Best World War 2 Films Movies: 20 Top WWII Films

If you’re trying to answer the question, “What are the best World War II movies?” or “What is the greatest war movie ever?” then this list will help you get started.

You don’t need to look any further for some good old-fashioned classic movie watching experience here because this list will help you find the best World War 2 films ever in no time.

World War II was a time of great turmoil for the world. People went off to fight wars, often in locations thousands of miles from their homes, economies had collapsed and many people were out of work or struggling to make ends meet.

It was a time of great fear and uncertainty, especially for those who saw action directly.

Best World War 2 Movies

These are the best war movies of all time, suggested by our team with film trailers when available. This war film list is sorted in no particular order.

Let’s get going! Oh, and watch the shrapnel!

The Longest Day (1962)

The Longest Day is a 1962 war film epic that was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, and Bernhard Wicki.

It recounts the events of D-Day, from the vantage point of both the Allied and Axis forces. The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Cornelius Ryan, who also collaborated on the screenplay.

The Longest Day includes many actual members of the invasion force and extras who actually participated in the events it portrays, including some who were wounded in battle.

Many of these participants were veterans of World War II, including John Howard (H Company, 115th Regiment/16th Infantry Division), Richard Todd (9th Battalion Parachute Regiment) and a self-admitted former Nazi Kurt Frings (1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler).

The film was shot in two separate versions: one with American actors, soldiers and equipment and another with British soldiers, sailors and airmen. The original version of the film released in 1962 was 134 minutes long.

For its theatrical release in 1980, it was edited to 124 minutes. 

Overlord (1975)

Overlord is one of the most unusual and effective ghost stories ever made. It was adapted by Cooper from a novel by Joseph Payne, who also wrote the screenplay – and it’s based on a true story.

There have been many accounts of hauntings and poltergeists over the years, but probably the best known is that of the Enfield Poltergeist, which took place in an ordinary suburban house in London, England in 1977.

The case attracted worldwide attention because of its duration (it lasted ten months) and because of the sheer terror experienced by the family living in the house at the time.

The haunting was investigated by parapsychologists from all over Europe and America, including two members of the Society for Psychical Research who spent five days in the house with a team from London Weekend Television.

Where Eagles Dare (1968)

I am a great admirer of this film and its director Brian G. Hutton, who was the unfortunate victim of an unfair campaign by the notoriously unpleasant American critic Pauline Kael, who disliked the film so much, she gave it a zero star rating in her review in The New Yorker magazine.

Taken from Alistair McLean’s best-selling novel ‘The Eagles’ Brood’, it is set during World War II and concerns a plan to steal a German officer (Otto Preminger) who knows the details of the D-Day invasion plans.

The movie opens with an amazing aerial shot showing soldiers parachuting into an alpine forest, the camera then follows one man (Michael Caine) as he makes his way through the woods.

A perfectly pitched mix of action, humor, and suspense is maintained throughout and the battle scenes are spectacular, as is the final scene between Caine and Preminger, where they square off in a barn before Preminger realizes he is out of his depth with Caine’s superior fighting skills.

Caine’s performance is excellent and I particularly liked David Hemmings as one of his fellow soldiers, and George Kennedy as their comical sergeant – he was nominated for an Oscar.

Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

The 1949 film Twelve O’Clock High is a powerful character study. It has the action and thrills of a war film, but it focuses more on the relationships of the characters than on the war itself.

It was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Gregory Peck (who won), and Best Director for Henry King.

Travis is an interesting character because he’s portrayed as both an antihero and a hero in this movie. He’s clearly not as heroic or noble as his men want him to be.

He drinks, cheats on his wife, and has generally questionable morals.But he does care about his men, his country and his job, even if he’s not always able to show it in the ways his men expect him to.

In many ways, Travis is a man out of time. He doesn’t belong in the military anymore.

He resents that he doesn’t have control over his life or career anymore; he resents that he can’t just do what he wants without having to answer to anyone else.

He feels like he’s been left behind by the Army Air Corps while his peers have gotten high-ranking positions and prestigious assignments elsewhere.

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H.

Nicholson for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It stars Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson and Jim Brown, with Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, George Kennedy and Donald Sutherland in supporting roles.

The screenplay was written by James Lee Barrett, based on the book by E. M. Nathanson.

The film was commercially released in the United States on December 22, 1967.

The film is set during World War II with the United States Army training desperate prisoners inside a German POW camp to be an elite commando unit.

After consideration of several Allied moonlighting projects (such as Operation Undertone), the project finally settles on Operation Foxhole — an audacious plan to blow up a series of hydroelectric dams along the Rhine River in Germany before D-Day.

The team is led by Captain Walker (Marvin), who must complete his mission at all costs while trying to keep his men alive and defeat the Germans without official support from the Allied forces.

 

 

The Big Red One (1980)

To explain the immense appeal of The Big Red One, there’s this story from its production. Samuel Fuller was directing his first Hollywood movie, and he was having a hard time getting along with the studio.

They’d hired him to make a war movie, but it turned out he wanted to make a movie about his war movie. In the middle of filming, a studio executive visited the set and asked Fuller what he was doing.

“I’m making a film,” Fuller replied. “I’ve been making them all my life.”

The Big Red One is indeed a film made by Samuel Fuller, that rare effort that can be both personal and universal.

It has the visceral power of his best-known work (The Steel Helmet, Shock Corridor) while suggesting something deeper—a huge, grand saga of World War II told through the prism of one soldier’s experience.

Told in flashback by Sgt. Bowren (Lee Marvin), who fought in North Africa and Europe and is now living in California, The Big Red One begins with an image of Lee Marvin walking toward us in profile—the most glorious shot in the film.

The Dam Busters (1955)

The Dam Busters (Michael Anderson, 1955) is a dramatization of the true story of Operation Chastise, in which Royal Air Force 617 Squadron attacked dams in Germany using new bouncing bombs.

Told by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd), it opens with him as CO of 617 Squadron at Scampton, Lincolnshire, in 1943.

The squadron has been formed from volunteers only and their first task is to attack German dams. Gibson is given the job of leading the attack in his own aircraft, AJ-G.

The squadron goes to a training camp at Woodhall Spa and Gibson selects his crews, who include Sgt. Mossop (Dudley Sutton), Sgt. Grice (John Gregson), Sgt. Dickey (Derrick De Marney) and F/Sgt. Barlow (David McCallum).

They make their way to the base at RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth where they are introduced to the bouncing bomb invented by Barnes Wallis (Guy Middleton).

They fly out to Scampton to begin training but they are not allowed to take off until they have memorised all the information about the dams they will have to attack.

From Here to Eternity (1953)

From Here to Eternity is a 1953 American romantic drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel of the same name by James Jones.

The film chronicles the pre-World War II lives and loves of soldiers at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oʻahu.

Theatrically released by Columbia Pictures, with a running time of 134 minutes, From Here to Eternity was produced simultaneously in 35 mm and 65 mm versions (the latter as a roadshow presentation), and has been widely considered one of the best war movies ever made, as well as being one of the top box office successes of its year.

From Here to Eternity received 12 Academy Awards nominations and won eight, including awards for Picture, Actor (Montgomery Clift), Actress (Donna Reed), Supporting Actor (Frank Sinatra) and Supporting Actress (Eleanor Parker).

It was named one of the 100 greatest American movies by the American Film Institute in 1998 and one of AFI’s 10 best love stories.

In 1941, bugler and career soldier Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt transfers to a company at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oʻahu.

Captain Dana “Dynamite” Holmes wants him to join his regimental boxing team.

The Great Escape (1963)

Uncertainty is at the heart of The Great Escape. The film’s two-hour running time is filled with it—from the moment the prisoners are captured, right up to the very end.

No one knows what will happen next.

Tension is a key ingredient in any Sturges picture, and this one is no exception—the director’s most electrifying film since his breakthrough, The Magnificent Seven (1960).

It was also his last commercial success. The Great Escape was a perfect candidate for a remake: It had a fantastic story and some great elements (the “Brittany tunnel,” for example), but it hadn’t been brought to the screen with enough punch to reach a wide audience.

Sturges turned out to be the ideal man for the job. He was born in Paris to American parents; he had lived in France for years, knew some German, and was as familiar with Europe as he was with America.

He was also a veteran director: His first movie, Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), had won him an Oscar nomination; his second, The Magnificent Seven, had been an enormous hit; and his third film, The Great Escape , would turn out to be his finest hour.

Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

The last film Clint Eastwood directed before Gran Torino, Letters from Iwo Jima follows the battle of Iwo Jima from the side of Japan. It is a fascinating look at an event that has been told many times over by American filmmakers.

The focus on the Japanese side of the story doesn’t mean that it lacks anything. Letters from Iwo Jima focuses on three main characters, two Japanese soldiers and one American soldier.

The American soldier, played by Ken Watanabe, is a writer who had enlisted in order to get away from his family and is assigned to take letters home to their families.

He is joined by two men, one who is good at everything and another who is good at nothing.

The movie uses this trio as a way to tell the story of Iwo Jima while focusing on one small piece of the war that takes place before the climactic battle.

At first, you might feel like you are only watching Watanabe’s character, but by taking a small portion of the war and making it deeply personal you get a better picture of what was going on than if it had just focused on the military campaign.

The story also raises a very interesting question about how much any war can be justified.

The Thin Red Line (1998)

“The Thin Red Line” is a war film, but it is also a film about the need for men to find meaning in their lives. Malick’s point of view comes from the moment in which he was making this film.

