wwi and wwii movies and series
by iris_stip | created - 02 Nov 2014 | updated - 27 May 2020 | PublicAll the movies and series that I watched and want to see about World War I and World War II and with some other exceptions. In no particular order. [Last updated: April 19th 2015]
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1. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,941 | Gross: $96.90M
It is quite sometime a go when I watched this one.
2. Black Book (2006)
R | 145 min | Drama, Thriller, War
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman, Halina Reijn
Votes: 80,545 | Gross: $4.40M
One of the best Dutch war movies. With the lovely Carice van Houten. Watched it several times and I still enjoy it. Great story line! Serious must watch for everyone!
3. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
R | 153 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent
Votes: 1,585,715 | Gross: $120.54M
A war movie from Quentin Tarantino. Really enjoyed watching it. Although it may be a bit too much for some.
4. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,443 | Gross: $5.51M
It is quite sometime a go when I watched this one.
5. Fury (2014)
R | 134 min | Action, Drama, War
A grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.
Director: David Ayer | Stars: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña
Votes: 547,675 | Gross: $85.82M
Really enjoyed watching it. Very impressive.
6. Unbroken (I) (2014)
PG-13 | 137 min | Action, Biography, Drama
After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Director: Angelina Jolie | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund
Votes: 182,821 | Gross: $115.64M
Really enjoyed watching it. Strong story line based on a true story. Truly heartbreaking in some way.
7. Valkyrie (2008)
PG-13 | 121 min | Drama, History, Thriller
A dramatization of the July 20, 1944 assassination and political coup plot by desperate renegade German Army officers against Adolf Hitler during World War II.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Carice van Houten, Kenneth Branagh
Votes: 259,387 | Gross: $83.08M
Watched it several times. Enjoy watching it every time.
8. Pearl Harbor (2001)
PG-13 | 183 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A tale of war and romance mixed in with history. The story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, William Lee Scott
Votes: 352,016 | Gross: $198.54M
The movie about Pearl Harbor.
9. Winter in Wartime (2008)
R | 103 min | Drama, History, War
In German-occupied Netherlands, a teenage boy gets involved in the Dutch resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded RAF pilot.
Director: Martin Koolhoven | Stars: Martijn Lakemeier, Jamie Campbell Bower, Yorick van Wageningen, Raymond Thiry
Votes: 13,534 | Gross: $0.54M
A Dutch movie that is a film adaptation from a classic 'child's book'. Enjoyed watching it.
10. The Rotterdam Bombing (2012)
105 min | Drama, History, War
In 1940, a struggling poor young man falls for a girl who must pay a terrible price to save her mentally disabled brother by marrying a powerful shrewd businessman. Then Rotterdam Blitz, a devastating German bombardment, begins.
Director: Ate de Jong | Stars: Jan Smit, Roos van Erkel, Mike Weerts, Monic Hendrickx
Votes: 1,807
Another good Dutch war movie. Really enjoyed watching it.
11. Süskind (2012)
118 min | Biography, Drama, History
During WWII, a member of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam finds a way to spare children from deportation to the death camps.
Director: Rudolf van den Berg | Stars: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Karl Markovics, Nyncke Beekhuyzen, Katja Herbers
Votes: 2,660
Still have to watch it.
12. Into the White (I) (2012)
R | 104 min | Action, Biography, Drama
World War II: After an aerial battle over Norway, British and German airmen find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Finding shelter in the same cabin, they realize the only way to survive the winter is to set aside the rules of war.
Director: Petter Næss | Stars: Florian Lukas, David Kross, Lachlan Nieboer, Stig Henrik Hoff
Votes: 22,371
Enjoyed watching it. I was happy to discover that they speak there 'own language'. So it was more naturally. Great film based on a true story.
13. Red Tails (2012)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Drama, History
A crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program, having faced segregation while kept mostly on the ground during World War II, are called into duty under the guidance of Col. A.J. Bullard.
Director: Anthony Hemingway | Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo, Andre Royo
Votes: 37,258 | Gross: $49.88M
Great movie about the war. That looks at another part than the ones we already know.
14. The Red Baron (2008)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
Director: Nikolai Müllerschön | Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 13,162 | Gross: $0.04M
Enjoyed watching it.
15. Flyboys (2006)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, History
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: James Franco, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, Scott Hazell
Votes: 44,508 | Gross: $13.08M
Enjoyed watching this movie.
16. The Book Thief (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Drama, War
While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
Director: Brian Percival | Stars: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer
Votes: 142,363 | Gross: $21.49M
Enjoyed watching it. Lovely storyline.
17. Australia (2008)
PG-13 | 165 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Shea Adams, Eddie Baroo
Votes: 129,787 | Gross: $49.55M
Really enjoyed watching this movie. An amazing story line.
18. Atonement (2007)
R | 123 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Thirteen-year-old fledgling writer Briony Tallis irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
Director: Joe Wright | Stars: Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Saoirse Ronan
Votes: 300,037 | Gross: $50.93M
Really enjoyed watching it. Such a good romantic tragic war movie. But it still has the happy ending part going, luckily.
