Veteran’s Day: 16 Of The Best World War II Movies
Nov 11, 2010 by Vic HoltremanIn honor of all those who have served, here’s a little something to commemorate the day from a movie lover’s point of view.
It’s Veteran’s Day today – the day we remember and honor soldiers and sailors that serve and have served in the military in defense of the United States of America and other countries.
I thought it would be appropriate to put together a list of classic war movies to commemorate the holiday…
This is by no means a complete list, just some of my favorites and those that came to mind – feel free to add your favorites and nudge my memory over any obvious ones I may have forgotten in the comments below.
Casablanca (1942) – Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman, a classic if there ever was one: Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II, an American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications – and woe unto anyone who thinks of doing a remake of this film!
Flying Tigers (1942) – John Wayne leads a band of American Mercenaries called upon by China to help fight the Japanese two years before Pearl Harbour.
Midway (1976) – All star “real men” cast: Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn and Robert Mitchum in dramatization of the battle that turned out to be the turning point of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) – John Wayne stars in this version of the battle of Iwo Jima.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) – William Holden and Alec Guiness (yes, Obi-Wan) in a story about a British colonel who co-operates with the Japanese to oversee his men’s construction of a railway bridge for their captors – while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
The Caine Mutiny (1954) – Humphrey Bogart in an unusual role as a US Naval captain who shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes his ship, causing his first officer to relieve him of command and face court martial for mutiny.
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – This AWESOME fictional story of a US Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers in World War II stars Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas and other fantastic actors.
Flying Leathernecks (1951) – John Wayne leads “The Wildcats” squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.
From Here to Eternity (1953) – Another star-studded classic with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra. A private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit’s team, while his captain’s wife and second in command are falling in love.
The Great Escape (1963) – Another “must see” WWII film. It stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn as members of several hundred Allied POWs who plan a mass escape from a German POW camp.
Mister Roberts (1955) – Henry Fonda was brilliant in this film starring alongside James Cagney and a very funny Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for his role in this WWII semi-comedy.
Patton (1970) – Probably the crown jewel of George C. Scott’s acting career where he portrays the most famous U.S. General, ever. The film earned 7 Oscars including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture (back in the day when the Oscars actually meant something).
Stalag 17 (1953) -Directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss and Peter Graves. When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Where Eagles Dare (1968) – Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood as allied agents who stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding an American General prisoner… but that’s not all that’s really going on.
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) – Directed by Robert Wise, starring Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden and Don Rickles (yes, THAT Don Rickles) about a U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.
The Guns of Navarone (1961) – Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn: A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) – A dramatization of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the series of American blunders that allowed it to happen.
What are your favorites? What do you think should be on this list?
Thanks to IMDB.com for help in researching and synopses.
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Don’t forget
GREEN BERETS
For Rob Hamilton… ok for 300 and the pianist…
but come on with John Wayne? nooo….
don’t be crazy…..
you’re 20yo…. wait…wait..wait…
I like all of your 16, but I believe that after seeing it when first made(I am 71 years old, USAF retired), several times since and again two days ago, that you have to include “BATTLEGROUND”. It captures the essense of the ordinary infantrymen and the extraordinary sacrifice made at the Battle of the Bulge
Okay.”The Longest Day”was how the Normandy Invasion was seen through the eyes of both the Nazis and The Allies.
Granted,FX circa 1962 are a lot different than today’s FX!!!
I rented”Valkyrie”this weekend.Surprisingly,it was very good.
Had Von Stauffenberg;Rommel;Beck and all the others involved
in Valkyrie had risen up against Hitler sooner,maybe the evil
of Hitler coulda been nipped in the bud!!!
Surprisingly,Tom Cruise was very beleivable as Von Stauffenberg.
A good book to read is”Fox on the Rhine”by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson.
A great book in the”Alternitive History”Category without getting into the”Lord of the Rings”Nerdery!!
The plot is this:Operation Valkyrie has succeeded and Hitler has been turned into a Big Mac for Satan!!
