Classic World War II films

When I used to teach junior and senior high American history, as well as at the collegiate level, I used and/or recommended movies as a learning tool.  They were also good for bringing to "life" what we were studying in a textbook, as well as beginning meaningful discussion about what we had learned.

Recently, some friends asked for my opinion regarding films about World War II, so I began to compile a list.

Because many of these films were made in the first half of the 20th century, they are not gory or contain images that would be disturbing to most viewers.  The standards of filmmaking were very different then.  The points are made without the violence and gore.  That being said, war is hell and war is bloody and sad and traumatic, but that could be another discussion point-- that the main point(s) portrayed are being done with more emotion than with depictions of violence.  These films are still powerful and valuable educational tools.

In this post, I will be listing World War II films that I either used in the classroom or recommended my students watch on their own time.  In future posts, I will list films from other eras of American history.

I think they would be a good asset to your homeschool or for educational family viewing.

They are in no particular order!

[affiliate links included]

1) Air Force (1943)

On December 6, 1941 nine B-17 bomber set off on a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii. One of the bombers, the Mary Ann, is commanded by 'Irish' Quincannon. The men are all highly professional with the exception of aerial gunner Joe Winocki, a bitter man who has every intention of leaving the army air corps. They arrive at Hickam Field on the morning of December 7, just as the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor and other military facilities. All of the men prepare to face the enemy, including Winocki whose attitude changes quickly. The bomber and its crew will participate in many missions but not all will survive. 

2) Bataan (1943)

Japan has just invaded the Phillipines and the US Army attempts a desperate defence. Thirteen men are chosen to blow up a bridge on the Bataan peninsula and keep the Japanese from rebuilding it.

3) Back to Bataan (1945)

In 1942, after the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese, U.S. Army Col. Joseph Madden stays behind to organize the local resistance against the Japanese invaders.


4) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

A dramatization of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.  Marine sergeant John Stryker seems a martinet and a bully as he trains young Marines for combat in the Pacific war. In the end, as survival in the bloody battle of Iwo Jima depends on the lessons Stryker has drilled into them, his troops discover why he was so hard on them.

5) They were Expendable (1945)

A dramatized account of the role of the American PT Boats in the defense of the Philippines in World War II.  Shortly after Pearl Harbor, a squadron of PT-boat crews in the Philipines must battle the Navy brass between skirmishes with the Japanese.

6) Halls of Montezuma (1951)

The Marines attack a strongly held enemy island in the Pacific. We follow them from the beach to a Japanese rocket site through enemy infested jungle as their ex-school teacher leader is transformed into a battle veteran and his squad becomes a tight fighting unit.

7) Wake Island (1942)

December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines try to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.

8) Objective, Burma!  (1945)

A platoon of special ops are tasked to parachute into the remote Burmese jungle and destroy a strategic Japanese radar station, but getting out isn't as easy.

9) Destination Tokyo (1943)

In order to provide information for the first air raid over Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay and places a spy team ashore.

10) The Longest Day (1962)

The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view with an all-star cast.

11) Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

12) Stalag 17 (1953) 

When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German POW camp barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.

13) The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

Harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends, is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

14) The Hiding Place (1975)

Corrie and Betsie ten Boom are middle-aged sisters working in their father's watchmaker shop in pre-WWII Holland. Their uneventful lives are disrupted with the coming of the Nazis.

15) Battle of the Bulge (1965)

An all-star cast led by Henry Fonda is featured in the epic dramatization of one of the most important battles of World War II.

16) Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944)

Oscar-winning fact-based World War II picture about General Jimmy Doolittle's efforts to train American troops for the first airborne attacks on Japan.

17) The Fighting Sullivans (1944)

They were known as the Fighting Sullivans, and were by far America s most famous sailors. The destruction of their ship in 1942, however, turned this story of national heroism to one of deep tragedy.

18) Midway (1976)

This gripping film interweaves the stories of the soldiers who fought the Battle of Midway, which took place six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was a turning point for the U.S.

19) Tora Tora Tora (1970)

Events from the American and Japanese perspectives leading up to and including the Japanese aerial attack on the U.S. Naval base in pearl harbor on December 7, 1941.

20) In Harm's Way (1965)

In Harm's Way, based on James Bassett's novel Harm's Way, has enough plot in it for four movies or a good miniseries (when it was shown on network television in prime time, it was broken into two very full nights). On the morning of December 7, 1941, a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy, under acting commander Lieutenant (jg) William McConnell (Thomas Tryon), are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

21) To Hell and Back (1955)

The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.

22) Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

A hard-as-nails general takes over a bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.

23) The Fighting Seabees (1944) 

Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them.

24) Red Ball Express (1952)

Jeff Chandler, Alex Nicol and Charles Drake portray one of the untold heroic stories of World War II in Red Ball Express. During the height of the war, Patton’s Third Army is in desperate need of supplies after a successful invasion of Paris. An elite military truck force is established to deliver goods to the soldiers. Members of this platoon must not only withstand minefields and Nazi resistance, they must also learn to overcome their personal and racial prejudices towards one another. Red Ball Express is a gripping, powerful action thriller based on true events.

25) Three Came Home (1950)

This powerful drama is the true story of American author Agnes Newton Keith's ordeal as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War Two. Claudette Colbert stars as Mrs. Keith, living on the island of Sandakan in the Borneo region, with her British husband and young son, when the Japanese invade.

26) Never So Few  (1959)

Oscar-winner Frank Sinatra and Oscar-nominee Steve McQueen star as members of a badly outnumbered American battalion who overcome great odds to defeat the Japanese in Burma during WWII.

27) Merrill's Marauders (1962)

During WW2, a 3000-strong American unit, known as Merrill's Marauders, battles the Japanese forces in Burma.

28) Hell is for Heroes (1962)

It's autumn 1944, and Nazi forces along the Siegfried Line have the numbers, the fortifications and the firepower to break through. And a handful of GIs have little more than a dogged determination and the ingenuity to fool the Germans into thinking they represent a great Allied Task Force. But can they make the ruse last until reinforcements finally arrive?

29) PT 109 (1963)

During WW2, Lieut. John F. Kennedy takes command of PT 109 to fight the Japanese in the Solomon Islands.

30) The Great Escape (1963)

Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.

If there are ones that I forgot, please share in the comments!!!!

n all-star cast led by Hen

Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Home to 4 Kiddos by Email and get our posts sent right to your inbox!