Best World War II films
It should come as no surprise that the majority of these films were either produced by, or set in the countries that were most heavily affected by that conflict, namely; Poland, Russia, Belorus, Ukraine and Germany. I find these films far more realistic, human and sincere compared with the more commercial, hero orientated US/UK films that tend to dominate these types of lists. Historical revisionism is also less prevalent - which is quite important imo. Anyway, without further ado; here is my list of the best WW2 films ever made. Films from: Poland-14, Russia-11, Germany-6, The Netherlands-5, Britain-4, Finland-3, Belorus-3, Norway/France/Denmark & Latvia-1
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- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsTatyana SamoylovaAleksey BatalovVasiliy MerkurevVeronica plans a rendezvous with her lover, Boris, at the bank of river, only for him to be drafted into World War II shortly thereafter.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsSergey BondarchukPavel BoriskinZinaida KirienkoA Soviet soldier, Andrei Sokolov, has been separated from his family by World War II. Suffering in German captivity, he dreams of meeting his darlings after the victory. But cruel fate turned out otherwise.
- DirectorElem KlimovStarsAleksey KravchenkoOlga MironovaLiubomiras LauceviciusAfter finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.Perhaps the benchmark to which all other films in this genre should be compared. Belorus was at the epi-centre of the WW2 conflict yet is almost never mentioned in western naratives or depicted in films set in that era.
- DirectorGrigoriy ChukhrayStarsVladimir IvashovZhanna ProkhorenkoAntonina MaksimovaYoung Russian soldier Alyosha earns a medal, but asks to visit his mother instead. His journey recounts various kinds of love during wartime.
- DirectorJan KomasaStarsJózef PawlowskiZofia WichlaczAnna PróchniakA story of love, friendship and the pursuit of adventure during the bloody and brutal reality of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.Hugely underrated portrayal of the largest underground uprising of the entire war, with some of the best action sequences ever put on screen.
- StarsStanislaw MikulskiEmil KarewiczBronislaw PawlikStanislaw Kolicki is a spy who operates as Hans Kloss in the German Abwehr during the Second World War.The most brilliant and entertaining WW2 series; still quite brutal at times.
- DirectorsLev KulidzhanovYakov SegelStarsValentina TeleginaNikolai YelizarovVladimir ZemlyanikinA film about war from the point of view of those left behind.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsVasiliy ShukshinVyacheslav TikhonovSergey BondarchukJuly 1942. Soviet forces are retreating in the face of a massive German onslaught towards Stalingrad. An infantry platoon is tasked with holding a vital hill in order to give their comrades time to cross the Don River and regroup.
- DirectorStanislav RostotskiyStarsAndrey MartynovIrina DolganovaElena DrapekoDuring World War II in a small village outpost, a Soviet sergeant has his troop replaced by an all female unit. As they finally begin to appreciate one another, German paratroopers are spotted nearby and the realities of war emerge.
- StarsAndrzej SewerynKarol StrasburgerKazimierz KaczorWorld War II as seen through the eyes of soldiers and ordinary people in German occupied Poland. It begins in September 1939 when young Ensign Niwinski is ordered to protect a mysterious transport; in four parts.Another fantastic Polish WW2 series.
- DirectorKrzysztof ZanussiStarsMaja KomorowskaScott WilsonHanna SkarzankaIn the aftermath of World War II, an American soldier falls in love with a Polish woman, and offers his help of leaving the country. But the circumstances turns out otherwise.
- DirectorWojciech SmarzowskiStarsMarcin DorocinskiAgata KuleszaMalwina BussRose, a German widow, hides from Russian soldiers who like to rape women and fights off Polish refugees who will steal everything she has. She gets help when Tadeusz, a former Polish officer, arrives looking to hide from his past.
- DirectorPekka ParikkaStarsTaneli MäkeläVesa VierikkoTimo TorikkaIn 1939, two Finnish brothers are conscripted in the army to fight in the war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
- DirectorLeonid BykovStarsLeonid BykovVladimir KonkinElena ShaninaThe families of 18 soldiers who heroically died in 1944 are meeting at the place of the squad last battle.
- 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.
- DirectorBernhard WickiStarsVolker BohnetFritz WepperMichael HinzIn 1945, Germany is being overrun, and nobody is left to fight but teenagers.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsSean ConneryRyan O'NealMichael CaineOperation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
- DirectorMartin KoolhovenStarsMartijn LakemeierJamie Campbell BowerYorick van WageningenIn German-occupied Netherlands, a teenage boy gets involved in the Dutch resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded RAF pilot.
- DirectorWojciech SmarzowskiStarsMichalina LabaczArkadiusz JakubikWasyl WasylikDespite being in love with a Ukrainian boy from the same village, Polish girl named Zosia is forced into marrying a wealthy widower. Soon World War II begins and ethnic tensions arise. Amidst the war chaos Zosia tries to survive.The most harrowing watch of these films - all based on first-hand accounts and documented evidence.
- DirectorOliver HirschbiegelStarsBruno GanzAlexandra Maria LaraUlrich MatthesTraudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsMalgorzata BraunekLeszek TeleszynskiJan NowickiDuring Nazi occupation of WWII Poland, after his family's slaughter, a husband joins the resistance while hunted by Gestapo. He aids a woman in labor, works as a typhus vaccine guinea pig, and confronts a man tortured in his place.
- DirectorPierre BoutronStarsJulie DelarmeMichel GalabruThomas JouannetIn occupied France, a Wehrmacht captain, Werner von Ebrennac, stays in a house inhabited by young Jeanne and her grandfather who decide to resist the occupier by never speaking a word to him, but Jeanne falls in love with him.
- CreatorGerard GlaisterStarsBernard HeptonAngela RichardsClifford RoseDuring World War II, a Belgian resistance movement called Lifeline, based in Brussels, organises the return of Allied airmen who have been shot down by the Luftwaffe to the United Kingdom.The strongest of a plethora of British WW2 series made in the 1970's, early 1980's. Generally unlikable characters, all with their own personal motives. Some great individual episodes, especially those made on location around Belgium.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsWojciech PszoniakEwa DalkowskaTeresa Budzisz-KrzyzanowskaThe last days of life of the legendary Polish pedagogue Dr. Janusz Korczak and his heroic dedication to protecting Jewish orphans in the Warsaw Ghetto.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsDaniel OlbrychskiStanislawa CelinskaAleksander BardiniThe film opens with the mad rush of haphazard freedom as the concentration camps are liberated. Men are trying to grab food, change clothes, bury the tormentors they find alive. They are then herded into other camps as the Allies try to devise means to control the situation. A young poet, who cannot quite find himself in this new situation, meets a headstrong young Jewish girl who wants him to run off with her to the West. He cannot cope with her growing demands for affection, and still feels hatred for the Germans and disdain for his fellow men, who quickly revert to petty enmities.
