Bloody invasions, tales of betrayal, incredible romances and decipherments are just some of the topics explored in these 21 World War II movies. They will give you the life (or) and history lessons you need.
21. Black Βook, 2006
It is one of the few Dutch films by Paul Verhoeven, with the story taking place in the Netherlands during the Second World War and describing the course of the beautiful Jewish artist Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten), in her attempt to leave the country with her her family. During, they are ambushed by Germans, she is the only survivor and then becomes a spy.
20. Enemy at the Gates, 2001
Jude Law and Ed Harris step into the skin of their roles as Vassili Zaitsev and Major König and give one of the most epic one on one cinematic duels, as snipers of the Russian and German camps respectively, in the ruins of Stalingrad.
19. Letters from Iwo Jima, 2006
The film – which is a duet with Flags of our Fathers – refers to the well-known bloody battle on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima near the end of World War II (1945), between the Japanese and the Americans. Clint Eastwood records with his lens the desperate attempt of the Japanese soldiers to hold the island, after the landing of thousands of American marines.
18. The Dirty Dozen, 1967
A colonel selects twelve baripoinites or mortals to use in the attack against the German high command. Whoever of them succeeded and did not lose his life would be pardoned. So Lee Marvin puts under his direction misfits such as Charles Bronson, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas and the then young Donald Sutherland.
17. Empire of the Sun, 1987
A young boy from England (Christian Bale at the beginning of his career) tries to survive in a Japanese concentration camp. Another film lesson from Steven Spielberg.
16. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 2008
The son of a camp commandant befriends a fellow Jewish prisoner. Mark Herman documents the Holocaust through the eyes of a child, which makes it all the more horrific and incomprehensible.
15. From Here to Eternity, 1953
We are talking about a film, which was imitated several times by the American cinema. Fred Zinnemann’s film was shot at the time when McCarthyism was still raging and won 8 Oscars. Among its stars are Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra.
14. The Captain/ Der Hauptmann, 2017
In the last days of the war, a young soldier finds in an abandoned vehicle the uniform of a German Captain. Before he knows it, he has under his command a group of men who are willing to survive at any cost.
13. The Thin Red Line, 1998
Terrence Malick captures the raw reality of the bloody battle of Guadalcanal in World War II, with Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, Jim Caviezel under his direction and the musical contribution of Hans Zimmer. Martin Scorsese has said of the film that it is “the greatest modern war film he has ever seen”.
12. Das Boot, 1981
Wolfgang Petersen’s film focuses on life inside a German submarine. Beyond tension and claustrophobia, the film also focuses on the psychology of the crew, as well as the decisions they have to make. Fun fact: Rutger Hauer turned down the lead role for Blade Runner.
11. Downfall/ Der Untergang, 2004
Bruno Ganz gives a recital as Adolf, in Hitler’s last days, in April 1945 in his bunker in Berlin, after the counter-attack of the Soviet troops. Oliver Hirschbiegel’s film caused a lot of backlash for portraying Hitler as almost human, but many probably overlooked his obsession with taking the entire German nation down with him.
10. The Pianist, 2002
Roman Polanski deals with the true story of the Polish-Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, who managed to survive in the Warsaw ghetto thanks to his reputation as a musician while remaining a cold spectator of the atrocities happening around him. The exemplary portrayal of the Holocaust earned the film the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2002, as well as numerous other international awards.
9. The Longest Day, 1962
The classic 1962 masterpiece, won 5 Oscars, documenting the entire operation of the Normandy landings. Although it is signed by 5 directors (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald, Darryl F. Zanuck), Zanuck is its real creator.
8. La Vita è Bella, 1997
During the first half of the film, you wonder if you’re actually watching a war movie, because the excellent Roberto Benigni spends a rather carefree everyday life with his wife and son. But then war breaks out and father and son are sent to a concentration camp. There, Guido will do everything in his power to make the little boy think of war as a game. Humor and drama alternate quickly and perfectly in one of the most optimistic films of the last decades.
7. The Imitation Game, 2014
During the Second World War, Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), a mathematician and analyst, had successfully led a team of scientists, breaking the code of the famous German Enigma machine. In the winter of 1952, the British authorities raided his home, and arrested him for “indecent behavior”, which would later lead to his conviction – but no one knew that he was a pioneering and genius scientist. A haunting portrait of a great yet complicated man, to whom millions owe their lives.
6. Inglourious Basterds, 2009
The result of Tarantino’s take on World War II includes complex characters, punchy dialogue, and of course, excellent depiction of violence. During the war in occupied France, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as The Basterds were recruited and formed to spread terror in the Third Reich by brutally killing Nazis. For his performance, Christoph Waltz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award and the BAFTA Award, and the film is ranked 108th by the audience according to IMDB.
5. Schindler’s List, 1993
Another Steven Spielberg masterpiece: The true story of the German industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved 1,300 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, presenting them as necessary skilled workers for the Third Reich. One of the best films of all time and not only in the war genre, with 7 Oscars. Liam Neeson excellent, even if he didn’t have to beat up every Nazi there was.
4. Casablanca (1942)
There is no doubt that this is one of the best films ever made and not just because Humphrey Bogart showed how to wear a tuxedo. The film centers on the dilemma of an American living in Casablanca, who has to choose between the woman he loves and the help he can give to a Czechoslovak resistance fighter, the husband of his beloved, who wants to escape French-occupied Casablanca, Morocco , to continue the fight against the Third Reich.
3. Soldier of Orange, 1977
Paul Verhoeven and Rutger Hauer collaborated in 1977 on this Dutch production. The case concerns the true story of Erik Hazelhoff, a hero of the Dutch Resistance against the Germans, who became known as the Orange Soldier. The film also had an excellent soundtrack.
2. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957
Based on the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle, this anti-militaristic film-legend follows the adventures of an English colonel who, for the sake of discipline, agrees to supervise the construction of a bridge in the Japanese camp where he is being held prisoner, while at the same time preparing an escape plan with his soldiers. It received rave reviews and won 7 Oscars (including Best Picture). In 1997 it was selected by the US Library of Congress as part of the National Film Registry, while in the same year it was ranked 13th on the list of the 100 greatest films of all time by the American Film Institute.
1. Saving Private Ryan, 1998
At the top of yet another film list, Steven Spielberg again, with the war drama set in time and space during the Normandy landings, which earned Spielberg the Best Director Oscar and Tom Hanks a Best Actor nomination. Basic story, the search and rescue of the soldier Ryan (Matt Damon) – who had lost his other 3 brothers in the war – by Captain Miller and his team. The 25-minute opening scene in Omaha Beach will always be epic and has rightly been called one of the best fight scenes of all time (and it cost $12 million alone).
