You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've seen quite a few over the years, with The Darkest Hour, All Quiet on the Western Front and Downfall being up there for me. But I have finally got around to watching Das Boot (after reading about on here more than once) – what a fantastic film and I wasn't expecting that ending!
So what's everyone's favourite films so I can make sure I get to watch them?
*I am asking specifically about WW1 and 2 as I have a particular interest in them.
depends what you want from your film really. The opening 1/2 hour of Saving Ryan's Privates is pretty good, but i'd also suggest Come and See for its depictions of the brutality of war,
Zone of Interest and Son of Solomon should also be on everyone's list
For WW1 the remake of All quiet on the western front is very good. and despite the 'single shot' aspect that to my mind gets in the way 1917 is, overall, pretty good
Yeah, I have seen Saving Private Ryan many times (just a couple of weeks ago in fact), but that's a good shout about Zone of Interest - I have been meaning to watch that.
As pieces of cinema, but not accurate reflections of war the Cruel Sea and Ice Cold in Alex. The 1960s Battle of Britain is pretty good for its time.
Not films, but Band of Brothers and The Pacific are must watch.
A Bridge Too Far for its all star cast.
Fury is very watchable, albeit the final battle is somewhat far fetched Hollywood style.
My personal favourites - Kelly's Heroes and Inglorious Basterds. Two superb films. You cannot beat a WW2 film that has Telly Savalas, Clint Eastwood and Donald Sutherland. That said, I think Brad Pitt in IB is probably the best acting/character I think I've ever seen in a film... Just bonkers good.
Although loads of worthy mentions of that Kelly's Heroes era of film making that I love... Where Eagles Dare, The Eagle Has Landed, obviously the Great Escape, Guns Of Navarone...
Newer films worth a mention, Saving Private Ryan has to be in there simply for the open scene. I'll be slated here but I thought despite its inaccuracies, U571 was also superb. EDIT: forgot to add Fury. Another Brad Pitt masterclass.
I thought Flags of Our Fathers was worth watching. I preferred it to Letters from Iwo Jima (which was filmed simultaneously and shows the Japanese side of the battle) because I thought Eastwood should have stuck to the American film and worked in parallel with a Japanese director making the Japanese film. I don't think Eastwood has the nuance to make a Japanese film, but he's pretty decent at giving an American perspective on war and violence in general.
Fury, A Bridge Too Far.
Band of Brothers
Still tops my list.
Some that divide opinion, but I loved are
The Thin Red Line
1917
Empire of the Sun
Schindler's List has to be up there.
Son of Solomon
Son of Saul but, yes - very disorientating film that conveys a sense of utter powerlessness.
Lawrence of Arabia
I assumed Saving Ryan's Privates was a deliberate mistake - that's a very different film.
tee hee...
Although if we're being nerdy. The beach is too narrow, the beach defences are pointing the wrong way, and if you fired an MG34/42 for as long as they did, the barrel would've melted...
If you liked the feature length film of Das Boot, I highly recommend getting the box set of the same TV series ( not the recent sequels)- it’s much more nuanced experience with the periods of extreme boredom interspersed with the action shown in the film. Stunning.
What do you want ? guns and bombs and much excitement, or the human cost type ?
Ice Cold in Alex is one of my favourites from a loooong time ago. I've recently tried watching Band of Brothers and parts of it are tough going, but it is excellent.
I'm wondering if "1941" counts as a great film. Probably not.
Churchill: The Hollywood Years.
Oh. No, wait…
Path's of Glory. Early Kubrick. Though it's as much a legal drama as a war film. Powerful though.
What do you want ? guns and bombs and much excitement, or the human cost type ?
Any, although I guess I prefer stuff that is based on reality (although not necessarily 100% factual) more than made up stuff (so films like Fury, whilst good fun, don't captivate me quite so much).
Band of Brothers. Just incredible. Pacific never got hold of me the same but BoB I can watch and rewatch again and again.
Band of Brothers. Just incredible. Pacific never got hold of me the same but BoB I can watch and rewatch again and again.
Yeah, I agree with that. We tried but failed to watch The Pacific, but I've seen BoB a few times and have also read the original book by Stephen Ambrose.
