Honestly, when you think of Andrew Garfield, your brain probably goes straight to Peter Parker swinging through New York or maybe him singing his heart out as Jonathan Larson. But if you're looking at the gritty, mud-caked side of his filmography, things get way more intense. People search for andrew garfield war movies expecting a long list of traditional soldier stories, but the reality is a bit more nuanced. He doesn't just play soldiers; he plays men caught in the gears of conflict who refuse to be crushed by them.
It's about the internal battle as much as the external one.
The Hacksaw Ridge Phenomenon
You've likely seen the clips. The 2016 film Hacksaw Ridge is basically the reason this topic exists. Garfield plays Desmond Doss, a real-life Seventh-day Adventist who went into the meat grinder of Okinawa without ever touching a rifle. It sounds like Hollywood fiction. It isn't.
Doss was a "conscientious cooperator," a term he preferred over "objector." He wanted to serve, just not to kill. The movie, directed by Mel Gibson, captures the sheer, terrifying gore of the Maeda Escarpment. Garfield’s performance here is what snagged him his first Oscar nomination, and for good reason. He brings this sort of wiry, stubborn grace to the role that makes you believe a man could actually survive that nightmare armed only with a Bible and some medical supplies.
There’s a specific scene where he’s lowering wounded men down a cliff side, praying, "Lord, please help me get one more." That wasn't just a screenwriter's flourish. The real Doss actually said it. However, the movie actually downplayed some of his heroics because Gibson thought audiences wouldn't believe the truth. For instance, Doss was actually wounded by a grenade and later hit by a sniper while being carried off on a stretcher—details that didn't quite make the final cut in all their complexity.
The Misunderstood Political War: Lions for Lambs
Before he was saving lives on a ridge, Garfield had a much quieter, but no less "war-focused" role in the 2007 film Lions for Lambs. If you haven't seen it, don't feel bad. It’s a talky, triple-threaded narrative directed by Robert Redford.
Garfield plays Todd Hayes, a brilliant but disaffected college student having a back-and-forth debate with his professor (Redford). While it’s not a "war movie" in the sense of explosions and trenches, the entire plot revolves around the war in Afghanistan. It’s about the consequences of war—specifically why two of Todd’s former classmates decided to enlist and the political machinery in D.C. (represented by Tom Cruise) that sent them there.
It's a "war of ideas." It shows Garfield’s range early on, proving he can handle heavy, politically charged dialogue just as well as he handles physical stunts.
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The Upcoming Shift: The Uprising (2026)
If you’re looking for what’s next, the buzz is all about The Uprising.
This isn't your grandfather's World War II flick. It’s a medieval war epic directed by Paul Greengrass—the guy behind the Bourne movies and United 93. Set in the 14th century, Garfield is slated to play Wat Tyler, the leader of the English Peasants' Revolt.
Think mud. Think broadswords. Think a massive uprising against King Richard II.
Filming reportedly kicked off in late 2025 across locations in Bavaria and Nuremberg. While technically "historical drama," the scale of the conflict means we’re going to see a side of Garfield we haven't seen since Hacksaw Ridge: a leader in the thick of a violent, era-defining struggle. It's a different kind of war, fought with pitchforks and fury rather than M1 Garands.
Why Garfield’s Approach to War Matters
Most actors take war roles to look "tough." Garfield takes them to look human.
In Silence (2016), which is often grouped with his "battle" films, he plays a Jesuit priest in 17th-century Japan. While it’s a religious drama, it’s also a story of spiritual warfare and physical persecution. He lost a massive amount of weight for the role, looking genuinely skeletal. He’s interested in the breaking point. Where does a person’s conviction end and their survival instinct begin?
- Hacksaw Ridge: Focused on religious conviction in the face of physical death.
- Lions for Lambs: Focused on the apathy of those at home while others die abroad.
- The Uprising: Focused on the breaking point of the working class against a monarchy.
It’s an eclectic mix.
Real-World Facts vs. Movie Magic
When you're diving into andrew garfield war movies, it’s easy to get caught up in the cinematic spectacle. But the history is often crazier.
- The Cliff: In Hacksaw Ridge, the escarpment looks like a 100-foot vertical drop. In reality, it was about 30 to 50 feet. Still terrifying, but Hollywood likes to scale things up.
- The Marriage: The movie shows Doss marrying Dorothy Schutte right before he deploys. They actually got married in 1942, way before he went to Okinawa.
- The Weaponry: Garfield spent months training with real medics to ensure his "knot-tying" and bandage-wrapping looked authentic. He didn't just want to look like a soldier; he wanted to look like a guy who knew how to save a life under fire.
If you want to truly appreciate these films, your next step is to watch the 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector. It features the real Desmond Doss. Seeing the actual man talk about the events Garfield portrayed gives the movie a whole new layer of weight. After that, keep an eye out for the first trailer for The Uprising later this year—it’s going to be a massive shift in his career.