Peter Weir's highly effective retelling of the Anzac attempt to take control of Gallipoli in Turkey during the First World War is amongst the most moving of war films. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee are two sprinters who join the Australian army and become involed in their disasterous campaign to take control of the Dardanelles. Weir's film intelligently places equal importance on the friendship of the two men, which increases the tragedy of the film's stunning denoument when the troops go over the top - a shot that transcends cliche.

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When The General was released in 1926, the critics dismissed it and audiences stayed away. However, Buster Keaton's silent comedy has come to now be regarded as a masterpiece and one of the great war-comedies. It follows steam-engine engineer Johnnie Gray (Keaton) as he fights to regain his two great loves: his trusty train, General, and his beautiful girl, Annabelle (Mack). The former has been stolen by Union soldiers, who are hightailing it back to the North with Annabelle on board. Far more cinematic than anything Chaplin ever mustered and a damn site funnier, The General presents a forceful argument that it was Keaton, not the little tramp, who was the king of silent comedy.

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Russell Crowe goes to war with a Roman Emperor in this mighty epic from director Ridley Scott. When General Maximus' (Crowe) family are murdered by Joaquin Phoenix, he wants revenge. Sold to gladiator trainer Oliver Reed, Crowe fights his way up through the ranks all the way to the Colosseum. The darling of the crowd, he soon gets the chance to go one-on-one with the Emperor. Although Gladiator is primarily a battle between two men, Scott's epic use of the camera lift the events to the scale of war.

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While the American Civil War was fought to free slaves, it's ironic that heroic efforts of black yankee soldiers is often overlooked in accounts of the period. Glory seeks to address this, by telling the story of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry - which was made up of black soldiers. Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Mathew Broderick are the stars in this splendid account of the heroism which changed perceptions of black soldiers. The battle scenes are astonishingly realistic and brutal, but it is the bravery of the men involved that lives longest in the memory.

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Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh star in one of Hollywood's most famous romantic epics. Set during the American Civil War, Gone With The Wind tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara (Leigh), a woman who can deal wth anything - the war, poverty and starvation - except Rhett Butler (Gable). After their doomed marriage fails, Scarlett returns to her plantation to find consolation - only to then receive one of cinema's best put downs when she realises that she actually loved Rhett. Hugely expensive for its time, it has every dollar evident on screen, and it is easy to be seduced by its sumptuous visuals.

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