So many options, I love a good WW2 movie!
"Tora, Tora, Tora" about the lead up to Pearl Harbour is great, and historically very accurate. "Pearl Harbor" on the other hand... 🤣
"Unknown Soldier" is a Finnish series about the winter war, well worth a watch.
And not WW2, but "Taegukgi" is an amazing film about two brothers fighting in the Korean war.
The later Bastogne with Savalas was a farce with Korean war tanks in the Arizona desert.
You have to be very careful with Chinese WWII films because the question is always how much is just CCP propaganda. However, the events surrounding the Nanjing Massacre are so awful, and well enough documented, that it'd be hard to exaggerate what happened. There's a film from this year that I'd like to see:
But you'll probably find it easier to get hold of a 90s film that covered the same ground:
@Montgomery - I thought you'd be recommending A Bridge Too Far 😉
Any list of great war films has to have Zulu in it,
Loads of other great films
Dambusters
Big red one
Platoon
Apocalypse now
Most recent film would be Warfare and yes the TV series of Das boot is much better than the cinema version
WWI and WWII, innit? I'm old enough I saw A Bridge Too Far at the cinema...
Any list of great war films has to have Zulu in it,
Ah, the famous battle of Rorkes Drift. Just turn left at Paris.
grave of the fireflies
Most are just a load of gung-ho nonsense. I would go for:
WW1 Oh What a Lovely War
WW2 Das Boot
WW3 Dr. Strangelove
I don't think any of the more modern films have captivated me. I like Ice Cold In Alex and Sink The Bismarck
Generation War - our mother's our father's.
A series along the lines of BoB, but german
Took me a long time to process the utterly harrowing storyline. It still disturbs me now, thinking about it.
I agree with Das Boat as being outstanding. Taste being personal, I regard some of the above as awful. Realism (or my perception of reality and closeness to truth) is my yardstick, so while Inglorious Basterds is an excellent film it isn't just a war film in the way Das Boat is. Fury I switched off at the final battle scene as it jumped the shark........
Not that its particularly spectacular but i have a soft spot for it from watching it when i was younger, The Bridge at Remagen.
Taste being personal, I regard some of the above as awful.
Agree. Apocalypse Now is mentioned above (which isn't a WW1/WW2 obviously) but is of the genre of films I should like but I can't stand it. Hours of nothing and then an oddball at the end of the river.
The Bridge on the River Kwai.
WW2, and regarded as one of the best films of all time.
To Hell and Back Again.
A Bridge Too Far for its all star cast.
'Theirs Is the Glory' if you want a proper film about Arnhem.
Last episode of Black Adder, final series.
All the Sharpes, the Waterloo one I like in particularly.
Lawrence of Arabia, because my Dad was in it :-). Watched and paused many times as you expect.
To Hell and Back Again.
The Audie Murphy biopic where he played himself? I was obsessed with that as a kid, wonder how well it stands up now, though?
To Hell and Back Again.
The Audie Murphy biopic where he played himself? I was obsessed with that as a kid, wonder how well it stands up now, though?
It's aged, but in a good way. I'm surprised that Hollywood has not had a go at reimagining it.
But who would play Audie Murphy ?
Casablanca for the La Marseillaise' scene alone.
Cross of Iron.
Two that I thought were well done.
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
and
The 12th Man
I never knew about the whole 'Shetland Bus' and the support of Norway's fighters
Anytime it's on though, it has to be " Broadsword calling Danny Boy" 😀
I did see Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk' at a proper cinema and must say it was one of the most tense, exciting and absorbing films I've ever sat through. Those Stukas! On the telly, not so much.
I assumed Saving Ryan's Privates was a deliberate mistake - that's a very different film.
Shurely it was "Shaving Ryan's Privates" ???
Enemy at the Gates is worth watching for the opening scenes.
I moored a Scottish fishing boat in Bergen on Independence Day, we'd come over from Inverness. Quite a few older Norwegians came to chat and tell us there stories of The Shetland Bus, they at first thought we were something to do with the celebrations. Quite a lot of horrible and incredible stories.
