List of best World War II movies, 1940s through present, doesn't include 2001's Pearl Harbor
May 01 '01 (Updated Jun 05 '01)
The Bottom Line There are literally hundreds of World War II movies. Here are a few of the best.
These aren’t necessarily the best World War II movies, but all of them rate four or five stars. They’re also representative of every decade from the 1940s to the 1990s. Here they are, in no particular order:
Das Boot (The Boat) (German, 1981). Of the 40,000 German sailor who served on submarines during World War II, only 10,000 survived. This film accurately portrays the tension, claustrophobia, squalor, and terror they endured. Yet, there are moments of pure joy. This is one of the few foreign films for which I can recommend the English-dubbed version in good conscience.
From Here to Eternity (1953). This smoldering drama, which earned the 1953 best picture Oscar, depicts the harsh demands of military life and the resultant moral chaos just before America’s involvement in World War II. It includes the historic on-the-beach love scene that turned heads in its day. The stars Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, and Ernest Borgnine dominated the era’s cinema.
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958). Maybe the best American World War II submarine movie, it chronicles the tensions between captain (Clark Gable) and the executive officer who should have gotten the command (Burt Lancaster), as they set out to destroy a Japanese cruiser.
Saving Private Ryan (1998). Steven Spielberg’s film gets my vote as the best war movie ever made. The opening twenty-minute depiction of the D-Day assault does the unimaginable: it forever enshrines the profound courage and determination of the soldiers and delivers a powerful anti-war message through its unflinching focus on hundreds of sudden and horrible deaths. Then the film is utterly transformed into the chronicle of an eight-man squad (led by Tom Hanks) on a mercy mission to rescue one soldier, all of whose brothers have been killed in combat.
Patton (1970). George C. Scott turns in a brilliant performance as General George S. Patton, the war hero who walked a fine line between highly effective battlefield commander and megalomaniac.
Casablanca (1942). Set in one of the North African backwaters of World War II, Casablanca is the waiting room for exiled Europeans trying to escape Nazi tyranny. Humphrey Bogart, in self-imposed exile from the world, runs Rick’s. And who should walk into his saloon but ex-lover Ingrid Bergman... and her husband, a prominent resistance leader... and a Nazi officer bent on his destruction. The bitter Rick has to navigate among the shoals of several moral dilemmas.
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). This Japanese-American joint venture reenacts the events leading up to and including the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The breathtaking recreation of the attack is a realistic and technically brilliant tour-de-force. The events are seen from both the Japanese and American perspective.
The Great Escape (1962) The Germans put all their problem Allied prisoners of war (those with repeated escape attempts) into one high security prison camp. Of course, a large scale escape plan immediately takes shape, and we cheer every step of the brilliantly organized process involving tunneling, scrounging supplies, manufacturing civilian clothes, forging identity documents, blackmailing guards, etc. Steve McQueen’s motorcycle chase is a classic.
Twelve O’Clock High (?) When one of the first U.S. daylight bomber groups based in Britain suffers high casualties and low morale, hardass Gregory Peck takes over from a more affable commander. His no nonsense command style rebuilds the group by demanding self reliance and making the most of emerging leadership. This film inspired the TV series, and interestingly, is regularly used in management training courses.
And yes, I'm glad you asked. No, I won't be adding 2001's blockbuster Pearl Harbor to my list. This overlong special effects extravaganza plunders history for the sake of packaging an unimaginative love story and testosterone fueled heroics to appeal to the 18-24 year old demographic. Unfortunately, this film's haphazard approach to historical accuracy won't add anything to their understanding of what really happened.
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