WWII Documentaries
World War 2 Documentaries, at least 6.0 (took the top 150 which is down to 7.0 that looked VERY WWII), with minimum 100 votes. As of March 27, 2018 when this list was created.
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- StarsLaurence OlivierAverell HarrimanAnthony EdenA groundbreaking 26-part documentary series narrated by the actor Laurence Olivier about the deadliest conflict in history, World War II.
- DirectorDavid BattyStarsBrian CoxThe history of Imperial Japan's involvement in World War II with full color footage.
- DirectorMartin PailthorpeStarsKnut HauglandRay MearsJens A. PoulssonA group of both Norwegian and Britiish specially trained military team reenacts the WWII mission of the Grouse-Gunnerside commando which was crucial for the Allied Forces in the heavy water atomic bomb war. Focused on the difficulties these men had to endure in a frozen winter environment.
- DirectorAndré SingerStarsHelena Bonham CarterJasper BrittonLeonard BerneyResearchers discover film footage from World War II that turns out to be a lost documentary shot by Alfred Hitchcock and Sidney Bernstein in 1945 about German concentration camps.
- DirectorDennis WiseStarsEva BraunWinston ChurchillCharles de GaulleAdolf Hitler, born in Braunau, a man who will forever change the history of the world.
- StarsJames HollandTony PollardRichard LinternAn examination of Nazi Germany's various military engineering projects during World War II.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzDoug RandThe rise of Stalin, from his early beginning as a bankrobber to the cold-blooded leader of the Soviet Union.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsDwight D. EisenhowerOmar N. BradleyGeorge S. PattonProduced and presented as evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Hermann Göring and twenty other Nazi leaders.
- StarsChris BroylesBill PatersonThe story of the World War II effort by Nazi Germany to disrupt Allied shipping with U-boat attacks and the Allied efforts to prevent it.
- DirectorRichard SchickelStarsTom HanksStephen AmbroseRuss MeyerProduced by Steven Spielberg and presented by Tom Hanks this documentary tells how war photographers faced the horrors that looked both in Europe and in the Pacific during World War II .
- StarsAleksey PetrenkoBob GuntonPaul HumpoletzA story showing the 3 allied leader's, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin's actions and relationships behind the scenes during World War 2. It isn't as friendly as it seems. Shows how close the war was to favoring the axis if the Soviet Union joined forces with Hitler's Nazi's.
- DirectorRay MüllerStarsLeni RiefenstahlMarlene DietrichArnold FanckA documentary about the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl, a German film director most notorious for making the most effective propaganda films for the Nazis.
- DirectorMichaël PrazanStarsMichaël PrazanChristopher BrowningChristian IngraoIn June 1941, the German army invades the USSR. Following behind are the Einsatzgruppen, 3000 men grouped into four "intervention groups" each given a designated geographical region, sent to exterminate Jews and enemies of the Reich.
- DirectorMatej MinacStarsBen AbelesDenisa AugustinovaMartin BandzakThe nearly forgotten story of Nicholas Winton, who organized the rescue of 669 children just before the outbreak of WWII.
- DirectorJack KaufmanStarsRichard BasehartErnst HanfstaenglAdolf Hitler"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" exposes the darkest chapter in history, from Adolf Hitler's rise to power as a Nazi demagogue to his ultimate fatal mistakes. Researchers spent decades uncovering shocking footage of war, carnage and genocide and examined government documents and interviews with Hitler's closest associates to discover how one man led his nation and the world into hell.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsRupert EverettKlaus MüllerKarl GorathHistorian Klaus Müller interviews survivors of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals because of the German Penal Code of 1871, Paragraph 175.
- DirectorMarcel OphülsStarsKlaus BarbieClaude LanzmannMarcel OphülsA documentary about Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief of Lyon, and his life after the war.
- DirectorMark Jonathan HarrisStarsJudi DenchLory CahnKurt FuchelThe secret smuggling of 9,300 Jewish children out of Nazi Germany in the late 1930s.
