Guy Ritchie & Henry Cavill's Underrated World War 2 Movie Is Now Streaming For Free

Published Aug 19, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more. Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre. To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net. Guy Ritchie made a World War II movie that stars Henry Cavill, and it is now streaming for free for everyone to see. Released in 2024, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare stars Cavill as Gustavus Henry March-Phillipps, the real-life founder of the British Army's No. 62 Commando, which was also known as the Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) in World War II. This was one of the frontrunners for the Special Air Service (SAS). However, this is a Guy Ritchie movie, so it isn't the kind of film where people should expect to go in and see a historical biopic like Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. Instead, Ritchie gave these real-life World War II military personnel a fun story that saw a lot of action, some dark humor, and a lot of excitement in what ended up as a heavily fictionalized version of the mission known as Operation Postmaster. What is even more impressive is that the character that Cavill played went on to influence a novelist to create the character who is now the most famous fictional British secret agent in history. That makes the fact that it was a box office bomb so disappointing. While The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare received positive reviews, very few people showed up to watch the movie at the box office, and it took streaming to make it a success. It is now streaming for free on Tubi. The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Is Streaming On Tubi The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is streaming for free on Tubi, and this makes sense because this is a film that found its audience on the streaming services rather than at the box office, where it flopped. The story opens in 1941, during World War II, as the British are trying to stop Nazi Germany's onslaught. This is when Britain puts together a team to find and destroy the Italian supply ship Duchessa d'Aosta, along with two tugboats, to slow the attacks. While this is based on a true story, it is highly fictionalized and glamorizes many of the action heroes here, fighting against the evil Nazi party as they try to conquer the world. This is a movie that is more about putting the team together and the banter between the men and women involved than it is about the actual battles and wartime mission. It is a pure Guy Ritchie movie, and it matches up well with any of his past films. The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Is Underrated & Deserved Better The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was released in the United States in April 2024, and it wasn't a box office success at all. With a $60 million budget, the World War II film only made $29.8 million worldwide. It struggled to draw audiences in North America, competing against Civil War, Abigail, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, opening in fourth in its debut weekend. The cast is fantastic, with Cavill joined by Elza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Cary Elwes, Henry Golding, and more. Rory Kinnear plays Winston Churchill, while Freddie Fox plays future novelist Lt. Cmdr Ian Fleming. The film received a 68% Rotten Tomatoes score, but what is surprising is that it flopped at the box office while still earning a strong 91% audience score. Most of these fans discovered it on streaming. Henry Cavill Technically Played James Bond In Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare There is a montage before the end credits that shows what happened to many of the people involved in this mission. According to the montage, Gus becomes a war hero and carries out similar raids in the future, while also marrying Marjorie (Gonzalez), who remains an actress. A member of Gubbins's inner circle, Ian Fleming, goes on to write novels and uses Operation Postmaster as an inspiration for his James Bond novels. For the last decade, there has been a call for Cavill to take on the role of James Bond, something that isn't going to happen with the new franchise looking for younger actors for the role. However, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare gives Cavill a chance to do something better. He plays one of the men who James Bond is patterned after. March-Phillipps is one of several real-life people Bond is based on. Henry Cavill & Guy Ritchie Could've Made A Dark Sequel To Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare ©Lionsgate Films/Courtesy Everett Collection The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare gives Gus and several of his allies a happy ending. However, there could have been a very dark sequel, because, in reality, March-Phillipps didn't get a happy ending. After the events of Operation Postmaster, the British government awarded him the Distinguished Service Order, and he went on to continue to work for the military. As the ending montage shows, he marries Marjorie, and this happens in April 1942. Five months later, March-Phillipps died on September 12, 1942, during Operation Aquatint. He led a raiding team of 11 men onto a beach to boost the Allied morale by attacking a German-occupied coastline. Four of the men were injured and taken prisoner, four ran but were captured, and the rest were killed, including March-Phillipps. Release Date April 19, 2024 Runtime 120 minutes Director Guy Ritchie Cast Eiza Gonzalez Marjorie Stewart Writers Guy Ritchie, Eric Johnson Producers Chad Oman, Jerry Bruckheimer, John Friedberg, Ivan Atkinson