Top 15 World War 2 Films of All Time - A Historian Reacts

welcome back everyone to another reaction video well thank you guys so much for the fantastic response yesterday to my first time taking a look at lamino uh seems like everybody really enjoyed that and we will be getting to their jack the ripper video probably sometime next week i am off to connecticut tomorrow so i'm going to be trying to finish up editing my next vicksburg video and i'll try to get that up to you guys tomorrow we also have a patron only stream that will be happening tomorrow i'll be posting the details as well as a link to that for anyone who's a patron or anyone who is a member here on youtube that'll be a private stream we'll be doing from my hotel room in connecticut when i get there tomorrow so also going to be shooting a little bit of original content for the channel there as well but um i want to dive into something a little different today and this is smashing uk productions uh video on what they believe to be the top 15 world war ii films i thought it'd be something fun a little bit different give us a chance to talk about some of our favorite movies you guys hear me talk about my historical films that i like all the time so we'll go ahead and do that and i want to give a big shout out to john lindley who is our very first executive producer level patron uh so thank you for that and you'll be seeing his name at the end of all the videos uh for that and thank you to all the new patrons that have signed up in the last couple of days if you don't see your name listed in the description below where it should be fear not it's coming i usually update those every few days so give me some time to take care of that all right let's go ahead and dive in hello viewers and as always welcome back following on from our world war one video we're moving on to take a look at the best world war ii films now we previously made this list before back in 2014 however we felt it was heavily outdated and quite lacking so here we have a more thorough and more expansive look at the 15 best world war two films bear in mind we're only looking at movies this so mini series such as band the brothers and generation war won't be included which by the way are both phenomenal band of brothers and generation war generation war has been often described as the german band of brothers it follows a group of of germans it's in german um which i've actually really enjoyed because my son and i are doing german lessons together my nine-year-old son and so it's cool to be able to watch and see what i can pick up and follow i'm not quite to the place where i can understand everything yet but i'm getting there so i highly recommend both of those series number 15 dunkirk i'll let him talk about each one then give my thoughts [Music] christopher nolan's latest war film offering dunkirk depicts the evacuation of allied troops from dunkirk beach from free perspectives land air and sea these free narrative segments tie together to create a story that's as much about suffering and survival as it is about the battle shot in large format film and with minimalist dialogue dunkirk has a sober feel to it and nolan's achievement is giving his film scale and intimacy at the same time [Music] number four all right so let's talk about dunkirk man i loved dunkirk i thought it was great my least favorite part of dunkirk was the way the story was told now it's christopher nolan he did the batman movies he did inception so he's got a very particular unique style and it fits with that but uh there's like it's not like like the timeline is weird like it shows things after they happen and you know it's just it's like inception world war two so i didn't like that part but the acting's great the way everything's shot is fantastic you know artistically it's a beautiful beautiful movie and it does a good job of telling the story i just wasn't crazy about the whole timeline part of how they did things but i still recommend it it's very very good 14 downfall excellent question oh this is so good this claustrophobic account of the last days of nazi germany takes place within the dark corridors of hitler's bunker the movie follows the downfall of the third reich as well as the mental decline of its insane leader thanks to its physical setting and the unhinged headspace of the main characters the film gives viewers a handle on the sickness that infects all of those who identified as nazis who plays hitler is phenomenal in that movie and the acting's great again it's in german but really really well done uh and it shows i don't want to say it humanizes hitler so much as it doesn't show him as a caricature you know like the evil dictator guy that's always yelling like it shows a more complete picture of what he was like and it's really really good it focuses on a very specific part of the story which is basically those final days in the bunker uh and i think it follows like the story of a secretary that gets hired by hitler but really really good and i highly recommend it now this next one i have not seen so i don't really have much to offer here rome open the wounds of european conflict and nazi occupation were still tender in rome in late 1944 which chimed with the documentary instincts of italian filmmaker roberto rossellini rome open city drew on real issues and situations during the years of conflict