(This article by Todd Gilchrist originally appeared in the November 2025 issue of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members who can log in to access our digital version and archive. Basic members can save on a membership upgrade and access the magazine.)

Movies focused on servicemembers have been relatively scarce in 2025, requiring a discerning eye for plot details that often incidentally include a military context (Sinners and Thunderbolts*, for example).

The remaining months of the year don’t promise many more tales dedicated to warfare or uniformed heroism, but there are still plenty of exciting stories for moviegoing veterans to choose from as time comes to hunker down for the winter.

Out Now

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Directed by Scott Cooper (Hostiles), this adaptation of Warren Zanes’ nonfiction book about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska stars Jeremy Allen White as the working-class musical legend, opposite Jeremy Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, and Stephen Graham. (20th Century Studios)

A House of Dynamite 

Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow helms this political thriller about the American government’s response when an unattributed missile is launched into U.S. airspace. Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson lead an ensemble cast. (Netflix)

Nov. 7

Predator: Badlands

After the success of the 2022 film Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg continues to shape the Predator franchise with this story, told for the first time from the perspective of one of the extraterrestrial hunters. Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) plays a helpful synthetic humanoid opposite newcomer Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi as young predator Dek. (20th Century Studios)

Nuremberg

White House Down screenwriter James Vanderbilt directs his own adaptation of Jack El-Hai’s book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, about the battle of wills that ensues between Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) and Lt. Col. Douglas McGlashan Kelley (Rami Malek) after the latter, an American psychiatrist, is ordered to evaluate the fitness of Nazi prisoners to stand trial for their crimes during World War II. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Russell Crowe stars as Hermann Göring in "Nuremberg." (Sony Pictures photo)

Nov. 14

The Running Man

Hot Fuzz and Baby Driver writer-director Edgar Wright cowrote this adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novel, about a futuristic game show where participants are hunted by hit men for 30 days in exchange for $1 billion in prize money. Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) plays a wily contestant opposite Josh Brolin as Dan Killian, the show’s producer, and Colman Domingo as charismatic host Bobby Thompson. (Paramount Pictures)

Dec. 12

Ella McCay 

Broadcast News writer-director James L. Brooks returns to filmmaking for the first time in 15 years with this dramedy about a young politician (Emma Mackey) preparing to take over the job of governor from her mentor (Albert Brooks) while juggling relationships with her husband (Jack Lowden), aunt (Jamie Lee Curtis), and estranged father (Woody Harrelson). (20th Century Studios)

Wake Up Dead Man

Rian Johnson once again resurrects his Southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) for another mystery, this time involving a seemingly impossible murder that divides churchgoers in a small New England town. As always, Johnson stacks the cast with a murderers’ row of high-profile suspects played by the likes of Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Jeremy Renner, and Kerry Washington. (Netflix)

Dec. 19

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director and co-writer James Cameron unveils the third chapter in his epic sci-fi saga, once again starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, and Sigourney Weaver. After the events of Avatar: The Way of Water, Jake (Worthington) and his family are reeling from the loss of his son, even as a deadly new tribe of Na’vi align themselves with his sworn enemy, Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang). (20th Century Studios) 

The "Avatar" saga continues with "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third film in the sci-fi franchise. (20th Century Studios photo)

Jan. 9

Greenland: Migration

Five years after the events of the first film, John Garrity (Gerard Butler) and his family must abandon their bunker in Greenland to seek new shelter somewhere in the remnants of a destroyed Europe. Ric Roman Waugh, who helmed the first film, returns to direct Butler and Morena Baccarin as the tenacious, resilient Garritys. (Lionsgate)

Jan. 16

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple 

Candyman remake auteur Nia DaCosta steps in for director Danny Boyle on this 28 Years Later follow-up, tracing the path of young Spike (Alfie Williams) after abandoning both his village and estranged father, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, to explore a mainland Europe overrun by individuals infected by the Rage virus. (Sony Pictures)

Jan. 30

Send Help

Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead and Spider-Man) returns to the director’s chair for this thriller about two co-workers forced to team up after their plane crashes on a remote island. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien star. Writers include Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, who both worked on Freddy vs. Jason as well as the Baywatch movie. (20th Century Studios)

Todd Gilchrist is a film and entertainment writer based in Los Angeles.