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My daughter is learning about WW2 at school and I want to show her a good film about that era. I was thinking something like "The bridge too far" or "battle of britain".
Any suggestions?
the longest day.
Empire of the sun?
A tough one.
Bridge too Far is excellent, as is the book, but both are really very, very heavy going for a young 'un.
What would you like her to learn?
I'd obviously say that the Great Escape and Kelly's Heroes are both worth a look, primarily because they're a little lighter going, without diminishing the horror of war.
It depends on which aspects of WWII she is studying. My daughter recently studied the war but the major aspects they looked at seemed to be the war at home: rationing, evacuation etc. If I was looking for a film to reflect this I would show her something like Hope and Glory
Platoon?
Saving private Ryan?
Come and See
Hope and glory is a good film.
Shes been learning about the key events of the war.
Patton.
Battle of britain. Nice mix of humour and realism.
This Happy Breed, The Cruel Sea, Millions Like Us, Went the Day Well.
Battle of the Bulge
The World at War - all 22 hours of it. 🙂
The Bridge at Remagen
chewkw - Member
Platoon?
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Ice Cold in Alex
would recommend Cross of Iron but for one scene.
Suppose there is the navarones and the dirty dozens too
12'0 clock High - not actually that bloody or gory, but tells the "human" side of command. And for education, it's one of the very first post WW II films where the focus on "The Germans" isn't really there - its a film on the stress of combat, morale and leadership.
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
Band of Brothers
Reach for the Sky
Sink the Bismark
battle of the river plate
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Kelly's heroes
Von Ryan's express
A couple of episodes of 'allo allo'. -she could perfect her fake resistance accent for her report?
On a related note, my wife worried that our (then) 12 year old wasn't grasping the horrors of war whilst playing the COD series. I made him watch saving private Ryan and she has never forgiven me!
I would second hope and glory if they are looking at the home front, otherwise many of the films mentioned might be a bit much for an 8 year old.
Agreed
The world at war will teach more than any Hollywood movie and it's presented beautifully by Lawrence Olivier
11-10
Another +1 for 'The World at War'.
Or if it has to be set during the 2nd world war then another +1 for 'Ice cold in Alex' which isn't really a war film, more of an adventure set during WW2.
Where Eagles Dare
Dirty Dozen
Great Escape
Recommended Christmas viewing when I was a kid.
On a more realistic note:
Hope and Glory
The Longest Day
I'd save Private Ryan etc until later.
Life is beautiful?
Er... I don't know about you but I seem to remember the World at War showing death in graphic detail. Suitable for an 8 year old?
I'd say the Battle of Britain is at least reasonably historically accurate.
It's trying to represent the horror of war, maybe not ideal for an 8 year old.
My problem with the other suggestions are hollywood movies and that = fantasy
+1 for Went the Day Well
Its a fantastic film, that despite being propaganda, is a very interesting insight into the fear of invasion and the resolve of people at the time not to give in.
its also on youtube in its entirety
Enjoy 😀
I think The cruel sea is on youtube in full as well
ps. kudos for he recommendation of 'come and see' - doubt she'd ever sleep again...
how about Dead Snow?
'Allo 'Allo!
To be honest I can't see an 8 year old learning much apart from stereotypes about WW2 from any suitable film.
Diary of Anne Frank perhaps.
Better off with a trip to Imperial War Museum.
Something a bit more cerebral like [url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071733/ ]Lacombe, Lucien[/url] maybe?
Not a film but a book the machine gunners . I read it at her age and was blow away by it partly because my dad was an evacuee and served in the home guard as a schoolboy.
Edit also available as a BBC play on DVD
Glad to see they are now teaching WW2 in our schools instead of the claptrap they fed us 20 years ago.
BTW, battle of Britain gets my vote, then progress
Bedknobs & Broomsticks or Dad's Army
I remember The Machine Gunners from when it was on at teatime as a kid.
Or there's always Where Eagles Dare
Page 2 and no mention of The Dambusters? If nothing else it's got the best score.
How about Das Boat for a Kraut perspective or Tora ,Tora ,Tora which makes Pearl harbour look like utter litter ?
some great suggestions here
id go with
battle of britain
band of brothers
das boot
the opening of private ryan is pretty jawdropping
although might be too strong for an 8 yr old
id maybe say Grave of the Fireflies but thats like watership down+ the plague dogs x 1000,000
even more harrowing because its based on a true story
I appreciate that this is a bit of a downer, especially as I love war films, but what can a child usefully learn about war at the age of 8 and do you really want to reinforce it? Innocence is a wonderful thing.
Inglorious Basterds
Inglorious Basterds
Disgusted it took so long for someone to recommend that.
sorry.... was busy 😳
I remember reading goodnight mr tom when i was around that age , ITV made a programme with the guy from morse as mr Tom . might be a dvd around
given the last poster's moniker then a matter of life and death surely?
i must've watched this and world at war for the first time at around the age of eight
Matter of life and death is a great call but not sure how much i would off got as an 8 year old , Another David Niven film worth a look is The
The Way Ahead , about conscripts but again not sure if i would get the message at 8 years old
The Bridge On The River Kwai
My dad took me to see it when I was not far off her age, but he had a personal reason for doing so.
all quiet on the western front.
perhaps the biggest 'key event' in ww2 was ww1
The original 1944 film of Memphis Belle, have a look yourself on youtube first.
