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Recommend some movies about the World War 2 time period

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T

theusedversion

Member
I just watched Saving Private Ryan again last night and I'm going to check out Hitler: The Rise of Evil next (which I haven't seen yet). What are some other good movies to check out?

I watched Fury earlier in the year and loved it. I also saw someone mention on a Facebook a new movie called Child 44 featuring Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman about a serial child killer in the Stalin Russia era so I plan to check that out ASAP. Not really looking for straight up war movies but I don't mind them. Just wanting something with a little more character involvement instead of constant fighting. Anything to do with spies is awesome. Locations in Russia and Germany are a plus. Even just movies about the Jewish people such as the tv movie, Uprising. Or the film, The Pianist.

Thanks.

Edit: Movies mentioned so far. (By the way, I have a high tolerance for movies so even mediocre movies are ok.)

  • A Bridge Too Far (1977)
  • A League of their Own (1992)
  • A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
  • Army of Shadows (1969)
  • Au revoir les enfants (1987)
  • Band of Brothers (2001)
  • Battle of Britain (1969)
  • Battle of the Bulge (1965)
  • The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
  • Black Book (2006)
  • Bon Voyage (2003)
  • The Book Thief (2013)
  • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  • Captain America (2011)
  • Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
  • Casablanca (1942)
  • Child 44 (2015)
  • Come and See (1985)
  • Conspiracy (2001)
  • The Cross of Iron (1977)
  • The Dam Busters (1955)
  • Das Boot (1981)
  • Defiance (2008)
  • The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
  • The Dirty Dozen (1967)
  • Downfall (2004)
  • Empire of the Sun (1987)
  • Enemy at the Gates (2001)
  • The English Patient (1996)
  • Escape to Victory (1981)
  • Europa Europa (1990)
  • Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
  • From Here to Eternity (1953)
  • Fury (2014)
  • Generation War (2013)
  • Glorious 39 (2009)
  • Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
  • The Grey Zone (2001)
  • The Guns of Navaronne (1961)
  • The Great Escape (1963)
  • Hart's War (2002)
  • Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
  • Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
  • The Imitation Game (2014)
  • Inglorious Basterds (2009)
  • Ivan's Childhood (1962)
  • Jacob the Liar (1999)
  • Kelly's Heroes (1970)
  • Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
  • Life Is Beautiful (1997)
  • The Longest Day (1962)
  • Memphis Belle (1990)
  • The More the Merrier (1943)
  • My Way (2011)
  • Napola (Before the Fall) (2004)
  • No Time for Sergeants (1958)
  • Operation Petticoat (1959)
  • The Pacific (2010)
  • Patton (1970)
  • Pearl Harbor (2001)
  • The Pianist (2002)
  • The Railway Man (2013)
  • Red Tails (2012)
  • Sayonara (1957)
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998)
  • Schindler's List (1993)
  • Soldier of Orange (1977)
  • The Sound of Music (1965)
  • South Pacific (1958)
  • Stalingrad ???
  • Swing Kids (1993)
  • The Thin Red Line (1998)
  • To Be or Not To Be (1942)
  • Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
  • The Train (1964)
  • U-571 (2000)
  • Uprising (2001)
  • Valkyrie (2008)
  • Victory (1981)
  • Windtalkers (2002)

GAF really likes old movies.
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Enemy_at_the_gates_ver2.jpg
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
Band of Brothers is the best, but it's a mini-series and not a film. Still, I'd watch that over 5 separate stand alone WW2 movies. Pacific as well.
 
C

Chariot

Member
Enemy at the Gates - Two top snipers, a sowjet and a german in a deadly duel at the eastern front, Stalingrad.

Downfall - Last days of the war in Berlin, follwing Hitler and the germans in Berlin. It's somewhat rare to see this side of the history in WW2. They make Hitler, the nazis and their aids human and that's even more terrifying than anything else.

Das Boot - A movie about a german submarine crew.

edit: Goddamnit, Shinobi!
 
H

HylianTom

Banned
If you want WWII comedy, I can't recommend Mel Brooks' "To Be Or Not to Be" highly enough. It's classified as a comedy, but there are some pretty poignant moments in it. The storyline takes place in Poland during the invasion and heavily features a secret agent/mixed identities element that's incredibly well-done. And the cast is spectacular! Charles Durning actually got an Academy Award nomination for his role (this was back when the Academy recognized that comedies exist) - and be sure to look for Christopher Lloyd as his lackey.
 
C

commish

Jason Kidd murdered my dog in cold blood!
Handsomejan said:
this one right here, one of, if not the best ww2 movie i ever saw. It so good you can smell the fear and sweat of the crew through the tv. love it.
Click to expand...

It's amazing how much EVERY OTHER WWII sub movie stole from Das Boot. The original is still the best.
 
N

neogaffer1

Banned
i don't remember the name but there's a movie (german I think) about a jewish boy who pretends to be a nazi to survive wwii and the holocaust. anyone know what i'm talking about?

edit: Europa Europa
 
S

shadowkat

Unconfirmed Member
Schindler's List
Letters from Iwo Jima

If you want an older movies:
The Best Years of our Lives (looks at the lives of 3 vets returning after the war)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Operation Petticoat (comedy, but very good)
The More the Merrier (about the WW2 housing shortage in Washington, also a comedy)
 
S

Sanjay

Member
Trying not to mention ones said already.

Must watch films:- Like you have to watch these two no matter what.
Paths of Glory (1957)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Some others:-
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Empire of the Sun (1987) 13-year-old christian bale!

For fun.
Escape to Victory (1981)
 
O

Opiate

Member
If you're just looking for a fun romp, Schindler's List is a light family movie that deals with the time period around WW2.

If you're looking for something more somber and pointed, I recommend Inglorious Bastards for its serious take on the topic and historical accuracy.
 
F

frontovik

Banned
The essentials are:

Das Boot
Stalingrad (the 1993 version)
Come and See
Downfall
Band of Brothers (miniseries)
Generation War (miniseries)
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
Sanjay said:
Trying not to mention ones said already.

Must watch films:- Like you have to watch these two no matter what.
Paths of Glory (1957)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Some others:-
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Empire of the Sun (1987) 13-year-old christian bale!

For fun.
Escape to Victory (1981)
Click to expand...

Paths of Glory is WW1, not 2
 
Bry0

Bry0

Member
Stalingrad - A good German film

Battle of the Bulge - 1965 A 3 hour long epic, pretty good movie
 
H

Hazaku

Member
Real Hero said:
220px-Generation_War_2013_poster.jpg

(3 episode miniseries)
Click to expand...

Came to post this.

Also if stuff like Generation War is up your alley and you're willing to either hunt down a kinda rare DVD box set or go for a bit of search on the web ... there's a fantastic Korean miniseries called Eyes of Dawn which touches on parts of WWII that you don't really ever see explored in films or TV from the west. Such as Unit 731 or comfort women.
 
Z

Zeknurn

Member
Some older films that comes to mind

Stalingrad (1993)
Kelly's Heroes
Das Boot - Director's Cut (209 minutes) or Uncut (293 minutes)
Battle of Britain (1969)
Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
The Desert Fox - The Story of Rommel
The Great Escape
The Dam Busters (1955)
Tora Tora Tora
 
G

Gorger

Member
The Longest day

bbf6064fb7aa4ac0a3166becdbd02fea.jpg


One of my favorite movie. D-Day as told from the American, British, French and German perspective.
 
E

Erico

Unconfirmed Member
The Thin Red Line is the best war movie I've ever seen.

For engaging, but less "man's inhumanity to man" WWII movies, I'd recommend:
The Guns of Navaronne
&
The Train
 
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