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 Fourth World War (2004)
7.3/10
Starring: Narrated by, Michael Franti, Suheir Hammad
Shot on the frontlines of struggles spanning five continents, this powerful documentary illustrates the often untold human story of men and women who... Read more
Snipers (2002)
5.3/10
In World War II, an average of 25,000 bullets were fired for each soldier killed. By Vietnam, that number had climbed to 200,000. Yet on average, trai... Read more
Shoah - 2nd Era, Parts Three and Four (1985)
Director: Claude Lanzmann
The concluding parts of Claude Lanzmann's landmark, monumental epic of the Holocaust. With an assemblage of witnesses, death camp survivors and Nazi f... Read more
Hidden Wars of Desert Storm (2000)
8/10
Director: Gerard Ungerman, Audrey Brohy
Starring: Narrated by, John Hurt
On August 2nd, 1990, Saddam Hussein launched his troops against Kuwait, triggering the first major international crisis of the post-Soviet Union era.... Read more
Living with the Enemy (2008)
5.4/10
Director: Karsten Laske
This is the story of the years between the end of World War II and the founding of the two German states: 1945 to 1949, which proved to be a decisive... Read more
Hell and Back Again (2011)
6.5/10
Director: Danfung Dennis
In 2009, U.S. Marines launched a major helicopter assault on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Within hours of being dropped deep behind e... Read more
Instrument of War: Part One - Ladies From Hell (1997)
6.2/10
Director: Patrick King, Grahame Wickings
Starring: Narrated by, Charlton Heston, Tom Conti, Hannah Gordon
The fierce, kilted, bagpipe-wielding highlanders were nicknamed 'The Ladies From Hell' by their enemies. This award-winning documentary traces their... Read more
Lusitania: Murder on the Atlantic (2007)
6.6/10
Director: Christopher Spencer
Starring: John Hannah, Kenneth Cranham
Documentary filmmaker Christopher Spencer uncovers the truth about the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in this docudrama that gets to the heart of the my... Read more
The World at War: Volume 2 (1973)
9.2/10
Director: David Elstein
Starring: Narrated by, Laurence Olivier
The definitive story of the Second World War in seven volumes and narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier. From Russia to America, 'The World at War' present... Read more
The Great Escape: The Reckoning (2009)
7.5/10
Director: Steve Westh
In March 1944, seventy-six Allied airmen broke out of Stalag Luft III, a prison camp in the heart of Nazi Germany in a story made famous by the iconic... Read more