However,not all the head Nazis have surrendered or caught,
and Himmler takes over as Fuhrer and instigates a seperate peace with Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Meantime,Rommel and Patton meet and the German Army joins forces with the Western Allies-The US;UK and France-to battle the Waffen SS and The Soviet Union.
Really suspensful and would make a great movie!!!
(Are you listening Sony;Warners;Paramount;Fox;Dreamworks
and Universal??).
Also,this summer,Quentin Tarantino directs and Brad Pitt stars in”Inglorious Basterds”.
It’s a”Dirty Dozen”style movie about how a group of Jewish GI’s are trained and dropped into occupied France to kill Nazis!!!
A couple of overlooked films about the Civil War:”Gods and Generals”and”Cold Mountain”.
Generally derided on it’s release six years ago,the prequel to”Gettysburg”was a very good movie about the lead up to the War Between The States.
And it treated both sides fairly.
Unfortunately,groups like the Southrern Anti Poverty Law Center screamed bloody murder over it because it treated
Robert E.Lee and Stonewall Jackson with respect!!
Now look;while I’m a Great Great Grandson of two Confederates,I’m neither a Yahoo Poser or a White Supremacist!!!
Yes,Slavery was wrong!!!But in all fairness,while most Northerners were opposed to Slavery,quite a number of them
weren’t big on equal rights to both freedmen and slaves!!!
And while the SAPLC has done some notable work in the field
of civil rights,sometimes they tend to go charging after boogeymen rather than confront the real evils!!!
“Cold Mountain”was kinda long,but it treated the South with respect showing how Mountain Southerners were divided between
joining the Confederacy and remaining in the Union as well as showing how both Union Troops and Southern Home Guards
could be cruel!!
Plus Renee Zelwegger was a hoot as the Rock Chunkin’;Shotgun Totin’Hillbilly Gal who stood up to both sides and took Nicole Kidman under her wing!!
And here’s a few movies about the Buffalo Soldiers-the all black 9th&10th Cavalry in the west:
“Sergeant Rutledge”.A forgotten classic by John Ford with Woody Guthrie as a Cavalryman charged with Rape and Murder
and Desertion in the Arizona Territory in the 1880′s.
“Buffalo Soldiers”.A made for TV biopic from Cable’s TNT
about the 9th&10th Cavalry in West Texas and New Mexico
in the late 1870′s/early 1880′s with Danny Glover.
Oh yeah!!How could I leave out these underrated gems by Robert Mitchum:”The Enemy Below”and”The Hunters”!!!
“The Hunters”is an underrated saga about F86 Jet Jockeys in the Korean War.
Sorta like”Bridges at Toko Ri”but with a happier ending.
“The Enemy Below”.A very suspenseful cat and mouse game between a Nazi UBoat Commander(Curt Jurgens.Who ironically was imprisoned in a Concentration Camp for opposing the Nazis)and his American Destroyer Counterpart(Robert Mitchum,who ironically got drafted at the very end of WW2)!!
I’ve got em’both on DVD!!!
Does anyone know the title of a good movie, I believe Tab Hunter was a British sailor who was captured in South America on a German warship, escaped with a 30 06 and shot at Germans trying to repair their ship, and ‘Tabs’ actions delayed the repairs and the whole British Navy responded to help. It might be ‘Empire of the King’
Actually,You Might Be Thinking of “Sailor of the KIng”with Jeff Hunter or “Murphy’s War”with Peter O’Toole.
Hey! What about 1942? I think that’s a good war movie
A bridge too far?
Gettysburg?
Gods and generals?
The patriot?
Black hawk down?
Other than that great list, a few of them I need too see.
My favorite WWII movie, by far, is the German film Donwfall. I can understand why it wasn’t included, as there aren’t any American soldiers or really any battle scenes. But, it’s a great movie. Really shows just how badly Hitler screwed the German people over.
The Patriot
We Were Soldiers
Hamburger Hill
Gettysburg
gods and generals
Siege of Firebase Gloria
Saving Private Ryan
Glory
Son of the Morning Star
Patton
Shenandoah
Boys of Company C
Black Hawk Down
and many others.
