World War 2 Movies in historically correct order by neronleimaaja
The purpose I built this list was to create for myself a simple chronological marathon out of my war movie collection. The longer I built it the larger it gradually got as there were battles and perspectives that my initial collection didn't cover.
As it is now this list covers the timeframe of 1901-1980. Its central theme is the second world war but it also covers the progress that ultimately led to the conflict, and the scars that the it left on the world. I tried to bring as much diversity into the list by having movies from the perspective of both sides as equally as possible.
Historical accuracy was my top priority with the list and I did tons of research to make sure every movie would be as correctly placed as possible. I also tried to avoid including films that cover the same events (unless they were exceptionally important and large like the battle of Stalingrad or the Normandy invasion), thus eliminating such notable ones as Pearl Harbor and Battle of the Bulge. Also film with elements of fantasy were left out, like the Indiana Jones movies and such.
Recently I've noticed that there have been others with lists similar in idea to this one. Though risking sounding arrogant, I think my list is the largest, widest in scope and the most diverse and chronologically correct from any that I've come across.
With that said, please enjoy my list and I hope you will find it both entertaining and surprising!
As it is now this list covers the timeframe of 1901-1980. Its central theme is the second world war but it also covers the progress that ultimately led to the conflict, and the scars that the it left on the world. I tried to bring as much diversity into the list by having movies from the perspective of both sides as equally as possible.
Historical accuracy was my top priority with the list and I did tons of research to make sure every movie would be as correctly placed as possible. I also tried to avoid including films that cover the same events (unless they were exceptionally important and large like the battle of Stalingrad or the Normandy invasion), thus eliminating such notable ones as Pearl Harbor and Battle of the Bulge. Also film with elements of fantasy were left out, like the Indiana Jones movies and such.
Recently I've noticed that there have been others with lists similar in idea to this one. Though risking sounding arrogant, I think my list is the largest, widest in scope and the most diverse and chronologically correct from any that I've come across.
With that said, please enjoy my list and I hope you will find it both entertaining and surprising!
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- StarsAntonio BanderasToni BertorelliValentina LainatiThe story of a young Benito Mussolini. It is the drama of a man whose lust for power unleashed a reign of terror - the chilling account of how an ambitious young schoolteacher became the ruthless dictator of Italy.This three part series of tv-movies covers the political life of Benito Mussolini prior to the first world war. Originally a ferocious socialist, Mussolini gradually grows in his hunger for power, turning step by step into the architect of fascism we know him as today. The Last episode examines the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the start of WW1, thus thematically kickstarting the rest of the list.
- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.A forerunner in the field of pacifist war movies, the film follows a group of German soldiers as they live and die through the hell of the western front of world war one. Giving a compact review of the horrors of the Great War, "All Quiet" shows the roots to the bitterness which came to haunt Germany in the post-war years, and ultimately led to the formation of the Nazi regime.
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.Showing the October revolution through the eyes of an american journalist, the first half of "Reds" descends deep into the socialist ideology which came to play a major part in the political unrest of inter-war Europe.
- DirectorEdvin LaineStarsAarno SulkanenTitta KarakorpiRisto TauloTäällä Pohjantähden alla is based on the book with the same title. It is a story of the little village. The movie starts in the 1890's and it ends to the Finnish civil war in 1918. Story concentrates around a tenant farmer family, although it gives us a good look at the society at whole. While the class struggle depends, people of the village are driven to bloody civil war.Following thematically "Reds", "Under the North Star" explores the violent chaos in Russia which followed the revolution. Finland, a land located in the Northwestern corner of the empire, declares itself independent but falls into a short but bloody civil war between the Russian supported socialist and German backed nationalist forces.
- DirectorMenno MeyjesStarsJohn CusackNoah TaylorLeelee SobieskiA film studying the depiction of a friendship between an art dealer named Rothman and his student, Adolf Hitler.Taking place in 1919 around the time of Paris Peace Conference, "Max" semi-historically follows a certain poor bastard called Adolf and his first steps in the political movement that was to become the National Socialist Party.
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.The second half of the film follows the formation of the Bolzhevik government and the Russian civil war. The failure of creating a just communist regime is explored here, as is the aftermath of the Finnish civil war.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsRudolf Klein-RoggeAud Egede-NissenGertrude WelckerArch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.A two part masterpiece by Fritz Lang, "Dr. Mabuse" personificates the uncertainty, despair and social unrest of post-war Germany into the character of Mabuse. The foresaid doctor is a crime lord and master deceiver who tries to take people into his control by managing illegal activities, hypnotizing his victims, cheating and murdering. After a quick witted authority begins investigating his activieties a furious game of cat-and-mouse ensues which ends up in a last stand on the streets of Berlin.
- 1991–199224mTV-G7.4 (446)TV EpisodeDirectorStéphane BernasconiStarsColin O'MearaThierry WermuthChristian PelissierWhile on vacation in Egypt, Tintin is accused of drug smuggling and later becomes the target of a secret society.First part in the "Tintin in the Orient" storyline. While having a vacation in Egypt in 1931, Tintin is dragged into a struggle against an international drug ring that's infiltrated the colonial dominions of the British Empire.
