What are your five favorite WW2 movies?

[red dog 1]

1) Saving Private Ryan
2) Defiance
3) Windtalkers
4) Hacksaw Ridge
5) Kelly's Heroes

[ret5hd]

1. Casa Blanca

[Easterncedar]

2. The Great Escape.

I have watched it more times than I can count.

Das Boot I watched only once, but it has stayed with me through the decades ever since.

[LoisB]

17. Mine too.

[Paladin]

3. Here are mine:

1. "Twelve O'clock High"

2. "Bridge On The River Kwai"

3. "In Which We Serve"

4. "Schindler's List"

5. "Saving Private Ryan"

[justaprogressive]

4. I'll play.

1) Is Paris Burning?
2) The Great Escape
3) 12 o'clock High
4) The Train
5) Run Silent, Run Deep

[Shellback Squid]

5. don't forget "Das Boot"

fab film

Dam Busters
Bridge over the River Kwai
Das Boot
Battle of Britain (except the dog)
Great Escape

[Omaha Steve]

25. Battle of Britain 4K on the way

Dear valued customer,

After our 2024 restoration and 4K release of A Bridge Too Far, we knew that following up with Battle Of Britain was the next logical step! It has been a joy watching this mammoth restoration come together, and we are very thankful for the work from the wonderful team at Fidelity In Motion for making it happen.

Our initial scan discovered a short two-minute section of the film was not present in the negative, instead replaced with white space in the middle of the reel. This, of course, sent us in hunt of the missing footage, to ensure our restoration is complete and uncompromised.

We are happy to say that a superior source for this two-minute section has now been found, and we are thrilled to see this scanned and built into the restoration.

While this means a disappointing further delay, we know that there is no other option for this key release - our proud #500 for Imprint Films.

Our new release date will be 18 February 2026. Your order, including any other titles, will be shipped together on or before this date.

Thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support of Imprint Films.

VIA VISION ENTERTAINMENT & IMPRINT FILMS

[FadedMullet]

36. "Das Boot" was the first one that I thought of. Big expensive production of a great story.

[lapfog_1]

6. pink submarines

Operation Petticoat

[Goonch]

7. ;-{) Enemy at the Gates

[Harker]

16. I was listening to a hockey game on the radio, maybe a couple years back...

and there were players involved named Zaitsev and Kulikov.

[Chasstev365]

8. Here:

The Longest Day
The Battle of Britain
A Bridge Too Far
Sink The Bismarck
Das Boot
Enemy at The Gates
Tora, Tora, Tora
Memphis Bell
Triump of the Spirt (Willem Dafoe Defoe Holocaust film)

[debm55]

9. Bridge Over the River Kwai. From Here to Eternity. The Great Escape. Stalag 13. Casablanca

[Coventina]

33. Bridge Over the River Kwai, Casablanca, Stalag 17 we have in common, Deb!

South Pacific

The Monuments Men (I'm an Art Historian, it's not a great movie, but I'm a sucker for the subject matter)

[Zorro]

10. Uhhhh...Full Metal Jacket is Vietnam

Here's a few I like:

Fury
The Guns of Navarone
The Hill
Father Goose
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

[red dog 1]

50. My mistake, thanks

[Shambala]

11. Full Metal Jacket is Vietnam

My choices from the Pacific Theater.

From Here To Eternity
24 Eyes
Grave of the Fireflies
Tora Tora Tora
Unbroken

[Upthevibe]

64. Shambala.........

Grave of the Fireflies tears my heart apart to even see the words. That was one of the saddest movies I've EVER seen....

[Shambala]

66. My mother was a young girl in Japan during WWII

so I watched a few of these movies with her growing up and she had a few stories to tell. One of which was the fire bomb raids that destroyed her house a few times causing them to move up the hill. Then she had to go down to the river to fetch water and trek back up the hill. Grave of the Fireflies, especially the fire bomb scenes, humble me to remember what my mom lived through and the sacrifices she made for her kids.

[dweller]

12. 2

Inglourious Basterds

The Pianist



✌🏻

[LogDog75]

13. The Great Raid

Based on the true story of Allied Forces attacking a Japanese prisoner of war camp holding over 500 Allied prisoners in occupied Philippines. The surprise raid in January of 1945 inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese while Allied Forces had minimal losses. The successful raid freed over 500 prisoners.

[red dog 1]

23. Great movie!

I've watched it many times.

[mucifer]

14. To Be or Not to Be both versions

Mel Brooks and Ann Bancroft and the Jack Benny one.

[GreatGazoo]

15. Sound of Music

Casablanca
Star Wars: New Hope (WW2 disguised as Sci-fi)
Wizard of Oz (preceded WW2 but uncannily prescient)
Hope and Glory

[Harker]

18. In no order, and subject to revision...

"Fires on the Plain"

"Das Boot"

"The Burmese Harp"

"The Bridge on the River Kwai"

"The Dirty Dozen"

Ultimately for me, the only good war movie is an anti-war movie.

[Aristus]

19. No order:

Saving Private Ryan.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
Casablanca.
The Winter War.
White Tiger.

[GP6971]

20. Add to the others mentioned

Objective Burma

[Skittles]

21. Dirty Dozen is my favorite

I don't think I could name five

I love Full Metal Jacket but that ain't no WWII

[displacedvermoter]

22. Five favorites

Midway (Henry Fonda version)
The Longest Day
Tora, Tora, Tora
Sink the Bismarck
Night of the Generals

[3catwoman3]

24. Allowing for artistic license, I found The Monuments Men...

…fascinating.

[red dog 1]

47. I just re-watched it the other night

Very good film with a great cast, including George Clooney (as director and actor)

[Historic NY]

26. 12 o'clock high

Midway
Longest Day
The Big Red One
Patton

[Borogove]

27. A lot of great movies mentioned. I would add The Thin Red Line.

[BBbats]

28. My Fav Is Stalag 17.

[Lulu KC]

29. I would add Mrs. Miniver

I need to rewatch it for the zillionth time. I'm a sucker for the part with Dunkirk and what happened while Mr. Miniver was gone.

[Paladin]

40. "Mrs. Miniver" was "worth a hundred battleships."

That was what Winston Churchill said about the profound effect of "Mrs. Miniver" on the allied war effort. No slap in cinematic history had more influence than the one Mrs. Miniver laid on that arrogant downed Luftwaffe pilot.

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. Casablanca.

Atonement
Bridge on the River Kwai
All the Light We Cannot See
Schindler's List

[dem4decades]

31. Let's say the ones i saw with my WWIi vet dad.

Longest Day
Guns of Naverone
PT 109
Dirty Dozen
The Great Escape

Were these the best, no but seeing them with him was special.

[Omaha Steve]

32. I got an in person autograph from PT 109

[displacedvermoter]

46. Very cool!

[303squadron]

34. Squadron 303 - of course

Squadron 303
Zone of Interest
The Imitation Game
Hacksaw Ridge
Churchill

Casablanca is the greatest movie ever made!

[Charlie Chapulin]

35. I like all the movies you listed, but

Full Metal Jacket is about Vietnam.

I would add The Thin Red Line to your list. And Letters From Iwo Jima.

[FadedMullet]

37. Your two suggestions are great. I almost posted "The Thin Blue Line" so thanks for saving me the embarassment.

[red dog 1]

44. Thanks for the correction, Charlie, I'll fix that right now.

I just saw The Thin Red Line (again) a couple of weeks ago

Letters from Iwo Jima is a Japanese film directed by Clint Eastwood.
Does it have subtitles?

[Charlie Chapulin]

49. Yes and no?

It is about Iwo Jima. The other side of Flags of Our Fathers. There are a couple scenes from both that overlap. But it is an interesting take.

[FadedMullet]

38. Red Dog - Do you believe all the great suggestions that folks are coming up with?

[red dog 1]

43. Yeah, most of them are movies I've seen & liked.

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2026, 01:41 PM - Edit history (1)

[Sewa]

39. Cross of Iron

One of a few war movies the doesn’t glorify war.

[Charlie Chapulin]

52. That's a great movie!

Sam Peckinpah. James Coburn and Maximillian Schell.
Thanks for jogging my memory on that one.

[PCB66]

41. I have always thought

"The Americanization of Emily" was a great WWII movie.

I

[malthaussen]

42. Hard to say. Most blockbuster WW2 movies are crap, especially if they're American

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2026, 01:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Possibilities include:

"A Time to Love and a Time to Die," based on Erich Marie Remarque's novel and featuring a cameo by Remarque
"Western Approaches," a British wartime flick that is a virtual forerunner of Reality TV, as it employs no actors, but just working sailors
"The Way Forward," one of David Niven's propaganda pieces
"The North Star" (aka "Armored Attack" ) because of its chequered propaganda history: it is the story of plucky Ukrainian partisans fighting off the Blitzkrieg in 1941, but after 1945 was edited for Cold War purposes to remind the viewer that those plucky Ukrainians were Commies and thus the evil bad guys after all
"Kelly's Heroes," because it is one of the better anti-war films I've seen
"The Fighting Lady," a docudrama about USS Yorktown (CV-10)
"Stalag 17," because it is just a good POW movie without the kind of bullshit in "The Great Escape."
"In Which We Serve," another British wartime flick about the RN. It juxstaposes scenes aboard ship with scenes on the home front, depicting the challenges faced by the sailors and their families
"Mr Roberts," because it features some great acting by Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon, to say nothing of Jimmy Cagney and William Powell
"Operation Mad Ball," because it stars Jack Lemmon and is actually hilarious
"Red Ball Express," because it deals with a vital part of the war virtually ignored by film

Honorable mention to "Teahouse of the August Moon," because while it deals with the Occupation of Okinawa and not directly with WW2, it features Marlon Brando playing an Okinawan houseboy, and you can't get funnier than that.

Others may come to mind. I tend towards the relatively obscure and older films, made either during or immediately after the war when memory was still fresh. There are a number already recommended that I am not including in this list.

-- Mal

[VGNonly]

45. 12 O'Clock High

The Bridge on the River Kwai
Come and See
The Pianist
Hope and Glory
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Das Boot
The Longest Day

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

48. Thinking hard on this one:

1) Defiance
2) Sisu
3) Kelly's Heroes
4) Enemy at the Gates
5) Saving Private Ryan

~no particular order.

[OAITW r.2.0]

51. 1) Saving Private Ryan

Especially when the German soldier kills the American soldier. That was the reality of war.

[underpants]

53. A Bridge too Far (1977) and Midway (1976) massive casts

I remember laying on our bellies with all my cousins in WV watching big it on HBO. Remarkably West Virginia got cable real early.

We’d keep looking back at Pappaw but he was stoic.
Dinner was going in the kitchen.
Johnnie spent time over a year recuperating at the VA hospital at The Greenbrier. I remember him reading constantly. Full text of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.

A Bridge Too Far
It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bridge_Too_Far_(film)


Midway
the film starred Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda, supported by a large international cast of guest stars including James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Ed Nelson, Hal Holbrook, Robert Webber, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Pat Morita, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada and Tom Selleck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_(1976_film)

[red dog 1]

54. Midway (1976) cost only $4 million to make but made $100 million; Midway (20019) cost $100 million & made $127 million

I saw the original Midway & liked it; but I want to see the 2019 (remake) version, which was directed by "Master of Disaster" Roland Emmerich.
Henry Fonda played Admiral Nimitz in the original British film, and Woody Harrelson played him in the remake.
In the 2019 version, Aaron Eckhart played Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle.
Eckhart was born in Cupertino, CA in 1968....I grew up in Cupertino (about 15 years earlier than Eckhart)

[underpants]

56. There was absolutely no reason to remake that movie

[red dog 1]

61. Well, I want to see it anyway

(Thanks, I needed a laugh today)

[RedArkGuy]

55. n/t

1) From Here to Eternity
2) The Best Years of Our Lives
3) Schindler's List
4) The Sorrow and the Pity
5) The Zone of Interest

[underpants]

57. Murphy's War. I really liked it. One man on lands against a U-boat

Murphy's War is an Eastmancolor 1971 Panavision war film starring Peter O'Toole and Siân Phillips. It was directed by Peter Yates, based on the 1969 novel by Max Catto. The film's cinematographer was Douglas Slocombe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_War

[johnnyfins]

58. The Longest Day

[CanonRay]

59. Enemy at the Gates

Saving Private Ryan
Letters from Iwo Jima
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
The Best Years of Our Lives

[CanonRay]

60. I could add

Tora Tora Tora and Dunkirk

[GP6971]

62. I would add two from a cultural perspective

Hell to Eternity starring Jeffrey Hunter. The story of marine Pvt Guy Gabaldon, raised by a Japanese American family, and his accomplishments during the battle of Saipan.

Go for Broke starring Van Johnson. The story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team comprised of 2nd generation Japanese American soldiers led by white officers (Johnson). The movie is about the gradual acceptance of the soldiers as equals.

[OldBaldy1701E]

63. Hmm...

In Harms Way

Kelly's Heroes

South Pacific

Das Boot

The Caine Mutiny - (One of my favorite movies of all time!)

[Upthevibe]

65. red dog 1 .........

In no particular order:

Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
Casablanca
Inglorious Basterds
Band of Brothers (not a movie but a limited series - It's probably the best I've ever seen and I've seen many)

[AllaN01Bear]

67. tora tora tora. where eagles dare.

[Zelda_Orchid]

68. The Best Years of Our Lives.