Eagle Eye is, of course, a fictional story that follows Jerry Shaw who is thrown together with stranger Rachel Hollowman by a mysterious phone call from a woman neither of them have ever met.

Threatening their lives and family she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations, using technology of today to track their every move.

But away from fiction and the last couple of years has seen the war on terrorism picture become a permanent fixture in cinemas with the like of Redacted, Stop Loss, Lions for Lambs, United 92 and World Trade Centre all being released.

And a series of high profile directors and actors, including Brian De Palma, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, have all got behind these projects which have broken with Hollywood tradition, it's the first time that war movies have been made and released while the war they are depicting is still being fought.

Many of the movies are propaganda as they show the atrocities and dangers that our soldiers are facing on a daily basis as well as showing the impact of warfare on the servicemen themselves. However these movies have not been met well with critics of audiences, for the exception of In the Valley of Elah.

But away from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan terrorism has been on cinema screens for many years, it seems only now it packs a bigger punch given events of the last few years.

Some of the most successful movies in this genre include:

Air Force One - starring Harrison Ford as President James Marshall who vows never to hesitate when dealing with terrorists. However, that's before a group of them, led by the ruthless Korchunov (Gary Oldman) take over his own flight on Air Force One, with his wife and young daughter also on board.

President Marshall, a decorated Vietnam veteran, becomes a one-man vigilante force in his efforts to free his family and the other hostages, retake the plane, and thwart the hijackers.

Munich - director Steven Spielberg brought together an impressive cast of Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Mathieu Kassovitz and Ciaran Hinds to explore the aftereffects of the brutal terrorist attacks on the Israeli athletic team at that German city's 1972 Olympic games.

Back in Israel, we meet the handsome and charming Avner, deeply in love with his beautiful, pregnant wife. Domestic bliss is short-lived however; immediately following these "Black September" attacks, Avner (Eric Bana), the son of an Israeli hero, is summoned by his country's famed secret service agency, the Mossad, to carry out violent retaliations against those Palestinian terrorists allegedly behind the Munich massacre.

Commanded from afar by prickly government agent Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), Avner and his team of handpicked men--pugnacious South African Steve (Daniel Craig), goofy ex-toy maker Robert (Matthieu Kassovitz), morally conflicted Carl (Ciaran Hinds), and terse professional Hans (Hanns Zischler), must deal with some shady, nefarious international figures as they track down their Palestinian prey.

Their mission takes them everywhere, from the villas of Rome to a seedy hotel in Cyprus, and with each successful kill, Avner's iron will begins to dissolve, and guilt and doubt begin to take hold of his conscience.

Patriot Games - based on the Tom Clancy novel sees Harrison Ford return to this genre as ex-CIA agent Jack Ryan. He is forced back into service when he saves the lives of the English minister to Northern Ireland and his family from a terrorist attack, killing one of the perpetrators in the process.

The dead man's brother, also a member of an IRA splinter faction, vows revenge on Ryan and his family and pursues them to the United States. Ryan knows it is only a matter of time till the pair come face to face.

Team America: World Police - a more humours look at this topic, if there is such a thing and was the brain child of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Parker and Stone tell the story of a small group of heroic figures who span the globe protecting democracy and freedom against terrorism. Along the way, they destroy such famous international landmarks as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sphinx in Egypt, and the Panama Canal.

All the while they are developing close relationships that lead to love, jealousy, and betrayal. Their primary mission is to stop North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's peace conference, which is a ruse to allow him to attack the rest of the world with his weapons of mass destruction.

Team America must also take on F.A.G., the Film Actors Guild, which is supporting the peace conference, including such participants as Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, George Clooney, and other actors who have spoken out against the war in Iraq.

Other successful movies in this genre include Swordfish and The Sum of All Fears, another Tom Clancy adaptation, and with Eagle Eye doing well as the box office, despite bad review, this film looks set to follow.

Eagle Eye is released 17th October

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw