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
Bill Pertwee's The Warden Says (2003)
Starring: Bill Pertwee
Bill Pertwee, better known as Warden Hodges from 'Dad's Army' fronts an excellent gathering of public information films from the Britsh war years. Thi... Read more
Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)
7.5/10
Director: T F Mou
Portrays the ordeals of the members of a poor Chinese family as they try to survive the Japanese occupation of their city. This is an uncompromising p... Read more
Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002)
7.2/10
Director: Andre Heller, Othmar Schmiderer
From 1942 to 1945, Traudl Junge served as personal secretary to Adolf Hitler. In her most in-depth and shockingly candid interview ever, the now 81-ye... Read more
Blitzkrieg - Germany's Global Invasion (2008)
By early 1940 the Second World War is well under way, the might of the German Army has crushed and is occupying Poland, Denmark, Norway, and the Low C... Read more
Bonhoeffer (2003)
7.2/10
Director: Martin Doblmeier
This is the dramatic story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the young German theologian who offered one of the first clear voices of resistance to Adolf Hitler... Read more
Bulletproof Salesman (2008)
6.8/10
Director: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
An intriguing and unnerving documentary about German armoured-car salesman Fidelis Cloer, for whom the war in Iraq has been an economic windfall. The... Read more
Burma 1941 - 1945 (2003)
The Burma Campaign was the longest continuous operation involving British and Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. The troops called thems... Read more
Burma: Railway of Death (2003)
6.6/10
This is the horrific story of the building of the Burma to Thailand Railway by British prisoners of war during World War II. Burma - Railway of Death... Read more
Chain of Command: Season 1 (2018)
7.8/10
Starring: Chris Evans
Narrated by Chris Evans, this groundbreaking eight-part documentary series offers unprecedented access to the U.S. military’s mission to combat violen... Read more
Churchill's German Army (2009)
7.4/10
Director: Mark McMullen
Millions of soldiers fought against Hitler's Germany in World War Two, but one group of men and women sacrificed everything in the battle against the... Read more