MovieChat Forums > Der Untergang (2005) Discussion > LOVE movies about WW2, any suggestions f...

LOVE movies about WW2, any suggestions for others not on my list?

posted 11 years ago by pro_aris_et_focis
111 replies | jump to latest

If anyone can recommend movies that deal with WW2 I would be eternally greatful as I enjoy these kind of movies the most. These are the only ones I have in my collection but I am ALWAYS looking for more to add to my collection!

Der Untergang (by far the BEST)
Das Boot Uncut miniseries version (on par with Der Untergang)
As Far as my Feet Will Carry Me
Joy Division
Hitlers SS Portrait in Evil
Die Brucke (2008 remake)
Napola
Der Unhold
Talvisota
The Unknown Soldier
Brest Fortress
Beast of War
Days of Glory
Katyn
The Ambush
Europa Europa
The Pianist
Defiance
Uprising
Saints and Soldiers
Saints and Soldiers Airborne Creed
Where Eagles Dare
9th Company
The Keep
La Rafle
Miracle at St. Anna
Defiance
A Woman in Berlin
Fateless
A Midnight Clear
Sophie Scholl
Valkyrie
Stauffenberg
Amen.
When Trumpets Fade
The Grey Zone
Inside the Third Reich
Speer und Er
The Counterfeiters
Winds of War miniseries
War and Remebrance miniseries
Company of Heroes
Cross of Iron
The Bunker
Conspiracy

[–] emmaclarke781 11 years ago

Pretty good list :) I'd recommend you see Come and See. Its a Soviet movie from 1985 about the Nazi occupation of Belarus as seen through the eyes of a naive teenage boy. Its brilliant! Warning though, it's extremely graphic and disturbing.

Its not an easy watch but it is one of the best deceptions of Wars true horror's that ive ever seen. Its in Belorussian or Russian(im not sure which) and it has English subtitles. Its Russian name is Idi I Smotri and its directed by Elem Klimov.

history is a battle fought by a great evil,struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness

[–] phantom2-2 11 years ago

excellent addition!

i'd add:

the thin red line
patton
saving private ryan
the longest day
a bridge too far
kelly's heroes

enemy at the gates is good too.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jonny87 11 years ago

Colditz

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colditz-Complete-Collection-Limited-Collectors /dp/B0042JSSG8

[–] pro_aris_et_focis 11 years ago

Which version of Colditz? I have the 2005 version and I have tried on three seperate occasions to watch it and I just cannot get into it and that's a rare thing I will usually give ANYTHING at least one full viewing. It just cannot keep my attention, it moves too slow or something. Maybe the older version is better? I'm sure I'll eventually give it a complete viewing but so far I've only seen about 2/3. The storyline seems perfect for a nice dramatic prison movie set in war time but what I've seen just doesn't work for me.

[–] Hotrodder 11 years ago

Try the 1970s TV version of Colditz. Very good IMO. Also movies like The Cruel Sea, Ice Cold In Alex and The Dambusters spring to mind.

"Oh dear. How sad. Never mind!"

[–] the_la_baker 11 years ago

"Defiance
Uprising
Saints and Soldiers
Saints and Soldiers Airborne Creed
Where Eagles Dare
9th Company
The Keep
La Rafle
Miracle at St. Anna
Defiance"

You repeated Defiance.

I don't see Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers on there. I can only assume you saw them and just didn't like them.

Just in case, I'll throw em out there. There are also many VERY good documentaries I can recommend if you are interested.

[–] pro_aris_et_focis 11 years ago

Yeah I see that lol. I also listed one or two that aren't even World War II, like The Beast of War or "The Beast" but you get the idea... =)

[–] phantom2-2 11 years ago

captain america: the first avenger!

[–] Rosebud_in_Flames 11 years ago

Clearly! Surely this movie is on every list of great WWII films!

[–] phantom2-2 11 years ago

the thin red line
saving private ryan
captain america

does it get any better than this?

[–] Biggles20 11 years ago

Has anyone mentioned The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) - it's not brilliantly accurate in some of the combat, but still good fun. And what about 633 Squadron (1964) - again, comes across as quite hammy but a lot of fun!

Also:

Flags of Our Fathers
The Pacific (TV series)
Wings of Defeat (Risa Morimoto) - Kamikaze documentary that I still haven't seen yet
Passchendaele
Paths of Glory (admittedly these last two are WWI - there are some good fight scenes in Passchendaele, even if the film is rubbish, and Paths of Glory was brilliant)!
Bird Song (WWI mini-series)

Is the 9th Company film you're referring to the same as the Russian one set in Afghanistan?

