The Best World War 3 Movies & TV Shows To Watch (Before It's Too Late)

It's not the cheeriest topic to tackle by any means, and yet, plenty of directors have let slip the dogs of war to paint a nightmarish picture of what a global conflict could look like a third time around. Everyone from blockbuster filmmakers to universally revered storytellers have dared to venture into such nerve-wracking territory, leading to some projects that have been either brilliantly entertaining, undeniably bleak, or both.

But what are the great depictions of the world getting in a scrap with itself once again, and why do they stick out more than most as films worth seeing? Well, looking at this list, the most common theme is that even with the harrowing hypotheticals they might depict, they act as cinematic words of warning echoing years after their initial release. Admittedly, some might involve Arnold Schwarzenegger looking good on a Harley Davidson or Patrick Swayze leading school kids to fight back against invaders, but they have certainly left their mark.

In which case, sit back and scroll through the battlefield we fought through to make this playlist, and maybe after you've watched some of them, put on a nice Pixar film or perhaps ask someone for a hug to balance things out.

Even though the film might spend most of its time trying to avert World War III, that doesn't stop James Cameron from dipping in and out of a dark future with visuals that are seared into our brains, like when Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor is hanging on a chain-link fence. In between Arnold Schwarzenegger's guardian made of gears undertaking his action-packed mission to protect the future of humanity, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" spends just the right amount of time to lay it all down and show us just what's at stake. Admittedly, it's the same plot device used in the original installment of the Terminator franchise, but instead of getting a glimpse into the nightmares of Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), it's Sarah Connor's vivid imagination that terrifies us just as much as it does her.

Besides Robert Patrick turning his hands into knives and stabbing weapons, it's Connor's visions of children turning to ash under scorching white light or Hunter Killer aircrafts gunning down the last line of the human resistance that will always bring the chills. It's a timeless vista that gets the extra edge by way of the army of skinless Terminators stomping human skulls to dust. In hindsight though, while it might look cool, it does beg the question of how these highly advanced robots are able to manage the uneven terrain that's made of human bones without the correct footwear on. Just a thought, Mr. Cameron, sir.

In 1986, director Jimmy T. Murakami made an animated story that Disney would never dream of even going near without a hazmat suit on. "When the Wind Blows" is a bleak British tale set at the end of the world that sees an elderly couple — Jim and Hilda Boggs (John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft) — have their quiet cottage home become their final resting place following an attack from the Soviet Union. Attacks on the United Kingdom lead the couple to live out their last days in a nuclear winter.

They do their best to keep calm and carry on as food begins to diminish or decay. Hilda becomes greatly impacted by radiation poisoning and both prepare for their imminent demise. Like another brutal British-based tale on this list, "When the Wind Blows" easily stands at the top of WWIII-set stories that will sap joy and hope with every passing minute until a final nap in a sack becomes the only sensible option. Honestly, with everything in this pile, this poignant but painfully depressing animation might be worth skimming over.

Long before Hugh Jackman made wolverines cool, Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson, and Jennifer Grey were fighting on home soil in 1984's "Red Dawn." Directed by John Milus, the film sees a bunch of Colorado teens hold their own when the Soviet Union invades America, forcing school kids to become soldiers. Swayze plays leader of the pack Jed Eckert, who, with his younger brother Matt (Charlie Sheen), heads into the mountains to dodge the Red Army hot on their trail.

While the film was remade in 2012 with both Chris and Liam Hemsworth taking the roles of the Eckerts, it didn't match the schlocky, gung-ho action of the original that has kept a lasting impact even now. At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian tanks that had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces had been left with "wolverines" spray-painted on the side of them as an obvious reference to the movie.

This might be cheating by including Tony Scott's claustrophobic sub-set thriller "Crimson Tide," but given how close Gene Hackman sends us into World War III, it can't be ignored, much as Denzel Washington might try to. Released in 1995, the film sees two great actors battling and sharing screen time; the gum-chewing Captain Franklin "Frank" Ramsey (Hackman) shouts down to his new executive officer, Ron Hunter (Washington), who is stopping his new boss from potentially sparking a new global conflict that puts the whole world at stake.

All hands are truly on deck in bringing this tight and tense drama to reach breaking point as Washington gives as just as good as he gets from the iconic Hackman. What amplifies the battle between these two military men is the added oomph brought about by a score from a young Hans Zimmer. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski pushes us in close to the hull of the USS Alabama, and all of it being caught under the eerie green glow of displays shows just how close to doom these men are going to take us. An absolutely gripping watch even decades later.

Along with Skynet becoming self aware and making their own red-eyed army, "World War Z" might be another of the most unlikely World Wars to actually become a reality. Doesn't stop Marc Forster's film from scaring the absolute snot out of us, though. Brad Pitt is on the run and he's the only man who can head a globe-trotting mission around the world that's been overrun by a rapid infection turning humanity into jaw-jerking monsters. As U.N. investigator Gerry Lane, this poor guy doesn't get a minute to stop and take a breather, as he's fighting the undead from South Korea, Jerusalem and erm, Wales, where every pit stop comes with a pulse-pounding sequence that makes it one of the best zombie films of all time.

For an outing with the undead showing very little blood, the dread and terror comes with the sheer volume of chaos that unfolds and the quiet moments of self reflection on just how doomed humanity might be. Small appearances from the likes of David Morse, James Badge Dale, and Peter Capaldi all play a part in helping Pitt find the cure in what is a nail-biting finale that annoyingly gets capped off with the worst scene in the entire movie. Iffy product placement aside, this is still a gripping watch that shows the world united against the same toothy, frantic foe. Imagine.

Making some of the stories on here feel like Disney movies in comparison, "Threads" might be one of the oldest and budget-bound movies to make this list but it stands as one of the most impactful. Released on British television in 1984 under a budget of £400,000 ($523,272), Mick Jackson directed what is one of the most harrowing depictions of a war-torn United Kingdom after a fictional third World War. The story drops its audience in Sheffield in the North of England, after the Soviet Union and NATO go to war (nothing to be worried about there) sending the nation into collapse.

With not a spark of hope or promise for merry old England to right itself, Jackson's film written by Barry Hines is relentlessly bleak, giving an honest and scarily realistic depiction of a nation spiraling back to the dark ages. Much like "When the Wind Blows" it's the stiff upper-lipped Britishness that applies a very no-nonsense portrayal of our worst fears being realized and society turning on itself by way of robbery and violence. Perhaps a worst of all is that "Threads," like so many of the best horrors, show that the true monster is humanity when pushed to the brink. Honestly, have an episode of your favorite sitcom ready as a chaser. You've been warned.

If you're going to watch the end of the world, it might as well be from one the greatest directors that ever lived. Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" is the beloved comedy that sees the late, great Peter Sellers putting in triple time as three characters in what many deem one of the greatest comedies ever made. Kicking off with a panic-stricken Air Force general with his finger on the starting button for nuclear war, the film is not only a classic, quote-tastic political satire but also delivers the haunting warning of what could be if we're not too careful and dare to start fighting in the war room.

Like so many of Kubrick's filmography, "Dr. Strangelove" puts itself apart from every other equally iconic effort and might be one of the most essential viewings on this list. Often imitated but never replicated, this is a daring take at the end of the world that is always worth going back to. Should the end of the world ever make its way to us, seeing one of the greatest films ever made before it happens would be a nice thing to check off the to-do list.