscenities and three strong profanities.
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THEY WERE EXPENDABLE
THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is John Ford’s stirring and patriotic, but thoughtful, tribute to the men who proved the need for PT boats in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Robert Montgomery plays their leader, Brick, and John Wayne plays Brick’s right-hand man, Rusty. THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is brilliantly made. It features an early role by Donna Reed as a nurse who falls in love with John Wayne’s lieutenant, only to be parted from him when the Japanese invade the Philippines. A funeral scene where Wayne gives a moving eulogy to two fallen comrades in arms is very poignant and patriotic. The ending delivers another sober, poignant message about the different kinds of sacrifice that occur in wartime.
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GLORY
With a really good 1860’s look, GLORY is a biblical moral lesson about overcoming racism through reconciliation, not rebellion or revenge, set in the context of history that we all need to see. GLORY is a great film for mature, discerning Christians.
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THE BLUE ANGELS
THE BLUE ANGELS is a very captivating documentary on IMAX and Amazon Prime about the famous Navy exhibition team and a year in the life of a particular team as they go through training , exhibitions and then retirement from the Blue Angels. THE BLUE ANGELS is one of the most moral, uplifting and positive movies ever made.
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HACKSAW RIDGE
HACKSAW RIDGE is a great, emotive, powerful, touching Christian war movie about Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a courageous conscientious objector who serves as an unarmed medic during the brutal battle of Okinawa in World War II. Brilliantly directed by Mel Gibson, HACKSAW RIDGE is a captivating, emotional movie about uncompromising faith and miraculous courage. It will make you laugh and cry, but strong caution is advised because of bloody violence and some foul language.
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THE PATRIOT
THE PATRIOT stars Mel Gibson as a family man who wrestles with his desire for revenge and the just cause of the American War for Independence in the late 1700s. The violent battle scenes may concern older moviegoers, while younger moviegoers might chafe at the soul-searching, but at the heart of this movie is faith.
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UNBROKEN
UNBROKEN is a harrowing story of the Christian Olympic athlete and World War II POW Louis Zamperini, who endured unimaginable hardship. UNBROKEN is an immensely powerful story filled with faith, hope and forgiveness. Extreme caution is due to some intense, brutal war elements and foul language.
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1917
1917 is a powerful, patriotic, moral war movie set at the western front in France and Belgium during World War I about two British soldiers sent by their commander on a suicide mission to warn the British frontlines that they’re rushing into a German trap. Not only is it an entertaining movie, with a strong moral worldview about courage under fire, but it has about 36 obscenities and profanities and significant wartime violence. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution
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THE COVENANT
In THE COVENANT, a teenage boy with magical powers lusts for more power and threatens the lives of four other teenage boys with magical powers at a fancy prep school in New England. THE COVENANT is lackluster, choppy, sloppy, and confusing and has a very strong occult worldview about having magical powers that pop up out of nowhere.
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