Top 15 World War 2 Films of All Time - A Historian Reacts

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#History #Reaction #WW2

[VloggingThroughHistory]

Just an FYI that there's about a 10 second spot near the middle of the video with no sound. Thank the youtube copyright detector for that. Hans Zimmer's score from Thin Red Line got dinged, and it was either mute that part or file an appeal which can take weeks. I just muted it.

[TheToledoTrumpton]

My father was in a Japanese POW camp captured at Singapore, and he was put on the Burma Road. Bridge over the River Kwai was his most detested movie. He said it was complete rubbish. He said in his camp, if you spoke to the Japanese commander or really any of the Japanese, you were shot; if you didn't respond quickly enough you were shot; There was no parade, there were no officers; it was a labor camp and they were slaves. They worked, ate, slept, and talked in whispers after dark. And they mostly died.

[kadenvolan]

1993 German Stalingrad Movie. Once again a movie entirely from the German perspective. The movie details as German soldiers struggle with their loyalty as the war progresses from victory to crushing defeat and retreat.

[Mr.Crowley]

Downfall is easily one of the best — despite the endless memes, the portrayal of Hitler by the outstanding Swiss actor Bruno Ganz (rip — he listened to the very few recordings of Hitler’s natural speaking voice to get the Bavarian accent) is definitive, and the incredible attention to details in the bunker, and the portrayal of the collective psychological meltdown as the Red Army nears, are just brilliant.

[edwardtoyebo]

Grave of the Fireflies will break your heart. From 1988, this animated feature is like no other and tells the story of a Japanese teen boy taking care of his toddler sister just before Hiroshima. It is hard to imagine a film so beautiful and brutal. Children are the most vulnerable of wartime and this film does not pull back when it punches. Roger Ebert claims there is no way the film makers could have done this live and still have the same affect. I agree.

[gero]

I'd recommend "Die Brücke" (The Bridge). A German movie from 1959. No big budget or huge scenes, just a story about a few young friends who are ordered to protect a completely unimportant bridge in their hometown in Germany in the assumption that there won't be any action anyhow - and then the US army shows up. Extremely impressive exactly because the whole set is that small.

[Nadinetherescuehound]

I walked out of the theater after the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan openly weeping. My grandfather was in the 29th infantry division and was on that beach at zero hour +30. You can even see the Blue and Grey Ying yang patches on some of the soldiers. His unit had a 90% casualty rate. He came home...for the most part. As much as you can from seeing something like that.

[mcnultyssobercompanion]

_Really_ pleasantly surprised to see "Come and See" at number 1. Thank God for Criterion kind of resurrecting it to be exposed to a whole new generation. It's like a nightmare being converted into cinema, hard to watch, but important to watch.

[ddierschow]

Can't deal with a list where Tora Tora Tora doesn't even make the honorable mentions.

[carador]

The 5-hour-version of "Das Boot" is actually the best of all three versions. That version has lots of passages where nothing really happens and the crew starts to get impatient, annoyed by and angry at each other. They feel that they don't contribute anything to win the war. It's the most realistic picture of what reality was like on a submarine in WWII. But that version was considered to be too long and too boring for the audience. They cut so much stuff away from it that the actors were shocked when they watched it at the premiere. The studio had turned a great study of war into a dull action movie. Luckily, after a few years, the 5-hour-miniseries was shown on TV and is loved since that day. The Directors Cut is something in between. It's much better than the theatrical version, but still lacks some things from the miniseries.

[Fowey]

I would heartily recommend "Unknown soldier" 2017, it's based on an old finnish novel written by a veteran who fought in the continuation war against soviet union. it has great characters and good historical accuracy aswell. it's one that's probably not so well known outside of Finland so I reccomend it to foreigners especially for insight about what was happening in finland during ww2

[stenmaulsby]

I agree about adding The Longest Day and Tora Tora Tora. Not only is The Longest Day one of the best WWII movies ever made, I think it's one of the best films ever made, with both breadth and depth of vision, bringing in perspectives of so many different people and different kinds of people. I also think it's a great soundtrack. If you didn't notice it that much, that's part of the point. When you do notice it, it's often the martial drumming. I think of it as one three hour piece of music with long, long rests. In its coming and going, even in its absences, it is controlling the rhythm of your responses to everything else.

[forgottenfamily]

Re: Downfall: it's the difference between an explanation and an excuse. We shouldn't excuse what Hitler did, but it is important to explain it, to understand the mindset. And frankly, we can talk about it in the clinical terms of xenophobia and such all we want, but for many, it is near impossible to truly understand such terms without an emotive example. That is what Downfall truly provides.

[chestty]

Generally, when I watch Dunkirk, I get bugged by the seemingly small number of people on the beach. I've heard this was because Nolan wanted to keep it practical and avoid adding more troops with effects, but I think it would've sold the situation more. I always felt very weird about it. The board walk is crammed full of people, and the ships showed tonnes of people, but very few (barely pushing 150 being generous imo) on the beach to fill those ships.

Otherwise, I generally enjoy it.

[spagoz]

As already mentioned by others "The Cruel Sea" could have made the list. "Das Boot" gave the German perspective of the Battle of the Atlantic, while The Cruel Sea depicted the British side and the task of protecting the convoys crossing that ocean. Filming in B&W gave it atmosphere that could not be replicated in colour, plus some great actors of the time.

[Natsymir]

a gem most people probably haven't heard about; "Land of Mine". it takes place immediately after the war, and is about teenaged German soldiers, now prisoners of war, who are forced to clear mines from Denmark's beaches. Their minder is a Danish officer, who harbors quite a bit of resentment, but gradually gets a more complex view of these boys and the horrible task they've been forced to perform. A great film.

[mmorpgal]

I know it doesn't rank for many others but "Grave of the Fireflies" is an excellent film about the struggles of Japanese Civilians during the end of WW2.

[celston]

It's not included but "Twelve O'Clock High" should be an honorable mention.

[joebeatty]

I’ve heard the British 1953 film, The Cruel Sea, starring Jack Hawkins is a very accurate depiction of the Royal Navy fighting Germany's U-boats.

[jimmycburfield]

‘Come and see’. Is not only the best Second World War film but the best war film ever.

The pianist is a truly great film.