Navy SEALs undergo the most rigorous training to be the very best in their field. They are treated with a lot of respect and honor as they fight fiercely for their own country. Therefore, the craze for Navy SEALs movies has been gradually increasing, and people enjoy watching them operate on the top-secret missions and stuff.
Nothing is more refreshing than watching some patriotic and inspirational movies that might intrigue your mind to go that extra mile. The cinematic universe has to offer some of the best movies about Navy SEALs which are intense and packed with actions, in which some are fictional, and some are based on true stories.
15 Best Navy SEALs Movies
1. Captain Phillips (2013)
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.8/10
Captain Phillips is based on the biography of Richard Philips and how the American cargo ship – MV Maersk Alabama was hijacked by the Somali pirates in 2009. The plot highlights the relationship between the commanding officer of Albama, Captain Philips (Tom Hanks), and the captain of the Somali pirates, Muse (Barkhad Abdi).
Being a cargo ship, the members were unarmed, and the pirates took the perfect opportunity to take hostages for millions of money. Captain Phillips has to outwit the pirates to save the crew from this massacre. Overall, a nail-biting thriller packed with globalization’s modern effects will keep you interested throughout the movie.
2. Black Hawk Down (2001)
- Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.7/10
Black Hawk Down is about elite U.S. special forces who were appointed by the government to bring down the Somalian government by capturing the warlords. Black Hawk helicopters are used to invade but shot down by the Somalian gunmen.
An enraging battle to subdue the Somalian gunmen and overthrow them to tap into the food and aid supplies for the starving and perishing population of the U.S. This movie is based on a true story to be mentioned.
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3. Lone Survivor (2013)
- Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.5/10
Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg), Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matthew “Axe” Axelson (Ben Foster) are part of the operational unit to kill or capture the Taliban leader, Ahmad Shah.
They are sent to Afghanistan as undercover agents but unfortunately, their cover is blown, and are outnumbered by the Taliban. There is almost no hope for survival, but can they fight off against the numbers? Watch Lone Survivor, a movie that will put you on the edge throughout the duration.
Watch Lone Survivor officially on Netflix!
4. The Hurt Locker (2008)
- Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.5/10
Defusing Bombs – One of the most dangerous jobs in the world. In this movie, the defuser squad has lost its squad leader. A new leader is appointed, Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), who is undoubtedly gifted with the talent in this field.
Though talented, he is reckless, and the crew struggled to control him. As the city is thrown off into chaos, the honest nature of Willliam shows up, which influences each member of the squad.
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5. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
- Cast: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.4/10
One of the most popular movies that depict how the government led the forces to persuade Osama bin Laden who led the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He was the most wanted man in the world due to his activities throughout the world.
Led by a female operative (Jessica Chastain), they could locate the coordinates of bin Laden, and the Navy SEALs launched a strike during the night which finally killed him at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Watch Zero Dark Thirty officially on Netflix!
6. The Rock (1996)
- Cast: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.4/10
Threatened by the biochemical attack(nerve gas attack), a frontier chemist, Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage), and a spectacular spy, John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), are sent on the mission to stop this genocide from happening.
They are sent to stop Gen. Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris) from launching the deadly attack. After wiping out of their team, Stanley and John work together to achieve the almost impossible feat.
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7. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
- Cast: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3/10
A sudden attack is launched by the Islamic militants on the U.S. Consulate in Libya and soon the city is thrown into chaos. The respected Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and Sean Smith, an officer for the Foreign Service are also killed in the process.
The Annex Security Team consisted of six members, who were originally there for protecting diplomats in the city, but volunteered to protect the remaining Americans in any way possible. The fierce combat will surely give anyone goosebumps.
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8. American Sniper (2014)
- Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner.
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3/10
This movie will surely inspire you as the focus of the story – U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) is one of the most lethal and versatile snipers, who had feats of saving the whole mission alone. His accuracy was out of the world, which made him a prime target as well.
Not only he is a combatant, but also he desires to be a good husband and father, although he manages somehow. He performed four duties in Iraq. But finally returning to his home, he realized a strange thing – his interest is still laying in war and cannot leave it behind.
Watch American Sniper officially on Netflix!
9. Jarhead (2005)
- Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Peter Sarsgaard.
- IMDb Ratings: 7/10
Jarhead gives insight and closeup about what’s going on through the soldiers’ minds during Gulf War. We witness the life of Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal), who hardly became a sniper was sent to the Saudi Arabia desert for the Gulf War along with his trustworthy friend, Troy (Peter Sarsgaard).
