WThe 25th Hour is a 1967 anti-war drama film directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Anthony Quinn and Virna Lisi. It was produced by Carlo Ponti. The film is based on the best selling novel by C. Virgil Gheorghiu. It follows the troubles experienced by a Romanian peasant couple caught up in World War II.
WThe Americanization of Emily is a 1964 American black-and-white romantic dark comedy-drama war film written by Paddy Chayefsky, produced by Martin Ransohoff, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring James Garner, Julie Andrews, Melvyn Douglas, and James Coburn. The film also features Joyce Grenfell, Keenan Wynn, and William Windom. The screenplay by Chayefsky is loosely adapted from the 1959 novel of the same name by William Bradford Huie, who had been a SeaBee officer during the Normandy Invasion. The film is set in 1944 London during World War II in the weeks leading up to D-Day.
WBeach Red is a 1967 World War II film starring Cornel Wilde and Rip Torn. The film depicts a landing by the United States Marine Corps on an unnamed Japanese-held Pacific island. The film is based on Peter Bowman's 1945 novella of the same name, which was based on his experiences with the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the Pacific War.
WDas Boot is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both as a theatrical release and as a TV miniseries (1985), in several different home video versions of various running times, and in a director's cut version supervised by Petersen in 1997.
WThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a British 2008 historical tragedy film set in World War II, based on John Boyne's 2006 novel of the same name. Written and directed by Mark Herman, produced by BBC Films and Heyday Films, and distributed by Miramax Films, the film stars Jack Scanlon in the title role. It was released on 12 September 2008 in the United Kingdom.
WThe Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British-American CinemaScope and Technicolor adventure epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. The film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943. The cast includes Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Sessue Hayakawa.
WDie Brücke is a 1959 West German film directed by Austrian filmmaker Bernhard Wicki. It is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by journalist and writer Gregor Dorfmeister. The story was based on an actual event, upon the personal report of a surviving veteran who in his own youth experienced a similar situation in World War II.
WThe Burmese Harp is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa. Based on a children's novel of the same name written by Michio Takeyama, it tells the story of Japanese soldiers who fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II. A member of the group goes missing after the war, and the soldiers hope to uncover whether their friend survived, and if he is the same person as a Buddhist monk they see playing a harp. The film was among the first to show the losses of the war from a Japanese soldier's perspective.
WCatch-22 is a 1970 American black comedy war film adapted from the 1961 novel of the same name by Joseph Heller. In creating a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel set at a fictional Mediterranean base during World War II, director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry worked on the film script for two years, converting Heller's complex novel to the medium of film.
WCome and See is a 1985 Soviet anti-war film. Directed by Elem Klimov and starring Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova, its screenplay, written by Klimov and Ales Adamovich, is based on the 1975 book I Am from the Fiery Village, of which Adamovich was a co-author.
WCourt Martial is a 1959 West German war drama film directed by Kurt Meisel and starring Karlheinz Böhm, Christian Wolff and Hans Nielsen. It was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ernst H. Albrecht.
WCross of Iron is a 1977 war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, featuring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason and David Warner. Set in late 1943 on the Eastern Front in World War II, the film focuses on the class conflict between a newly arrived, aristocratic Prussian officer who covets winning the Iron Cross and a cynical, battle-hardened infantry NCO.
WThe Cuckoo is a 2002 Russian historical comedy drama film directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin. It takes place during World War II from the perspective of opposing Soviet and Finnish soldiers stranded at a Sami woman's farmhouse. "Kukushka" was the nickname given by Soviet soldiers to Finnish cuckoo snipers, who ambushed their targets from a purpose-built tree-branch-nest. Thus the title refers to both Veikko and Anni. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
WDownfall is a 2004 German-language historical war drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by its producer, Bernd Eichinger. It is set during the Battle of Berlin in World War II, when Nazi Germany is on the verge of defeat, and depicts the final days of Adolf Hitler. The cast also stars Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch, Christian Berkel, Alexander Held, Matthias Habich, and Thomas Kretschmann. The film is a German-Austrian-Italian co-production.
WEmitaï is a 1971 Senegalese drama film directed by Ousmane Sembène. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Silver Prize.
WFlags of Our Fathers is a 2006 American war film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the 2000 book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima, the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who were involved in raising the flag on Iwo Jima, and the aftereffects of that event on their lives.
WThe 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb, Paul Lukas, Yvette Mimieux, Karl Boehm and Paul Henreid. It is loosely based on the 1916 novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, which had been filmed in 1921 with Rudolph Valentino. Unlike the first film, this was a critical and commercial disaster, which contributed greatly to the financial problems of MGM.
WGrave of the Fireflies is a live-action TV drama of Grave of the Fireflies, made by NTV in Japan. It was produced in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The drama aired on November 1, 2005. Like the anime, the live-action version of Grave of the Fireflies focuses on two siblings, Seita and Setusko, struggling to survive the final days of the war in Kobe, Japan. Unlike the animated version, however, it tells the story from the point of view of their cousin and also deals with the issue of how the war-time environment could change a kind lady into a hard-hearted woman. The film stars Nanako Matsushima as the aunt and Mao Inoue as their cousin.
WThe Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, Chaplin made this his first true sound film.
WHacksaw Ridge is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based on the 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector. The film focuses on the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacifist combat medic who, as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, refused to carry or use a weapon or firearm of any kind. Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Okinawa. Andrew Garfield stars as Doss, with Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, and Vince Vaughn in supporting roles.
