Steven Spielberg directed a war drama film.
Empire of the Sun is a 1987 American epic coming-of-age war film based on J. G. Ballard 's semi-autobiographical novel of the same name . Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war drama film set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II . Steven Spielberg . In later years , his films began addressing humanistic issues such as the Holocaust , the transatlantic slave trade , civil rights , war , and terrorism in such films as The Color Purple ( 1985 ) , Empire of the Sun ( 1987 ) , Schindler 's List ( 1993 ) , Amistad ( 1997 ) , Saving Private Ryan ( 1998 ) , Munich ( 2005 ) , War Horse ( 2011 ) , Lincoln ( 2012 ) , and Bridge of Spies ( 2015 ) . War Horse is a 2011 American war drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis , adapted from English author Michael Morpurgo 's 1982 novel of the same name .