15 Favorite World War II Movies

Since today is Memorial Day I felt that this would be a great time to compose a list of my favorite war films. But as I got the list going I realized I was putting a lot of World War II films, so I decided to just make this about... well it should be obvious at this point.

With this list I'm pretty much keeping this to movies that have a good amount of the character engaging in combat, and keeping them to be about the troops themselves, instead of just about one person. So, not Patton and no Schindler's List unfortunately. That doesn't mean the movies that don't make the list are bad, far from it, but since Memorial Day is about the troops, I want to make the list more about them.  Also, I'm not including mini-series, but I'll give Band of Brothers its own post one day.

Also please keep in mind that I have not seen every single World War II film, and if there's a film you like that doesn't appear on this list I am by no means indicating that the film is bad, just that I like prefer these films a little more, or I may not have seen it. If there's a film I left off that you like, share in comment section.

I'll be listing them in alphabetical order. Why? It is really hard to choose one I like over another, and which one would be my number one pick.

Attack! (1956)
D: Robert Aldrich
W: James Poe. Based on the play by Norman Brooks
S: Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, William Smithers, Robert Strauss, Buddy Ebsen

A rather obscure film by maverick director, and one of my favorites, Robert Aldrich. A film that takes place during last year of WWII when a platoon leader (Jack Palance) grows severe doubts about his company commander's competency. This has been cited as an anti-war or anti-military film, I don't see that at all. This is an anti-corruption film. In the film you find out that the commander (played ironically by Bronze Star recipient Eddie Albert) pretty much got his rank because not because of his experience, but because "he knew a guy." And because of this we see several men die needlessly, that could have been avoided. It truly is a splendid film that shows that how even a little corruption can effect a group, and how in the military it can lead to terrible consequences. The clip I've included is of the opening scene that sets the tone.

Battleground (1949)

D: William A. Wellman

W: Robert Pirosh

S: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, James Whitmore

Academy Award Wins:

Best Writing

Best Black-and-White Cinematography

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture

Best Director - William A. Wellman

Best Supporting Actor - James Whitmore

Best Film Editing

A film depiction of a platoon in the 101st Airborne and their time during the Battle of the Bulge. I can't say this for fact, but I'm willing to bet this is one of the first war films that took a non-romantic view of the war. Yes other war films showed that troops did tragically die, but this movie shows that the environment was also an issue, and that anything can happen. We see civilians get caught in the crossfire, some soldiers die due to the weather, but we also see the determination they have. We see them overcoming their odds and pressing forward. The clip below is of speech given by a Lutheran Pastor to the men, all of them. No matter the location and no matter the faith. We also see the troops and what they had to deal with the environment and lack of supplies.

The Big Red One (1980)

D: Samuel Fuller

W: Samuel Fuller

S: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco, Kelly Ward, Siegfried Rauch, Stephane Audran

A movie that follows a single rifle squad from U.S. First Infantry Division as they go through all the major campaigns of the European theater of World War II. The men in the squad consist of a skilled marksmen (played by Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill), a writer who serves as the narrator (Carradine), an Italian (Di Cicco), a farmer who serves as a makeshift medic (Ward) and the squad's leader a battle harden WWI veteran (Marvin). We see the members go through doubts about their actions, we see the Sergeant almost relive many of his previous battles. The most haunting moment is of course when they come across the Falkenau concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. In this clip we see Carradine's character Zap asking the other what's "the damnest thing you'd ever want to do to a girl," and the only one with a response is a replacement soldier named Kaiser (Perry Lang), and the soldiers don't recognize him, even though he had actually fought with them before. Kaiser's answer is of course crude but the fact the other's didn't recognize him is extremely powerful. 

 

Days of Glory (2006)

D: Rachid Bouchareb

W: Rachid Bouchareb, Olivier Lorelle

S: Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Bernard Blancan

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Foreign Language Film - Algeria

I didn't want to make this list of films just about American troops in World War II. There's a reason why it was was called a World war. This is a film about a group of North African men who enlist in the French Army and while in the process of fighting the Nazis they are in the process of proving their worth and fighting against discrimination. The film takes a look at a story that a big chunk of probably didn't know about.The best scene is at the very end. Which I will not spoil.

