Favorite War Movies: My Favorite War movies of WW2

I have always been a big WWII history buff and a lover of good war movies. I can remember back to my earliest years sitting in front of the TV watching the action take place in the European theater or the Pacific. Included here is a short list of my favorites. Below you will find a brief rundown on some of the movies with a short movie clip. Anyway, first thing here is the list in no particular order.

Stalag 17
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Patton
Sands of Iwo Jima
Kelly's Heroes
Saving Private Ryan
The Desert Fox
Hell is for Heroes
Twelve O'Clock High
Mrs. Miniver
Band of Brothers
Action in the North Atlantic
Battleground
Guadalcanal Diary
Objective Burma
The Great Escape

This is definitly one of my favorite movies of all. This movie was based on a real Bomb Group. Former B-17 aircrew who have seen this movie say it is very authentic in its presentation. There is a lesson in leadership to be gained from watching this movie.

The movie was released in 1949 and starred GREGORY PECK and DEAN JAGGER. It won 2 Oscars - Best Supporting Actor(Dean Jagger) and Best Sound. Nominated for BEST PICTURE and BEST ACTOR(Gregory Peck). Gregory Peck won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for this movie.
The movie was also added to the National Fim Registry in 1998.
The TV series 12 O'Clock High aired in 1964. It's first and second season were a hit. The third season was in color and they replaced some of the actors. It just was not the same and it did not finish the season.

A great movie about FIELD MARSHALL ROMMEL. The part of Rommel was to be played by George Zucco, but he had a stroke and was replaced by JAMES MASON. The screenplay was by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Hathaway. The plot to assasinate Hitler shows in this film, which Rommel was part of. Rommel was not a Nazi Party Member.

The book that the movie was based on was writen by a WW2 British Officer. He had interviewed both Allied and Axis soldiers who had contact with Rommel. The relationship of Rommel and his wife (played by Jessica Tandy) gets some air play and is supposed to be accurate being she gave information on herself and her husband to the author.

Released in 1945, it starred ERROL FLYNN. It was nominated for 3 Oscars - Best Film Editing, Best Music and Best writing. The film was not shown in Britain because of protest that the Burma Canpaign was mostly British and Australian(which was true)and the movie depicts the Americans as the heroes.

This is a pretty good movie. Veterans of Burma say it looks like they went to Burma to film it when it was really filmed in California. It is about a commando raid to blow up a japanese radar station. They miss their pickup to get out and have to walk for miles through Japanese held territory for rescue. The movie has always given me the feeling of what it must have been like fighting in that hot jungle environment.

Another must see movie.

MRS. MINIVER is a fictional charactor created bt JAN STRUTHER who wrote a series of columns for "The Times" news paper in Britain in 1937. The columns were based on her own experiences and of her family. She later wrote the stories in the form of a letter, which reflected the charactors wartime experiances. These were later published as a book which gained much popularity in America. The film came out in 1942 before America's involvement in the war. The film and book are believed to have helped gain America's support for the war in Europe. It is belived by some that the movie was made as a propaganda film to motivate the American public to support the war.

The film starred GREER GARSON who won the BEST ACTRESS OSCAR for her performance. The film was the highest grossing MGM film at that time with $5,358,000 in America. In Britain it was the top box office film of 1942. A poll taken of film critics by the American magazine "Film Daily" named Mrs. Miniver best film of 1942.

NOMINATED FOR 12 OSCARS AND WON 6...
Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director(He joined the Army after this movie), Cinimatography, Best Writing/Screenplay

I first saw this movie in the early 1960's, I may have been 11 or 12 years old. It made an impression on me and I never saw it again until sometime in the early 1990's. It depicts what life in war time England may have been like with the bombings, the evacuation of Dunkirk, even having a German pilot parachuting into your backyard.

I highly recommend seeing this movie if you have not yet had the chance.

THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA is a great movie. It was released in 1949 like 12 O'Clock High, starring JOHN WAYNE with a Best Actor Nomination for his part. The three surviving flag raisers took part in the films flag raising and the actual flag was used on loan from the Marine Corps. The movie was filmed on Marine Corp Base Camp Pendleton in California. I saw this movie for the first time when I was maybe 7 years old. I could'nt tell you how many times I have seen this movie and never tire of watching it. I belive this film actually inspired me to join the Marine Corps.

The 1964 movie THE GREAT ESCAPE was based on a true story(see tunnel harry above). Has a cast of great actors, STEVE MCQUEEN, JAMES GARNER, RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, DONALD PLEASENCE, CHARLES BRONSON, JAMES COBURN, DAVID MCCALLUM. A number of POW's are transfered to another, more high security camp. These prisoners have already tried escaping from other camps or were truoble makers. They are not intimidated and plan for a mass escape through an elaborate tunnel. The movie is supposed to be pretty accurate, such as the tunnel itself.

Nominated for Best Film Editing Oscar.
Nominated for Golden Globe
Steve Mcqueen won best actor at Moscow International Film Festival