Best WW2 films?

A Bridge Too Far - Longest Day

Both films contain virtually every "Major Film Star" available at the time and both are Immense!

(can't see anything like these ever being made about Iraq!)
 
Longest Day
Kellys Heroes
Battle of Britain
Memphis Belle
Dark Blue World
Bridge Too Far
The Great Raid
Pearl Harbor
Valkyrie
Defiance
Flags of Our Fathers
The Last Drop
Saints and Soldiers
Windtalkers
Enemy at the Gates
U-571
Stalingrad

All worth a watch!
 
Well actually while we're at it, let's throw the mini series Pacific into it. It is flawed and not as good as BoB IMO but still worth a watch.
 
I still think Saving Private Ryan is the best. It was a complete shift in the way war films were made, and it is still the film that all are judged by. For me it was the seminal moment in cinematography I remember thinking 'Jesus this is awful'. It has aged a bit and it doesnt carry the weight it did back then, but it gave WW2 films a big kick up the backside.

It was the film that kick started interest in WW2.
 
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I preferred bob to the pacific, i always had an interest in the european theatre of ww2, and us paratroop units in particular, mainly 101st ab, finally got a copy of rendevous with destiny, (very rare book that covers that division in ww2).
 
Der untergang
Cross of Iron

The Dawn here is quiet

I never watch the American ones. I feel I'm a minority in disliking 'Saving Private Ryan'

Or maybe some 'Churchill: The Hollywood years' ;)
 
Der Untergang
Das Boot
Schindlers list

Davies_M said:
I never watch the American ones. I feel I'm a minority in disliking 'Saving Private Ryan'
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You're certainly not alone. For me nothing could have saved private ryan from the abominable, completely unbelievable plot.
 
Energize said:
Der Untergang
Das Boot
Schindlers list



You're certainly not alone. For me nothing could have saved private ryan from the abominable, completely unbelievable plot.
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Actually, its not that unbelievable. A similar situation did happen in Normandy and a few weeks after the fighting at Utah the brother was taken out of service and shipped home. I forget his name but its written in the book "Citizen Soldiers". It certainly wasn't as dramatic as SPR, thats for sure and certainly, nobody went in to find and rescue him.
 
A Bridge Too Far
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Cast
Dirk Bogarde
James Caan
Michael Caine
Sean Connery
Edward Fox
Anthony Hopkins
Gene Hackman
Hardy Krüger
Laurence Olivier
Robert Redford
Maximilian Schell

is one of my faves by a MILE.

i also like Saving Private Ryan.
 
what about the one with the looney dentists.... "Two Men Went to War", quite fun as its a true story about two dental technicians who get fed up of not being in the action and plan their own raid into occupied france.

Stalag 17 was quite fun as well

The really good ones have pretty much been mentioned
 
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Dambusters
633 Squadron
Battle of Britain

These are probably my favourites. Band of Brothers is always worth a watch, but isn't technically a film.
 
oli356 said:
I still like pearl harbor but it's long.

Saving private Ryan would be my favourite
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I have a fan edit version of Pearl Harbor called the Strength and Honor edit IIRC. It's great. Essentially it is exactly the same movie without the horrendously trite love triangle getting in the way. Google is your friend.

Also, When Trumpets Fade (if no-one has mentioned it yet). Quite understated in my opinion.
 
Two quite enjoyable but not popular films are ...........

The Last Armoured Train

When Trumpets Fade


Trouble with WW2 films is that SPR set standards that made everything made earlier look dated, only BoB and The Pacific come close.
 
A Bridge Too Far is the best by miles. It is condensed down from a huge book,and some characters are composites of several others, but everything in that movie actually happened.
 
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