Favorite World War II movies and documentaries?

[Kelli in TN]

My bonus student responds well to movies and well done documentaries. She will be starting to study WWII next week, so I would like to order some from Netflix for her.

Any recommendations?

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm going to mention many of the WWII ones I like, whether or not they are actually informational ;)

The Longest Day, Band of Brothers, Schindler's List, Stalag 17, Saving Private Ryan, The Great Escape, Memphis Belle, Sergeant York is WWI but it's good too. I'm sure I'll think of some more...

eta: Midway, Operation Petticoat, Sands of Iwo Jima, Flying Leathernecks, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Dam Busters, Twelve O'Clock High, A Bridge Too Far, Mister Roberts

[Rebecca in VA]

Very informative -- explains many things very clearly. There are parts that are horribly tragic, such as the fate of many of the Russian soldiers. And I wouldn't advise watching the segment on the R*pe of Berlin with young children about.

But overall, absolutely excellent.

[Strengthen My Hands]

'Silent Night' is a WWII movie my family loves.

[Carol in Cal.]

"Battle Cry" and "Exodus" by Leon Uris. (Historical fiction)
Battle Cry is about a military unit that goes through basic training and then participates in the Pacific front. Exodus is about the founding of the modern nation of Israel. Uris also wrote an excellent book about the Jewish resistance in Poland, title unfortunately escapes me at the moment.

"Hitler" by Marrin is probaby a little simple for that age, but might be a good place to start as it gives a great overview of the events that led up to WWII and then how the war played out.

Although "Number the Stars" is just a Newbery book, (so middle school level or so), it is beautifully written and inspiring; I feel blessed to have read it this year. It is based on true events during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.

"Mothers in the Fatherland" is a very interesting non-fiction book about the German home front from women's perspective. It's pretty heavy, definately adult ish.

[Eliana]

My older girls loved Bertie and Elizabeth... we've stayed away from more explicit, or more Holocaust focused, movies for our sensitive kids, but this was a good springboard for discussion.

Eliana

[Musical Belle]

Our family in the midst of a WWII movie-fest, and here are some of our choices:

Tora! Tora! Tora! is very good and one of the best depictions of the Japanese side of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mrs. Miniver shows the life of British civilians who have to carry on with daily life in the early years of the war. It won "Best Picture" and several other academy awards.

Although not a battle movie, Casablanca is one of my favorite World War II films.

We also suggest Mr. Roberts and Twelve O'Clock High as mentioned previously.

Enjoy!

[Melinda in VT]

I second Memphis Belle and Schindler's List.

Au Revoir Les Enfants is a French movie about a Jewish boy who was hidden in a Catholic boarding school during the war. I watched it as a senior in high school and thought it was excellent.

Night and Fog is a French documentary made up of footage shot when they liberated the camps. Chilling and horrifying, but I saw it as a freshman in high school and it gave me a new understanding of the Holocaust.

[Robin Hood]

To End All Wars is the true story behind The Bridge on the River Kwai. The movie is great and the book is better. Weren't The Winds of War and War and Remembrance made into a mini series? That would be historical fiction though.

[Robin Hood]

Oh yah, didn't Corrie Ten Boom happen during WW II? I don't how much war is in that one, though. Anne of Green Gables came out with a short series around WW II, I think. It's a war anyway, and it's pretty mild.

[Melody in IL]

To Hell and Back, which is the story of Audie Murphy, played by Audie Murphy.
The Great Raid.
Please do not show her the most recent Pearl Harbor. By all that is holy, I beg you.:)
The Miracle of the White Stallions; story of how Patton rescued the Spanish Riding School, still a national treasure of Austria.
Patton
The Great Escape, then Stalag 17...then Chicken Run. She'll laugh and laugh....
Enemy at the Gates; some icky sex, but very interesting view of the siege of Stalingrad, WWII from a sort of Russian perspective
The Sound of Music :)
The rest of the suggestions would also be on my list; awesome films.

[K-FL]

"Swing Kids" German kids infatuated w/American jazz until the Nazi's find out

"Inside the Third Reich" w/Rutger Hauer is about Albert Speer who was Hitler's architect & one of the few not hung at Nurenburg

[Tracey in TX]

Heroes of Telemark (available in Zone 2 only, but worth it!)
Stalag 17
Great Escape
Escape from Sobibor

[nrg]

The World at War is a documentary series from the early 1970s. It is an excellent overview and very accessible to a young student. The installment on the Holocaust is quite graphic, though. I recommend this enthusiastically.

[Melinda in VT]

Empire of the Sun is a great movie about WWII in China.

[Chris in VA]

I second Schindler's List--here's a website to help you with that movie
Schindler's (http://www.southerninstitute.info/holocaust_education/slindex.html)
I also have these two links--one is inmate art found in Auschwitz and Birkenau, and the other is about Corrie Ten Boom (I'd read her story rather than watch it)

Inmate art (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/FWALL.htm)
Corrie Ten Boom (http://www.corrietenboom.com/exhbits.htm)

One of my favorite movies hasn't been mentioned yet--Life is Beautiful.
Have you seen it? Roberto Beninni (spelling?) played an Italian Jew who falls in love with a teacher. He woos her in all kinds of crazy ways, they fall in love, and finally have a son. Then, tragically, they are sent to a concentration camp. What unfolds there between the father and the son is so tender, so lovely, I can hardly breathe when I think of it.
I remember seeing this movie when my husband and I went out one day on a date. I had to stop off at the restroom on the way home, and just sob for a few moments. Remarkably, he cried, too. I can't recommend it highly enough. See it in Italian with subtitles, because the language is so beautiful. Tell me what you think afterwards.

[Mrs. Readsalot]

Flags of our Fathers. A neighbor was on Iwo from the beginning so it really brought that to life for me. I also read the book which was very good.