19. Glorious 39 (2009)
R | 129 min | Drama, History, Mystery
The adopted daughter of a privileged British politician uncovers a family secret in the weeks leading up to World War II.
Director: Stephen Poliakoff | Stars: Romola Garai, Eddie Redmayne, Juno Temple, Toby Regbo
Votes: 5,704
Enjoyed watching it. It is a good thriller/mystery that plays out in the war/ around the war.
20. The Monuments Men (2014)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, War
An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from German thieves and return them to their owners.
Director: George Clooney | Stars: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 141,280 | Gross: $78.03M
Enjoyed watching it. It doesn't quite go into the action as much as others. But not every movie needs to be the same on the contrary rather not. It zooms in on another aspect of the war.
21. Allies (2014)
Not Rated | 93 min | Action, Drama, War
August 1944. A team of British soldiers led by a US Captain are dropped behind enemy lines in France on a mission that could shorten the war. As nothing goes according to plan, commando ... See full summary »
Director: Dominic Burns | Stars: Julian Ovenden, Chris Reilly, Matt Willis, Edmund Kingsley
Votes: 1,019
Still have to watch it.
22. The Way Back (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 133 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Siberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Dragos Bucur
Votes: 122,044 | Gross: $2.70M
I watched it, but somehow I didn't quite stick with me.
23. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,497,480 | Gross: $216.54M
I watched it, but somehow I didn't quite stick with me.
24. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,381 | Gross: $1.02M
Really enjoyed watching it. Just a perfect classic.
25. Operation Petticoat (1959)
Approved | 124 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During World War II, a commander finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) submarine, a con man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill
Votes: 15,883 | Gross: $23.30M
Really enjoyed watching this one. Had too laugh more than a few times. Love this movie.
26. The Longest Day (1962)
G | 178 min | Action, Drama, History
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
Votes: 59,089 | Gross: $39.10M
I know I watched it, but can't really remember it that well. It is quite some time back. My mother really likes this movie.
27. Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
PG | 118 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, several oddly assorted military experts are teamed in a mission to raid and destroy a bridge vital to enemy strategy.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Harrison Ford, Robert Shaw, Edward Fox, Franco Nero
Votes: 19,765
I know I watched it, but can't really remember it that well. It is quite some time back. My mother really likes this movie.
28. The African Queen (1951)
PG | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In WWI East Africa, a gin-swilling Canadian riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced English missionary to undertake a trip up a treacherous river and use his boat to attack a German gunship.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull
Votes: 84,348 | Gross: $0.54M
Enjoyed watching it. A whole other story about the war, so that was nice.
29. What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, War
In World War II, a strategic Italian village agrees to surrender to the Allies only if it's allowed to organize a celebratory festival while giving aerial reconnaissance the false impression of fierce ground fighting.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: James Coburn, Dick Shawn, Sergio Fantoni, Giovanna Ralli
Votes: 2,255
I know I watched it, but can't really remember it that well. I believe it's was funny, but maybe I'm confused with another movie.
30. The Magic of Ordinary Days (2005 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 98 min | Drama
Pregnant out of wedlock, an educated young woman is pressured by her father into an arranged marriage with a lonely farmer in this drama set during WWII.
Director: Brent Shields | Stars: Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich, Mare Winningham, Tania Gunadi
Votes: 6,090
Touching movie. Really enjoyed watching it.
31. The Lost Valentine (2011 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 87 min | Drama, Romance
Lucas Thomas's grandmother Caroline returns every Valentine's Day to the station where, at their first wedding anniversary, she waved off to the Pacific Theater of War in 1944 her husband ... See full summary »
Director: Darnell Martin | Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Betty White, Sean Faris, Billy Magnussen
Votes: 6,500
Touching movie. Really enjoyed watching it,
32. Band of Brothers (2001)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, History, War
The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
Stars: Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor
Votes: 527,934
I still have to see the whole series. I believe I saw two episodes so far. Really am enjoying it. From what I know: it's a very good Mini-Series. So I am looking forward too it.
33. Foyle's War (2002–2015)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As WWII rages, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front; investigating crime on the south coast of England. Later series, see the retired detective working as an MI5 agent in the aftermath of the war.
Stars: Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Anthony Howell, Ellie Haddington
Votes: 18,294
Love the story lines of the earlier seasons, because they are more focused on the war. The cold war seasons are not that good in comparison with the ones with the war. Loved the characters.
34. The Passing Bells (2014)
TV-14 | Drama, War
An epic historical drama spanning the five years of the First World War, as seen through the eyes of two ordinary young soldiers.
Stars: Patrick Gibson, Jack Lowden, Hubert Burton, Adam Long
Votes: 1,238
Loved the story line. Found the two head characters very interesting. Although I was a bit disappointed by the fact that the 'Germans' didn't speak German. Everybody spoke one language.
35. The Pacific (2010)
TV-MA | 53 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The Pacific Theatre of World War II, as seen through the eyes of several young Marines.
