With each year, there are fewer people who lived or fought through World War II.
When they pass, films will be one of the only media keeping their stories alive for new generations to discover.
Watch With Us recently rounded up the seven best World War II movies and ranked them by their Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
If you know your war movies, many of these picks won’t be surprising. But the movie that hit No. 1 isn’t the one anyone expected.
Movie lovers in 2026 may not be able to appreciate the star-studded lineup of The Great Escape, but bringing together Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn was quite a casting coup. All of those actors are now Hollywood legends.
The film is very loosely based on true events, as POWs Captain Virgil Hilts (McQueen), Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley (Garner), Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Attenborough), Group Captain Ramsey (Donald) and more hatch a plot to break over 250 men out of one of the most heavily secured camps behind enemy lines. It’s a dangerous endeavor, and discovery may mean death for everyone involved.
The Great Escape is streaming on Prime Video.
6. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)Nearly three decades later, there’s a strong argument to be made that Steven Spielberg‘s Saving Private Ryan should have won Best Picture. If you haven’t seen it already, we won’t ruin the surprise about which actor plays the title character. Following the film’s brutal depiction of the invasion of Normandy, all male members of the Ryan family are killed in action except one. Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and his team are given a mandate to go behind enemy lines and find the lone remaining Ryan brother to bring him home to his family.
Although the war is down to its last days, the dangers are still ever-present for Miller and his men. So much so that they question whether risking their lives for a man they don’t know is even worth it. They’ll get their answer, but not everyone will get to go home.
Saving Private Ryan is streaming on Hoopla.
5. ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957)The Bridge on the River Kwai is a POW drama that focuses on a group of British and American soldiers who are held prisoner by Japanese forces. A U.S. soldier, Shears (William Holden), manages to escape, but he’s blackmailed into returning to the camp to sabotage the bridge being built by the prisoners.
Star Wars icon Alec Guinness has a primary role as Colonel Nicholson, a British commander who collaborates with the enemy because he’s too prideful to build a bridge that doesn’t live up to his standards. Nicholson doesn’t even realize that what he’s doing is a betrayal, but his actions will come back to haunt him when he seems more determined to protect the bridge than the lives of his own men.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.
Das Boot is an outlier on this list as both a German film and a story that takes place exclusively from the perspective of German forces during the height of World War II. Jürgen Prochnow leads the cast as the captain of a submarine, and he’s openly against the Nazis and the decisions made by Adolf Hitler that are bringing ruin to their nation.
Not everyone on the sub shares the captain’s views, but there’s a sense of camaraderie among the crew as they risk their lives for each other and their mission. They aren’t necessarily monsters, but they do battle allied soldiers and face retaliation that may put their sub at the bottom of the ocean for good.
Das Boot is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.
3. ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)Spielberg entered a serious phase of his career with Schindler’s List, a film that went on to win Best Director and Best Picture as well as five other Oscars. This film is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German war profiteer who uses Jewish workers in his factories as their people are rounded up into concentration camps.
Once Schindler gets a first-hand view of the evil that the Nazis inflict on the Jewish people, he shifts his focus to saving as many lives as possible. Almost every German official that Schindler encounters has a price, including the ruthless commander Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes). But as the war winds down, Schindler is forced to give up everything and still wonders if he could have done more.
Schindler’s List is streaming on Peacock.
2. ‘Casablanca’ (1942)Casablanca is the only World War II movie on this list that was actually made during the war, when the outcome was far from certain. The response to Casablanca was tremendous, as it won Best Picture and became widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. Humphrey Bogart solidified his legend with his role as Rick Blaine, a cynical American riding out the war in Morocco.
Rick is embittered that his lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), ran off years earlier without telling him why. Much to his surprise, Ilsa shows up at his bar with her husband, resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). They desperately need Rick’s help, but it’s going to take more than just words to convince him. The ending of this film is so widely known that you may have seen it referenced without even realizing where it came from.
Casablanca is streaming on HBO Max.
A Man Escaped isn’t as widely known as Casablanca, but this French World War II film is one of the few movies with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is another POW story, and it’s based on the true story of French Resistance member André Devigny, although the name of the main character was changed.
This film treats the escape plans of Lieutenant Fontaine (François Leterrier) in a very serious and realistic way, while following the steps he takes to pull it off. It’s a gripping tale, even when so much of the screen time features Fontaine in his cell working out the necessary details to get out. Numerous filmmakers have cited A Man Escaped as an influence, including Christopher Nolan. If you’ve never seen it, it’s available to stream online.
A Man Escaped is streaming on The Criterion Channel.
