IMO Stalingrad (1993) and Das Boot are 2 of the best made war movies of all time. Just spectacular and very telling of the realities of warfare in those arenas.
40 Years on and Das Boot is definitely not just the best German War film of all time but the Best war film of all time. This film draws you in from the very beginning and as you share the U-Boat crews journey into the hell of the 'Battle of the Atlantic' each character grows on you and you want them to survive and return home to their loved ones, so leading to one of the most heart breaking endings ever filmed leaving you feeling like you've just been punched in the guts. Stalingrad is a pretty realistic war film too showing the vicious nature of what it was like to fight on the Eastern Front, another film that hits you in the gut is 1959s Die Brucke, a true classic.
Das Boot is also, in my opinion, not just the best war movie ever, but also the best movie, I've ever seen, but I am also very interested in WW2, so that is of course one of the reasons, why I rate Das Boot the best ever. And I also agree with you about Die Brücke. Another VERY strong German war movie. I haven't seen it sinse sometime in the mid 1980's, but I still remember some of the best scenes. And I actually love, that I saw it in black and white, just as The Longest Day. It gives a somewhat documentary effect in both movies.
There are some movies missing: First of all, the incredable "Die Brücke" ("Die Ereignisse waren so unbedeutend, dass sie in keinem Wehrmachtsbericht erwähnt wurden"), from 1959, then "Hunde, wollt Ihr ewig leben" ("Alle sieben Sekunden stirbt ein deutscher Soldat - Stalingrad, Massengrab" "tik tik tik ..."), from 1959 and the Trilogie "08/15", from 1954 and 55. Though, it is, in my opinion, not possible, to choose only five movies. And it is almost a crime, if you do so, to "forget" "Die Brücke". You should better call your list "the top eight german WW II-movies."
A film that's definitely missing in the list is "Die Brücke" by Bernhard Wicki from 1959. If you can look beyond the tractors disguised as tanks (Try getting a tank for filming in 1950s Germany), it's an absolutly harrowing film about the last days of the war
Like others, I would vote for "Die Brücke". It won 16 international awards (including the Golden Globe) and was nominated for the Oscar. It holds a special place in my heart, since my dad was 1945 13 years old and he told me, what he experienced when the Hitler Youth members were used to get out bodies from bombed houses. 2 years older, and they would have send him to stop the Soviets.
@@ohauss, sadly the German generals didn't dare to stand up at that time. They all knew, the war was lost, but that insane nazi-top didn't give a shit. So many thousands and thousands of lives just wasted for no reason whatsoever.
If you speak German, there were several good war movies coming out in the fifties in glorious BW. “Hunde wollt ihr ewig leben” about Stalingrad, “Strafbatallion 999” about a penal battalion, and “08/15” which was a series novel about friends experiencing barrack life and war.
A really underrated WW2 movie showing the conflict from the German perspective is the film "Cross of Iron" (1977) starring James Coburn in the leading role. It is based on a 1955 novel called "Das Geduldige Fleisch" by Willi Heinrich, a survivor of that conflict himself. It was translated into English in 1956 and retitled "Cross of Iron." It follows the exploits of a German NCO leading his platoon which is cutoff behind enemy lines on the Eastern front and follows them as they try to survive returning to their on side and dealing with the defeat of the German Army as the war closes. It is well worth reading the novel first as with all book to movie adaptations, a lot of the story has be to left out.
Die Brücke, 1959. For some reason a dubbed version of this was shown during "dinner theater" in Stockton, CA. My young mind was pretty devastated. Saw it again recently and it still packs a wallop.
Der Untergang (Downfall) was simply a superb piece of Cinematography with Bruno Ganze's portrayal of Adolph Hitler being elecrtifying. Watched it many many times and find the portrayal of what it must have been like for, not only those in the bunker, but also the ordinary German facing the onslought of an equaliy obscene regime rather sad.
