"Based on a True Story": World War I and II
by barthsnotes | created - 26 Aug 2011 | updated - 24 Jan 2023 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. 37 Days (2014)
60 min | History
A TV mini-series that unveils the behind-closed-doors story of the final weeks before the outbreak of World War I.
Stars: Ian McDiarmid, Nicholas Farrell, Tim Pigott-Smith, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 1,562
2. My Boy Jack (2007 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 95 min | Biography, Drama, History
Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
Director: Brian Kirk | Stars: David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall, Carey Mulligan
Votes: 5,653
3. The Red Baron (2008)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
German biopic loosely based on the World War I fighter ace Manfred Von Richthofen, nicknamed the Red Baron by friend and foe alike.
Director: Nikolai Müllerschön | Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Lena Headey, Til Schweiger, Joseph Fiennes
Votes: 13,152 | Gross: $0.04M
4. The Monocled Mutineer (1986)
310 min | Drama, History, War
During World War I, Percy Toplis, a deserter from the British Army, plays a major role in the Étaples Mutiny in September 1917.
Stars: Paul McGann, Bill Fellows, Matthew Marsh, Anthony Calf
Votes: 390
5. Line of Fire: The Somme (2005 TV Movie)
102 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.
Director: Carl Hindmarch | Stars: Laurence Kennedy, Tilda Swinton, Ed Stoppard, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 669
6. The Wipers Times (2013 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 92 min | War
Based on the remarkable true story of a satirical newspaper published on the front lines of World War One, this poignant yet comedic drama revels in the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Director: Andy De Emmony | Stars: Ben Chaplin, Patrick FitzSymons, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Steve Oram
Votes: 1,446
7. Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea (2007 TV Movie)
90 min | Documentary, Drama, History
A dramatization of the notorious World War I torpedoing of the ocean liner, RMS Lusitania.
Director: Christopher Spencer | Stars: John Hannah, Kenneth Cranham, Florian Panzner, Michael Feast
Votes: 638
8. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Approved | 218 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Votes: 314,264 | Gross: $44.82M
9. Julia (1977)
PG | 117 min | Drama
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximilian Schell
Votes: 10,410
10. Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Drama, War
During World War II, a recently widowed young woman is recruited to work as a spy in France.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner, Denise Grey
Votes: 1,857
11. Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985)
Unrated | 410 min | Biography, Drama, History
The rise and fall of the Italian fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini.
Stars: George C. Scott, Virginia Madsen, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Lee Grant
Votes: 646
12. The Man Who Crossed Hitler (2011 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, History
In November 1930, brown-shirted storm troopers of Hitler's SA break into the Communist Eden Palace club, killing several members. Jewish lawyer Hans Litten prosecutes them and, at the ... See full summary »
Director: Justin Hardy | Stars: Ed Stoppard, Ian Hart, Bill Paterson, Sarah Smart
Votes: 361
13. Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
TV-14 | 93 min | Biography, Drama, History
A profile of the life of Adolf Hitler with a unique slant, as a child and his rise through the ranks of the National Socialist German Workers Party prior to World War II.
Stars: Peter Stormare, Friedrich von Thun, Peter O'Toole, Zoe Telford
Votes: 23,610
14. Countdown to War (1989 TV Movie)
78 min | Drama, History, War
Based on a play, the story details the dramatic negotiations between the UK, France, Poland, Nazi Germany, and the U.S.S.R. from the day Czechoslovakia fell, until Britain's declaration of war on Germany, caused by Hitler's invasion of Poland.
Director: Patrick Lau | Stars: Ian McKellen, Michael Aldridge, Tony Britton, John Woodvine
Votes: 204
15. The Gathering Storm (2002 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Winston Churchill's wilderness years prior to World War II, when only he could see the threat that Adolf Hitler and a rearmed Germany posed to Europe.
Director: Richard Loncraine | Stars: Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, Linus Roache
Votes: 7,041
16. The King's Choice (2016)
133 min | Biography, Drama, History
April 1940. Norway has been invaded by Germany and the royal family and government have fled into the interior. The German envoy to Norway tries to negotiate a peace. Ultimately, the decision on Norway's future will rest with the king.
Director: Erik Poppe | Stars: Jesper Christensen, Anders Baasmo, Karl Markovics, Tuva Novotny
Votes: 10,075 | Gross: $0.11M
17. World War Two: Behind Closed Doors (2008– )
300 min | Documentary, History, War
A 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 ... See full summary »
Stars: Aleksey Petrenko, Bob Gunton, Paul Humpoletz, Samuel West
Votes: 542
18. Conspiracy (2001 TV Movie)
R | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.
Director: Frank Pierson | Stars: Clare Bullus, Stanley Tucci, Simon Markey, David Glover
Votes: 24,789
19. Die Wannseekonferenz (1984 TV Movie)
87 min | Drama, History
At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.
Director: Heinz Schirk | Stars: Dietrich Mattausch, Gerd Böckmann, Friedrich G. Beckhaus, Robert Atzorn
Votes: 1,267
20. The Diary of Anne Frank (1987)
112 min | Biography, Drama, History
During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Stars: Katharine Schlesinger, Emrys James, Elizabeth Bell, Emma Bowe
Votes: 140
21. Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001)
Not Rated | 95 min | Biography, Drama, War
The life of Anne Frank and her family from 1939 to 1945: pre-war fears, invasion of Netherlands by German troops, hiding in Amsterdam, deportation to the camps, return of Anne's father.
