Summary

• World War II movies often take artistic liberties with historical events, but some films strive to maintain a high degree of accuracy.
• Films like Saving Private Ryan and Hacksaw Ridge offer gripping stories while accurately depicting the harrowing realities of war.
• Dunkirk and Tora! Tora! Tora! provide faithful portrayals of historical events from multiple perspectives, while Downfall delves into the complexities of Adolf Hitler's final days.

Plenty of World War II movies take artistic liberties when recounting their true stories, either to enhance drama or because they are only interested in using historical events as a backdrop for their fictional narratives, but some are historically accurate. There is no shortage of World War II movies with glaring historical inaccuracies, ranging from the reimagined events in Pearl Harbor to the intentionally reconfigured history in Inglourious Basterds that adds comedic action. However, some films stand out for their meticulous attention to historical accuracy. These movies strive to depict events from World War II faithfully.

Fueled by Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in the autumn of 1939, World War II spanned six years and wrought greater destruction to lives and property worldwide than any previous conflict. The Second World War involved many countries, with major players including , Italy, and Japan on one side and , Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States on the other. In portraying the broader conflicts and specific battles of World War II, several movies have provided a compelling depiction of the war while maintaining a high degree of historical accuracy.

15 The Darkest Hour (2017)

Churchill's Tough Decision In England During World War II

While the 2007 biographical war movie The Darkest Hour condenses a large amount of time into what seems like a shorter period, it remains a highly accurate movie about what happens. This biggest inaccuracy was in the persona of Winston Churchill, as Gary Oldman portrayed him. Some fictional traits were added to his personal actions during this moment during World War II (such as the fictional scene on the London Underground). However, the movie portrays Britain at this time during World War II in a highly accurate way.

Gary Oldman won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance.

As the movie showed, confidence in Churchhill was at a low during World War II, and while some think he always had , that was not true. The movie showed how hard he had it when making the huge decision concerning the country's part in World War II. The weight of the decision was also a very heavy part of his light at the time, and the film also showed that accurately. While Churchill was very private behind closed doors, the movie did a great job of showing this specific era of World War II.

14 The Thin Red Line (1998)

Terrence Malick's Depiction Of The Horrors Of World War II

Terrence Malick returned to filmmaking after a 20-year absence to make The Thin Red Line. The World War II movie is based on the 1962 novel by James Jones, which showed the horrors of fighting in the trenches. The movie had a strong cast, including Adrian Brody, Jim Caviezel, George Clooney, Sean Penn, John Travolta, and many more. However, it was overshadowed by Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, which came out around the same time. Despite that, this movie deserves a watch.

This story is so accurate because James Jones based it on his experiences at the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse during World War II's Guadalcanal campaign. The novel and the movie depict the actual battles realistically and don't shy away from the more gruesome acts that even the "good" soldiers undertook during wartime. The movie also goes further than many other World War II movies when showing images of the dead and wounded in a highly realistic manner.

13 Valkyrie (2008)

Tom Cruise Stars In The Retelling Of Nazi Dissenters

Tom Cruise caused some controversy when he starred in Valkyrie as a German army Colonel who conspired against Nazi during World War II. Cruise's casting alone as the German military man caused many people to immediately question the accuracy of this World War II movie. However, Cruise and the movie's production team worked hard to make the depiction of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg as close to realistic as possible. When it comes to the actual events, the movie is highly accurate.

The film is about Operation Valkyrie, an emergency plan to take control of the country away from Hitler's allies during World War II. The costumes, props, and vehicles are all authentic for the time and are some of the best in any WWII movie. The plans and details of the conspiracy were also accurate and based on the Gestapo investigation at the time, which was highly documented. All the facts are accurate, and while the movie shows they were closer to success than they really were, it sticks to the facts most of the time.

12 Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

A Movie Based On The 306th Bomb Group In World War II

Twelve O'Clock High is a war movie that came out in 1949 when the thoughts of World War II were still fresh on the world's minds. The movie itself is based on Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, who commanded the 306th Bomb Group, in which Brig. Gen. Frank Savage and his 918th were modeled. While this is a fictionalized of actual events, director Henry King stayed close to historical accuracy when depicting the war itself. All the characters are based on real people, and the events that happened in the actual war are

What really helped the movie rise above others of its era was that it was praised as an accurate portrayal of the effects that the constant and heavy bombing had on the pilots during World War II. This was not a group of flyboys who glamorized their missions. Instead, it shows the horrors of war and how it psychologically impacted even the men who came out as the victors. The movie also used actual footage of combat missions shot during World War II, adding to the realism of the scenes.

11 A Bridge Too Far (1977)

A Movie About A Failed Allied Operation In World War II

Most war movies show the Allied Forces in action, defeating their enemies and helping to win World War II. However, a rare example of this not happening comes in Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far, which was instead on a failed Allied operation. The movie is based on this historical novel by Cornelius Ryan, and the cast had some of the top stars of the 1970s, including Sean Connery, James Caan, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, and more.

A Bridge Too Far won four BAFTAs with eight nominations.