The film is realistic in portraying the realistic military life like the homesickness, missing the loved ones, keeping the nerves ready for all situations, and many such things. They are put in some of the unimaginable situations you can hardly thin off.
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10. The Finest Hours (2016)
- Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster.
- IMDb Ratings: 6.8/10
This movie involves the rescue from the blizzard of 1952 at the coast of Cape Cod. On top of that pair of oil tankers are also destroyed. The fierce storm divided the sailors into two parts but the news reaching the Coast Guard was helpful as they tried to rescue despite the heavy blizzard.
The three men take the lifeboat from the Coast Guard and try to save to complete an impossible feat – save everyone from the crew. The most likable thing is how they never fazed from helping the comrades, indeed an important lesson.
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11. Tears of the Sun (2003)
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Cole Hauser, Monica Bellucci.
- IMDb Ratings: 6.6/10
The movie focuses on Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters (Bruce Willis) and his squadron been sent to Nigeria to rescue a doctor named, Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), who was of American origin. Nigeria was in civil war as it was ruled by a ruthless dictator.
Dr. Lena was kind enough to treat the victims of the war in a remote village. But Waters on reaching her was surprised to know that she won’t leave the patients untreated and left to be killed by the goonies. Waters faced the toughest situation of all – is duty more important or humanity?
Watch Tears of the Sun officially on Netflix!
12. Act of Valor (2012)
- Cast: Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sanchez, Nestor Serrano.
- IMDb Ratings: 6.5/10
This movie is more of a pure thriller and lets you dive into the world of how Navy SEALs work. The plot is based on rescuing a kidnapped CIA agent by an elite group of Navy SEALs.
Starts with a rescuing mission, but finding out about the deadly terrorist led to the formation of the elite team which was sent for a manhunt. This movie is also inspired by true events and the action sequence, combat, and battlefield were too impressive and realistic. It is not based on a true story but an inspired one.
13. G.I. Jane (1997)
- Cast: Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Anne Bancroft.
- IMDb Ratings: 6/10
This move is about Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil (Demi Moore), who is chosen for her femininity and is only possible due to Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft), who fought for equality in the integration of women in the U.S. Navy Services.
O’Neil took the rough training program and succeeded in winning the hearts and trust of everyone, proving that women are no less in anything!
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14. Navy Seals (1990)
- Cast: Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Joanne Whalley.
- IMDb Ratings: 5.6/10
Another Navy operational movie where a helicopter crew is held captive by the terrorist group which is led by Shaheed (Nicholas Kadi). He also bought missiles and high-tech weapons from the black market, on top of that killed a hostage, which made him a target by the officials.
Lt. James Curran (Michael Biehn) and Lt. Dale Hawkins (Charlie Sheen) work together with sources to grasp the motive of Shaheed and catch him at his own game.
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15. American Renegades (2017)
- Cast: J.K. Simmons, Sullivan Stapleton, Charlie Bewley.
- IMDb Ratings: 5.5/10
It is a unique story where the Navy SEALs had a mission in the war-insurged Europe but were distracted by discovering gold from the bottom of a Bosnian lake which may evaluate to millions of bucks.
For helping the locals out there, they worked out a plan to extract the treasure from the vault and return them to the owners. But to their surprise, they found only ten gold ingots instead of 2,000. The thugs try to stop them in their tracks of finding the treasure, but they failed miserably.
You can watch American Renegades officially on Amazon Prime!
FAQs Based On Best Navy SEALs Movies
1. Who is the greatest Navy SEAL of all time?
Chris Kyle is considered as the greatest Navy SEAL of all time. He is not only an exceptional person who did a lot of work for the country but also the co-writer of the hit movie, American Sniper.
2. Who is the baddest Navy SEAL ever?
David Goggins is the strongest and toughest Navy SEAL ever. He is the only person to complete SEAL training, US Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training.
3. What are the SEAL team movies?
Some of the SEAL team movies are:
– SEAL Team Six.
– Alien Warfare.
– Lone Survivor.
– Act of Valor.
– Zero Dark Thirty.
4. Is Act of Valor a true story?
No, Act of Valor is not based on a true story. The story is an inspired one but not based on a particular event.
5. What is the most elite Navy SEAL team?
SEAL Team 6 is considered as the most elite Navy SEAL Team which is officially known as United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU).