Introduction
The alphabetical list of movies that follows is my own suggested viewing list of World War II films. It is intended for somebody that is curious about World War II films but is not sure where to start, or as a handy reference guide for anyone wanting to start a collection of DVD’s.
This is not an ‘all time best’ sort of list although there certainly is some overlap, because I avoided the worst films of the genre. However, while it is hard to compare big budget postwar blockbusters with smaller propaganda films made during the war, both are important to include on this list and watch in order to get an overview of the film type. But for the most part the list does represent the best Classic World War II movies available based on my own subjective opinion.
With thanks to C. Bernard Doyle, for the many recommendations he made for additions to this list.
World War II Movie Viewing List ver. 1.6
A
Anzio
Assignment in Brittany
B
Bataan
Battleground (1949)
The Battle of Britain*
Battle of the Bulge
The Best Years of Our Lives (suggest watching this last)
The Big Red One
Bombadier
The Bridge at Remagen
The Bridge on the River Kwai
A Bridge To Far*
C
Catch-22
Come and See
Command Decision
Cross of Iron
The Cruel Sea
D
Das Boot
Decision Before Dawn
Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
The Desert Rats
Destination Tokyo*
The Devil’s Brigade
The Dirty Dozen
Don’t Go Near the Water (1957)
Dunkirk (2017)
E
The Eagle Has Landed
Enemy at the Gates
The Enemy Below
Eye of the Needle
F
Five Graves to Cairo
G
Go for Broke (1951)
The Great Escape*
The Guns of Navarone
H
Hell in the Pacific
The Heros of Telemark
I
In Harm’s Way
J
Judgment at Nuremberg
K
Kelly’s Heroes
L
Lifeboat
The Longest Day
M
The Malta Story
Midway
Mister Roberts
Mrs. Miniver*
O
Objective, Burma!
P
Patton
Play Dirty
PT-109
Purple Heart
The Purple Plain (1954)
S
Sahara*
Sands of Iwo Jima
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler’s List
Sink the Bismarck*
Soldier of Orange
Stalag 17
Stalingrad
T
They Were Expendable*
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Tora! Tora! Tora!*
Twelve O’Clock High
U
Up Periscope
V
Von Ryan’s Express
W
Wake Island
Where Eagles Dare
Wind Talkers
While not a feature film the following mini-series are also suggested:
Band of Brothers
Danger UXB
Updates: Dunkirk (2017) on 8 February 2019.