Generation War has to be one of the best films ever made. As an American Marine vet, Band of brothers and the Pacific has always been my favorite. After seeing Generation War, it has become one of my top favs of all time. It’s unfortunate during wars that people don’t see the good side. We live in a world where we come from different countries but we are all humans! Generally speaking eveyone just wants peace and happiness! I appreciate the views of the Germans and how they were. There were a lot of good people trying to survive through possibly the worst event in history. Bravo
That's a very naive approach to reality. The German people cried out to war and got it. Then acted like victims when their supposed great leaders brought them nothing but hell.
@@fragidistic The film says very clearly who the main perpetrators were in Europe: the Germans. The film makes that clear. Only there were a few followers in every occupied country. There's no need to be ashamed of that, because, as I said, Germany was the main culprit. But Poland wasn't exactly innocent either. For example, even after the Germans had been expelled, there were still pogroms against Jews (Kielce 1946 f.e.). Executed by Polish people. You can mention that. Also as a German. With no intention of diminishing one's own guilt. Or in a metaphor: if someone burns 100 houses, there is no excuse for the one who only burned 1 house. One should be allowed to talk about all the houses that have been set on fire.
@@neinnein9306 Pogrom in Kielce 1946 was organized and executed by Soviet Military Rasvietka GRU accompanied and supported by local Communist official branches of 'new' Poland. It happened exactly on 4th July and there were political reasons why. You simply talking shit nothing else. Polish people did it? Who? Kids on the block? Pogrom in Kielce was political and organized by commies you uneducated (fill appropriate insult here).
My father was 3rd watch officer on U-969 in the Med. According to him, this was about as accurate as it was possible to make. One thing he told me was that once a boat got into the Med, that was where it stayed. Passing out to the Atlantic again was virtually impossible.
Yeah, that was lucky. Getting back to Germany was as he said "we got into a town on the way home, and the next morning, the Americans chased us out the other side." When he got back, there weren't enough boats left, the war was going to chit and he got stuffed into a Marine regiment, given a few months infantry training, handed a company and sent to occupy a bunker and trench line overlooking the town of Schmidt. Green Hell, the Hurtgen Wald. There he caught a round in the face, and ended up in hospital in Berlin. Was released about a week before the Soviets surrounded the place.
@@NYG5 If they could get in, they could get back out. The problem was not so much the British as it was the underwater endurance of the boat itself. The currents in and out of the Med change every 6 hours, with inflow of about 2-3 knots and the outflow of about 3 knot. Given the patrol distances from Gibralter, the boat would have to submerge a good distance away. They could make 7-8 knots submerged, add in the 3 knots and get 60 nautical miles before the tide turned and their speed (Max) dropped to about 6-7. Not to mention that they'd not be going at flank speed either, to conserve power and cut down on noise. The boats typically could make 80 nautical miles at 4 knots before they ran out of power. At flank, considerably less. I think Donitz told his captains not to risk it because it was only a marginal chance at best.
I'd include an often overlooked small low budget film that I think is among the best war films ever made but prepare to be depressed. Die Brucke (1959) Die Brücke is a 1959 West German film directed by Austrian filmmaker Bernhard Wicki. It is based on the 1958 novel of the same name by journalist and writer Gregor Dorfmeister. The story was based on an actual event, upon the personal report of a surviving veteran who in his own youth experienced a similar situation in World War II.
Now that you mention it, yes, I would agree; Die Brucke fits with these. It was an amazing movie, particularly considering the obviously slim budget. But riveting.
I guess the algorythm brought me here. But I have to agree the movie die Brücke had a huge impact on me as a boy when I watched it. I cannot forget how the one boy screams the name of one of his friends after the battle. I think he was screaming for the guy who fired the panzerfaust out of the building and killed the civilan with the back blast.And then the building collapsed and he was never seen again. It broke my heart and showed me the randomness of war and also the waste of human life. But I have to add: Das Boot will always be the best anti war movie ever made in my opionion. The authenticity is not reached n any other war movie. The way the men talk, the tension and also the awesome script by Lothar Buchheim is not reached so far. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the only movies that were coming close to authenticity are Saving private ryan and maybe platoon.