This was an early big-budget movie about Operation Market Garden, which means it needed to include heroics and big "heroes," but it was still a movie about a failed mission. The film runs for three hours, and Attenborough watched actual historical footage from the Imperial War Museum and worked on recreating it from that (via Military-History.com). The movie also closely sticks to the historical events and doesn't embellish too much outside of clearly fictional relationships and discussions between characters.

10 Saving Private Ryan (1997)

A Fictional Story With a Historically Accurate Portrayal Of The Omaha Beach Assault

With an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and Vin Diesel, Saving Private Ryan recounts the story of a group of U.S. soldiers on a mission to retrieve one of their own and relieve him of duty. While the film's characters are fictional, they draw inspiration from real individuals. Damon's titular character, for instance, is loosely based on U.S. military paratrooper Fritz Niland.

According to the best D-Day movies. Director Steven Spielberg meticulously recreated the events, from the aircraft to the authentic sound effects used for the gunfire.

However, several elements of the film, particularly the crew's daytime crossing of enemy lines to find Private Ryan, did not happen, as it would have exposed them to significant risk. Even more, the battle of Ramelle is entirely invented for the movie. One of the most notable discrepancies in Saving Private Ryan is that Fritz Niland was not hard to find, at least not in the same way as portrayed in the film, although similar situations did occur during the war.

9 Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

A Faithful Telling Of The True Story Of The Pacifist World War II Hero Desmond Doss

Hacksaw Ridge is a gripping portrayal of the remarkable true story of Desmond Doss, a combat medic during World War II who staunchly adhered to his religious beliefs and refused to bear arms, yet still heroically saved 75 men in the heat of battle. According to NPR, the film is commendably accurate in its depiction of Doss's wartime experiences, especially the relentless mistreatment he endured from fellow soldiers who sought to force him out of their company.

It also faithfully recreates the Battle of Okinawa, meticulously capturing the treacherous terrain characterized by steep cliffs and numerous hidden perils. Nonetheless, Hacksaw Ridge does take some creative liberties, with one notable example being the invention of a backstory for Doss's pacifism.

The film suggests that Doss's commitment to nonviolence was rooted in a traumatic incident where his father threatened his mother with a gun, a narrative that doesn't align with historical records. It also contains an inaccurate representation of how grenades work, which is one of the things movies always get wrong about war.

8 The Longest Day (1962)

An Accurate Depiction Of D-Day From The Perspectives Of Both Sides

offers an accurate recreation of the events of D-Day from the perspective of both the Allied forces and Axis powers. This technically stunning film boasts an ensemble cast of iconic stars including Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, John Wayne, and Sean Connery. The movie impressively captures the authentic essence of the real events, including the reservations held by both sides, the complete surprise of the attacks, and the invaluable assistance provided by French civilians.

Time notes that the harrowing scene of a paratrooper becoming entangled in a church tower actually transpired during the operation. One egregious omission, however, is the absence of representation for Black soldiers. However, despite that change, the movie's depictions of the war itself are all highly accurate and present a great look at the battles during the terrible events of D-Day from everyone involved.

7 Dunkirk (2017)

An Accurate Depiction Of The Dunkirk Evacuation From The Perspectives Of Fictional Characters.

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk vividly portrays the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the titular French region after being encircled by the German army. While the characters in the film are fictional, the real historical events of the Dunkirk evacuation. A significant aspect that the film accurately depicts is the limited one-hour operational time of Royal Air Force planes due to their small fuel capacity.

Additionally, the film effectively captures the confrontations between British soldiers and French soldiers desperate to escape after the French chose to hold their troops back. There was also great praise coming from Air Force officer Lt. Col. Matt Ziemann, who pointed out the "extremely accurate" dogfight sequences. He praised the use of real aircraft during the scenes and said that Nolan "nailed" certain aspects of actual flying tactics employed in these dogfight battles.

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A World War 2 expert gives high marks for realism to the gripping aerial dogfight sequences in Christopher Nolan's epic war movie Dunkirk.

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6 Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

A Fairly Accurate Depiction Of The Attack on Pearl Harbor From Both Sides

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Tora! Tora! Tora!

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Release Date

September 23, 1970

Runtime

144 Minutes

Director

Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda

Cast

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  Martin Balsam
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  Sô Yamamura
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  Jason Robards
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  Joseph Cotten

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Writers

Larry Forrester, Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima, Gordon W. Prange, Ladislas Farago, Akira Kurosawa

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Named after the code words used by Japanese pilots to signal the commencement of their attack, Tora! Tora! Tora! provides a comprehensive look at the days leading up to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, shown from both the American and Japanese viewpoints. According to Daily History, while the film does have a few notable instances of the wrong aircraft models being used and combines multiple events in an attempt to streamline the narrative, it is fairly accurate.

The film largely succeeds in capturing the surprise experienced by the Americans, as well as conveying Japan's planning of the attack and the underlying political tensions that led to it. While the later Michael Bay movie Pearl Harbor is often criticized for its unrealistic portrayal of everything but the bombing, this is a movie that most critics and historians it got most of it right as the fateful day approached American soil.