- DirectorRichard BergeBonni CohenNicole NewnhamStarsJoan AllenE. Randol SchoenbergMaria AltmannThe story of Nazi Germany's plundering of Europe's great works of art during World War II and Allied efforts to minimize the damage.
- CreatorGuido KnoppStarsDavid RitchieChristian BrücknerTraudl JungePortraits of important people in Nazi-Germany.
- DirectorDavid BattyStarsBrian CoxAdolf HitlerLutz LiebeltDocumentary using only original colour footage charts the 12 years from Adolf Hitler's rise to power to the fall of Berlin in 1945. Complemented by eyewitness material, tracks the dramatic transformation of Germany into a Nazi state, looks into Hitler's relationship with his lover Eva Braun and replicates pivotal events, including Nazi rallies, the invasion of Poland, Hitler's meeting with Lloyd George, the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp, Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto, the Battle of Britain and the fall of Berlin.
- DirectorKevin BrownlowMichael KloftStarsKenneth BranaghAdolf HitlerSydney ChaplinA look at the parallel lives of Charles Chaplin and Adolf Hitler and how they crossed with the creation of The Great Dictator (1940).
- DirectorGeorge Stevens Jr.StarsGeorge Stevens Jr.Dick KentKen MartheyProduced and narrated by George Stevens Jr., this short documentary uses footage taken by his father when he was in the Army Signal Corps and follows American troops from D-Day in June 1944 to the end of the European war.
- DirectorJames MollStarsBill BaschMartin BaschRandolph BrahamIn late 1944, even as they faced imminent defeat, the Nazis expended enormous resources to kill or deport over 425,000 Jews during the "cleansing" of Hungary. This Oscar-winning documentary, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, focuses on the plight of five Hungarian Jews who survived imprisonment in Auschwitz.
- DirectorRichard TrankStarsBen KingsleyBryan McArdleDoron AvrahamWinston Churchill: Walking With Destiny highlights Churchill's years in the political wilderness, his early opposition to Adolf Hitler and Nazism, and his support for Jews under threat by the Nazi regime.
- DirectorMaximilian SchellStarsMarlene DietrichMaximilian SchellAnnie AlbersRetrospective on the career of enigmatic screen diva Marlene Dietrich.
- DirectorChristian BauerStarsMichael HanrahanWerner AngressVictor BrombertHolocaust survivors share their story of fleeing to the United States, joining the US Army, training in Military Intelligence, and returning to Europe to end Nazism by using their linguistic abilities.
- DirectorJoachim FestChristian HerrendoerferStarsGert WestphalStephen MurrayArtur AxmannThis meticulously assembled film dissects the Third Reich with an analytical blade, charting Hitler's improbable rise, his mastery of crowd psychology and his consummate skill in exploiting others' weaknesses.
- StarsMathieu KassovitzMartin SheenRudolf HessThis six-part series traces the Second World War, from the rise of the Nazis to the surrender of the Japanese, with detailed portraits of key figures.
- StarsGary SiniseCharles ScheffelRon LivingstonFollow the lives of soldiers who lived World War II, through previously unseen color footage.
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf BuchnerJutta RüdigerAn examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
- StarsBurt LancasterAverell HarrimanDocumentary film history of the Nazi-Soviet conflict in world War II.
- DirectorChristopher H.K. LeeStarsKristine BrininiJunghwa LeeSukyi ParkSexual violence against women has accompanied almost every large-scale conflict, yet most of its victims are silenced. One such sad episode is that of the "comfort women," or more accurately, the estimated 200,000 women who were recruited to sexually serve the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. As part of this immense system, many young women from all over Japan's occupied territories in Asia were forced into service where they faced rape, torture and extreme violence at military camps, euphemistically termed "comfort stations.'
