World War 2 (WW2) movies and series: the best ones to watch

Rating: 9/10

Rating: 10/10
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"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire"

It is seldom that a movie makes me shed some tears. But this movie was able to do that special thing at the end, when the war just ended and Oskar Schindler said goodbye to his workers. Workers is actually the wrong word, because he cared so much for them, that they were like family to him.

You start to wonder how many people that are alive nowadays, are so thanks to Oskar Schindler. I guess it is a multiple of the impressive number of 1,100 that he cksaved.

I think this review is in one way totally different than any other review that I wrote. because this movie is so highly rated that I do not need to explain the high level of acting that you will see in this movie. Neither do I need to explain how good Steven Spielberg was able to capture the risk and cruelty the jewish people had to suffer at the hands of the Nazi SS.

I always wondered why this movie was produced in black-and-white. Not that it bothered me in any way, since the storyline was so well structured that in no moment you even think of the fact that it is in black-and-white. Is it because the world during WW2 was black or white?! You were either jewish or non-jewish. You were either slave or slave-master. You were either destined to die in a horrible way at the hands of the Nazi, or you could live a comfortable live. What the real reason may be, only Steven Spielberg may know, but the world was for sure one that was black or white during those days.

There is one single exception though... A jewish girl with a red coat is something your attention is regularly drawn to. And I think that any person may draw its own conclusions on why that is... Is the color red used to emphasize the immense bloodshed that went on? Was it to highlight that each and every jewish person that is shown in this movie has a special story to tell, one that is impossible to ever show no matter how many movies that are made!?

For sure, this is the best movie about WW2 that Spielberg has ever made. I think that many of his other movies and mini-series about WW2 are as worthwile to watch. Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and many other movies and series are made that Steven Spielberg had an involvement in. And in that perspective I can not thank him enough for allowing us to educate ourselves with the horrors that took place during the 1920's, 30's and 40's. Now that the people that experienced these horrors in real-life are almost "extinct", it is books, documentaries, movies or even mini-series that can help is in reminding what happened.

Rating: 9/10
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I personally think this movie is a gem that has received less credit than it deserves.
This movie not only shows the true story of a spanish camp prisoner, but also shows you the cruelty of the Mauthausen concentration camp. It will show you why so many people died in the mine - excavation pit - with amongst others the 'stairs of death'.

Rating: 10/10
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An absolute must-see if you want to watch any movie about WW2. Based on the true events during the last days of WW2.

The actor portraying Adolf Hitler - Bruno Ganz - does such an awesome job that it even causes some scenes to have gained a mime status: i.e. that they are used as basis for many parodies on YouTube.

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 6.6/10
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Inspired by true events, this movie portrays the occupation of - the up until that point neutral country - Norway by Nazi Germany. This during the first half of 1940. More specifically, it focusses on the small but stragically important harbor village named "Narvik". This location is used by - up until that moment in time - both England and Germany for transporting iron ore. The iron ore - which is originally mined in Sweden - arrives by rail in the harbor of Narvik, after which it is loaded onto ships.

Because iron ore is important to both the Allied and Nazi war machine, an important battle was fought for the control of Narvik. Historically, the events that took place in Narvik are that it is (1) the largest battle fought on Norwegian soil during WW2, and (2) that it was the first time that the Nazi's would lose a large scale battle.

The storyline is built up by telling it from the perspective of a young family that lives in Narvik. Due to the invasion by the Germans, the husband - a soldier in the Norwegian army - and the wife become separated from each other. This allows the movie to give the perspective from all the parties in the conflict: the Allied forces, the Nazi's and not to forget the Norwegians themselves. Combine this storyline with pretty decent acting and very well built-up scenes, and you have yourselves an attractive movie. And I can confirm that the latter is certainly the case in this movie.

Concluding, I score this movie at 6.6/10, thereby resulting in an IMDb rating of 7 stars. I thereby personally wonder what Narvik would have looked like with a budget of 3 to 4 times more. If I read that the initial idea was to make a mini-series, I think that we have here a big missed opportunity. Because all elements are available to create a mini-series that not only portrays events that are important to Norway and WW2, but that are also a must-see in any persons life...

