Best WWII Movies Based On True Stories (2024)

A Bridge Too Far

Through a combination of strong performances, gritty realism, and sheer length, Richard Attenborough’sA Bridge too Farshines significant attention on Operation Market Garden. The film focuses on the efforts of the Allied forces to outflank the Germans by making a thrust through the Netherlands, in the hopes they will be able to take Berlin. Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan, and the Allies prove to have been far too overconfident.

Operation Market Garden doesn’t have quite the same name recognition of many other significant moments in World War II, but it was nevertheless a mammoth undertaking. The plan was to deliver thousands of allied troops into the Netherlands, seize key bridges, and outflank the German defense known as the Siegfried Line. Tough it did lead to the freeing of the Netherlands,it was otherwise a costly failure for the Allies and did not lead to the completion of its other strategic objectives.

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The Bridge on the River Kwai

WithThe Bridge Over the River Kwai,David Lean shows off a keen understanding of the epic film sensibility that cements him as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. Its story about a group of British prisoners of war who are forced to construct the Burma Railway is one which continues to grip audiences, particularly since it is unsparing in its depiction of the horrors of the POW experience even as it shows how determined they are to resist.

Though many aspects of the screenplay are fictional, the events are inspired by the real experiences of prisoners of war who were forced by the Japanese toconstruct a railway between Singapore and Malaysia to Burma. The entrance of the US into the war had put increased pressure on the Japanese. As the film makes clear, conditions in the jungle were particularly brutal, and men died at the rate of at least 20 a day.

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Hacksaw Ridge

Much like the 1940s filmSergeant York, Hacksaw Ridgefocuses on a conscientious objector’s experience in war. In this case, the objector in question is Andrew Garfield’s Desmond Doss, whose deep faith (he was a Seventh-day Adventist) dictated he couldn’t fight, though he would become a renowned combat medic. Like all good war films,Hacksaw Ridgemanages to be both richly emotional and brutal in its depictions of combat.

The real Desmond Doss was quite circ*mspect about his actions in war, again because of the strictures of his faith.He did indeed go onto the battlefield without a rifle, and he saved at least 50 people during the bloody Battle of Okinawa (while Doss thought he’d saved 50 people, his fellow soldiers estimated the total at closer to 100). The battle was notoriously bloody and traumatic, making Doss’s actions even more extraordinary.

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Enemy at the Gates

Many films about World War II tend to be told from the American point of view, butEnemy at the Gatesis quite an exception. It focuses onVasily Zaitsev (played by Jude Law), a famous sniper during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 and 1943. It also features several other significant historical figures, including Erwin König (played by Ed Harris).

As the film makes clear, the Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal and grueling experience, particularly for the Soviets trapped in the besieged city. At least two million people died, including a horrifying number of civilians. Also as in the film, theSoviet leadership took extraordinary measures to ensure soldiers kept fighting, including not evacuating the city and threatening soldiers with execution if they left their posts. Eventually the Soviet forces emerged victorious – thanks in no small part to the cruel Russian winter – andthis defeat helped to set the stage for subsequent Axis losses and an eventual Allied victory.

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The Desert Rats

Though some might not realize it, Africa was a major theater during World War II, andThe Desert Ratsdramatizes the fateful Siege of Tobruk. As the film unfolds, Allied soldiers holed up in the city have to withstand the unrelenting German assault, led by Erwin Rommel. Fortunately, it all ends up happily as they are eventually relieved by their fellow Allied forces.

The city of Tobruk, located in Libya, was a key objective for the Germans, as its capture would significantly aid an attack on Alexandria and Suez. As the siege unfolded in 1941 the Australian soldiers trapped in the city hadto survive with little food or water, to say nothing of the baking North African heat. However, they never gave up hope of being relieved, and their faith was ultimately rewarded.

Greyhound

The Battle of the Atlantic is known for its longevity, stretching for most of World War II. Despite this, it has only rarely been the subject of its own film, which is partly what makesGreyhoundso extraordinary. The film is also notable for its strong performances (from Tom Hanks in particular) and for its depiction of naval warfare. It focuses in particular on Hanks’Commander Ernie Krause, who has to defend a group of Allied vessels from U-boat attacks.

By all accounts, the Battle of the Atlantic was, as the film shows, a remarkably bleak affair, taking place as it did in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The battle was crucial, however, in ensuring Britain had the supplies it needed in order to continue the war effort against the Axis. The film also excels at showing the extent to whichU-boats were a constant threat and how crucial US naval power was to the war.

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