- StarsLinda HuntSamuel WestGert HeidenreichThe history of the Final Solution phase of the Nazi Holocaust, particularly with the most infamous of the death camps.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsMichel BouquetReinhard HeydrichHeinrich HimmlerThe history of Nazi Germany's death camps of the Final Solution and the hellish world of dehumanization and death contained inside.
- DirectorMark CowenStarsJames Alley Jr.Roderick BainLynn 'Buck' ComptonCompiled over two years, an 'on-camera oral history' of Easy Company, told by the veterans themselves. Accompanies the mini-series Band of Brothers.
- StarsTim Pigott-SmithJonathan BoothMajor battles of World War II are recounted in depth.
- StarsTony CallDan BittnerGeoffrey CantorTHIRD REICH: THE RISE & FALL tells the story of Hitler's Germany through rarely seen films of the people who were there. Immersive and evocative, it takes viewers inside the Germany of the 20s, 30s, and early 40s, through the use of rare and never-before-seen home movies, Nazi propaganda films and other contemporaneous material. The narrative consists of personal recollections culled from German's diaries, journals and letters. The end result is an intimate, richly nuanced and authentic portrait of the Third Reich and its people.
- StarsPeter DicksonA broad scoped, yet in-depth and neutral perspective of the Second World War. From its beginning with the Versaille Treaty and the invasion of Manchuria, to its conclusion at the Nuremburg Trials and the beginning of the Cold War,
- StarsLeonard GravesWinston ChurchillDwight D. EisenhowerTwenty-six episode series about naval combat during World War Two. Famous for its music score, eloquent narration and combat footage.
- DirectorLouis De RochemontStarsCarole LombardWalt DisneyJohn FordA multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.
- StarsFrancis Ford CoppolaSteven SpielbergMeryl StreepThe wartime contributions of five prominent Hollywood film directors during World War II are profiled.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsSimon SrebnikMichael PodchlebnikMotke ZaïdlClaude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
- DirectorSteven OkazakiStarsHarold AgnewShuntaro HidaKiyoko ImoriUsing extensive interviews with survivors and archival footage, an examination reveals the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- DirectorRomuald KarmakarStarsManfred ZapatkaThe speech of Heinrich Himmler, held on Oct. 4th, 1943 in front of 92 SS generals at the castle Posen, read by Manfred Zapatka.
- DirectorSidney BernsteinStarsTrevor HowardSidney BernsteinAlfred HitchcockIn 1945, camera crews went with the American and British armies in the nazis death camps and filmed the horror they found there. A group of directors among whom was Alfred Hichcock developed a script to present these horrors and be sure that people remember. Forty-eight years later it came out from the cave of the Imperial War Museum and was edited as forecast.
- DirectorMarcel OphülsStarsHelmut TausendMarcel VerdierAlexis GraveAn in-depth exploration of the various reactions by the French people to the Vichy government's acceptance of the German invasion.
- DirectorKazuo HaraStarsKenzo OkuzakiRiichi AikawaMasaichi HamaguchiA documentary following Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old WW2 veteran notorious for his protests against Emperor Hirohito, as he tries to expose the needless executions of two Japanese soldiers during the war.
- StarsBob van TolAlbrecht AppeltHans RostewitzThe World War 2 Battle of Stalingrad from the initial attack to the repatriation of the survivors after the war.
- DirectorTerry BenedictStarsRalph BakerCarl BentleyAlessandro BianchiThe story of Desmond Doss, a US Army medic who was the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
- StarsAlan PietruszewskiGarth R. HassellPedro SandovalThis series chronicle's the illustrious battle history of the U.S.S. Enterprise which played a critical role in World War Two and for a time was the only carrier defending the Pacific Theater from domination by Japan.
- DirectorMikhail RommStarsMikhail RommMartin BormannWilly BrandtA documentary about the rise and fall of fascism and the effects of Nazism on German society.