Always Remember Freedom isnt Free.
World War 2. Many of those weren’t WW2.
Veterans Day is about ALL Veterans, not just WWII vets and WWII movies. USAF 2A0X1A. Vet certified.
Yes, but the title is for World War 2 movies. Not all wars.
Good call with The Boys From Company C, that is a very hard film to find.
Great list! But, if I’m not mistaken, isn’t Saving Private Ryan World War 2?
Sorry Vic. But, a list is incomplete without Saving Private Ryan. The first scene alone should grant it to be on your list.
“This is by no means a complete list, just some of my favorites and those that came to mind”
Vic
Hahaha you always need to beat me, don’t you?!
(I still think it should be present on that list! lol)
Man, where’s the love for WWI?
Sergeant York, Wings, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse…
WWII:
A Guy Named Joe
Battleground
Battle of the Bulge
Objective, Burma!
30 Seconds Over Tokyo
Saving Private Ryan
Special Mentions: Band of Brothers and The Pacific
Korea:
Pork Chop Hill
MASH
Vietnam:
Hamburger Hill
Apocolypse Now
Rescue Dawn
Gulf War:
Jarhead
Courage Under Fire
Iraq/Afghanistan:
Hurt Locker
And Special shout-outs to the lighter side of War:
Buck Privates
In The Navy
No Time for Sergeants
Operation Petticoat
McHale’s Navy
“Battleground”
“A Walk In the Sun”
“Air Force”
“Bataan”
“Sailor of the King(As ShanghaiJohnnyP pointed out.)”
“Fire On the Plain”
“Wake Island”
“Hell Is For Heroes”
“Stalingrad”
“Pork Chop Hill”
“Go Tell the Spartans”
“Apocalypse Now”
My two guilty pleasure films:
“Tank Commandos(Produced by Burt Topper for American International Pictures and it co-stars the writer of “Star Trek II; the Wrath of Khan!” It was shot on the MGM back lot for $25,000!)”
“Ski Troop Attack(Another AIP wonder shot in North Dakota for about the same price by Roger Corman who cameos as a very convincing Nazi! There’s a great scene where Roger finds the body of a woman who tried to poison the heroes he’s pursuing and looks down at her. I could only imagine what he was thinking; “Hmmm, a dead girl. I won’t have to pay her an extra day.”
Though not a film, but a hands down, great TV series; “Band of Brothers.”
Vic i gotta agree with whoever told this is a pro american list. DAS BOOT & Der Untergang should have been there. But anyway happy to see TORA!TORA!TORA! in the list. At one point of time i was very bored with american versions of ww2 stories. kinda seemed monotonous. Then i watched TORA! Was absolutely spell binding.. Same with Das Boot & Der Untergang. In fact i think Der untergang is THE most important WW2 film ever..
I love that film more so because of that one scene where Hitler criticizes everything from a iphone to a vuvuzella..
mukundh,
Well I’m not going to apologize for being pro-American.
I did say these were my personal favorites and I encouraged folks (like yourself) to add their favorites as well.
Vic
A gr8 list nonetheless. And one question. Isn’t Schindler’s list ur fav??!!!!!!!! It should be a favorite movie with anyone ..
best movies about Nam War.
The Green Berets (1968, Ray Kellog) and Deer Hunter (1978, Michael Cimino)
As far as WWII, my favorites are in no particular order:
Midway
The Longest Day
Battleground
Pink Floyd’s The Wall (“When the Tigers Broke Free” sequence)
Patton
Brass Target
Force 10 From Navarone
The Big Red One
Vietnam faves:
Apocalypse Now
The Green Berets
The Ace
Platoon
Full Metal Jacket
Tropic Thunder
Gulf War:
Jarhead
Three Kings
I forgot Das boot
Green berets and Platoon in the same list? Wow!
WWII:
Band of Brothers.