needless to say the brutality of the occupying regime is presented with a shocking frankness and rossolini's style lent the film's gritty newsreel aesthetic but provided a real sense of urgency and anguish [Music] so it's cool i haven't seen that one but uh it's not a perspective we get very often getting to see what was going on on the ground in italy uh during the war and remember to a lot of italians they were occupied like you said there uh the germans had the military there and they had been kind of taken over in this almost like a military coup by mussolini back in the uh in the 20s and 30s and um you know so a lot of people did not support their government's involvement with hitler and being part of the axis powers i think that's part of the reason why italy so quickly dropped out of the war as soon as the allies landed in sicily and they got a chance to um so it's cool that there is a story that tells that especially one um that is telling it so close to when the events occurred number 12 a man escape i haven't seen this either based on the memoirs of andre devinier a french resistance fighter who was captured and incarcerated in leon during the second world war a man escaped as a film whose drama is told in a massive small details with the expressions passing across the faces of non-professional actors the objects that take on an important significance in the cell and the use of off-screen sound that tells us so much about the space beyond these four walls number 11 the cranes are flying wow there's a lot of these that i've never seen before um i will say this one of the things i like about some of these films even though i haven't seen them what they're portraying of it i like uh stories told in the context of world war ii that aren't necessarily about the entire war where we get little detailed looks at things like downfall where we see the final days or um there was a movie um that came out starring tom selleck about eisenhower in the planning of d-day it's a different perspective a different look it doesn't try to do too much it focuses on one very specific thing focusing on the french resistance focusing on what was happening in rome uh during world war ii these are interesting stories made in the wake of stalin's death this russian film tells the tale of two devoted lovers in moscow who are separated by the second world war without even saying goodbye like mikhail kalatosov's later much celebrated soy cuba the cranes are flying as more akin to cinematic poetry and allows the audience to absorb a tremendous feeling of sympathy from this film a feeling that has no awareness of geographical or political bounds so i'm starting to get the sense and maybe i'm wrong about this this will see the rest that uh the person putting together this list and this is fine because everybody has their criteria that they use uh really values artistic uh the artistic aspect of things so they really uh you know dunkirk's very cinematic very artistic you know things like that so i um i would expect that 1917 was probably on their world war one list for some of the same reasons um so interesting that's cool i mean everybody has their own criteria number ten the bridge great movie belligerence may employ as workman alec guinness the future obi-wan kenobi read english a story of the blurred line between enslavement and collaboration david lean's film drips with jungle sweat as alec guinness tries to protect his men from japanese cruelty as they work to build a strategically important railway bridge in burma the cinematography the sets and the supporting performances are all terrific but it's all in orbit around guinness towering performance as the man torn between duty and honor number nine bridge over the river quiet and it's got that famous whistling thing that everybody remembers really really good and i can see again the pianist this guy definitely bends toward the artsy and that's great that's fine i don't have a problem with that by the way he's phenomenal in peaky blinders as a gangster definitely check it out roman polanski kicked off the 21st century with a sophisticated oscar-winning world war ii survival drama which not only offered an authentic depiction of the warsaw ghetto but proved that controversy aside the director could still deliver when it mattered adrian brodie deservedly picked up the best actor oscar for his muted portrayal of jewish concept pianist vladislav spielman whose mission to stay alive against titanic odds is an inspiring testament of a human instinct for self-preservation well this is what it's enough and yeah and again that's an undertold story the story of the warsaw ghetto during world war ii and uh and the uprising that comes toward the end when the soviets get close and i wish we told more stories like that the great escape again phenomenal escape that's steve mcqueen i think it is based on the mass escape of british prisoners from the german war camp stalloglef3 in march 1944 the great escape follows two dozen of these men as they sneak through nazi occupied territory back to safety while the real life event wasn't quite as glamorous as this hollywood version the movie maintains the elements of suspense and patriotism that are true to the original incident how many 50. it looks after all as if you will see berlin before i do number seven army so yeah great escapes a great one