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf HitlerJoseph StalinDocumentary examining Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
- DirectorJon BlairStarsKenneth BranaghGlenn CloseIsa BaschwitzTells the story of the Frank family and paints a portrait of their brash and free-spirited daughter Anne, perhaps the world's most famous victim of the Holocaust.
- DirectorEdvins SnoreStarsJon StricklandVladimir BukovskyVladimir LeninThe Soviet Story offers an alternative history of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale.
- DirectorPeter CohenStarsRolf ArseniusBruno GanzSam GrayAn absorbing and chilling documentary about the National Socialist aesthetic, and how attempts to create the Aryan Ideal caused the extermination of millions. Aspects covered include: Hitler's epiphany while viewing Wagner's opera 'Rienzi', the rise of the homo-erotic Grecian/Nordic ideal, the parallels drawn between the 'degenerate' art of the cubists and dadaists and the mentally ill/physically deformed, the Nazi obsession with purity and cleanliness, and, finally, the descent of the Jewish people to the level of a virus/vermin.
- DirectorJon ElseStarsHans BetheHolm BursomHaakon ChevalierScientists and witnesses involved in the creation and testing of the first ever atomic bomb reflect on the Manhattan project and its fascinating leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who upon completion of his wonderful and horrible invention became a powerful spokesperson against the nuclear arms race.
- DirectorDavid RivaStarsBurt BacharachAndré G. BrunelinRosemary ClooneyThe films, affairs and struggles of the iconic star of The Blue Angel as told by Rosemary Clooney, Roger Corman, Deanna Durbin and many more.
- DirectorRick BeyerStarsWesley ClarkPeter CoyoteDuring World War II, a group of American GI's undertook a mission to create a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe. Their secret mission was kept a secret for nearly 50 years after the war's end.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnthony VeillerStarsDouglas BaderArno BrekerWinston ChurchillThe official World War II US government account of Great Britain's stand against the Nazi war machine after the Dunkirk evacuation.
- DirectorHans BurgerBilly WilderStarsAnton ReimerOriginally made with a German soundtrack for screening in occupied Germany and Austria, this film was the first documentary to show what the Allies found when they liberated the Nazi extermination camps: the survivors, the conditions, and the evidence of mass murder. The film includes accounts of the economic aspects of the camps' operation, the interrogation of captured camp personnel, and the enforced visits of the inhabitants of neighboring towns, who, along with the rest of their compatriots, are blamed for complicity in the Nazi crimes - one of the few such condemnations in the Allied war records.
- DirectorSergey LoznitsaThe city of Leningrad and the blockade during the Second World War. No words. No music. Only sounds and black and white images of a dying city.
- StarsEdward HerrmannSamuel WestAn examination of atrocities and depredations committed by Imperial Japanese military forces, from 1931 to 1945.
- 1985– 1h 22mNot Rated7.6 (138)TV EpisodeDirectorBrian BregerPeter SchnallStarsPeter CoyoteYuji AkamatsuRobert BallardNational Geographic follows underwater explorer Bob Ballard as he searches for the aircraft carrier sunk during the Battle of Midway.
- DirectorMark Jonathan HarrisStarsMorgan FreemanIsrael LauLivia ShacterThe story of the post World War II Jewish refugee situation from liberation to the establishment of the modern state of Israel.
- DirectorSimon GeorgeStarsCorey JohnsonKevin FarrellGeoffrey WawroThe events of World War II from 1941 onward are depicted from the perspective of space.
- DirectorDaniel AnkerStarsGene HackmanNorma BarzmanJack BennyThe history of Hollywood's handling of the Nazis and its later depiction of the Holocaust they perpetrated.
- DirectorMichael VerhoevenThe popular reaction to a German museum exhibit detailing the war crimes and atrocities committed by Nazi Germany's regular armed forces is explored.
- DirectorArthur DongStarsSalome JensPhillis AbryDavid BarrettA historical account of military policy regarding homosexuals during World War II. The documentary includes interviews with several gay WWII veterans.
