The 16 Best D-Day Movies That Deserve To Land On Your Watchlist
June 6, 1944 was one of the most important dates in World War II: D-Day. The Allied forces landing on the beaches of Normandy marked a pivot in the war, and ever since that day, WWII enthusiasts have wanted to get as much information about that day as they can.
This has led to an influx of films, documentaries, and TV specials focused around D-Day. Many are inspired by true events and pride themselves on showing realistic scenes of the storming of the beach, like Saving Private Ryan and The Longest Day. Others interweave actual footage taken by soldiers on the beach, like Overlord.
Then, there are the more fictionalized, action films that use the backdrop of D-Day to their advantage, like the espionage flicks of Where Eagles Dare and Code Name: Emerald.
We've rounded up some fan favorites and classics, as well as several films that flew under the radar. Which is your favorite depiction of that essential June day?
- 160 VOTESPhoto: DreamWorks Pictures
Release Year: 1998
Main Cast: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Edward Burns
What It’s About: The US government discovers that three of the four sons of the Ryan family have been killed in action. The fourth son, James Francis Ryan, is missing. A small group of soldiers is dispatched to find the soldier and safely return him home so his family doesn't lose all four sons to war.
Why It Lands: Saving Private Ryan is often hailed as not just one of the best D-Day films, but one of the greatest films ever made. As Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post said shortly after its release:
There are movies and then there are movies.
And then there is Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
Searing, heartbreaking, so intense it turns your body into a single tube of clenched muscle, this is simply the greatest war movie ever made, and one of the great American movies.
Considered one of Steven Spielberg's top films, many people appreciate the reality of the scenes Spielberg paints, showing the true gore and horror that the men went through.
The film won five Academy Awards, including best director for Spielberg.
- 237 VOTESPhoto: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Year: 1968
Main Cast: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood
What It’s About: A small group of Allied special operations soldiers attempt to rescue a US general who knows of the imminent D-Day operation from a German castle.
Why It Lands: Many World War II films are full of massive battlegrounds of soldiers as far as the eye can see. Where Eagles Dare separates itself as having a very different setting: a grand castle in snow-capped mountains. The movie leans more into the thrilling, spy saga than the traditional war film, with Eastwood and Burton both living up to action hero roles.
As New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby said:
There are fights on top of cable cars, people hanging perilously over precipices, double and triple twists of plot (which prompt such character comments as "This is incredible!"), guns jammed at key moments, sheer walls to be climbed. It is a movie of almost constant destruction—vehicles, bridges, trees, faces, people, aircraft, with not much differentiation made among them.
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- #46 of 262 onThe 200+ Best War Movies Of All Time
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- 354 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
Release Year: 1962
Main Cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum (Sean Connery and Paul Anka also played small roles)
What It’s About: The three-hour saga gives an hour-by-hour breakdown of D-Day, showing perspectives from British, American, German, and French soldiers.
Why It Lands: The Longest Day was one of the most ambitious films created when it landed in theaters in 1962. Costing ten million dollars to produce, it was the most expensive black-and-white film to be released at the time. The cost came from the long roster of legendary and up-and-coming stars, as well as massive sets.
Three directors were hired, one American, one British, and one Austrian, to direct the scenes devoted to their country (with the Austrian director handling the German scenes.) Interestingly, the film works hard to not paint one side as “evil,” even having the German soldiers speak in German with English subtitles written out for American audiences (which was unheard of at the time.)
The films won two Academy Awards, for best cinematography (black-and-white) and best special effects.
More The Longest Day- #3 of 49 onThe Top 45+ Films Released In 1962
- #9 of 262 onThe 200+ Best War Movies Of All Time
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- 426 VOTESPhoto: United Artists
Release Year: 1980
Main Cast: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine
What It’s About: An unnamed aging sergeant (played by Lee Marvin), along with four core members of his unit, try to survive battle after battle in World War II.
Why It Lands: The Big Red One strikes a chord for many viewers because it was written and directed by an actual World War II soldier, Samuel Fuller. Fuller didn't mince his words when he described what his great saga was about:
The movie is very simple. It's a series of combat experiences, and the times of waiting in between. Lee Marvin plays a carpenter of death. The sergeants of this world have been dealing death to young men for 10,000 years. He's a symbol of all those years and all those sergeants, no matter what their names were or what they called their rank in other languages. That's why he has no name in the movie.
Fuller's scenes depicting D-Day are especially memorable, including one shot where a man's arm has been shot off. The lone arm sticks up, its still-intact wristwatch ticking away. Several times, the camera pans back to this watch, showing the audience how much time has elapsed.