He was making it after the cold war and after the Gulf War, two wars that were not fought for any sort of moral superiority. They were both simply wars over oil or land or power; they were economic wars.

Malick wants to get beyond those reasons and find something purer and more meaningful in warfare. He sees the poetry in warfare itself, and he wants to capture that poetry on film.

Malick frames his story through the eyes of Witt (Jim Caviezel), who has just joined an army unit in World War II. The unit is going into battle against the Japanese on some small Pacific island.

Witt is there because he has to be; he has no choice as long as his government still requires that he serve. He does not feel any patriotism towards his government or its side in this war, but he does feel loyalty towards his fellow soldiers in the unit.

They are his family now, and he will fight to keep them safe because they are fighting for each other; they all want to come home alive.

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is an excellent film, not just as a great war movie but also as a terrific character study. It tells the story of British POWs forced to build a bridge for their Japanese captors in Burma during World War II.

The central character is Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), who is determined to have his men build not just any bridge, but the most extraordinary bridge in military history.

The film begins with a wonderful prologue showing how the British and the Japanese are thinking along similar lines: they want to build the most extraordinary buildings they can imagine.

The British want to make beautiful bridges, while the Japanese want to erect a pagoda that will reach heaven. Both projects are started with great enthusiasm and energy, but both eventually fall into futility when faced with the grim realities of war.

The film’s title comes from a line in Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The Young British Soldier,” which was very popular in England at the time:

“For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ‘Chuck him out, the brute!’/But it’s ‘Saviour of ‘is country’ when the guns begin to shoot.” In other words, we honor our soldiers.

Rome, Open City (1945)

Rome, Open City is not just one of the great films of the postwar era. It is one of the greatest films, period.

It is a masterpiece. I saw it for the first time in college and was bowled over by its epic sweep, its grand themes, and its powerful sense of history.

But I saw it again recently while researching my book on Roberto Rossellini’s neorealist masterpieces, _The Cinema of Economic Miracles_ (Zone Books, 2018), and was once again bowled over by it.

This is a film that leaves you breathless. It starts with a bang, literally: American bombers attack a city that looks uncannily like Rome (it’s actually Bari).

We are then transported to Rome itself where U.S.-backed partisans are fighting German occupation forces.

The Nazis have not yet occupied Rome itself, but partisans from all over Italy flock there to continue their fight against the fascist regime. They hide out in the ruins of an ancient aqueduct and plot to assassinate the local German commander.

We follow them as they prepare for their mission and finally carry it out—and we also follow their leader as he tries to decide whether he should stay in Rome or escape to Switzerland after he completes his assignment.

Das Boot (1981)

Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981) is a great example of the power of visual storytelling.

This taut thriller uses dramatic sound and image to create an authentic sense of claustrophobia, urgency and despair.

It’s a gripping war film that doesn’t need hysterical dialogue or cutaways to explosions to convey its message.

Tensions run high with this tight-knit crew, who live in cramped quarters, eat together and depend on each other for survival.

They share a common goal — to kill as many Allied soldiers as possible — but the submarine is their world, and the enemy is everywhere.

On land, the U-boat is feared by all; at sea, it’s vulnerable to attack from above.

A single Allied plane can sink them easily. Without food or freshwater, these men are living on borrowed time — if they don’t sink first.

The sound design in Das Boot is exceptional. The camera work is also superb; there’s no hand-held shooting here, just long takes and carefully composed shots that emphasize the claustrophobic setting and chaotic action on deck.

The film’s opening minutes are some of the best in movie history — a long take set on board a U-boat as it sinks an Allied ship.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Grave of the Fireflies is a remarkable achievement, but it should be seen as a product of its time and place.

It was made in 1988, a time when Japan was on the cusp of an economic boom that would bring the country’s economy to new heights.

The film’s director, Isao Takahata (Grave is his only feature film to date), was regarded by many critics as one of the most important figures in his field, but he had no interest in furthering his career in commercial animation.

Takahata was born in 1935 and graduated from the Kanazawa College of Art, which specialized in oil painting.

He joined Toei Animation after graduation and worked on several features, including Animal Treasure Island (1965), before leaving the studio over a dispute with management in 1967.

He spent time working under Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion) and even drew manga for Akita Shoten.

In 1969, he returned to animation at Mushi Productions working on Hols: Prince of the Sun before directing his own full-length feature, Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968).

Dunkirk (2017)

I had the pleasure of seeing Dunkirk when it was released in theatres. The movie had a lot of action and suspense.

I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen at several points, but the movie still kept me on my toes. It wasn’t really that long of a movie, but it felt longer because there was so much action.

To be honest, I don’t think it would have been as good if it were any shorter than it was. That is the main reason I would recommend this movie to you.

