Best World War II Films

Watched it for the second time a couple of days ago. Great movie!

 

Interesting list. Some unexpected choices. (Generation War, Immitation Game) unfamiliar choices (Heroes, The Ascent) and many movies you would expect to see absent.

 

Where Eagles Dare is pretty good, as is the Longest Day

 

Allow me to comment on the reasons for why I included 'The Imitation Game' are; 1) the extra-ordinary good performance by Benedict Cumberbatch; and 2) the accuracy with which Alan Turing's work was described. Having said that, the film is unfortunately very limited with regards to the actual code-breaking work that was done at Bletchley Park. Alan Turing may have been the master-mind behind the computer, but without Gordon Welchman's improvements and the signal analysis he and his team did in Hut 6, Turing's work would have been in more or less useless.

Like so many times in history some people tend to get credit for more than they deserve while others are left out.

Yesterday I watched a slightly extended version of Tora! Tora! Tora! in high-definition. The extended version gives a bit more background information of the political game and filled in a couple of blanks from the shorter version. In most cases, like Das Boot, extended versions are seldom better than the original theatrical ones, but with Tora! Tora! Tora! it actually improved the film.

Another film that you might find interesting Andre is the French / Russian post-war film East - West (Est - Quest) from 1999. It is a co-production between Russia/Ukraine/Bulgaria/France/Spain

Plot description "June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step. By chance, she meets a touring French actress and pleads for help. She also takes a young swimmer under her wing, and several years later, he makes a bold attempt to escape. Meanwhile, the KGB is suspicious, and hope for freedom is dim. Patience, her husband's self control, and her good looks may be their only assets."

It was a supricingly good movie albeit not a great movie.

 

Recently, I watched a TV re-run of "A Bridge Too Far". It's another one of those "star-studded cast" films but now that I know a lot more about the battle, I consider it one of the better WW2 movies.

 

I second that. It's actually my favorite. The cast, as you said, is star studded. Present day war movies can't go more then 2 or 3 high profile actors deep anymore. Fury attempted with success, but even those actors, other than Pitt, are not real headliners.

my only acting issue with ABTF is Gene Hackman. Love Gene Hackman, but his portrayal is very comical to me

 

What you wrote sounds about right.

Monuments Men tried to have more of an ensemble. Clooney was working with a medium sized budget of 60 to 80 million. The cast was part of the draw for many people - Goodman, Damon, Blanchett, Clooney himself, and for an international audience the Brit from Downton Abbey and Jean Dujardins, who is one of the big french stars of today. The movie was mistakenly compared to Oceans Eleven and most people's expectations were disapointed.

 

Not normally a fan of war flicks, but whenever Das Boot or Twelve O'clock High is on I'm watching it. My other favorite is Pork-Chop Hill. I know that it's the wrong war, but it's still in my top three.

 

I remember going to see that film, understanding it was going to be like the Great Escape equipped with the classic montage. I enjoyed it for what it was.

 

I realize it's based on nothing more than a legend, but Panfilovs 28 is actually pretty good.

 

Wait for the new version of the 'Unkown soldìer' about the Finnish front war made in 2017.

 

So many but “At dawn we dive” is the most watched war movie for me...

 

Blueray and DVD have already been released in Finland and will be available in Sweden in April. They have both Finnish and Swedish subtitles. I suppose English subtitles will be coming soon too.

 

Alot of general movie goers judge WW2 films on the big spectacle of battle and sure a good battle scene deserves its due, but for me I really enjoy WW2 films that are behind the scenes, thriller,espionage,spies and all that.

I dont even know where to start a list of my favorites but I'll mention a few that I absolutely enjoy watching.

Night of the Generals
Black Book
Army of Shadows
Downfall
Das Boot
Eye of the Needle
The Desert Fox
Land of Mine

and others like
The Eternal Zero
Saving Private Ryan
Yamato
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Stalingrad ('93)
Come and See
The Bridge
Into the White
Battle for Sevastopol
Battle of Britain
etc..etc..

Then I got the guilty pleasure/stupid fun ones like
Inglorious Basterds
Iron Sky

Good series also like Band of Brothers, Generation War and the Heavy Water War where also a great watch.

 

From long ago in 1949, Battleground; 1970, Patton; 1977, A Bridge Too Far; 1990, Memphis Belle; 1998, Saving Private Ryan and more recently, Fury and Dunkirk.

 

Cross of Iron, Army of Shadows, Soldier of Orange, Black Book, Where Eagles Dare (somewhat of a guilty pleasure), The Eagle has Landed, Das Boot (director's cut) and Patton to name a few of my favorite WW2-movies.

 

I would like to submit two films to the list . The movie Kokoda and El Alamain .Both films very realistic and hard to watch at times .Das Boot German is a fantastic choice and takes you there.