This eclectic collection of films pushes the boundaries of the genre, exploring conflict from a variety of different angles.

10 non-traditional war movies now streaming on Peacock

This eclectic collection of films pushes the boundaries of the genre, exploring conflict from a variety of different angles.

By Declan Gallagher

May 5, 2026 6:00 p.m. ET

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Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Gangs of New York,' Harrison Ford in 'K-19,' Rudy Youngblood in 'Apocalypto'. Credit:

Miramax Films; Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection; Andrew Cooper/Disney

When you think of war movies, there are a few classics that come to mind: *Saving Private Ryan* (1998), *Platoon *(1986), *Apocalypse Now *(1979), etc. When rounding up the best war movies streaming on Peacock, we went a bit off the beaten path to curate a different sort of lineup.

Rather than the usual suspects, we highlighted a collection of conflict-centered dramas that pushes the boundaries of the genre. Of course, none of these movies are out of place when it comes to understanding and contextualizing war. Sometimes a movie set in wartime (or in its aftermath) can tell you as much about war as any battlefield epic.

Our 10 picks are thrilling and harrowing, patriotic and skeptical, deeply personal and broadly historical — just like our favorite *traditional *war movies.

Apocalypto (2006)

Rudy Youngblood (center) in a rare moment when he's not running in 'Apocalypto'.

Andrew Cooper/Disney

This brutal but beautiful thriller, set in the early 16th century, follows a young Mayan, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), on an increasingly perilous there-and-back-again journey. After his village is raided, he and other survivors are led from the jungle to the city. Their fate: to either be sold into slavery or sacrificed outright.

First miraculously and then through sheer luck, our hero escapes the worst of it, goes on the run, and turns the tables (violently) on his pursuers.

*Apocalypto *is a light-on-its-feet, tense adventure that’s essentially one long chase. It nimbly makes use of both history and myth, and it’s as dementedly over-the-top as you’d expect from Mel Gibson, who’s operating at the top of his filmmaking powers.

Dragon Fist (1979)

Jackie Chan in one of his early starring roles, 'Dragon Fist'.

Lo Wei Motion Picture Company

When his master is killed by a malevolent rival, Tang (Jackie Chan) sets out with the deceased man’s wife (Ouyang Sha-fei) and daughter (Nora Miao) to seek revenge. Like a couple of other movies on this list, the war here is in the streets — rival clans and masters operating largely as microcosms of grander conflicts.

*Dragon Fist* is an early gem in Chan’s career. Essentially a thematic reprise of Bruce Lee’s *Fist of Fury* (1972), down to Miao’s casting as the love interest, the film’s strengths are its jaw-dropping fight choreography and, of course, Chan’s masterful stunt work.

But there’s also good old-fashioned melodrama, with twists that turn the basic revenge stakes on their head.

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Gangs of New York (2002)

Leonardo DiCaprio (yes, that's Stephen Graham next to him) resurrects the Dead Rabbits.

Years after his father is slain by Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis), Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to his childhood slum, the Five Points, now vaguely more civilized but with Bill himself running the whole place with an iron fist.

The young man’s plan is simple: Infiltrate Bill’s inner circle in hopes of extracting his pound of flesh. In the deep background is the American Civil War, which sets up the film’s thrilling, climactic Draft Riots sequence.

Martin Scorsese ran up against myriad issues working with Harvey Weinstein to bring his decades-in-the-making passion project to life. *Gangs of New York* is a compromised and overstuffed work, but it’s a magnificent recreation of a specific time and place.

Highlander (1986)

Sean Connery holds Christopher Lambert steady and points him in the right direction (probably).

20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

After beheading an ancient foe in modern-day New York City, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) becomes embroiled in a criminal investigation — hardly the spot an immortal warrior trying to hide in plain sight wants to be in.

Flashbacks reveal the mystical path that led Connor to mid-’80s America—namely his training on the Scottish moors hundreds of years earlier under his mentor Ramirez, better known as The Spaniard (Sean Connery).

*Highlander* is the kind of original fantasy actioner rarely made these days. Though it originally flopped, the picture quickly picked up a cult audience and spawned four features (and an upcoming fifth), as well as three TV series.

The Hunt (2020)

Betty Gilpin is being hunted and she's pissed.