(Ok, it’s a tv series but…)
Yeah, I like the fact that one was rather jingoistic and one was hyper critical of the war.
taht was a John Wayne classic with Puff the Magic Dragon.
Additional World War II movies I’d have to add to the list:
“The Train” (1964) starring Burt Lancaster
“Von Ryan’s Express” (1965) starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard
“The Enemy Below” (1957) starring Robert Mitchum
“Submarine X-1″ (1968) starring James Caan
“Destination Tokyo” (1943) starring Cary Grant
“The Longest Day” (Der Langste Tag) starrting John Wayne and Richard Burton
My favorites (many mentioned in comments here):
John Ford’s “They Were Expendable” which deals with how we dealt with defeat in the Philippines in early 1942. About as good a movie about good Americans carrying on in the face of adversity as you could ever have. Makes you proud to be an American.
“Twelve O’Clock High” Taut and gripping, and not dated at all. A tribute to all the men of the 8th Air Force.
“Battleground” – Decent American GI’s hang on. Old-fashioned movie, but it looks right for the time.
A period documentary – “Report From the Aleutians” – A tribute to American “Can-Do” spirit.
And a guilty pleasure, “In Harm’s Way” John Wayne as Admiral Rockwell “Rock” Torrey; Kirk Douglas and Burgess Meredith great as his Exec and his intelligence officer, respectively. Many model boats blown up, but nobody these days can chew the scenery like “the Duke” (and Henry Fonda is a great Admiral Nimitz).
The Longest Day came out 15 years after the epic battle. It was meant to be seen by the best critics of all – those who were there.
In Harms Way.
(admitting to have not read all comments but…)
..what was the title of the movie (true story) of the German PoW to escape to Canada?
I even believe it starred the guy who did it?
Oh…and the life of Audie Murphy.
“A Walk in the Sun”, “The Story of G.I. Joe”, “Crossfire”, “Last Train to Munich”….
“The Bridge” 1959. In the last days of the war, six high school kids that are drafted into the German army defend a unimportant bridge against the approaching American army. Pretty brutal for its time.
“China’s Little Devils.” 1955. Very hard to find. A group of Chinese kids ranging from 8-14 become guerilla fighters against the Japanese in 1940 China rescuing three shot down, Flying Tiger pilots behind enemy lines. Great stuff.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN!!!
Pearl Harbor…just kidding
The Final Countdown was one of my favorites along with the Dirty Dozen (Most reinacted movie with my GI Joes). Windtalkers was very decent. To Hell and Back (already mentioned). Bedknobs and Broomsticks…epic. U571…good for what it was. Hart’s War. Pretty much anything with Eastwood onscreen or off
if by ‘classic’ you mean old, I’m not good w/ that, but a newer one that I still think is a classic is “A Beautiful Life”. Incredibly well done!
You all missed some GREAT flicks! 1. “They Were Expendable” with John Wayne, Donna Reed, directed by John Huston. 2.”Twelve O’clock High” starring Gregory Peck. 3. “Sands of Iwo Jima” starring “The Duke”again. 4. “30 Seconds over Tokyo” starring Van Johnson and Spencer Tracy. 5. “The Big Red One” starring Lee Marvin. Just for starters…..
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
THE THIN RED LINE (1998)
Great films that would be good to watch today…
‘Fraid I have to disagree on “Midway.” Whatever the virtues of the story and acting may have been, the SFX were absolutely DISMAL. The American aircraft carriers were all modern, angled-deck ships. The airplanes were mostly wrong for the Midway time period and the shots containing them were from familiar old stock footage, badly colorized. In a post-”Tora Tora Tora!” world, there’s really no excuse for this cobbled-together mess. Sorry – no stars.
Add to the list: “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” “The Dam Busters,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Patton,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Das Boot,” “Enemy At The Gates,” “Hell In The Pacific,” “The Bridge Over the River Kwai,” “The Best Years Of Our Lives,” “Europa Europa,” “The Big Red One,” “Battleground,” “The Enemy Below,” “Sahara,” “Back to Bataan,” “South Pacific,” “Murphy’s War,” and many more…