Rating: 8/10
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From the same makers as "Der Untergang" (aka "Downfall") - in which you can see Hitler's final days in his bunker - the movie "Die Wannseekonferenz" shows the infamous meeting in which the SS came up with the "Final Solution". The "Final Solution" is thereby the plan to commit the murder of millions of people - mostly jews - by means of gas chambers in concentration camps.

This movie is very similar to "The Conspiracy" by HBO. It is however still a very worthwile watch since it is close as possible to the true events. It allows you to get a 'history lesson' on how evil men can be, whereby they commit mass murder and genocide whilst 'hiding' behind orders, bureacratic processes and business methods.

Rating: 10/10
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If you have not seen this movie already: this is another must-see!
With its overall IMDb score of 8.4/10, this movie also makes the top-100 list with 'best movies of all time'. And it deserves to be noted that this is a list dominated by Hollywood movies, whereby 'Das Boot' is one of the rare exceptions...
Please note that this is the feature film that was released in 1981. There is also a "Director's Cut" of around double its duration, which was released in 1985.

Rating: 10/10
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Please do not be mistaken with the "Das Boot"-entry that is on the previous spot: i.e. the one released in 1981.
The 1985 release of "Das Boot" is the so-called "Director's Cut" of the movie, which is released as a 3-part mini-series. This mini-series is almost 5 hours in length and thereby around double the duration of the movie.
If you haven't seen either the 1981 movie or this 1985 mini-series, it is my recommendation to take the mini-series.

Rating: 9/10
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A first note that I want to make, is that this is a show that commenced in 2018 and is based in the same set of novels that the original "Das Boot" (1981) is based on. Currently (2023) running in its 4th season, this shows is also produced by the same company that was behind the 1981 original: i.e. "Bavaria Fiction".

This series is a mix of submarine warfare and storylines that involve resistance against the Nazi regime. Each season thereby builds upon the previous season, making it an altogether very interesting series. Actually, it is in my opinion one of the best fiction series about WW2 which is available.

Although it is a fictional storyline, large parts are still based on real events, like e.g. the "Wolfram Crisis" (season 2) or "Lebensborn" (season 4).

The acting is sublime. Many of the best and well-known german actors feature in this show. It further has stunning scenes with also extremely convincing submarine war action. As such, it is a gem to watch.

Concluding, I think this show deserves a score of 8.7/10, thereby making it a 9 star IMDb rating. And for a series to achieve such a high rating is not easy in my opinion. This since it requires a constant high level of entertainment and/or engagement to be delivered in practically every episode. And I must admit that this show is able to deliver this over the four seasons that have so far (2023) been released.

Rating: 6/10

Rating: 10/10

Rating: 9/10

Rating: 8/10
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Known for being the most popular Nordic mini-series ever. Internationally it is pretty unknown, but a very recommendable watch.

An alternative version of the events is the movie "Heroes of Telemark" (1965), featuring a strong cast including amongst others Krik Douglas. This movie is also included in this list of WW2 movies and mini-series.

Rating: 7/10
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This movie is based on true events surrounding several WW2 sabotage and destruction missions on a norwegian production facility of so-called "heavy water".

It is an excellent watch that makes one think of James Bond movies that were made during the same period. The fact that the movie was produced 'just' 20 years after the end of WW2 also means that there were many excellent props available whilst all building etc, were also still very similar to the one during WW2.
It is my opinion that this movie is ageing very well, whereby it is still great to see almost 6 decades after which it was made.

I should note that a more modern production on the events is the 3-part mini-series named "Kampen om Tungtvannet". When you decide to watch both of them - which is a real recommendation since each has its own way of depicting the events - I suggest you leave at least a year between watching them.

Overall, I would rate it 7.3/10 and deem it a clear recommendation to watch for anyone having an interest in the history of WW2.

Rating: 10/10

Rating: 10/10
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Together with "The Pacific", I find this to be some of the best TV that has ever been made. This show learns you quite a lot about some of the most decisive battles of WW2, from the "Allied Landing", "Operation Market Garden", "The Battle for Bastogne", ...

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 8/10

Rating: 9/10
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The true story on how the 'Jewish Council of Amsterdam' was involved in controlling the jewish population and deportation.

Rating: 9/10

Rating: 9/10
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This is a must-see movie in my opinion. I personally think that this movie deserves to be amongst the best WW2 movies available. It shows events around one of the defining battles of WW2: i.e. the battle around Stalingrad after which the Nazi started to lose the war.