1. Lone Survivor (2013)

Based on the harrowing true story of Operation Red Wings, Lone Survivor follows a four-man Navy SEAL reconnaissance team sent deep into the mountains of Afghanistan to capture or kill a notorious Taliban leader. Led by Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), the team includes Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster).

When their mission is compromised by unexpected civilians, the SEALs are forced to make a moral decision that ultimately leads to a brutal ambush by Taliban forces. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers fight with relentless courage and loyalty, refusing to give up even as the odds stack fatally against them. The film is a testament to brotherhood, sacrifice, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Only one man survives to recount the story — a tale of heroism and the unbreakable bond among warriors.

2. 5 Days of War (2011)

5 Days of War is a gripping war drama set against the backdrop of the real-life 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict. The story centers on Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend), a fearless American war correspondent, and his cameraman Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), who are caught in the chaos of Georgia’s invasion by Russian forces. As they document the horrors of war, they encounter Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a local Georgian woman fleeing the violence, and together they risk their lives to expose the human cost of the conflict.

The film paints a brutal, fast-paced portrayal of modern warfare and media suppression, where the power of journalism becomes a beacon of truth amidst the fog of war. As the conflict escalates, Thomas and his team must navigate through propaganda, military threats, and the moral weight of choosing between safety and the truth.

3. Green Zone (2010)

Set in the volatile early days of the Iraq War, Green Zone follows U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon), whose mission is to uncover weapons of mᴀss destruction (WMDs) supposedly hidden across Baghdad. As Miller’s team repeatedly comes up empty, he begins to question the intelligence guiding their operations.

What starts as a straightforward military objective turns into a dangerous search for the truth. Miller clashes with high-ranking officials and uncovers a web of political manipulation and misinformation that challenges everything he believed. As the stakes rise, so does the cost of exposing a lie that reshaped a nation.

Inspired by the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Green Zone is a tense political action thriller that explores the intersection of truth, power, and accountability in modern warfare.

4. Incendies (2010)

Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is a haunting and powerful drama that unfolds like a modern Greek tragedy. The film follows Canadian twins Jeanne and Simon Marwan, who, after the death of their mother Nawal, are handed two mysterious envelopes—one for the father they thought was ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, and one for a brother they never knew existed.

Their journey takes them to an unnamed Middle Eastern country torn by war, where they begin to unravel their mother’s harrowing past—a life filled with political turmoil, resilience, and heartbreaking secrets. As truths are uncovered layer by layer, the twins—and the audience—are left to confront the devastating legacy of hatred, idenтιтy, and forgiveness.

Based on Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play, Incendies is a masterfully told story about family, memory, and the indelible scars left by war.

5. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa de Elite 2 – O Inimigo Agora é Outro), the explosive sequel to the Brazilian hit Elite Squad (2007), dives deeper into the complex web of corruption, politics, and violence that plagues Rio de Janeiro. Directed by José Padilha, this gripping crime thriller follows Lieutenant Colonel Nascimento, now promoted to a higher-ranking intelligence post, as he uncovers a sinister network where political ambition and organized crime go hand in hand.

Years after his brutal crackdown on Rio’s drug factions, Nascimento faces a new threat—not from the favelas—but from within the government and military police. As he digs deeper, he discovers that the war on drugs has only evolved into a more sophisticated and dangerous game of power. With his family caught in the crossfire and betrayal at every level, Nascimento must decide how far he is willing to go for justice.

A hard-hitting, politically charged action film, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within blends riveting drama with brutal realism, offering a scathing critique of insтιтutional corruption in Brazil.

6. Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Olympus Has Fallen is a high-octane political action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film centers on a catastrophic terrorist ᴀssault on the White House—code-named “Olympus”—by a rogue North Korean paramilitary group. With the President of the United States taken hostage and national security compromised, the fate of the nation rests on the shoulders of one man: Mike Banning.

Banning, a disgraced former Secret Service agent haunted by a tragic past, finds himself trapped inside the White House during the attack. Using his elite training and insider knowledge, he launches a one-man mission to rescue the President and prevent all-out war. As chaos erupts on U.S. soil, Banning proves that loyalty, courage, and grit still matter when everything else falls apart.

A gripping mix of explosive action, tense hostage drama, and patriotic heroism, Olympus Has Fallen kickstarted a franchise known for its relentless pace and Gerard Butler’s iconic role as Mike Banning.

7. Unthinkable (2010)

Unthinkable is a gripping psychological thriller that pushes the boundaries of morality and national security. Directed by Gregor Jordan, the film unfolds in the shadow of a terrifying threat: a former U.S. military operative-turned-terrorist claims to have planted three nuclear bombs in undisclosed locations across the country.

When time is running out and conventional interrogation methods prove ineffective, the government brings in “H”—a mysterious and morally ambiguous black-ops interrogator played by Samuel L. Jackson. His job? Do whatever it takes to extract the information, no matter how brutal. As tensions rise, FBI agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) is caught between legal procedure and the rapidly crumbling boundaries of humanity.

Unthinkable dives deep into themes of ethics, torture, patriotism, and sacrifice—challenging viewers to question what they’d be willing to do in the face of imminent catastrophe. It’s intense, disturbing, and unapologetically provocative.

8. Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
9. Bodyguard (2011)
10. Cleanskin (2012)
11. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
12. Argo (2012)
13. Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012)
14. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
15. A Hijacking (2012)
16. The Attack (2012)
17. Omar (2013)
18. Captain Phillips (2013)
19. Dirty Wars (2013)
20. Omar Mukhtar: Lion of the Desert (2013)
21. Zaytoun (2013)
22. Good Kill (2014)
23. American Sniper (2014)
24. Kajaki (2014)
25. Rosewater (2014)
26. Timbuktu (2014)
27. Eye in the Sky (2015)
28. He Named Me Malala (2015)
29. London Has Fallen (2016)
30. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
31. Patriots Day (2016)
32. The Siege of Jadotville (2016)
33. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)
34. American ᴀssᴀssin (2017)
35. The Nile Hilton Incident (2017)
36. The Captain (2017)
37. 7 Days in Entebbe (2018)
38. The Angel (2018)
39. Beirut (2018)
40. H๏τel Mumbai (2018)
41. The Looming Tower (2018)
42. Official Secrets (2019)
43. The Report (2019)
44. Mosul (2019)
45. The Courier (2019)
46. Skin (2019)
47. The Operative (2019)
48. Angel Has Fallen (2019)
49. Blowout: Inside America’s Energy 50. Gamble (2019)

A Farmer’s Misplaced Hammer Led to the Largest Roman Treasure in Britain

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November 16, 1992 was the day which changed Suffolk-resident Eric Lawes’ life in a huge way. What he thought would have been an innocent search for a hammer he had misplaced on his farm in Hoxne Village, Suffolk, England ended up bringing him much more than he had bargained for — namely, uncovering the hiding spot of a long-hidden treasure. Based on the Guardian’s coverage of the story, Eric Lawes had been previously gifted a metal detector upon his retirement as a parting token. He decided to put his retirement gift to good use in order to locate the hammer which he had had some trouble finding. According to a 2018 Smithsonian Magazine article, when the device started recording that there was a strong signal coming from the earth, he knew that he was about to discover something big. As he started digging, it soon became clear to him that he had unearthed a treasure trove.

The Guardian reports that, when Lawes saw that his preliminary digging had yielded a few gold coins and silver spoons, he immediately contacted both the local archaeological society and the police department. Archaeologists came to the property the following day and had the area of earth holding the treasure carefully sectioned-off and removed. Their hope was that at a later stage, in their laboratory, they could examined the items in order to identify both their age and how they were stored.

When all was said and done, close to 60 pounds of items made from silver and gold were found on the site. These included more than 15,000 Roman coins, 200 gold objects, and several silver spoons. For archaeologists, this find — which later became labeled as the Hoxne Hoard — was an incredible discovery. AP News reported that archaeologist Judith Plouviez was over-the-moon about the discovery, saying that it was “an incredibly exciting and amazing find.” What’s more, another archaeologist, Rachel Wilkinson, told Smithsonian Magazine that this discovery was “the largest and latest ever found in Britain.”

Ordinarily, archaeologists would use radiocarbon dating as a means of identifying the age of ancient relics. However, they couldn’t locate any suitable material from the haul. Consequently, they determined the age by examining writing on the coins, as well as the ruler carved into them, estimating that the treasure was probably buried in either 408 or 409 AD.

Roman-era archaeologist Peter Guest told Smithsonian Magazine that “if you look at them a little more carefully, then they should be dated to the period after the separation of Britain from the Roman Empire.” He offers as part of his evidence the fact that almost all of the coins found in the Hoxne Hoard were clipped – in other words, small chunks of their edges had been taken off. These clippings would have been used to create coins which were similar to the Roman coins of that era.

Guest has a logical reason for this, arguing that “The Roman Empire wasn’t supplying Britain with new gold and silver coins, and in light of that, the population tried to get over this sudden cutoff in the supply of their precious metals by making the existing supplies go further.”

Archaeologists also believe that the treasure belonged to a Romano-British family. During that time, considering that there was so much societal discord and upheaval, it was common for Romans who had settled in Britain to bury their most prized possessions.

That said, one archaeologist is of the belief that the hoard had a lot of sentimental value for the Romano-British family to whom it is believed to have belonged. In her book The Hoxne Late Roman Treasure: Gold Jewellery and Silver Plate, Catherine Johns claims that the manner in which the treasure was kept supported this claim. Some of the items which were recovered had been packaged in small, wooden boxes which were lined with leather. What’s more, pieces of wood, locks, and nails, among other things, surrounded the gold and silver pieces. This leads Catherine to assert that the package was carefully buried and not simply chucked away in a rush.

Interestingly enough, the items unearthed might shed some light on the identity of the family who owned them. They cite a gold bracelet bearing the inscription “UTERE FELIX DOMINA IULIANE,” which roughly translates to “use this happily Lady Juliane”. A second name “Aurelius Ursicinus” has also been discovered. This has consequently led some to believe that Juliane and Aurelius were the couple and the original owners of the treasure. That said, that has yet to be confirmed.

All in all, the discovery was a real treasure for archaeologists, and by extension, for Lawes. According to Smithsonian Magazine, in recognition of his discovery and willingness to contact authorities, the British government rewarded him with over £1.7 million, an amount which he shared with the farmer whose land was dug out in order to get the treasure. Funnily enough, apart from the treasure, Lawes also found his lost hammer — which now resides in the British Museum.