WHell in the Pacific is a 1968 World War II film directed by John Boorman and starring Lee Marvin and Toshirō Mifune, the only two actors in the film. It is based on the importance of human contact and the bond that can form between enemies if lacking other contact.
WA Hidden Life is a 2019 German-American epic historical drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring August Diehl, Valerie Pachner, and Matthias Schoenaerts with both Michael Nyqvist and Bruno Ganz in their final performances. The film depicts the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer and devout Catholic who refused to fight for the Nazis in World War II. The film's title was taken from George Eliot's book Middlemarch.
WI'll Remember April is a 1999 American family drama film starring Pat Morita, Pam Dawber, Haley Joel Osment, Mark Harmon and Yuki Tokuhiro. It was directed by Bob Clark.
WIrandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu, also known simply as Gundu, is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by newcomer Athiyan Athirai. The film stars Dinesh and Anandhi in the lead roles. Produced by Pa. Ranjith under his banner Neelam Productions, the film focuses on the fictional story, inspired from the true events from World War II. The film has cinematography handled by Kishore Kumar, while the music is composed by Tenma. Released on 6 December 2019, the film received critical acclaim from critics and audiences.
WThe Last Bridge is a 1954 Austrian war drama film directed by Helmut Käutner. It tells the story of a German nurse who is captured by Yugoslav partisans, and with her devotion to medical duty finds herself with divided loyalty to both sides of the conflict. The film was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.
WA Midnight Clear is a 1992 American war drama film written and directed by Keith Gordon and starring an ensemble cast that features Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon and Arye Gross. It is based on the eponymous novel by William Wharton. Set toward the end of World War II, the film tells the story of an American intelligence unit that finds a German platoon that wishes to surrender.
WNone but the Brave, also known as Yūsha nomi in Japan, is a 1965 war film with Frank Sinatra, Clint Walker, Tatsuya Mihashi, Tommy Sands and Brad Dexter. This is the only film directed by Frank Sinatra, and the first Japanese-American co-production.
WPlay Dirty is a 1969 British war film starring Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green and Harry Andrews. It was director Andre DeToth's last film, based on a screenplay by Melvyn Bragg and Lotte Colin.
WRestless Night is a 1958 West German war drama film directed by Falk Harnack and starring Bernhard Wicki, Ulla Jacobsson and Hansjörg Felmy. It is set on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.
WRhapsody in August is a 1991 Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa based on the novel Nabe no naka by Kiyoko Murata. The story centers on an elderly hibakusha, who lost her husband in the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki, caring for her four grandchildren over the summer. She learns of a long-lost brother, Suzujiro, living in Hawaii who wants her to visit him before he dies. American film star Richard Gere appears as Suzujiro's son Clark. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
WSlaughterhouse-Five is a 1972 science fiction film based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 novel of the same name about a writer who tells a story in nonlinear fashion of how he was a soldier in World War II and was abducted by aliens. The screenplay is by Stephen Geller and the film was directed by George Roy Hill. It stars Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and Valerie Perrine, and features Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Holly Near, and Perry King. The scenes set in Dresden were filmed in Prague. The other scenes were filmed in Minnesota.
WSoldier of Orange is a 1977 Dutch romance-thriller film directed and co-written by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Rob Houwer, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film is set around the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, and shows how individual students have different roles in the war. The story is based on the autobiographical book Soldaat van Oranje by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema.
WStalingrad is a 1993 German anti-war film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. The movie follows a platoon of German Army soldiers transferred to Russia during World War II, where they ultimately find themselves fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad.
WLa Grande Speranza, retitled Submarine Attack and Torpedo Zone in English, is an Italian anti-war film starring Lois Maxwell, Renato Baldini and Earl Cameron. It won the Special Prize of the Senate of Berlin, and the OCIC Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Marcantonio Bragadin was an adviser on the film, which was shot inside and on the deck of a real submarine.
WThe Thin Red Line is a 1998 American epic war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. It is the second screen adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by James Jones, following the 1964 film; however, this film is not considered a remake. Telling a fictionalized version of the Battle of Mount Austen, which was part of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II, it portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, played by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas and Ben Chaplin. The novel's title alludes to a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy", from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls British foot soldiers "the thin red line of heroes", referring to the stand of the 93rd Regiment in the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War.
WA Time to Love and a Time to Die is a 1958 Eastmancolor CinemaScope drama war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring John Gavin. It is based on the book by German author Erich Maria Remarque, set on the Eastern Front and in Nazi Germany. With a nod to Remarque's better-known All Quiet on the Western Front, this film has been referred to as All Quiet on the Eastern Front.
WThe Unknown Soldier is a 2017 Finnish war drama independent film and the third adaption of the 1954 bestselling Finnish classic novel of the same name by Väinö Linna, a book considered part of national legacy. Directed by Aku Louhimies, it is the first one based on the novel's manuscript version, Sotaromaani. The previous two film adaptations were released in 1955 and 1985. The World War II film is presented from the point of view a machine gun company of the Finnish Army during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944. It was the most expensive Finnish motion picture at its release with a budget of 7 million euros.
WThe Victors is a 1963 British-American war film written, produced and directed by Carl Foreman, whose name on the film's posters was accompanied by nearby text, "from the man who fired The Guns of Navarone". Shot on location in Western Europe and Britain, The Victors features an all-star cast, with fifteen American and European leading players, including six actresses whose photographs appear on the posters — Melina Mercouri from Greece, Jeanne Moreau from France, Rosanna Schiaffino from Italy, Romy Schneider and Senta Berger from Austria as well as Elke Sommer from West Germany. One of the posters carries the tagline, "The six most exciting women in the world… in the most explosive entertainment ever made!".