Dr Strangelove
By Dawn's Early Light
Fail Safe (1964 / 2000 versions both good). These are all Cold War movies.

Plus, "Bravo Two Zero" (being British, I'm biased towards this one). It's about an SAS team operating / escaping behind enemy lines in the first gulf war.

Oh, and the World At War documentary series was also very good.

[–] Buckaroo-Robot-Monster 11 years ago

The Adventures of Werner Holt (German: Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt) a 1965 East German film. It shows WW2 from the perspective of two teenagers who eventually get into real combat. The title character loses his enthusiasm when he sees how evil the SS guys are and especially when they hang his friend as a deserter (he wasn't...) It puts the war on the level of "Oh yeah! It'll be fun! We're the best and we deserve the world!" Then it evolves into "Hey! I liked that girl and you killed her! Hey! You SS guys are a bunch of SOB's. You hanged by good buddy who was insanely gung-ho!"

[–] persen1 11 years ago

The Desert Fox. Its the movie about Rommel. Also out on Blu-ray.

[–] pro_aris_et_focis 11 years ago

I have never heard of this one, just looked it up and it looks exactly like the kind of movie I enjoy. Will give this a viewing as soon as I can. Thanks!!!

[–] DD-931 11 years ago

Twelve O'Clock High
The Bridge on the River Kwai
They Were Expendable
A Walk in the Sun
Yesterday's Enemy
In Harm's Way
The Hill
Hell Is For Heroes
Attack!

[–] Hotrodder 11 years ago

Some foreign language ones I can well recommend:
Max Manus
Flame and Citron
Black Book

"Oh dear. How sad. Never mind!"

[–] persen1 11 years ago

The only problem with Flame and Citron, is that it can only be considered purely fictional.
Its suppose to be about the two real Danish resistance fighters who used the aliases Flame and Citron, but actual former members of the Danish resistance and those who actually knew the two guys, has butchered the movie for how inaccurate the movie is.

Then i suggest the similar Danish movie Hvidsten gruppen (This life) instead, because of how accurate it is. It might have been released with English subs, because from what i can see, it has been shown at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 2013.

[–] Adler-99 11 years ago

My Way (Mai Wei) -- horrible name, fascinating movie about two friends, one Japanese and one Korean, dragged into the war

[–] Aleksandarrr 11 years ago

Wow. Awesome list. I only seen like 1/4 of them. I will slowly get through the list. Thanks for posting :)

"There were horses, a man on fire and I killed a guy with a Trident" - Brick Tamland

[–] rtodd110 11 years ago

Saving private Ryan
Schindlers list
Life is beautiful
Enemy at the gates
Band of brothers
For a little spin on it all I recommend inglorious bastards not accurate obviously, but still interesting and good

[–] Mad Dog McLagan 11 years ago

I'm pretty stunned nobody has mentioned The Great Escape.

I suspect the problem is that you have too many paperclips up your nose

[–] persen1 11 years ago

I'm pretty stunned nobody has mentioned The Great Escape.

Guess its because that the movie is one of the most aired WW2 movies on television. Therefore people have become so tired of it, that it is not worth mentioning.

[–] Mad Dog McLagan 11 years ago

I've heard that it's played incessantly in the UK, but not so here in Australia. Most of my friends haven't seen it.

I suspect the problem is that you have too many paperclips up your nose

[–] Bl_zz 11 years ago

It has barely ever aired on TV here in The Netherlands. I have never heard it has and I've seen hundreds or thousands of movies on TV. Also can't find proof it ever aired on internet.

[–] royu2 11 years ago

I usually dump on movies that are historically inaccurate but if you want a good half-drunk popcorn movie watch The Battle of the Bulge with Peter Fonda and Kojac.

I reckon Patton is the best WWII ever made, then this.

[–] pro_aris_et_focis 11 years ago

Thanks for the suggestions guys, there's a few of recommendations that I have not seen so I wrote them all down and I will be giving them a viewing as soon as I can. I appreciate it!

[–] Mad Dog McLagan 11 years ago

Battle of the Bulge is damned weird. It goes from a little cheesy but interesting in the first half, peaking in the snowy battle scene, to Mystery Science Theatre levels of ridiculousness at the end.

IMHO, Fonda's character is a hilarious example of script-writing going wrong. He's meant to be the all-American hero, but his certainty in the face of everything - such as ignoring every piece of evidence he sees and reaching the opposite (yet being right anyway) and being the only soldier in the film not to fear the enemy - is impossible to take seriously. He comes across as some sort of Leslie Nielsen douchebag.

I suspect the problem is that you have too many paperclips up your nose