- DirectorAlexandra DeanStarsHedy LamarrMel BrooksJennifer HomThe life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
- StarsAdrian RawlinsLee RossWilliam HopeA dramatized documentary about the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in May 1940.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsStanley WrayRobert MorganJames A. VerinisA documentary on the 25th bombing mission of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 in the US 8th Air Force.
- DirectorJames CameronGary JohnstoneStarsLance HenriksenJames CameronKarl KuhnAn underwater expedition to the German battleship Bismarck and digitally reconstructs events that led up to the ship's sinking during World War II.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsDragoljub AleksicBratoljub GligorijevicVera JovanovicDocumentary about the famous Serbian athlete and movie enthusiast who made a feature film during the Nazi occupation of Belgrade and had some problems after the liberation because of that.
- DirectorLutz HachmeisterStarsUdo SamelKenneth BranaghHeinrich BrüningThrough archival footage and dramatic readings of his personal writings, the life of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, is examined.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsRaymond AubracRobert BadinterKlaus BarbieA look at the history of one-time Gestapo commander Klaus Barbie, infamously known as "The Butcher of Lyon." This documentary's main focus will be on Barbie's post-war activities, in which he became a counter-intelligence agent who worked for the same countries that pursued him during WWII.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsYehuda LernerFrancine KaufmannClaude LanzmannA gripping account of the prisoners uprising at the Nazi extermination camp of Sobibor in 1943.
- DirectorHarriet EderThomas KufusStarsErich von MansteinLate in the 1980s, two documentary film makers found six German men, all in their 60s and 70s, who had been soldiers in the German invasion of the USSR in 1942. Each carried an 8mm camera into battle and they still had their film. "Mein Kreig" alternates between interviews with these older men, now apologetic, philosophical, or defiant about their participation, and the footage they shot. It's chronological: basic training, the train trip East, roof-top vistas of war-torn Warsaw, peasants in Belarus, the downing with carbine volleys of a Russian plane, winter, a holiday at the Black Sea, mud, impassable roads, death, destruction and retreat. "Home, that was the front," one says.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsGeneral BergeretKarl BrandtWinston ChurchillThe World War II US Government account of the European theatre of the war from after the English and French entry to the fall of France.
- DirectorKevin BurnsStarsRobert ClotworthyChristopher McQuarrieJens JessenCreated as a companion documentary to the film Valkyrie, this documentary details the true story behind the plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsAnthony VeillerIon AntonescuNikolay CherkasovDocumentary revealing the nature and process of the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany in the Second World War.
- DirectorEdward SteichenWilliam WylerStarsRobert TaylorCharles BoyerJoseph J. ClarkAn in-depth look at aircraft carrier combat operations during World War II. Real combat footage. Very strong and compelling.
- DirectorAndré HellerOthmar SchmidererStarsTraudl JungeDocumentary featuring interview footage with Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries during WWII.
- DirectorConnie FieldStarsLola WeixelMargaret WrightLyn ChildsDocumentary about women working in factories during WWII and resultant loss of jobs after the war. Five women tell their stories. Fascinating clips of racist, sexist propaganda of the era.
- DirectorJames MollStarsZenji AbeStephen AmbroseHal BraunThis powerful and thought provoking film chronicles the compelling events in the Pacific Theater of WWII, from the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the American occupation of Japan in 1945. It depicts the strength and courage of America's youth, while examining how these men and women dealt with being thrust into this brutal war. The film includes interviews with war veterans, both American and Japanese, from all branches of the military. It features testimony from medics, nurses, dog handlers, as well as Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned at internment camps in the United States. The film also includes a first hand account of the tragic impact of the atomic bomb on Japanese citizens. Among the veterans who appear is Zenji Abe, a Japanese veteran who flew the mission to bomb Pearl Harbor, and retired General Paul Tibbets who flew the mission to bomb Hiroshima. Steven Spielberg and historian/author Stephen E. Ambrose are executive producers of this feature-length documentary directed and produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Moll ("The Last Days"). The film is a presentation of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- DirectorTracy AtkinsonJoan BaranStarsMalcolm McDowellMichael KaterPeter PadfieldHow Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime made use of ancient mysticism and occultism to win the war. The Nazi's also used occult mind control techniques to brainwash Germans to perceive themselves as the master-race.
