10 Best WW2 Movies On Netflix That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Best WW2 Movies On Netflix

On Netflix, you can view some of the best World War II movies ever made, allowing you to relive some of the most important events of the Second World War.

Moviemakers have long relied on World War II as a source of ideas and inspiration. Even though there are a slew of World War II films available on streaming services, which ones are the best?

We’ve compiled a list of the top Netflix World War II movies. In other words, this is a fantastic place to start if you want to learn more about World War II after seeing a recent movie.

1. Mission of Honor (2019)

Mission of Honor (2019)

A group of Polish fighter pilots becomes the focus of David Blair’s Mission of Honor in 2019. As the Battle of Britain rages, they join the RAF’s 303 Squadron, one of the most famous in the world.

While Nazi control loomed over the UK, many expressed serious misgivings about the British’s ability to resist German military force for long. The very existence of Poland was in jeopardy for the Polish fighters.

They battled heroically and claimed their place in history with the near-obsolete Hurricane aircraft.

2. Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The events shown in Inglourious Basterds are fictional and not based on any actual events. The film tells the story of two schemes to kill German military leaders.

An all-star cast, led by Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender, as well as Eli Roth and Diane Kruger, joins Quentin Tarantino as director. It was nominated for eight Oscars in 2010, and it took home one statuette.

3. The Pianist [Broken URL Removed] (2002)

The Pianist [Broken URL Removed] (2002)

The biographical drama film directed by Roman Polanski and released in 2002 to critical acclaim. It took home three Oscars, including Best Actor and Best Director, and was nominated for four more..

Wladyslaw Szpilman, a celebrated Polish-Jewish composer and pianist, is the subject of The Pianist. Treblinka, a Nazi death camp, became Szpilman’s destination after the onset of World Conflict II because of his popularity in his own Poland prior to the war.

4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas [Broken URL Removed] (2008)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas introduces us to the Nazi death camps via the eyes of a child.

Bruno and Shmuel, two eight-year-old boys, are the main characters. A Nazi guard’s son, Bruno is an inmate, while Shmuel is an outcast. While the novel follows their connection, it also provides a glimpse into the lives of the others who lived in the facility.

5. The Dirty Dozen [Broken URL Removed] (1967)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Dirty Dozen, based on the best-selling book of the same name by E. M. Nathanson in 1965, received four Oscar nominations and one win in 1968.

Prior to D-Day, a group of inmates in northern France are selected for a suicide mission. Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, and Ernest Borgnine all star in the film, which boasts an amazing ensemble cast.

6. Alone in Berlin (2016)

Alone in Berlin can be a good choice if you’re looking for a more leisurely pace during World War II. The real-life story of Otto and Elise Hampel is the inspiration for the film. Early on in the war, they used postcards to express their displeasure with Hitler’s regime by dispersing them throughout Berlin. In 1943, the couple was apprehended and put to death.

Actors Emma Thompson, Brendan Gleeson, and Daniel Brühl received critical acclaim for their roles in Alone in Berlin when it premiered at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival.

7. The Battle of Midway (1942)

The Battle of Midway (1942)

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the turning point in the Pacific War. The Japanese hoped to demoralize the US Navy six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Americans were able to set up an ambush because the allied cryptographers were aware of the attack in advance. A decisive American military advantage arose from Japan’s loss of all four of its large aircraft carriers.

This short film, which only lasts 18 minutes, contains some of the finest footage ever shot during the Pacific War. The 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary went to John Ford, who was awarded a Purple Heart for his work on the film.

8. The Great Raid [Broken URL Removed] (2005)

The Philippines is where the Great Raid takes place. As they attempt to free 500 Japanese POWs from a Japanese POW camp, American soldiers and Filipino resistance fighters are featured in the film. For the last three years, the Japanese military has kept the prisoners in appalling conditions in a camp 30 miles behind enemy lines.

In certain circles, the film has been slammed for being excessively long and complex. For those looking for a WWII film to get their teeth into, Netflix may have the answer.

9. The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)

The Photographer of Mauthausen (2018)

Francois Boix, a Spanish Civil War veteran turned famous photographer, is the subject of the Spanish film The Photographer of Mauthausen.

Boix was deported to Austria’s Mauthausen concentration camp by the Nazis in 1941 and remained there until his death in 1945. He was assigned to the camp’s administration team’s photography department because of his background.

He was able to take over 20,000 photos while he was imprisoned and hide the negatives all over the place. During the Nuremberg and Dachau trials, Boix was called to testify as a witness.

10. Hitler: A Career (1977)

A German documentary about Hitler’s rise to power and subsequent reign is called Hitler: A Career.

At the time of its release, the film was innovative since it was produced by one of Hitler’s most famous biographers, Joachim Fest. In 1977, Time magazine referred to it as a “new phenomenon.”

“Filmgoers have flocked to theaters to see it, and a national debate over the Nazi history has been triggered.

The film is a revelation for the younger generation. West German post-war education either ignored or rushed through the years following the end of the Second World War. Older viewers are more likely to react with a sense of discomfort. ‘That was how Hitler was,’ says one 76-year-old Berliner. He was a practitioner of black magic who enchanted others.'”

11. The Exception (2016)

The Exception (2016)

For those who find the rise of Hitler too depressing, this love story is an excellent alternative.

In The Exception, Captain Stefan Brandt of the Wehrmacht is the protagonist. Deposed Emperor Wilhelm II has assigned him as his personal bodyguard in the Netherlands. He rapidly falls in love with one of the maids, and the two begin plotting their escape from the brothel together.

12. Defiance (2008)

Defiance is based on the Bielski partisans, a group of Belarusian-Jewish resistance fighters who fought against the Nazis in late 1941.

To establish a secret town to host 1,000 Jewish refugees, a group of Russian fighters and a family of Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schriber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay) flee into the forest and meet up with a group of Russians.