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

D: Robert Aldrich

W: Lukas Heller, Nunnally Johnson. Based on the novel by E.M. Nathanson

S: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Robert Webber, Clint Walker

Academy Award Wins:

Best Sound Effects

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Supporting Actor - John Cassavetes

Best Film Editing

Best Sound

Another film from Aldrich, this film tells the tale of U.S. Army major assigned to lead a group of convicted soldiers on a secret mission to infiltrate a chateau  in France on D-Day and take out a Nazi high commanding officers. This is one of the more unique movies on the list, the military using a group of troublesome men on a suicide mission can actually speak volumes on what was going on at the time with the war in Vietnam. The film has probably the best league of Anti-Heroes ever in a film. These guys, including their leader (Lee Marvin), are pretty much doing this mission just to save their own skins. It is an awesome film, with great performances and it does show how war was hell. Here's an interesting story, Robert Aldrich was said he could get an Oscar nomination for Best Director if he took out a scene with the Dozen pouring gasoline and grenades down an air duct in a bomb shelter. He said he would not take it out because he wanted to show that war is hell.

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

D: Clint Eastwood

W: William Broyles Jr., Paul Harris. Based on the novel by James Bradley and Ron Powers.

S: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Jamie Bell, Robert Patrick, Neal McDonough

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Sound Mixing

Best Sound Editing

This film tells about the six men who are in the famous photograph of the flag being raised on Iwo Jima. It is both a film about Iwo Jima and the effects the battle had on the men, but also about how the flag raisers who survived were basically used as a piece of marketing. It shows the effects of these two factors on two of the men. The effects of the marketing had a great toll on Ira Hayes (played amazingly by the underrated Adam Beach), and the war had an effect on the Navy Corpsmen John Bradley (Ryan Phillippe). It is a wonderful film. The clip below is from the beginning of the film, you hear Clint Eastwood hauntingly singing a Dinah Washington song, we then see the corpsmen running through a barren battlefield hearing the cries of wounded Marines, and he tries desperately to find them. Powerful stuff.

The Great Escape (1963)

D: John Sturges

W: W.R. Burnett, James Clavell, Walter Newman (Uncredited). Based on the book by Paul Brickhill.

S: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Film Editing

Another favorite director of mine, John Sturges. The man who directed several of my favorite films (The Magnificent Seven and Bad Day at Black Rock), gives us one of the best WWII films. With an all-star cast, an epic music score by Elmer Bernstein, a great detailed account of a real escape pulled off by Allied P.O.W.'s. Well, it's based on a true event, there are changes of course. Biggest one being, there were no Americans there. But that's not the point of this, there are so many great things about the film that it would probably take me hours to talk about it. I'll probably give this movie its own separate post. In the meantime here's a clip from the film, this is when they start to dig the first of three tunnels. And Doctor Who fans, that's William Russell, the actor who played one of the first companions in the beginning with the pipe.

The Guns of Navarone (1961)

D: J. Lee Thompson

W: Carl Foreman. Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean.

S: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quayle.

Academy Award Wins:

Best Special Effects

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture

Best Director - J. Lee Thompson

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Dramatic or Comedy Score

Best Film Editing

Best Best Sound

One of grand epic war films. A small group of British and Greek soldiers infiltrate an extremely powerful and  destructive artillery position, and destroy it. This is not just an action/adventure film, there are a lot of Anti-War elements, but also the true compelling part comes from the battling ideologies. Seeing these towering men (played by towering actors) engage in not only physical battle with the Nazis but also watching them engage in a battle of wits is truly amazing stuff to watch. Also the action scenes are awesome. 

Hell is for Heroes (1962)

D: Don Siegel

W: Richard Carr, Robert Pirosh

S: Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, James Coburn, Bob Newhart, Nick Adams

As I stated in a previous blogpost, my favorite film is The Alamo (1960, Dir. John Wayne) and I think because of that I've always been a big fan of 'last stand' movies, and this probably one of the best. The story of a small squad left to defend the Siegfried Line by themselves, when the battle grows intense so do the relations between the men. Dirty Harry directed Don Siegel does a great job at portraying the brutality of war without getting explicit or over the top. I'll admit that I am not the biggest fan of Steve McQueen as an actor, he's a lot like John Wayne in that he's more of a persona than an actor. But McQueen gives a haunting and intense performance in this film that has to be seen. There's also great performances from famed singer Bobby Darin and Nick Adams. This was also the first big screen role for comedian Bob Newhart.