If you like Das Boot check out Iron Coffins written by a guy who worked through the ranks to become a U Boat captain from the glory days to when they sensibly ran away, ignored orders and waited for the end to avoid a suicide mission and save his crew
If you want more modern stuff, Generation Kill, which is a mini-series based on a Rolling Stone reporter's experience in the Iraq invasion is excellent.
I'm surprised that Hollywood has not had a go at reimagining it.
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
I guess it depends what you want from a WWII film.
Always enjoyed A Bridge Too Far, its hard to imagine them making that today given how absolutely stacked the cast is with big Hollywood actors.
Das Boot is just a great piece of story telling, really gets to the futility of it all.
But my favourite depiction of WWII is probably Band Of Brothers, even though its not a film
Came to suggest Bridge on the River Kwai, but as it’s already here how about Escape to Victory?
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
Had never heard of this before, but the Sabaton song "The Last Battle" makes a lot more sense now!
A Midnight Clear
A truly excellent slow burn of a film set in mainland Europe at the very end of WW2, highlighting the hope, paranoia, mental struggles and general **** ups that the kids sent to war had to deal with.
Escape to Victory is about as historically accurate as Overlord...
A Midnight Clear
A truly excellent slow burn of a film set in mainland Europe at the very end of WW2, highlighting the hope, paranoia, mental struggles and general **** ups that the kids sent to war had to deal with.
The book it is based on by William Wharton is excellent.
A Midnight Clear
Well that looks very interesting - added to my list. A good cast too. Ta 🙂
The incident that so very clearly should've been made into a film by now has surely got to be The Battle of Itter castle. Wehrmacht and US Army joining forces to defeat the SS. There's Austrian resistance, and beautiful French film and sports stars fighting alongside the German and American soldiers...It literally begs to made into a film.
According to Wikipedia the US/Serbian WW2 action drama Battle for Castle Itter is based on this event. Production began on 15 February until 7 March 2024. It was released on 30 May 2025.
It only scores 5.6/10 on IMDB though, so maybe not a great retelling of the story.
There is a teaser here:
It was on Apple TV+ but is no longer available.
This happy breed
Escape to Victory is about as historically accurate as Overlord...
I know! The variation of the offside rule used during the match didn't come into force until 1967, and the formation and tactics of allied the team is clearly influenced by the German and Dutch national teams of the early '70s.
Anytime it's on though, it has to be " Broadsword calling Danny Boy" 😀
For a 3hr quagmire of inconsistencies, glaring errors, plot holes and clichés.
It's hilariously, catastrophically bad. Maybe it just tips into the "so bad it's good" category.
Not your typical WW2 film but Life is Beautiful (1997) is very good
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118799/
‘Come And See’ is one of the highest rated WW2 films. I’ve not seen it yet, but its available online. Reason I haven’t watched it yet is because it is Russian and my partner is Russian and won’t watch war films due being traumatised as a kid with images of WW2.
Iron Sky
There's a really good documentary made by the BBC about what life was like in occupied France.
It details the work of the Resistance in repatriating British Airmen and the uneasy relationships the German army had with the French along with the Gestapo.
It comes up on iPlayer every so often.
It's called 'Allo' 'Allo.
There's a really good documentary made by the BBC about what life was like in occupied France.
It details the work of the Resistance in repatriating British Airmen and the uneasy relationships the German army had with the French along with the Gestapo.
It comes up on iPlayer every so often.
It's called 'Allo' 'Allo.
It also captures the beautiful French language with masterful speaker named Crabtree
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
It also captures the beautiful French language with masterful speaker named Crabtree
Absolutely!
It still makes me happy that every day my alarm goes off at half pissed socks.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dad's Army
Probably not ‘best of all time’ but I enjoyed ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ albeit a long time ago!
I've just watched the narrow road to the deep north series which was excellent , followed it up with To end all wars . Both about Japanese POWs although the deep north not exclusively.
My personal favorites are Battle of Britain, Dambusters , Bridge to far and where eagles dare , spent many a bank holiday watching them with my dad when I was younger.
At one point Peter Jackson was going to do a Dambusters film which I'd loved to have seen but I don't think it's happening anymore.