@@barnes7176 Thank you Barnes for your opinion. Popular opinions are not always correct. I share what I believe is your opinion. A good war movie must be by definition be anti-war for the reasons you cite. I recall an interview of a British soldier after the Falklands war. Asked to sum up the experience of his combat, he succinctly replied, "filth". William Manchester, a WWII marine veteran indicated in "Goodbye Darkness", intelligent men had a better chance of survival but luck always had the final word. With every fiber of my being I wish godspeed to the Ukrainians embroiled in combat today yet feel badly for the Russians they are forced to exterminate due to the ego of a kleptomaniac fool. When exclaiming "Glory to Ukraine" they are doing what they must to live on their feet. It rings hollow despite their just cause. I'd second Das Boot for your short list and maybe add Doctor Strangelove to wallow in war's insanity. There are more films worthy of consideration but they are different kinds of films. For instance, Lawrence of Arabia is worthy but does not deal with combat close at hand. It deals more closely with the filth of politics. I agree with your comments Barnes and have been thankful I never had to experience combat in Vietnam having drawn a high number in the last year of the draft. Take care.
I saw this film in 1959 when I was 10 and living in Arolsen, Hessen, West Germany. It made a real impact on me and probably contributed to my antiwar activities years later during the Vietnam War.
@@infantinofan I don't believe the film is known widely enough. By the way, I was rated 1-H (hold) in the draft when I was 18. As the lottery was drawn for the draft numbers I drew ~250 for my birthday. They only took up to 60 for that, the last year of the draft. My loving father told me "Son it might make a man of you but if you can avoid it, do. You won't like it." There was much celebration and relief when my draw number was displayed on the screen.
As an add on I highly recommend "Werner Holt", an East German movie from the 60's based on a book, we all had to read in school in East Germany. Reading the book was as fascinating and mindblowing as "All quiet on the Western Front" which I also read in school a couple of years later. It is a great story about a group of school friends from their years as Hitler Youth through the time serving as Flakhelfer and then later as conscripts in the last months of the war. They really managed very well to bring the book into a movie. Me as a German, I was a teenager when reading the book, it made me understand through which brainwashing time and circumstances German teenagers had to go in the 3rd Reich. After the wall fell I realised how many parallels their teenage years being in state youth organisations had with mine in East Germany, fortunately minus war and death.
I am a high school teacher in the USA, I recently completed a unit in which we read "1984" and used that as a springboard to examine various aspects of totalitarianism/authoritarianism such as the youth movements you cite as well as secret police apparatus, Stasi/Gestapo/KGB/Thought Police. It's horrifying of course, but three kids got something out of it! Ich war übrigens Dolmetscher bei der US Armee in den früheren 80er Jahren, ich war 3 Jahre in der BRD in Karlsruhe und Wiesbaden stationiert, eine schöne Frist!
Loved the book, couldn´t stand the movie. I´ve been wanting to see a good remake for years. And Buchheim´s "Die Festung" would make for a great movie, too.
Cross of Iron would be in my top three. It is one of the my favorite portrayals of fighting on the Eastern front and has some truly memorable characters.
There is also Woman in Berlin, a 2008 German film. Very controversial. When the book was first published in 1959, there was a furious reaction, so much so that the author refused further adaptations until after her death. The plot involves the desperate choices women made to survive in the aftermath of the surrender in May 1945. I think the plot struck too close to the truth for the war survivors to admit.
Thomas Kretchman ist echt überall dabei Stalingrad 1 und 2 Operation Walküre, Laconia ,Der Untergang , Der Pianist, das Boot Serie ,Eichmann, U 571 ,U Boot in Feindes Hand und bestimmt habe ich ein paar vergessen.
Stalingrad, by Josef Vilsmaier was based upon interviews he made with the last survivors of the 6th Army. They have taken their single stories and created the script out of it. So one can say: This movie is based on true events. I have seen it twice, as my grandfather was part of it and never returned home.
