Back to Bataan (1945), Director: Edward Dmytryk, Running time: 95 minutes.
After the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese in World War II, Col. Joseph Madden (John Wayne) of the U.S. Army stays on to organize guerrilla fighters against the conquerors.
Ballad of a Soldier (1960), Director: Grigori Chukhrai, Running time: 88 minutes.
Russian soldier Alyosha Skvortsov is granted a visit with his mother after he singlehandedly fends off two enemy tanks. As he journeys home, Alyosha encounters the devastation of his war-torn country, witnesses glimmers of hope among the people, and falls in love. With its poetic visual imagery, Grigori Chukhrai's Ballad of a Soldier is an unconventional meditation on the effects of war, and a milestone in Russian cinema.
Band of Brothers (2001), Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Running Time: 999 minutes
This 10-part HBO television miniseries focuses on Easy Company, a group of American soldiers in World War II, tracking their experiences from the beginning of boot camp to the end of the war. Anchored by actors Damian Lewis and Ron Livingston, the series gives detailed attention to their experiences as a group, as well as the way that each of them develops individually.
Van Heflin, Aldo Ray and Tab Hunter star in Raoul Walsh's hard-hitting-action epic of Marine Corps heroism in the WWII Pacific, based on Leon Uris' gritty best-seller.
Battle of Britain (1969), Director: Guy Hamilton, Running time: 132 minutes.
A powerful and colorful portrayal of an understaffed, technically inferior royal air-crew who valiantly holds off the superior forces of the German Luftwaffe. This pivotal battle of World War II could have led to the Germans winning the war. The incredible cast includes Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Curt Jurgens, and Laurence Olivier.
Battle of the Bulge (1965), Director: Ken Annakin, Running Time: 170 minutes.
An action-packed drama about the battle that brought World War II to a close in Europe. It tells a tense tale of the complicated events leading up to that historical confrontation -- and presents us with a group of strong-willed, highly individual military men who play key roles in the shaping of their country's destiny. Foremost among them is Kiley, an American lieutenant colonel who must overcome his fellow officer's high-handed skepticism to convince him that the supposedly defeated Germans are poised to strike.
Beach Red (1967), Director: Cornel Wilde, Running Time: 104 minutes
American troops storm ashore on a Japanese-held island and push inland while their enemies plan a counterattack in this look at warfare. Soldiers on both sides are haunted by memories of home and the horrifying, sickening images they find in combat.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Director: William Wyer, Running Time: 168 minutes.
Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.
Between Heaven & Hell (1956), Director: Richard Fleischer, Running Time: 94 minutes
Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Broderick Crawford and Buddy Ebsen star in this absorbing drama about a young, self-centered recruit who comes of age during WWII. Sam Gifford (Wagner) is a successful cotton planter who treats his sharecroppers as if they were little more than farm machinery. But during combat in the Pacific, as he sees "quality" people crack, endures life under a sadistic officer (Crawford), and learns true friendship, from a "cropper" (Ebsen), Gifford slowly discovers there's more to a person than social class and good breeding.
The Big Red One (1980), Director: Samuel Fuller, Running Time: 163 minutes
The famous 1st Division of the U.S. Army is the background for this World War II film. Marvin stars as an experienced sergeant with four teenagers in his squad. Combat period covers the landing in North Africa through the invasion of Europe.
Bitka Na Neretvi (1969), Director: Veljko Bulajic, Running time: 175 minutes.
In the beginning of 1943. by Hitler's personal order, German generals started executing the "Weiss" plan for the destruction of Partisan units. Pushed by far more powerful enemy, the Partisans, with Supreme Headquarters, 4500 wounded and typhus patients, have found themselves surrounded in Neretva valley. Only one bridge remained, with heavy enemy forces waiting on the other side, preparing for massacre on wounded fighters and helpless people. Tito ordered to destroy the bridge. Surprised, enemy transfered his forces to the other side, predicting that Partisans will attempt the suicidal break through. But, during only one night, Partisans managed to build a provisional bridge near the destroyed one and cross to the other side, tricking the enemy. (IMDb)
Black Book (2006), Director: Paul Verhoeven, Running time: 146 minutes.
In the darkest days of World War II, Jewish fugitives attempt to escape occupied Holland – only to face a Nazi ambush. Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten) alone survives the attack and joins the Dutch Resistance to avenge her family. She soon confronts the ultimate test: she must infiltrate German headquarters by tempting Captain Ludwig Mÿntze (Sebastian Hoch). In the heat of passion, he uncovers her duplicity...but keeps her secret. Then Rachel's espionage reveals that a murderous traitor lurks within Resistance ranks. Unable to fully trust anyone, Rachel navigates a minefield of deception and becomes an enemy to both sides. Epic, passionate, breathtaking, Black Book relates an untold story of World War II where the distinctions between good and evil become blurred by the complexities of human nature.
Blood Oath (1990), Director: Stephen Wallace, Running Time: 108 minutes
The island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1945. During the War, the number of Australian POWs on the island had dropped from 1100 to less than 300 due to abuses by their Japanese captors. Capt. Cooper is the chief prosecutor. In a mass grave, the bodies of 300 executed servicemen have been unearthed. Cooper assumes that the massacre was ordered by Baron Takahashi, Japanese commander on Ambon. But the one potential witness has gone mad and is due to be shipped back to Australia. No captured airmen were found alive on the island at all, not even the four-man crew of a reconnaissance plane shot down late in the War. Takahashi is returned to the island in the custody of an American officer, Maj. Beckett. But there is little evidence with which to prosecute the Baron. Cooper thinks he could make a case for the missing airmen if only their bodies could be located. And why does Maj. Beckett appear interested in not seeing Takahashi convicted? Cooper gets a break when Lt. Tanaka, a communications officer and a Christian, surrenders himself. (Written by David Stanko for IMDb)
Bon Voyage gathers a collection of romantics, fools, and survivors, and puts them together in Bordeaux in 1940. Loosely arranged around the ditzy figure of a famous grand-dame actress (Isabelle Adjani), these hapless creatures trip over each other very amusingly during the course of a couple of frantic days. The central character is actually a young writer (the winning Gregori Derangere), who's torn between panting after the actress or aiding the pretty daughter (Virginie Ledoyen, 8 Women) of an important scientist trying to escape to England. It would be hard to say that any of this amounts to anything substantial, but director Jean-Paul Rappeneau whips it together very attractively, and the Bordeaux location offers luscious views of a pre-war city. Rappeneau's delightful 1966 comedy La Vie de Chateau, set in Normandy just before D-Day, treads some of the same turf. (Robert Horton for Amazon.com)
