Hello!
Not being keen on studying history I have the decided that the first good step would be watching a film. I would like to ask - which films are best at describing the reasons why WW2 started and/or ended thus informing about actual facts and numbers? Alternatively, suggestions on good biographical films about main personalities would also be great!
Thank you!
I'd suggest Tora! Tora! Tora! for the prelude to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Longest Day details the D-Day invasion.
I'd also suggest watching at least the first episode of the 1970s "World at War" series. It details Hitler's rise to power and the beginnings of the war in Europe.
Actual facts and numbers, I don't know, films take liberties with those.
But for insight I really like:
From Here to Eternity (1953)
To Hell and Back (1955)
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
Downfall (2004)
"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.
Several good suggestions have been given..
I would also add A Bridge Too Far(1971), Battle of the Bulge(1965), Sink the Bismarck!(1960) Battle of Britain(1969), Bataan(1943) and Back to Bataan(1945)
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
Jeremiah 17:7
I agree with ZevII on Tora! Tora! Tora!. The beginning of the movie shows excellently why the Japanese chose to bomb Pearl Harbor, and that act brought the US into war with a vengeance.
It is difficult to pick one movie that would show why the Germans, more particularly why Adolf Hitler was committed to liebenstraum. The European war became a world war when Hitler invaded Poland and France and England followed through on their ultimatums (ultimate for purists) to declare war and did so. The best movie I can think of to show how the war evolved in the beginning is "The Battle of Britain."
I haven't seen them in years, but I would recommend Winds of War and War and Rememberance. They require quite an investment of time as they are miniseries, but Imo they are extremely comprehensive. In addition I would suggest two others, Band of Brothers and The Pacific. My favorite WWII movie is The Great Escape, based upon a true story.
shareSaving Private Ryan, the story is fictional but the landing/invasion scene is generally agreed as the most accurate combat scene around.
Patton and MacArthur. They give a general historic ouline but lend insight into the personalities of these two pivotal generals.
Action in the North Atlantic.
This Humprhey Bogart film view the war through the eyes of the Merchant Mariners who shuttled convoys of supplies across the Atlantic.
The Great Raid. For the life of American POW's in the Pacific theater.
And now a partial list just because I like them.
Tora! Tora! Tora!
30 Seconds Over Tokyo
Run Silent, Run Deep
PT-109
They Were Expendable
Day One (a hard to find TV movie about the Manhattan Project)
Fat Man and Little Boy