Stars: James Badge Dale, Joseph Mazzello, Jon Seda, Ashton Holmes
Votes: 130,192
I still have to see the whole series. But from what I know it's a very good Mini-Series. So I am looking forward too it.
36. Bomb Girls (2012–2014)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, War
A drama about World War II women at work in a munitions factory.
Stars: Meg Tilly, Jodi Balfour, Charlotte Hegele, Antonio Cupo
Votes: 4,581
Enjoyed the setting in a war factory and the point of view of the series. Instead from the men point's of view, not that I don't enjoy that, it's from the woman's point of view. Loved watching it.
37. Fleming (2014)
TV-MA | 44 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Look at the 007 creator, Ian Fleming, and his early life set against the permissive society of war-torn WWII London.
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Lara Pulver, Samuel West, Anna Chancellor
Votes: 5,283
Loved the story line overall, but some parts I didn't like. Sometimes it was a bit too much nakedness for my taste.
38. A Promise (2013)
R | 98 min | Drama, Romance
A romantic drama set in Germany just before WWI and centered on a married woman who falls in love with her husband's protégé. Separated first by duties and then by the war, they pledge their devotion to one another.
Director: Patrice Leconte | Stars: Rebecca Hall, Alan Rickman, Richard Madden, Toby Murray
Votes: 4,519
Actually didn't enjoy watching it. It was somehow a weird movie. Didn't quite understand the whole storyline. And the war isn't even that obvious in the movie.
39. '71 (2014)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In 1971, a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the deadly streets of Belfast.
Director: Yann Demange | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Sam Reid, Sean Harris, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 60,196 | Gross: $1.27M
This is a movie about the struggles in Belfast in 1971. So this is an exception on the rest of the list. Watched it, but it's quite unsatisfying somehow. But maybe that's my happy ending with love wish.
40. Woman in Gold (2015)
PG-13 | 109 min | Biography, Drama, History
Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.
Director: Simon Curtis | Stars: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Daniel Brühl, Katie Holmes
Votes: 63,253 | Gross: $33.31M
41. Suite Française (2014)
107 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
During the early years of German occupation of France in World War II, romance blooms between Lucile Angellier (Michelle Williams), a French villager, and Lieutenant Bruno von Falk (Matthias Schoenaerts), a German soldier.
Director: Saul Dibb | Stars: Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot Robbie, Eric Godon
Votes: 28,551
42. Testament of Youth (2014)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama, History
A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times.
Director: James Kent | Stars: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton, Dominic West
Votes: 30,515 | Gross: $1.82M
43. Anthropoid (2016)
R | 120 min | Action, Drama, History
Based on the extraordinary true story of Operation Anthropoid, the WWII mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the main architect behind the Final Solution and the Reich's third in command after Hitler and Himmler.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Jamie Dornan, Cillian Murphy, Brian Caspe, Karel Hermánek Jr.
Votes: 54,272 | Gross: $2.96M
44. The Imitation Game (2014)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech
Votes: 825,517 | Gross: $91.13M
45. Riphagen (2016)
131 min | Biography, Drama, War
The story about Riphagen, a cunning Dutch traitor during WW2 who helped Nazi round up Jews, stealing their treasures for himself. He destroyed Resistance groups, making many who pursued justice after the war look like fools.
Director: Pieter Kuijpers | Stars: Steef de Bot, Huub Smit, Sigrid ten Napel, Anna Raadsveld
Votes: 8,726
46. Their Finest (2016)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A former secretary, newly appointed as a scriptwriter for propaganda films, joins the cast and crew of a major production while the Blitz rages around them.
Director: Lone Scherfig | Stars: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Richard E. Grant
Votes: 21,309 | Gross: $3.60M
47. Morocco: Love in Times of War (2017)
70 min | Drama, War
In the Spanish city of Melilla, during the Rif War of the 1920s, Spanish volunteer nurses of Red Cross with no experience adapt to their new lives.
Stars: Amaia Salamanca, Álex García, Verónica Sánchez, Álex Gadea
Votes: 3,287
48. The Resistance Banker (2018)
TV-MA | 123 min | Biography, Drama, War
In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, banker brothers Walraven and Gijs van Hall face their greatest challenge yet when they decide to help fund the Dutch resistance.
Director: Joram Lürsen | Stars: Jacob Derwig, Barry Atsma, Fockeline Ouwerkerk, Pierre Bokma
Votes: 10,689
49. Dunkirk (2017)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Drama, History
Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy
Votes: 740,708 | Gross: $188.37M
50. The Zookeeper's Wife (2017)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
Keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, Antonina and Jan Zabinski, must save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion in WWII Poland.
Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, Daniel Brühl, Timothy Radford
Votes: 46,641 | Gross: $17.45M
51. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
TV-14 | 124 min | Drama, Romance, War
In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war. Then she learns the secret they are afraid to reveal.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Courtenay, Michiel Huisman, Katherine Parkinson
Votes: 52,720
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