Patti Perret / Universal Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

Craig Zobel directed this lean and nasty inversion of *The Most Dangerous Game, *in which* *12 strangers are kidnapped and forced to run for their lives while being hunted by a group of bloodthirsty billionaires.

When one of the hunted (Betty Gilpin) turns the tables on her tormentors, it becomes an inexorable (and bloody) march toward a final confrontation with… well, let’s not spoil the surprise.

*The Hunt* earns no points for subtlety, and it’s perhaps the most 2020 movie of all time. But it’s also a film in which the villain pauses the final battle to wax lyrical about the power of grilled cheese sandwiches. That is to say, this movie knows exactly what it is.

Ip Man (2008)

Donnie Yen teaches some kids but it's no use... they're never gonna be Donnie Yen.

Well Go/Courtesy Everett Collection

The incomparable Donnie Yen stars as the titular kung-fu master during his younger years. After being pushed out of his home during the Sino-Japanese War — which, for historical context, is deeply intertwined with World War II — he establishes a school of self-defense for similarly displaced youth.

*Ip Man* is a powerful small-scale epic that encompasses vast history while delivering the thrills audiences want from a Donnie Yen action flick. It’s probably the punchiest (in many ways) biopic of all time, a lithe and unexpected character drama that features some of the most showstopping fight sequences of the 2000s.

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson have a gravitas-off in 'K-19: The Widowmaker'.

Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection

At the height of the Cold War, submarine captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) is charged with taking command of the Soviet Union’s eponymous submarine. As he locks horns with his executive officer (Liam Neeson), the former captain, a nuclear incident aboard the sub puts the crew (and the world) in much greater danger than either man is prepared to accept.

Kathryn Bigelow’s bleak docudrama is seen as a duff point in her career, but with hindsight it stands as one of the auteur’s most riveting works. Perhaps audiences weren’t ready for an irradiated horror movie, or maybe they thought it would be *Hunt for Red October 2*. What* K-19* lacks in crowd-pleasing blockbuster thrills it makes up for with ticking-clock tension.

News of the World (2020)

Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel go town to town in 'News of the World'.

Universal Pictures

Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks), a former Confederate soldier, makes a living in post-Civil War America by riding from town to town and reading news to the largely illiterate citizens. When he comes across a 10-year-old girl abducted years ago by an indigenous tribe, Kidd is tasked with trekking across dangerous terrain to return her home.

Paul Greengrass’ humanistic Western was released in late 2020 and thus largely lost in the pandemic streaming shuffle. It’s a shame, because *News of the World* is a classical departure for the *Bourne* director that demands to be seen on the biggest possible screen. Greengrass’ work here is visceral and harsh, but has heart to spare.

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The Book of Exodus gets new, animated life in 'The Prince of Egypt'.

DreamWorks/courtesy Everett Collection

Moses (Val Kilmer), a Hebrew orphan adopted and raised in Egypt, fights to free his people from the treacherous rule of his adoptive brother, Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), who dooms Egypt by unleashing a plague upon the country.

DreamWorks' retelling of the Book of Exodus is handsomely animated with an excellent voice cast that includes Steve Martin, and Martin Short. *The Prince of Egypt* is one of the few faith-based animations that works for all audiences, wielding its Biblical influences with a sure but light hand while allowing viewers of all creeds to draw their own messages.

Scarface (1983)

Al Pacino back when everything was going so well. 'Little Friend' not pictured.

Universal/courtesy Everett Collection

After a string of cult thrillers, Brian De Palma solidified his blockbuster prowess with the rags-to-riches tragedy of Tony Montana (Al Pacino).

After arriving in Miami during a real-life 1980 mass migration from Cuba, the immigrant quickly climbs up the cocaine distribution food chain. He builds a criminal empire, but, as they say, more money means more problems.

*Scarface* (an ’80s-tastic remake of Howard Hawks’ 1932 film) has style to spare. Its excesses have consigned its poster to dorm rooms worldwide, but the movie is more nuanced than its pop reputation suggests. The Cold War hovers over everything. Beyond the synth, neon, and gunfights, Oliver Stone’s script is keenly aware of the political forces shaping Tony Montana’s circumstances.

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