they have the tunnels called tom dick and harry and uh yeah it's really really cool story and again a an aspect of world war ii we don't normally get to see armory of shadows i'm not familiar with french film army of shadows gives viewers a look at the seldom portrayed part of the human spirit where hope and fatalism coincide the movie follows a group of french resistance fighters as they move invisibly under the noses of the nazis that have come to occupy their town killing informers and working to pass along information that might free their country from this iron grip prison escapes are brief and non-glamorous espionage is grueling and perilous and emotions speeches and friendships remain suppressed at all times it's a cold meticulous drama about the pressures of propping an entire country on your shoulders number six the thin red line this is the first one i disagree with the thin red line was pretty good i and i know a lot of people really like it and i'll probably get some people who don't agree with me on this i wasn't blown away by the thin red line this is right about the time that saving private ryan came out and i think there was a lot of comparison of the two but um it was it was good i just didn't like if i was making my list of top 15 i don't think it would make it my dear one kind of a really like like an artsy take on things you know a heavy focus on the cinematography and on the score and on the way the story is told which is great it's not necessarily my first criteria though after a 20-year absence from hollywood terence malek returned in 1998 to direct the thin red line based on the novel of the same name while on its surface the film tells a fictionalized version of the guadalcanal campaign battle its much deeper focus is on our inherent need to kill and how that destruction seems to be at odds with our very name adrian brodie ensemble cast including sean penn john cuzak nick nolte george clooney john travolta woody harrelson and maddie moore interesting that he didn't mention jim cavizzial who he actually showed there in that picture the war can put it out conquer it number five dashboard definitely definitely excellent one of the best of all time [Music] originally made as a five-hour mini-series for german tv cut to feature length for worldwide consumption and finally expanded again to a 210 minute director's cut wolfgang peterson's breathless terrifying u-boat drama remains the most claustrophobic of all world war ii movies i don't think i ever knew that it was made as a five-hour mini-series for german tv that's really interesting but i did not know that but yeah the claustrophobic that's the first word that comes to mind which is great because that's what you want to do is you want the audience to feel what these guys are feeling i mean if you ask me what is the one job you would absolutely not want to have in world war ii it would be being on a u-boat no thank you no the film is a master class in economical tight space storytelling piling the pressure on both characters and audience until the sprockets squeak yep really good and i believe they actually shot this in france at one of the still existing sub pins [Music] look at those practical effects man that's great number four casablanca there is no exit visa for him really whatever gave you the interest i never really thought of this one as being a world war ii movie it's one of the great movies of all time i might be interested in helping laszlo escape because my dear ricky i suspect that under that cynical shell you're at heart a sentimentalist the romantic drama spends most of its running time in rick's nightclub apart from the glorious climax at the airport but with its war-torn setting and the constant presence of soldiers from both germany and vichy france casablanca is undoubtedly a classic war film too the stars of script director and music all align perfectly to create one of hollywood's greatest most loved and most legendary films he's looking at you kid number three shin this list i think most people have seen this one so good schindler's list and i've said this before about some things like you talk to people who visit auschwitz and i know many of you have and i hope that someday i'll get the chance to do that i've had a lot of people tell me auschwitz is one of those places you have to visit but once you go you never want to go there again uh and schindler's list is like that for me it's a movie i think everyone should see but i don't think i ever want to watch it again uh and i think you all understand what i mean without having to go into it too much [Music] a grueling tale the spielberg masterpiece follows a german nazi oscar schindler as he saves 1 200 jewish people from being transported to concentration camps and certain death over three hours long and shot almost entirely in black and white schindler's list is incredibly hard to stomach and incredibly important for that exact reason the film changed the way the holocaust was portrayed in hollywood and inspired a series of narrative features that followed suit number two saving private ryan saving private ryan to me is an interesting one i think the opening 20 minutes or so of the omaha beach landing is some of the the best historical film that will ever be made it is absolutely phenomenal shows the horror of that scene in a way that few have i didn't really