@@sjb3460 She should have been more cautious and make sure not to get spotted while spreading propaganda material that could be a death sentence, she may still be alive and might have actually achieved something. She acted stupid and impulsive and lost her head because of it.
@@sjb3460 That's exactly what I'm saying, dumb! All the more reason to be more cautious! I am actually German, I'm sure I know more about our history than some Yank. And where did I say she acted alone?! Her friends lost their head, too because they were just as careless. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. You're not the brightest bulb on the tree yourself, _that's_ obvious... 🤦🏿♂🤦🏿♂🤦🏿♂
My daddy was an American Sailor from 1940 to 1946. He served on Convoy duty in the Atlantic. I bought Das Boot for him to watch when this Movie came out. My daddy commented that he always "wondered what it was like for the German Sailors" when they were depth charging them.
@@2sqnbandit379 you full of BS: 6. SS-Panzer-Armee was formed as 6. Panzer-Armee and was a part of the regular Heer (army). It was not transferred into the Waffen-SS until 2 April 1945. It was originally held in reserve but fought in the Ardennes December 1944 - January 1945 before it was removed from the front for refitting. It later fought in Hungary before ending the war near Vienna.
@@oddballsok Joachim Peiper was his commanding officer. We used to spend time at his house in France as a child in the late 60s. Very intelligent man, excellent commander. Unfortunately murdered by gangsters. He fought in the Ardennes & was at Normandy. I was led to believe it was the 6th. However during that time in 43, to 44 he went from the east to the west serving in different units. May well of been the 12th. Served in many different panzer units.
Those movies helped me to understand better what my granddad (German WW2 veteran and pacifist) was talking about when he told us about the war. He hated this war as much as my grandma who lost almost her whole family (first in Dachau because her dad was in the !wrong" party, then during the war).
@@Ricardo-cl3vs Sorry to hear that but now it's up to us to fight for freedom and democracy. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and thought that's just a given thing. It isn't as we now also see in the US and Europe.
My great grandpa lost his ministerial position for being in the "wrong" party. His wife was shown the gates of a CC merely for refusing to do "the salute".
Das Boot was the finest war movie I ever seen. I watched it in 1982 with my father when I was child. At that time I think that U boat U96 replica shown in the movie was a real one!
This Movie contains 4 of my favourite WW2 movies, Das Boot, Generation War, Stalingrad and Land of Mine. All the movies are definitely a must see and give a perspective on how the germans themselves often weren't fanatical nazis, of course still there was a large grou of fanatics, but also tried to just survive themselves.
Das Boot have a 330 minutes version. It show more about how it really is as a submariner in ww2. I highly recommend it, and if u wants it, u can listen to 5,5 hours of directors commentary, its interesting too.
Stalingrad is a very good film that showed the real ,senseless loss of soldiers at the front and that was lost from the time of the war anyway. My grandfather was only 27 years old as a soldier in the German Wehrmacht as he dying in Stalingrad. It is very sad , because my father and uncle with only two and one never got to know their father.😔🙏
In elementary school I had a teacher (a German emigree) whose 17 year old brother went into the Battle of Stalingrad and was never heard from again, officially MIA.
It`s really sad how many young German men had lose their lives in Stalingrad or Russia , only for a crazy dictator they were forced to fight. Three km from us in the cemetery there are so many graves that the gravestone says, that the young men in Russia were killed or missing .My maternal grandfather`s sister alone had lost three sons between the ages of 20and 31 in Russia. So many mothers and wives had their hearts broken, not only in Germany.🙏😢@@MyFiddlePlayer
@@einundsiebenziger5488 ok na gut ... und was ist mit Platoon oder Die Brücke von Arnheim ... Jagt auf Roter Oktober is auch noch auf meiner Liste ... als letzes sah ich Wulf´s Call mit ´nem franz. Sonarmann
YAY! i have copies of them all. Whew, I was worried that there was one i missed. Thank you for listing them for me. Could you find some more to find and watch.