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Hannah Taylor Gordon, Brenda Blethyn, Lili Taylor
Votes: 5,415
22. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,450,130 | Gross: $96.90M
23. Escape from Sobibor (1987 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama, History, War
German death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Alan Arkin, Joanna Pacula, Rutger Hauer, Hartmut Becker
Votes: 9,820
24. Flame & Citron (2008)
Not Rated | 130 min | Action, Drama, History
A drama centered on two fighters in the Holger Danske World War II resistance group.
Director: Ole Christian Madsen | Stars: Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade, Peter Mygind
Votes: 19,938 | Gross: $0.15M
25. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.
Director: Marc Rothemund | Stars: Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Alexander Held, Johanna Gastdorf
Votes: 28,662 | Gross: $0.68M
26. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 911,796 | Gross: $32.57M
27. Into the Storm (2009 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 99 min | Biography, Drama, History
Continuing the storyline of The Gathering Storm (2002), Churchill at War is a look at the former British prime minister's life and career at the end of WWII.
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan | Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Clive Mantle, Adrian Scarborough, Jack Shepherd
Votes: 5,859
28. Bomber Harris (1989 TV Movie)
85 min | Biography, Drama, History
The history of one of the key commanders of WW2, the head of RAF Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris.
Director: Michael Darlow | Stars: John Thaw, Robert Hardy, Frederick Treves, Bernard Kay
Votes: 190
29. Wodehouse in Exile (2013 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 82 min | Drama
An all-star cast heads up this intimate film about how author, P.G.Wodehouse, came to face a charge of treason during the Second World War and how this quintessential Englishman, creator of... See full summary »
Director: Tim Fywell | Stars: Tim Pigott-Smith, Zoë Wanamaker, Curran McKay, Simon Coury
Votes: 353
30. Rogue Heroes (2022–2024)
TV-MA | 52 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
SAS: Rogue Heroes charts the creation of the famed Special Forces unit. Based on the book by Ben Macintyre.
Stars: Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen, Jacob Ifan
Votes: 21,317
31. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
G | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda, Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 37,203 | Gross: $29.55M
32. PT 109 (1963)
Approved | 140 min | Biography, Drama, War
President John F. Kennedy kept a unique inauguration gift on his desk: a plastic-encased coconut. The tale of that coconut is the heroic story of PT 109.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson | Stars: Cliff Robertson, Robert Culp, Ty Hardin, James Gregory
Votes: 2,990
33. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 233,234 | Gross: $44.91M
34. MacArthur (1977)
PG | 130 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biopic of General Douglas MacArthur covering his war exploits during WW2 and the Korean War.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Gregory Peck, Dan O'Herlihy, Ed Flanders, Ivan Bonar
Votes: 5,119
35. Patton (1970)
GP | 172 min | Biography, Drama, War
The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong
Votes: 107,932 | Gross: $61.70M
36. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,113 | Gross: $5.51M
37. Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
R | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper, Joseph Cross, Jesse Bradford
Votes: 129,233 | Gross: $33.60M
38. The Relief of Belsen (2007 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 101 min | Drama
With the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, safety did not come to its 60,000 prisoners right away. Starring Iain Glen, this award-winning movie recalls the actual events ... See full summary »
Director: Justin Hardy | Stars: Iain Glen, Nigel Lindsay, Jemma Redgrave, Corin Redgrave
Votes: 313
39. Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial (2006)
Not Rated | 180 min | Documentary, Drama, History
Profiles on the major defendants of the Nuremberg war crimes trials.
Stars: Matthew Macfadyen, Richard Overy, John Dolibois, Whitney Harris
Votes: 356
40. Taking Sides (2001)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Music, War
After the end of World War II, a famous German conductor is accused of loyalty to the Nazi regime. He argues that art and politics are separate. An investigator thinks otherwise.
Director: István Szabó | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, Moritz Bleibtreu, Birgit Minichmayr
Votes: 3,777 | Gross: $0.19M
41. The Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, History, War
The story of the 1960 hostile extraction of the Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, by the Mossad to Israeli justice.
Director: William A. Graham | Stars: Robert Duvall, Arliss Howard, Jeffrey Tambor, Jack Laufer
Votes: 802
42. The Eichmann Show (2015 TV Movie)
96 min | Drama, History
Dramatisation of the team hoping to televise the trial of Adolf Eichmann, an infamous Nazi responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews. It focuses on Leo Hurwitz, a documentary film-maker and Milton Fruchtman, a producer.
Director: Paul Andrew Williams | Stars: Martin Freeman, Anthony LaPaglia, Rebecca Front, Andy Nyman
Votes: 5,058
43. Rogue Heroes (2022–2024)
TV-MA | 52 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
SAS: Rogue Heroes charts the creation of the famed Special Forces unit. Based on the book by Ben Macintyre.
Stars: Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen, Jacob Ifan
Votes: 21,317
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