Kelly's Heroes (1970)

D: Brian G. Hutton

W: Troy Kennedy Martin

S: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor Donald Sutherland

I've been featuring a lot of rather bleak, and gritty war films. A big reason is because from what I gather that is war. But that doesn't mean we can't have a comedy. Enter Kelly's Heroes. The story of a small platoon of soldiers, along with a tank squad going out to find German gold. This is just pure fun. When ever I'm feeling a little down, I pop in this action-comedy with one of the most colorful casts of characters ever. This movie also features without a doubt one of the best characters ever in a film, Oddball, the hippie tank commander, played flawlessly by Donald Sutherland. Check the film out, and don't hit me with them negative waves. 

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

D: Clint Eastwood

W: Iris Yamashita

S: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Nakamura Shido

Academy Award Wins:

Best Sound Editing

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture

Best Director - Clint Eastwood

Best Original Screenplay

A sister film to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, this film gives us the perspective of the Japanese, something that is very rare in WWII movies. The Japanese in this movie are not just there to "crush there American devil" or anything like that, they're soldiers defending and fighting for their country like our guys, they are portrayed as people. The best part in the whole film is Ken Watanabe's masterful performance as Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi. He is a rather tragic hero in a way, he maintains that he is General and defender of Japan but in a way does not want to fight the Americans. It is a truly remarkable performance. 

The Longest Day (1962)

D: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darry F. Zanuck (uncredited)

W: Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Cornelius Ryan, Jack Seddon. Based on the book by Cornelius Ryan.

S: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jurgens, Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Frobe, Edmond O'Brien, Kenneth More

Academy Award Wins:
Best Black and White Cinematography
Best Special Effects

Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Set Direction
Best Film Editing

A movie that can truly be called an epic movie. A movie that details the lead up and execution of D-Day from all the sides. We see the Germans preparing and making predictions about what the Allied Forces will do, we see the Americans and British pent up ready to go, and even showing the French Resistance giving a hand. It shows that this was an important event that had a big impact on the war, and it uses the full scope of cinema to display it. Even though this film has many sprawling set pieces and huge action moments it does manage to execute little moments to. Take this scene where a U.S. Ranger and an Infantrymen (Jeffrey Hunter) talk about a 'Dear John' letter the Infantrymen got. It is a remarkable scene in a movie that is littered with them.  

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

D: Allan Dwan

W: Harry Brown, James Edward Grant

S: John Wayne, John Agar, Forrest Tucker, Adele Mara

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Actor - John Wayne

Best Story

Best Film Editing

Best Sound Recording

This is probably one of the more romanticized war films on the list but I can't help I like it. The story of Marine squad their relation to their squad leader all leading up to the Battle of Iwo Jima. John Wayne gives a truly great performance as the battle hardened, no nonsense Marine sergeant John M. Stryker. A Marine who acts tough as nail, but who also some demons hidden. The main one being, he wishes he could've been a better father and husband. Wayne's tone of voice and delivery really does work the character and it helps give a lot character. So in other words, John Wayne is the reason to check this movie out. 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
D: Steve Spielberg
W: Robert Rodat
S: Tom Hanks, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore

Academy Award Wins:
Best Director - Steven Spielberg
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Sound

Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Actor - Tom Hanks
Best Original Screenplay
Best Art Direction-Set Direction
Best Makeup
Best Original Score

Yeah, this is probably the most cliched pick I could put on the list but I'd probably kick myself for excluding it. While The Longest Day captured the scale of D-Day, this film captured the impact and feel of it. The audience is put right in the middle of this event and we get the details of how the landings went. But the movie isn't just about the Normandy landings, it is a compelling story about this group of Rangers going out and trying to find one paratrooper and the doubts a lot of them have about the mission. It does the audience a sense that these men went through hell, this was not a John Wayne film. It was war.

Stalag 17 (1953)
D: Billy Wilder
W: Edwin Blum, Billy Wilder. Based on the play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski
S: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss.

Academy Award Wins:
Best Actor - William Holden

Academy Award Nominations:
Best Director - Billy Wilder
Best Supporting Actor - Robert Strauss

The list started off with one my favorite directors let's capstone it with another one, Billy Wilder. The man has this remarkable ability to combine a rather dark and bleak story and comedy and make it work. I am jealous of this man and his ability to do this. But outside of my admiration for the director this really a great film. One of the first films to show a prisoner of war camp and all their attempts to escape. This on a much smaller scale than The Great Escape but this films's concentration is more on the men in the camp and them trying to find out who maybe a spy for the Germans. Its a more than worthy watch for the comedy and the mystery. In the clip below you some of the best comedy bits from the two funniest characters. Eat your heart out Hogan's Heroes.

So that does it for my list. Do you agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. I hope you all have a lovely Memorial Day, and let's not forget the reason why we have.