Das Boot - no 2nd place! I saw it in LA theater when it ist came out w only subtitles. 90% European audience from all countries! The look in their faces as they saw the grim history of their lost loved ones back in some war torn country was etched in my mind fr all time! Not just a movie, time travel back to the horrors of war as they really were. Yet you pulled fr the German crew at the end - human souls are intertwined!!
Die Brücke, Das Boot and Stalingrad are the best war movies ever made. Germans make the best war movies because they dont show "their" side as heroes but just the harsh reality. The Iwo Jima Movies come close behind.
Generation War is very well produced! And the story is utterly heartbreaking. I reccomend anyone intrested in WW2 Germany to watch this. P.s. Land of mine is an amazing movie too! p.p.s. Stalingrad is one of the best war movies i have ever seen. Great list Johnny! ... aaaand Das Boot is not a movie it's a hypnosis, great one!
Generation War (in German "Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" "Our Mothers, Our Fathers") had its moments, but the characters were too prototypical and too many side stories were told in a too short time. Some scenes were also downright implausibe, like one of the brothers who is an army officer gets separated from his unit and manages to survive in a lodge in Russia, he just finds along the way without being detected for months.
@@einundsiebenziger5488 Surviving in russia during/after ww2 on the way home isnt really that implausible. there are literally story of it happening. heard storys of german soldiers making their way home safely from sevastopol on foot
Please do not recommend movies like that for people who are interested in WW2 Germany. That movie is anything but historically accurate, there is a reason why there was so much controversy about it in Germany and German historians were shocked by how sometimes they literally took Nazi-Propaganda and protrayed it as the truth.
@@edlawn5481 hello, Ed. Yes, the 1930 version of All Quiet is the best of the 3 films of this name. The 1979 version with Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine is ok, but the new German version is more realistic than the two previous versions. But I agree with you, the 1930 version, considering what the producers had to work with, was the best.
@@jamesnelson6980all of the other books he wrote, were turned into movies, all are on RU-vid. Puts it in better perspective. The German film, used parts of one and two Would like to see someone do a series using Jungers book
What Cross of Iron is definitely not is an anti-war film. It is an action flick using WW2 as a background. What makes it an atypical action movie is that it does not portray any real heroes.
The best version of "Das Boot" for me is the six part mini series version with a total runtime of about 300 Minutes. I first saw this on TV when I was seven. It was an instant fascination. And if you can read German, I highly recommend reading the original book by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. He went out with German U-Boats in WW2 and did document this with many photos. Lt. Werner's experience is heavily based on his own.
To me the most engaging german WW2 Films are the aforementioned "Die Brücke" and the "08/15" trilogy from 1954-1955 with the first and second part being the most influential.
I wish they would do a WW II German movie on "Fallschirmjägers". Especially in the Battle of Monte Casino, Italy. No Fallschimäger movie has ever been done.
Superb choices! A good contender for 6th position (if there was one) would be Der Hauptmann, based on a true story of a German deserter taking on the persona of an officer after stumbling across a uniform and personal belongings.
"War is Hell", and often movies portrayed by the winner(s), but to understand that you are drafted and "have to serve", and what these men went through defines "War is Hell".
The One That Got Away (1957) starring Hardy Kruger as Franz von Werra. A German pilot obsessed with escape based on a real story. Maybe one day they'll make a movie about the other great escape in southern Britain in 1945. The McKenzie Break and "Die Abendteuer des Werner Holts" also worth a look.
@@jean6872 The films that I have mentioned present the war from a German perspective like Sam Peckinpah's "Cross of Iron" which even used German actors. It's a pity that Hollywood continues to demonize anything associated with this regime above all else.
@@arnbo88 This is why non-Hollywood and specifically German productions will give us different perspectives. Hollywood gets a lot wrong. Some of us exist fine without it.
The only thing that bugs me is that one scene where almost all of them meet "by chance" in some random hospital behind the front lines. That's too much of a lucky accident. That probably wouldn't have happened for real.
