Ultimate WW2 Films & TV Shows in Chronological Order
This is the ultimate WW2 watchlist, with each movie & TV episode organized in chronological order to which the depicted events actually occurred. The intent is to provide a synergistic and comprehensive viewing experience to better understand all aspects of the war.
Many films covers years or decades of time so I used the last major event depicted as the 'time stamp'. This way, each film or episode moves the narrative forward one sequential event at a time.
For example, the 1st film, "The Gathering Storm (2002)", covers the 5 years preceding the war and the core focus of the film is Winston Churchill's unfolding realization that Germany is rearming and preparing for war. The last major event in the movie is Churchill declaring war on Germany, and thus the time stamp for the film is 'Aug39'.
For epics that cover most, if not all, of the war (and then perhaps some more), they were placed near the end, with a time stamp of ~Mar43, as I deemed it preferable for them to re-cover events rather than tread too much new ground.
And finally, this list contains films with varying degrees of historical accuracy, from highly accurate to downright fictitious, as even the inaccurate movies have applicable themes.
More films/shows will be added over time as I watch each of them and place them in the optimal order.
Many films covers years or decades of time so I used the last major event depicted as the 'time stamp'. This way, each film or episode moves the narrative forward one sequential event at a time.
For example, the 1st film, "The Gathering Storm (2002)", covers the 5 years preceding the war and the core focus of the film is Winston Churchill's unfolding realization that Germany is rearming and preparing for war. The last major event in the movie is Churchill declaring war on Germany, and thus the time stamp for the film is 'Aug39'.
For epics that cover most, if not all, of the war (and then perhaps some more), they were placed near the end, with a time stamp of ~Mar43, as I deemed it preferable for them to re-cover events rather than tread too much new ground.
And finally, this list contains films with varying degrees of historical accuracy, from highly accurate to downright fictitious, as even the inaccurate movies have applicable themes.
More films/shows will be added over time as I watch each of them and place them in the optimal order.
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- DirectorRichard LoncraineStarsAlbert FinneyVanessa RedgraveJim BroadbentWinston Churchill's wilderness years prior to World War II, when only he could see the threat that Adolf Hitler and a rearmed Germany posed to Europe.Aug39 | Germany's rearmament and Munich Agreement
- DirectorChristian SchwochowStarsGeorge MacKayJannis NiewöhnerJeremy IronsA British diplomat travels to Munich in the run-up to World War II, where a former classmate of his from Oxford is also en route, but is working for the German government.Aug39 | Chamberlain's attempt to avert war using the Munich Agreement
- DirectorPatrick LauStarsIan McKellenMichael AldridgeTony BrittonBased on a play, the story details the dramatic negotiations between the UK, France, Poland, Nazi Germany, and the U.S.S.R. from the day Czechoslovakia fell, until Britain's declaration of war on Germany, caused by Hitler's invasion of Poland.Aug39 | Justifications for war
- 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.Sep39 | First battle of WW2 at Battle of Westerplatte
- DirectorErik PoppeStarsJesper ChristensenAnders BaasmoKarl MarkovicsApril 1940. Norway has been invaded by Germany and the royal family and government have fled into the interior. The German envoy to Norway tries to negotiate a peace. Ultimately, the decision on Norway's future will rest with the king.Apr40 | German invasion of Norway from political perspective
- DirectorErik SkjoldbjærgStarsKristine HartgenCarl Martin EggesbøChristoph Gelfert MathiesenApril 1940. The eyes of the world are on Narvik, a small town in northern Norway, source of the iron ore needed for Hitler's war machinery. Through two months of fierce winter warfare, Hitler is dealt his first defeat.Apr40 | German invasion of Norway from civilian's perspective
- DirectorPetter NæssStarsFlorian LukasDavid KrossLachlan NieboerWorld 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.Apr40 | cooperating with the enemy for survival
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsGary OldmanLily JamesKristin Scott ThomasIn May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.Jun40 | Churchill's stubborness against German aggresion
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsFionn WhiteheadBarry KeoghanMark RylanceAllied 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.Jun40 | hopelessness against an unseen superior enemy during Dunkirk Evacuation
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.Jul40 | iron conformity demanded by Nazi Germany
- DirectorGillies MacKinnonStarsEddie IzzardLaura FraserArran TullochEddie Izzard stars in this funny, moving and inspiring factual drama about the pioneering work on radar by a little known team of scientists in the run up to the Second World War.Jul40 | invention of radar
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsMichael CaineTrevor HowardHarry AndrewsIn 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the U.K.Sep40 | Britain's struggles to repel German bombers during the Battle of Britain
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreDana WynterCarl MöhnerThe World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.May41 | sinking of the German battleship Bismarck
- DirectorAleksandr KottStarsAleksey KopashovAndrey MerzlikinPavel DerevyankoA war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Soviet troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days.Jun41 | beginning of Operation Barbarossa (German Invasion of Soviet Union)
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsBenedict CumberbatchKeira KnightleyMatthew GoodeDuring 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.Jul41 | Enigma decryption
- DirectorPhilipp KadelbachStarsVolker BruchTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerFive friends go out to war and promise each other to be back for Christmas.Oct41 | German pre-war confidence and associated expectations for glory during Operation Barbarossa
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.Dec41 | range of Nazi sympathizing and doing duty during Battle of the Atlantic
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA 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.Dec41 | personal sacrifice and uncertain loyalties in war
- DirectorHy AverbackAlexander SingerStarsAngie DickinsonDennis WeaverRobert WagnerDec41 | attack on Pearl Harbor
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.Dec41 | attack on Pearl Harbor
- DirectorRichard FleischerKinji FukasakuToshio MasudaStarsMartin BalsamSô YamamuraJason RobardsThe story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.Dec41 | attack on Pearl Harbor
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsClare BullusStanley TucciSimon MarkeyAt the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.Jan42 | Nazi's deliberately planning genocidal intentions during Wannsee Conference
- DirectorJohn FordRobert MontgomeryStarsRobert MontgomeryJohn WayneDonna ReedA Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.Jan42 | insufficient equipment and lack of consideration amid Battle of the Philippines
- DirectorPhilipp KadelbachStarsVolker BruchTom SchillingMiriam SteinThe war on the Russian front goes disastrously wrong, so Frieldhelm's realistic pessimism spreads among the decimated comrades in arms, who bravely continue the near-hopeless battle assignments in a last hope offensive on Kursk. Friedhelm survives by wearing a Soviet uniform, only to be shot by his own men, yet is saved against the odds when nurse Charlotte begs the surgeon, who becomes her lover. At home, his father proves heartless, caring only for the presumed dead in action of firstborn hero Wilhelm, who actually deserted to live in a wood cabin but is found and condemned to the firing squad. Viktor is caught, sent to a concentration camp but escapes with a Polish girl. They are nearly denounced but brought to the partisans, who mistrust the odd couple. Greta visits the front, sees the horror in Charlotte's field hospital and is arrested for publicly questioning the Nazi victory. Her lover learns about his child while questioning her.Jan42 | German struggles and hints that the war is turning during Operation Barbarossa
- DirectorAaron SchneiderStarsTom HanksElisabeth ShueStephen GrahamSeveral months after the U.S. entry into World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack.Feb42 | protecting convoys during the Battle of the Atlantic