The special effects were very well done and the story was very interesting.

The cinematography was very interesting too, (as expected from Christopher Nolan).

There were a lot of shots that looked like they were filmed all around the same place, but then you’d get a flashback scene on the boat that showed all these things in different positions.

It made me feel like I was watching an episode of Orphan Black for about three minutes.

I know a lot of people were upset about how little Tom Hardy appeared in this move, but I didn’t really mind too much.

He wasn’t really in the film much anyway (just when everything is happening), so him being on screen for a few brief moments wasn’t really that big of a deal.

Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)

Moviegoers who go to see a Steven Spielberg film expect to be touched by it. This is because his films have a knack for giving the audience exactly what it wants: thrills, excitement, romance, and most importantly, an emotional experience that can be very powerful.

In his 1998 World War II epic Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg achieves this emotional impact by showing the brutality of war in unflinching detail.

But as powerful as this movie is, it cannot be called anti-war without qualification; while it is certainly not pro-war, the message of Saving Private Ryan is more subtle than that. The film shows audiences that war can be a necessary evil if one has a duty to perform it.

The story of Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon) begins with a brief prologue in which we learn that he is the last surviving brother in his family.

This does not mean that all four of his brothers were killed in service to their country; rather, as the film reveals later on, two died in childhood and one was killed on D-Day.

The fourth brother was captured and held prisoner by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

Come and See (1985)

“Come and See” (1985) is a film that opens up a historical moment in ways few films ever do. It invites the viewer to have a visceral experience of war as it was lived in Belarus and Ukraine during World War II, at the time of the Nazi occupation.

The film is based on events witnessed by its director, Elem Klimov, as a child. It is almost shocking in its realism.

Directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksey Kravchenko, it tells the story of a young boy who witnesses firsthand the atrocities of World War II.

The action begins with an innocent rural lifestyle being shattered by the sound of artillery fire and continues through a series of shifting realities as everything that has been taken for granted is violated.

With no one he can trust or even believe, the boy’s world crumbles around him, his innocence lost forever.

Banned for many years in the Soviet Union because of its graphic depiction of wartime atrocities, “Come and See” has since become regarded as one of the most powerful anti-war films ever made.

It was awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival in 1985, along with four other major prizes including Best Director for Elem Klimov.

Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca is one of the most beloved movies of all time, and with good reason. It’s a classic in every sense, right down to its perfect script. (In fact, it’s the only movie to ever win Oscars in all four major categories: picture, actor, actress, and screenplay.)

Casablanca is a wartime romance set in World War II-era North Africa. It follows the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American expatriate running a nightclub in Casablanca when his former lover Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) walks back into his life.

The two had parted ways under mysterious circumstances before Rick left Paris to head for North Africa, but now she wants to make up for lost time.

Ilsa was married to Czech resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), who is also on his way to Casablanca.

The couple is on the run from Nazi agents working for Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), who has been tasked with assassinating Laszlo.

In the meantime, he’s trying to get his hands on a letter of transit that would allow Laszlo and Ilsa to escape occupied Europe and join the Free French Forces.

Schindler’s List (1993)

Film is a medium for the masses, but at its finest it can be as fine an art as any other. Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List is such a movie. It is also one that, in my opinion, needs no explanation or recommendation; it speaks for itself.

It needs to be seen and felt. At times what you see may make you feel ashamed: not ashamed because it is there, but because it should not have been necessary.

The film’s power is that it offers an experience of horror so great we can truly understand the magnitude of the crimes committed by the Nazis and the Holocaust.

Schindler’s List has two main themes: one about good and evil, and another about how we treat people who are different from us.

Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson) was a German businessman who initially made his fortune by exploiting cheap Jewish labor in his factories during World War II.

As the war progressed, he realized that his Jewish workers were being exterminated by the Nazis, and pledged to use his fortune to save as many of them as he could.

He did so by employing them in his factories, buying them from their Nazi captors and providing them with food, shelter, and safety.

What Is Considered The Best War Movie Ever Made?

There are very few war movies that have been made in the history of cinema that do not glorify war.

Even though people see these movies as entertainment, it is likely to make them more accepting of war and put them in a mindset where they believe that they need to fight in order to be considered a real man.

Trying to answer the question of what is considered the best war movie ever made is no easy task at all because you have to take into consideration a number of things.

You have to consider how good the acting was, how good the special effects were, how historically accurate it was and many other factors as well.

The movie that most people would agree on as being one of the best ever made with regard to war is Schindler’s List.

This was an adaptation from a book by Thomas Keneally and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

This movie came out in 1993 and received critical acclaim for its acting, its special effects, its directing and other areas as well.

The storyline for this film was about Oskar Schindler who was a German businessman who had made his fortune off of making enamelware and other home goods like pots and pans.