@@Ricardo-cl3vs I mean a lot in there would not have happened for real. There is a reason there was so much controversy about that series, it's quite ahistoric and tries to paint a picture of Germany that fits the narrative that Nazis told after the war.
You raise a good point, namely, how do we ascribe a nationality of a film. It tends to go by the location of the studio or production company. If an investor finances the film from a different country to the location of the story then they might call it a Danish-German co-production. But it can get very meaningless at times.
"Downfall," is a great movie. It is thoroughly engrossing and the characters, especially Bruno Ganz who plays Hitler could not be more convincing. The cool part as of this date, it's free on RU-vid.
Everyone should watch Land of Mine and Stalingrad - and if you want to have a deep dive of humans on the bad side - Generation War is a hard to endure. If you really hate germans you will find this film glorifying them and vice versa. If you just try to follow the characters and understand them you will see black, white and a LOT of grey - and a lot of pain.
Stalingrad 1993 is best war battle field realism ever! But Das Boot personalities puts it above the rest. Due to small size of sub, characters are much more vivid and mind searing than Stalingrad. Never forget the face of sailor who cracked up in Das Boot and how Capt handled him! Choice fr capt was all time grt choice!
@@billkramer2994 Yes, i agree Das Boot is a great Film (and book, loved the read). But its best as its Director cut and that makes it a very long film as well, so it is not everyones favorite to sit through it. Especially when the end feels a lot anticlimactic in its depressive tone. That said, i agree to place it in the top list.
@@TibGabinius Loved the start singing Brit "Tiparary" as they left fr the hunt! Real men go fr greatness regardless of nationality! Go watch "Zulu" w Michael Caine and Baker if you haven't! A tear in the eye as the Zulu sang the Brits a haunting Salut as they withdrew from the battlefield a loser! Great men are great men!!
@@billkramer2994 "Real men go for greatness" - blabla! You totally missed the point of what that movie is about. There is no such thing as "greatness" in any war, it's just about people killing each other.
@@einundsiebenziger5488 Clown remark from some "Neville Chamberlain" pacifist!! In any activity there is greatness! From bolling to wars! Look up "Real Politic" coined by the "French fries!" There is grt courage, execution of a battle plan, motivational speech, act of kindness and on and on in any war that no one wants!
Two things: 1. When I saw that Stalingrad was placed 3rd. I was angry. But then I saw the next two movies and it all made sense. 2. Thanks for only having German speaking movies on this list.
I have seen 4 of these 5 except Land of Mine. All of those 4 were quite impressive and highly recommended. I have always been interested in seeing WWII from a German point of view.
A great list, Das Boat really has nothing to compare to and stands head and shoulders above the rest, and Bruno Ganz portrayal in downfall is masterful. But a film you don't hear much about (its not German) is Conspiracy, filmed at the actual Wannsee Villa using the only surviving minutes of the Conference, Heydrich and Eichmann are chilling, especially Heydrich who oozes self importance and power, and scares the crap out of every other person in the room, one of my all time favourite films behind the ones mentioned....
@@ggregd In the TV series "Generation War" featured here, not only is the holocaust mentioned, but also some of the characters' involvement in it. The series is pretty mediocre and the chracters are rather flat, but nothing is glossed over
@@ggregd That's BS! "Das Boot" shows how the crew reacts to Dönitz's order to not pick up survivors and let them drown. And there is the execution scene in "Stalingrad" as well as the rape victim. Heck, the whole movie is a depiction of crimes against humanity. "Downfall" shows a lot of crimes as well. You're just full of it.
@@Ricardo-cl3vs Yeah, always as unwilling participants "just following orders." If you have to dig into the details to find examples of war crime depictions, that's the definition of glossed over. Downfall showed some reprisals against "defeatists" but I don't remember it even mentioning the Holocaust. You can't humanize Hitler if he's ranting about the Jews. Let me put it another way: Judging from this list, you'd think no good German WW2 movies dealt with criminal activities as a central theme.