- DirectorEdmon RochStarsRupert AllasonJosé Antonio EscorizaAline GriffithA compelling account of Juan Pujol, an extraordinary Spanish double agent during WWII who helped change the course of history.
- DirectorClaude LanzmannStarsMaurice RosselClaude LanzmannAn interview with a WWII Red Cross official who wrote a glowing report on a Jewish ghetto-cum-death camp.
- StarsKeith DavidKatharine PhillipsTom HanksA seven-part series focusing on the many ways in which the Second World War impacted the lives of American families.
- StarsDavid RobbE.J. SnyderBryan StefancykNoteworthy World War II battles of US General George S. Patton are examined.
- DirectorMalte LudinStarsHanns LudinMalte LudinAdolf HitlerFamily drama and historical truth collide in this film about the painful legacy cast by Hanns Ludin, a prominent Nazi executed for war crimes in 1947. In this documentary, Hanns Ludin's son, filmmaker Malte Ludin, breaks 60 years of silence and repression, investigating his father's dark deeds and interviewing his still-denying sisters. The film is an intimate look at the descendants of a Nazi perpetrator, most of whom refuse to accept the history of their family and of Nazi Germany more generally.
- DirectorFenton BaileyRandy BarbatoGabriel RotelloStarsMarlene SandersAdolf HitlerLothar MachtanGerman historian Lothar Machtan proposed in his book that Hitler may have been gay and his desire to keep it a secret motivated many of his actions. This film details Machtan's explorations and provides other historians a chance to refute Machtan's conclusions.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsWalter HustonVictor Bulwer-LyttonKai-Shek ChiangThe official World War II US Government film statement defining the various enemies of the Allies and why they must be fought.
- DirectorKen BurnsArtemis JoukowskyStarsMarina GoldmanTom HanksDefying the Nazis: The Sharps' War: Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and Martha Sharp, a trained social worker, in February 1939, boldly commit to a life-threatening mission in Europe to assist refugees.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsDean AchesonGeneral BergeretAdolf A. BerlePart VII of the "Why We Fight" series of wartime documentaries. This entry attempts to describe the factors leading up to America's entry into the Second World War.
- DirectorGarson KaninCarol ReedStarsDwight D. EisenhowerLeslie BanksWinston ChurchillA documentary account of the allied invasion of Europe during World War II compiled from the footage shot by nearly 1400 cameramen.
- DirectorMartin DoblmeierStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerAdele SchmidtRichard ManciniDramatic documentary about the young German pacifist and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who resisted the Nazi regime and was hanged two weeks before World War II was over.
- DirectorFrank CapraAnatole LitvakStarsEduard BenesNeville ChamberlainClementine ChurchillThe official World War II US government account of Nazi international aggression leading up to the British and French declarations of war.
- DirectorRichard BrooksLouis HaywardStarsAlexander Bonnyman Jr.John BorichMerritt A. EdsonDocumentary short film depicting the harrowing battle between the U.S. Marines and the Japanese for control of the Pacific island of Tarawa.
- StarsCharlton HestonThomas B. AllenNorman PolmarBased on information derived from formerly classified documents and messages, coupled with interviews with experts, authors and eyewitnesses from all over the world, SECRET OF WAR is the most comprehensive documentary series ever produced on "secrets of war" throughout the last century. Narrated by Charlton Heston, this acclaimed series features declassified and rare footage, 3D graphics, on-location shooting, historical retracing shots and extensive reenactments. In all, 65 episodes were produced from 1997 to 2001.