Top 15 World War II Films

Hello viewers and as always, welcome back. Following on from our WW1 video, we're moving on to take a look at the best WW2 films. Now, we previously made this list before back in 2014, however we felt it was heavily outdated and quite lacking, so here we have a more thorough and more expansive look at the 15 best WW2 films. Bear in mind we're only looking at movies here, so miniseries such as Band of Brothers and Generation War won't be included. Christopher Nolan's latest war film offering Dunkirk depicts the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk beach from three perspectives, land, air and sea. These three narrative segments tie together to create a story that's as much about suffering and survival as it is about the battle. Shot in large format film and with minimalist dialogue, Dunkirk has a sober feel to it and Nolan's achievement is giving his film scale and intimacy at the same time. Downfall This claustrophobic account of the last days of Nazi Germany takes place within the dark corridors of Hitler's bunker. The movie follows the downfall of the Third Reich as well as the mental decline of its insane leader. Thanks to its physical setting and the unhinged headspace of the main characters, the film gives viewers a handle on the sickness that infects all of those who identified as Nazis. Rome Open City The wounds of European conflict and Nazi occupation were still tender in Rome in late 1944, which chimed with the documentary instincts of Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini. Rome Open City drew on real issues and situations during the years of conflict. Needless to say, the brutality of the occupying regime is presented with a shocking frankness, and Rossellini's style lent the film its gritty newsreel aesthetic, but provided a real sense of urgency and anguish. A Man Escaped Based on the memoirs of André Devigny, a French resistance fighter who was captured and incarcerated in Lyon during the Second World War, A Man Escaped is a film whose drama is told in a mass of small details, with the expressions passing across the faces of non-professional actors, the objects that take on an important significance in the cell, and the use of off-screen sound that tells us so much about the space beyond these four walls. The Cranes Are Flying Made in the wake of Stalin's death, this Russian film tells the tale of two devoted lovers in Moscow who were separated by the Second World War without even saying goodbye. Like Mikhail Kalatozov's later, much-celebrated Soy Cuba, The Cranes Are Flying is more akin to cinematic poetry, and allows the audience to absorb a tremendous feeling of sympathy from this film, a feeling that has no awareness of geographical or political bounds. The Bridge on the River Kwai A story of the blurred line between enslavement and collaboration, David Lean's film drips with jungle sweat as Alec Guinness tries to protect his men from Japanese cruelty as they work to build a strategically important railway bridge in Burma. The cinematography, the sets and the supporting performances are all terrific, but it's all in orbit around Guinness's towering performances of a man torn between duty and honour. The Pianist Roman Polanski kicked off the 21st century with a sophisticated, Oscar-winning WWII survival drama which not only offered an authentic depiction of the Warsaw Ghetto, but proved that controversy aside, the director could still deliver when it mattered. Adrian Brody deservedly picked up the Best Actor Oscar for his muted portrayal of Jewish concert pianist Wladyslaw Spielmann, whose mission to stay alive against titanic odds is an inspiring testament to the human instinct for self-preservation. The Great Escape Based on the mass escape of British prisoners from the German war camp Stalag Luft III in March 1944, The Great Escape follows two dozen of these men as they sneak through Nazi-occupied territory back to safety. While the real-life event wasn't quite as glamorous as this Hollywood version, the movie maintains the elements of suspense and patriotism that are true to the original incident. Army of Shadows French film Army of Shadows gives viewers a look at the seldom-portrayed part of the human spirit where hope and fatalism coincide. The movie follows a group of French resistance fighters as they move invisibly under the noses of the Nazis that have come to occupy their town, killing informers and working to pass along information that might free their country from this iron grip. Prison escapes are brief and unglamorous, espionage is gruelling and perilous, and emotions, speeches and friendships remain suppressed at all times. It's a cold, meticulous drama about the pressures of propping an entire country on your shoulders. The Thin Red Line You get something twisted out of your insides by all this blood, filth and noise. After a 20-year absence from Hollywood, Terrence Malick returned in 1998 to direct The Thin Red Line, based on the novel of the same name. While on its surface the film tells a fictionalised version of the Guadalcanal Campaign battle, its much deeper focus is on our inherent need to kill and how that destruction seems to be at odds with our very nature. With a huge ensemble cast including Sean Penn, John Cusack, Nick Nolte, George Clooney, John Travolta, Woody Harrelson and many more. Originally made as a five-hour miniseries for German TV, cut to feature length for worldwide consumption, and finally expanded again to a 210-minute director's cut, Wolfgang Petersen's breathless, terrifying U-Boat drama remains the most claustrophobic of all WWII movies. The film is a masterclass in economical, tight-space storytelling, piling the pressure on both characters and audience until the sprockets squeak. The romantic drama spends most of its running time in Rick's nightclub apart from the glorious climax at the airport, but with its war-torn setting and the constant presence of soldiers from both Germany and Vichy France, Casablanca is undoubtedly a classic war film too. The stars, the script, director and music all align perfectly to create one of Hollywood's greatest, most loved and most legendary films. A gruelling tale, this Spielberg masterpiece follows a German Nazi, Oskar Schindler, as he saves 1,200 Jewish people from being transported to concentration camps and certain death. Over three hours long and shot almost entirely in black and white, Schindler's List is incredibly hard to stomach and incredibly important for that exact reason. The film changed the way the Holocaust was portrayed in Hollywood and inspired a series of narrative features that followed suit. In our last video, Saving Private Ryan topped the list, and whatever snags people might find with the film, ultimately it is an incredible movie. Admittedly, the film does have somewhat pro-war tendencies in certain areas, so might not be to everyone's taste, but the incredible opening sequence on Omaha Beach alone shows the realistic brutality and horrors of war. With Spielberg hanked and all of its Oscars, it's easy to be a tad sceptical about the film, but a repeat viewing blows away the cobwebs with a furious, men-in-combat film that balances camaraderie with gale-force action. Before we reveal our number one film, here are some honourable mentions that just missed the list. The Dirty Dozen Patton Ivan's Childhood The Guns of Navarone Where Eagles Dare A Bridge Too Far The Train Letters from Iwo Jima The Big Red One Come and See Making the infamous opening of Saving Private Ryan look like a Sunday stroll in the park, this Belarusian film from L.M. Klimov is a hallucinatory masterpiece that feels like the nearest cinema has ever come to recreating the ruthlessly discombobulating sensory experience of war. This is a film that a lot of people still haven't seen, so we only fought it right to save it for topping our list just to urge viewers to go out and give the film a watch, not just for its strikingly candid take on the human toll of warfare, but as a work of sublime visual and aural intensity that uses every tool in the filmmaker's arsenal to unforgettable and often nauseating effect to show the true horrors of war in Belarus. Thank you for watching. Have your own opinions? 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