- DirectorStéphane BernasconiStarsColin O'MearaThierry WermuthChristian PelissierAfter the arrest of most of the members of the drug syndicate, the leader behind the organization was never found and is still at large. Tintin, who is enjoying his stay at the palace of the Maharaja, is visited by a Chinese gentleman who brings Tintin a message. However, a poison dart containing the madness poison was struck right into the massager's neck by an unseen marksman. The only clues Tintin received from the now mad messenger is that there's trouble in Shanghai and a man named Mitsuhirato, which is the place where the remaining members of the syndicate remain. So Tintin heads for Shanghai to meet Mitsuhirato, however upon meeting the person Tintin was almost assassinated twice upon his visit in Shanghai. He ends up being saved by a young Chinese man who provides him with a disguise in order for him to not be easily recognized by the syndicate. Who is the mysterious young man who prevented Tintin's death and can Mitsuhirato be trusted?Second part in the "Tintin in the Orient" storyline, following directly where "Cigars of the Pharaoh: Part 2" left off. The battle against international drug trafficking brings Tintin to China where he witnesses both the Mukden incident and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsPeter LorreEllen WidmannInge LandgutWhen the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.Inter-war Germany's social restlessness is showcased here with a case of a child murderer turning normal people into violent brutes driven by rage and fear.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinMady CorrellAllison RoddanA suave but cynical man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but the job has some occupational hazards.Charlie Chaplin's most controversial masterpiece takes us into France just prior and after Hitler takes over in Germany. A former bank worker named Verdoux makes a profession out of murdering rich women and taking their money to support his wife and child.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.A masterpiece of visual expressionism, "Triumph of the Will" takes us into the visualized heart of the nazi ideology, showcasing from the first seat the beauty, delusion and unfulfilled promise which let Hitler take over the masses and orchestrate some of the most disturbing crimes in human history.
- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinPaulette GoddardHenry BergmanThe Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.A look into the pre-WW2 United States, "Modern Times" centers around the era of Great Depression and the New Deal, examining the country in a state of peril during a time when major powers around it were preparing for war.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsNikita MikhalkovIngeborga DapkunaiteOleg MenshikovIn the USSR in 1936, shadows of Stalin's repressions fall on a famous, revolutionary hero. The accusations of him being a foreign spy are nonsense, and everyone knows that. However, a slow process of his downfall has already started.Soviet Union during the early reign of Stalin. General Kotov, a hero of the Russian revolution, is betrayed and eliminated by the regime he had bitterly fought for.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsSylvia SidneyOscar HomolkaDesmond TesterA Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.A ring of pro-German terrorists try to cause public panic in 1936 London by exploding a bomb in a public place.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsDavid AlbrittonArvo AskolaJack BeresfordThe document of the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.A landmark of sports filmography follows the nazi propaganda filled 1937 Berlin Olympics, the last time for years when nations of the world would gather up and compete each other in friendship instead of arms.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsCharlie CoxWes BentleyDougray ScottArising out of the horror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a journalist who discovers his own estranged father had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's life.The Spanish Civil War and its causes are on a display here. The story follows a soldier with Franco sympathies and a neutral priest who both try to survive and comprehend the destruction and uselessness of war.
- DirectorChuan LuStarsYe LiuWei FanHideo NakaizumiIn 1937, Japan occupied Nanjing, the Chinese capital. There was a battle and subsequent atrocities against the inhabitants, especially those who took refuge in the International Security Zone.The Japanese invasion of China continues and the metropolis of Nanjing turns both into a brutal battlefield and a ground of unspeakable atrocities towards the Chinese population.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.The last days of independent Austria. As the German Anschluss approaches, a former naval captain calls a young nun to take care of his children, ending up changing both of their lives.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsJean-Louis TrintignantStefania SandrelliGastone MoschinA weak-willed Italian man becomes a fascist flunky who goes abroad to arrange the assassination of his old teacher, now a political dissident.A man scarred by a homosexual childhood trauma joins Mussolini's secret police and is tasked with assassinating his former teacher as the second world war nears closer.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.A look into the Japanese society and the creation of the Zero-fighter plane as experienced by Jiro Horikoshi, a promising young plane designer whose creation would play a grand part in the Pacific war.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.Released under two month before world war 2 started, "Rules of the Game" explores the slow disintegration of Europe by showcasing the corruption of French upper-class society during a time of great unrest.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.The would be king George VI tries to get rid of stuttering with the help of an Australian amateur speech therapist. After Hitler invades Poland the Great Britain is dragged into war, the king is forced to overcome his problem to be able to broadcast an inspirational radio speech for his nation.
- DirectorPawel ChochlewStarsMichal ZebrowskiRobert ZoledziewskiJan EnglertSeptember 1st, 1939. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein marks the start of World War II by firing on the garrison stationed at the Westerplatte peninsula in Poland.The German invasion of Poland and the heroic stand of Polish troops in the first battle of world war two.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJames StewartJean ArthurClaude RainsA naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.As the war rages in Europe, a candide idealist mr. Smith is made a senator, where he's exposed to the utter corruption of the U.S congress. Offering a case of making the American perspective a bit grayish, the same men who tried to call Smith down would lead the country two years later into war in the name of democracy and freedom, both of which they showed to despise.