care all that much for the rest of the story one of my favorite parts though is at the very end the part where tom hanks's character is dying spoiler sorry um and he says to private ryan he says earn this and then you cut to the shot of private ryan as an old man at captain miller's grave asking his wife if he's lived a good life and whether you know just wondering in his own mind was the sacrifice of all these men worth it and i know it's loosely based on the nylon brothers but i'm torn on this one i really am because i i love the historic parts i could do without the rest in our last video saving private round top the list and whatever snags people might find with the film ultimately it is an incredible movie admittedly the film does have somewhat pro war tendencies in certain areas so might not be to everyone's taste but the incredible opening sequence on omaha beach alone shows a realistic brutality and horrors of war with spielberg hanks and all of its oscars it's easy to be a tad skeptical about the film but a repeat viewing blows away the cobwebs with a furious men in combat film that balances camaraderie with gale force action and the scene where the one guy i forget his name gets stabbed by the german oh the intimacy and the brutality of that scene that's that's a tough one for me to watch uh because it's so real because it's so i don't i don't even know how to put it into words but that scene to me really really sticks out in my mind [Music] before we reveal our number one film here are some honorable mentions that just missed the list in glorious bastards if a rat worked again i don't i don't really consider i mean it is a world war ii movie in that it's set in world war ii and follows soldiers but it's completely fictional but holy cow was christophe vault's not amazing in that role uh that's the first thing i remember seeing him in and i think it led to his super stardom but he's been great in everything but boy he was so good in that movie to walk in here right now as i'm talking the dirty dozen oh yeah one of my all-time favorites and we're gonna actually be visiting lee marvin's grave when i go to arlington because he's buried at arlington national cemetery all you can do is you're told it's donald sutherland patton oh how could you not have patton in your top 15. oh my gosh there's so many movies i'm gonna give you some of my favorites that didn't make this list at the end but oh my gosh even though george c scott talks nothing like the real patton he embodies patton and the story is actually remarkably close to the real history i'm a winner and will not tolerate a loser ivan's childhood never saw that must be a russian movie the guns have never run pretty good where eagles there not bad not one of my favorites a bridge too far yes came out the year i was born one of my favorites star studded never saw that letters from miyajima oh very good so letters from iwo jima and flags of our fathers tell the same story one from the japanese perspective and one from the american perspective both very very good the big red one never saw that i don't know why i haven't seen that it's about the first infantry division number one come and see i won't argue with that this is another one of those movies that you have to see but it's really really hard to watch and i i will not disagree with this being the number one pick i won't i might not have put it there myself but it'd certainly be in my top five but i won't argue with this pick making the infamous opening of saving private ryan looked like a sunday stroll in the park this belarusian film from lm klimov is a hallucinatory masterpiece that feels like the nearest cinema has ever come to recreating the ruthlessly discombobulating sensory experience of war this is a film that a lot of people still haven't seen so we only fought it right to save it for topping our list just to urge viewers to go out and give the film i agree watch it strikingly candid take on the human toll of warfare but as a work of sublime visual and oral intensity that uses every tool in the filmmaker's arsenal to unforgettable and often nauseating effect to show the true horrors of war in belarus thank you for watching yeah come and see is powerful and hard to watch and really important to watch um i would add the longest day on there uh what else would i a torah torah torah i don't know how you can have one without torah toratoria in there torah torah tour is really cool because they had two separate film crews one that did all the japanese story lines and one that did all the american ones and then they put them together in one movie so it's really cool and it's still by far the best i think best movie set in the pacific theater during the entire war um that has ever been made so let me know your thoughts what would you add that isn't in there uh what would you maybe not have put in there uh that did make the top 15. and as always thank you to all of our patrons and we will see you again soon thanks for watching you

Channel: Vlogging Through History

Views: 181,600

Keywords: world war 2, history reaction, historian reacts, history guy gaming, world war ii, world war 2 movies, come and see, saving private ryan, thin red line, letters from iwo jima, reaction video, downfall, dunkirk

Id: Wt7krObPG5c

Length: 24min 49sec (1489 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 05 2021