Very good assessment. I haven’t seen Stalingrad 1993 so thanks for the recommendation, but I might be getting too tender for this sort of thing. I found Generation War affected me a lot emotionally so I have to ration myself.
"das boot" is one of the best and im rly glad to see "Land of mine" here..thats an absolut authentic movie..wärmstens zu empfehlen & i recommend "hunde wollt ihr ewig leben" from 1959 its the best stalingrad version in my opinion
Fun fact. "Das Boot" as well as "Stalingrad" were furiously hated by German critics when they came out. Glorifying war, glorifying Nazism and several other accusations were hurled at them. Most international reviews were glowing, German reviewers didn't just pan these movies, they destroyed them. popularity with German audiences was completely different.
well, the critics didn't like the first _cinema_ version (which really is shitty; even the actors hated it), whereas most of the germans watched the _mini series_ (which is a masterpiece).
A masterpiece is missing in this list : "Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben", german black and white movie about the battle of Stalingrad, filmed less than 20 years after the end of the battle.
The doctor in the Downfall was formal posting was in the Mauthausen concentration camp. He preformed medical experiments on the prisoners in the camp. His description in the movie hides this gruesome fact.
He developed vitamin supplements and protein sausages, that were given to concentration camp prisoners to be tested, before handed out to combat troops. Still not OK, but he was not exactly a mass murderer...
Great analysis Johnny. I have seen all but Land of Mine. I might recommend So weit die Füße tragen (As far as My Feet Will Carry me), a 2001 Film about a German soldier that escapes from a Soviet Gulag. Another film, Into the White is actually an English film but it is worth seeing also. It is about two crews, on Brit and one German that get shot down in Norway, and the camaraderie that ensues after they get past the idea of 'enemies'.
Also related, I would recommend also: "The Captain" (2017), "Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (2005), and a relatively unknown TV series about Hitler's Youth called "Blood and Honor" (1982)
"Die Weiße Rose"/"The White Rose" is way better than "Sopie Scholl" as it focuses way more on the _actual_ members of that group - instead of the naive girl, that only joined a few weeks before its end.
Are there none depicting the beginning too? I am yet to see any movie depicting the german perspective of the invasions of Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Denmark and Norway.
"Ich war neunzehn" (I was 19) by Konrad Wolf. A young German in the Red Army (his parents fled as communists from Germany to Russia) comes back to "his" country. It's at the end of the war and he feels hatred towards Germans, but is also torn in between being a Russian officer and also a German. Film was made in the GDR. "Napola" - young German bluffs his way into a NAPOLA (Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt - a school for Nazi kids), where he befriends a very sensitive boy, whose father runs the NAPOLA. Kind of "Dead Poets Society" - with Nazis. With Tom Schiling (Generation War) "Die Brücke" (The Bridge, 1959) Young boys try to stop US-troops - with deadly consequences.
The DDR have a good take on some issues regarding the fascist war against the Soviet people. Ich war neunzehn is uploaded on RU-vid with English subtitles: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rpgOyIwnasY.html
I find that what distinguishes the German WW2 movies from American or Russian is that they display not a streak of heroic glory. It is all about the bleak extreme terrors of war, its sorrow and desperation. And so they feel like anti-war-movies. It makes sense though, that the Americans and Russians portray it in a different light, as they went differently into the war, and out of it.
It's not, it's a mediocre action flick. Only difference from any usual American war film is that German soldiers are the protagonists and not only faceless, evil nazis.
Another one that very much deserves a place on this list is „Die Brücke“ (the bridge) from 1959. It tells the story of 7 boys being called in for my military service in april 1945, just weeks before Germany surrendered. SPOILER! : After just one day of training, they are sent to defend a meaningless bridge that is going to be blown up the next day. When the Americans arrive, they fight back, not knowing that the bridge isn’t important. One by one they die until just one is left. The movie ends showing the following text: “ This happened on April 27, 1945. It was so insignificant that it was not mentioned in any army reports.“
