War movies are often hard to get right. War is a violent and horrific experience, and when movies get too close to the truth, it can often be hard to watch. There is also the fact movies have to be entertaining on top of everything, and when it comes to bringing in a wide audience, World War II movies often have to tame things down, and they quickly become unrealistic.
Movies also often have to have a star for viewers to follow. This is a problem because wartime battles are group efforts, and putting too much attention on one person will never seem realistic when depicting wartime efforts.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
One of the most obvious examples of a World War II movie that doesn't care about realism in any way is Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. The movie not only is unrealistic, but it actually dares to change how the war ended.
The movie has a group of allied soldiers and spies planning and succeeding in killing several high-ranking members of the Nazi party, including Hitler, at a propaganda movie screening. There is also a great side story about Nazi head hunters.
The Keep (1983)
Michael Mann is one of the best visual filmmakers in history, making masterpieces like Heat and The Insider. Years before he made any of those movies, he made a B-grade horror movie in World War II called The Keep.
In this movie, Nazi troops accidentally unleash a long-contained evil that will kill Nazis and allied troops alike unless someone can stop it. The movie has an impressive cast, including Ian McKellen, Gabriel Byrne, and Scott Glenn.
Overlord (2018)
Overlord is another horror movie set during World War II, and while it is based on stories surrounding Adolf Hitler's obsession with the supernatural, it is pure fantasy.
The movie is two stories, with the first being a military mission, where the soldiers run into trouble, and only a few of them make it out alive. However, as soon as they reach their target, they find it is a base where Nazis have been running experiments that have created monsters that serve the Third Reicht.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
You can't expect that much realism in a superhero movie from Marvel. However, when it comes to Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel threw the characters into World War II and started with the battle between the allies and the Nazis.
However, things went off the rails when a scrawny kid named Steve Rogers got the super-soldier serum and became the heroic Captain America. Then, the bad guys went from Nazis to Hydra forces.
Below (2002)
After David Twohy achieved success for his Vin Diesel horror movie Pitch Black, he directed a movie based on a script co-written by Darren Aronofsky called Below.
This is a World War II movie where a U.S. Navy submarine picks up survivors from a sunken ship. However, one of the survivors turned out to be a German prisoner of war, and after the sub's captain kills him, bad things start to happen in the submarine, and not all the people aboard make it out alive.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Pearl Harbor was the movie that almost killed Ben Affleck's career and slowed down Michael Bay for a short time. There were several problems with the movie, but the truth is that this World War II movie is far from the best as it was full of inaccuracies.
Affleck was a U.S. Air Force member, invited to join the Eagle Squadron, which wasn't allowed for Air Force members. The movie had scenes where soldiers were firing at Japanese planes in a way that looked good but couldn't happen in real life. The Japanese planes were also the wrong color, once again looking good but historically inaccurate.
U-571 (2000)
U-571 is another World War II submarine movie, with Jon Bon Jovi in a lead role. The movie was highly criticized for throwing reality out the window when it comes to the war's actual events. The movie did something many American movies are guilty of; it painted the American forces as the true winners of the war over all other allied forces.
That is the worst sin because the British Royal Navy fought the battle this movie was based on. The United States had not even entered the war yet and wouldn't do so until seven months later.
Windtalkers (2002)
John Woo directed Windtalkers in 2002, and it is based on a true story. However, what Woo delivered was pretty far from what really happened in this World War II story.
The movie told the story of the Navajo code talkers in the war, but it focused most of its attention on its hero Sergeant Joe Enders, played by Nicolas Cage. The movie mostly used the Navajo characters, the true heroes here, in supporting roles behind Cage.
Enemy At The Gates (2001)
Enemy at the Gates is a story about a famous Soviet sniper named Vasily Zaystev who was in war at the Battle of Stalingrad. The movie was based on Vasily's memoirs, so it was from his point-of-view. One of the big problems is that the movie didn't focus on the actual battle and only focused on two snipers.
The World War II movie made it seem like it was only the one man who saved the day when many soldiers were involved. The movie also claimed unarmed Russians went into battle, which is also inaccurate.
The Battle of the Bulge (1965)
The Battle of the Bulge was released in 1965, and this World War II movie starred some huge names in Hollywood, including Charles Bronson, Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, and Telly Savalas. The movie even premiered on the 21st anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
There were many inaccuracies in the movie, including the number of tanks used, the type of tanks used, the weather during the original battles, and the other soldiers who helped in the victory. Former President Dwight Eisenhower denounced the movie as inaccurate.