War Docos
Innovative German film-maker Leni Riefenstahl's pioneering masterwork epic "Triumph of the Will" (1934) was explicitly propagandistic yet historical in its spectacular yet horrifying documentation of the Nazi Party Congress rally in Nuremberg in 1934. It was a revolutionary film combining superb cinematography and editing of Third Reich propaganda. She also documented the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the stunning film "Olympia" (1938) - with graceful and beautiful images of 'Aryan' athletes in competition. To respond to the Nazi propaganda, Frank Capra was commissioned by the US War Department to direct seven films in a "Why We Fight" (1943) series of narrated WWII newsreel-style films. The first in the series, "Prelude to War," a look at the events from 1931-1939, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1942. These and many other truely great War Documentaries, including the BBC's brilliant "World At War" series, are available by scrolling below.
Right: William Wyler's Academy Award winning "The Memphis Belle"Â
The Russian Revolution in Colour (2005)
Director: Ian Lilley
The remarkable story of the revolution that changed the world forever. Cold, hungry and disillusioned, the Russian factory workers of Petrograd staged... Read more
The Second World War in Colour (1999)
8.2/10
Director: Anon
Starring: Narrated by, John Thaw
Dramatic colour footage from as early as 1933 shows home movies of Adolf Hitler and his cohorts, the devastation wrought by the Blitz, life on the hom... Read more
The Secret Life of Adolf Hitler (1968)
6.6/10
The rise and fall of the Third Reich told with actual footage, interviews with Hitler's sister, a fellow prisoner with Hitler before he came to power,... Read more
The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)
8.3/10
Director: Marcel Ophuls
Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Pierre Mendes-France
A staggering documentary detailing the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Combining interviews and archival film footage, director Marcel... Read more
The Spanish Earth (1937)
6.7/10
Director: Joris Ivens
In 1937 Joris Ivens directed THE SPANISH EARTH, a film designed to inform Americans about the Spanish Civil War and to raise funds for allies (the Loy... Read more
The Stillwell Road - The Battle for Burma (1946)
After the invasion of China by the Japanese army, Burma became a vital land bridge and supply route for the allies in China. This great archival docum... Read more
The Story of Colditz (1999)
Accounts from the Allied survivors of Colditz, a World War Two German castle fortress for POWs. The film reveals the ingenuity, the incredible perseve... Read more
The Story of D-Day (2002)
June 6th 1944, D-Day, codenamed "Operation Overlord" was the culmination of nearly two years of planning. It was the largest invasion force ever assem... Read more
The Story of the SAS (2005)
6.1/10
Starring: Andy McNabb
From their conception in the Western Desert during WWII, to the covert operations of today, this documentary details the history of Britain's elite Sp... Read more
The Target for Tonight (2004)
Director: Robert Garofalo
Starring: Narrated by, Jeremy Anthony
An amazingly graphic documentary series with moving emotional personal accounts from both sides on the strategy adopted by both the Allied and Axis Fo... Read more