I remember reading goodnight mr tom when i was around that age , ITV made a programme with the guy from morse as mr Tom . might be a dvd around
Goodnight Mr Tom? Excellent film.
I'd go with sommat like Enemy At The Gate (if you can ignore the mildly naughty bit). Probably more like the war for lots of soldiers than most films I've seen, i.e. a lot of sitting about in the pissing rain. Not too much gore either.
Grave of the Fireflies is one grim film.
You have all forgotten one of the best classic war films!
The Heroes of Telemark
Surprised know one has mentioned Schindler's list yet.
Maybe a little bit too deep for an 8yr old.
The sound of music
Although it wouldn't be suitable for an 8 year old, when I watched the "Pacific" a couple of years ago, it really made me realise what a pointless act War is. Such a waste of human life! And this is from someone who loves war films. The Pacific really made me think about what the men in WW2 went through.
Kelly's Heroes for a serious, accurate depiction of the war. Clint Eastwood trying not to laugh throughout the whole film.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It's got 8 year olds in it.
+1 for The Machine Gunners if you can find the BBC version. It was excellent viewing when I was a kid and would be perfect for her. Also, quite ratre, so not much chance of someone copying it.
Hunt the Bismark is probably worth a shot though. All round a damn good film.
Second for Schindler's list, or just take her a museum. There's so much more to the war than Tommy's and Jerry's shooting at each other, at the museum you can see things that would've affected children her age during the war. From ration books to children's gas masks.
Schindlers list was somethingi managed to watch when I was very young somehow... Something I always remember to funnily enough.
Where ya goin now?
... and the collective instantly trots out a list of just about all the WW2 films it can think of.
She's [b]EIGHT YEARS OLD[/b]!!!
Dumkopfs.
Ask her teacher.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It's got 8 year olds in it.
this.
my kids were shown it at school.
Second vote for 'Life is Beautiful' , stunning movie and very funny in parts.
Memphis Belle was was what my school deemed suitable to show to us about primary 6 or 7 age. Most exciting bit for us was when one guy shouts "There's a hole in the wing the size of my dick". Truly the horrors of war.
Woppit +1
Thing is, when I was 8, war films were on telly all the time during daytime and weekends. This ranged from the propaganda ones made during WW2 to the post war ones starting to touch on the horrors of war to the boys own merry adventure type fluff, and probably none were aimed at kids. Gave a range of interpretation of war and while not documentary or fact they certainly put some awareness and understanding of it all into me before watching the documentary stuff when older. Kids just don't really have that now, those films aren't really shown, and if they are there's full colour other channels of choice, computer games, and so on.
Gone for the second nanny McPhee film as a starter
... and the collective instantly trots out a list of just about all the WW2 films it can think of.She's EIGHT YEARS OLD!!!
Dumkopfs.
And? As I quite clearly pointed out, I wasn't much off that age when my dad took me to see [i]Bridge On The River Kwai[/i] at the cinema. That film was released in '57, I was born in '54, and he died in '67. I couldn't have been much more than 9 or 10. He was a Japanese POW in Changi, he felt I needed to have some sort of perspective on what life was like, as he wouldn't talk about it.
Nuremberg was a two part docu film which stared Alec Baldwin which was about the Nuremberg trials after the war. Sometimes shown on the discovery channel.
Only thing is the last part of it shows some very harrowing scenes which can be upsetting for just about anyone.
Three pages and we haven't had this mentioned yet?
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I know they've been mentioned before, but:
Ice Cold in Alex.
Went the day well.
A matter of life & death.
The boy in the striped pyjamas.
And if you could buy her a copy of The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier, I reckon she'd love it. Great book.
most of those suggestions are unsuitable for an 8 year old.
The World at War is best kept for a few years down the line as well I reckon.
I would let her read Going Solo by Roald Dahl. It is a very good account of his life in the war as an RAF pilot.
There was a recent BBC docu-drama called into the blue (or something similar) about the Battle of Britain and the stress it put on the pilots.
D-Day to Berlin was a good series and not as graphic as the world at war, I don't think
Great suggestions here. I would agree with Went the Day Well, and add This Land is Mine, starring Charles Laughton. The propaganda films of the second world war have a real sense of the fear and determination of the people faced with the threat of Nazi invasion.
If she's a patient eight year old, you might try The Great Dictator; Chaplin's greatest film, imo. There are some passages a child would love, of humour and pathos and excitement, but it is a slow film in places. The representation of Hitler is just superb, though. Apparently, the little bastard watched it several times. That's vanity: watching a genius apply his talent to ripping the shit out of you.
PS, I totally agree with rustyspammer above, about The Silver Sword.