More The Big Red One- #44 of 262 onThe 200+ Best War Movies Of All Time
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- 58 VOTESPhoto: Thorn-EMI
Release Year: 1975
Main Cast: Brian Stirner, Davyd Harries
What It’s About: The documentary-style film follows a quiet, kind soldier, Tom Beddoes, as he goes through basic training and eventually storms the beaches at Normandy.
Why It Lands: Unlike other D-Day films that are based on historical events, Overlord actually incorporates clips that were taken by real soldiers serving in World War II. Approximately 27% of the movie consists of archival footage, which is seamlessly mixed into the black-and-white film.
The true beauty of the film, though, is how it highlights the routine, unexciting, but crucial steps of becoming a soldier.
The poignancy in the film comes because he knows, and his parents know, and the girl he meets knows, that his future is on hold. He may return home, he may have a future with the girl, and then again, maybe not, and this is the reality they all acknowledge in one sense or another.
- 620 VOTESPhoto: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Year: 1964
Main Cast: James Garner, Julie Andrews
What It’s About: To make sure a sailor is dubbed the “hero” of D-Day, American Lt. Commander Charlie Madison is sent on a ridiculous, and very dangerous, mission.
Why It Lands: The Americanization of Emily is a bit of everything: satire, comedy, anti-war film, romance. We first meet Charlie as he's trying to keep his boss, Rear Admiral William Jessup, entertained with all kinds of finery and women in London. Charlie quickly falls for Emily (Julie Andrews), who doesn't approve of his lavish lifestyle in wartime.
As Charlie starts to rethink his life choice, Jessup has a breakdown, convinced that a Navy sailor has to be the first hero to die on Omaha Beach, rather than a soldier from the Air Force or Army. Quickly, Charlie is roped into going on the mission - only to be sabotaged by his comrade - making Charlie the first casualty of the battle. Or is he?
A lighter, funnier take on D-Day, the film has become a classic for the two acclaimed leading actors.
- 746 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
Release Year: 1970
Main Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden
What It’s About: The film follows the experience of famed General George S. Patton throughout WWII.
Why It Lands: Many of us are familiar with the controversial figure that was General Patton. This film shows how some men, particularly highly ranked men, enjoyed the theatrics of war perhaps more than they should have.
What separates this film the most, however, is Scott's remarkable performance as Patton. As Roger Ebert said:
Scott's performance is not one-level but portrays a many-layered man who desires to appear one-level.
Scott even won the Academy Award for best actor for his performance, but he shockingly refused to accept the award, not believing in the idea of competition among actors.
More Patton- #8 of 262 onThe 200+ Best War Movies Of All Time
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- 813 VOTESPhoto: A&E
Release Year: 2004
Main Cast: Tom Selleck, James Remar
What It’s About: The made-for-TV movie details the 90 days leading up to D-Day, following General Dwight D. Eisenhower's choices to plan a successful invasion.
Why It Lands: While this film received mixed reviews, fans of Tom Selleck enjoyed seeing him in the shoes of an important figure of World War II. The film is in-your-face patriotic, which some quite enjoy.
Others, like Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times, said:
That need to overstate Eisenhower's case smacks of a peculiar insecurity, as if the film's creators felt the need to defend the honor of World War II combatants from a jeering, skeptical audience.
- 911 VOTESPhoto: United Artists
Release Year: 1981
Main Cast: Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan
What It’s About: A German spy, Henry, stationed in England, learns vital information about where the Allies are going to stage their attack on France. As he tries to transmit his information to his Axis contacts, bad weather strands him on a Scottish island, where he meets a woman in a loveless marriage, Lucy.
Why It Lands: Eye of the Needle is one of those films where you're not quite sure what's going to happen. Is Henry going to soften after falling for Lucy? Is Lucy going to cheat on her paralyzed husband with Henry? How far will Henry go to send his information to the Nazis?
A mixture of romance and thriller, the film offers plenty of gasp-worthy moments - right up until the credits roll.
- 1015 VOTES
La Vie de Château
Photo: UGCRelease Year: 1966
Main Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Brasseur
What It’s About: The French film revolves around a beautiful young wife, Marie, who is fed up with her country life on the coast of Normandy and sees an opportunity for something bigger when she meets a man who fights for the French resistance.
Why It Lands: La Vie de Château is one of the only D-Day films that is not only led by a woman, but also showcases how important the non-military citizens were in the events of the D-Day invasion.
Tasked with helping parachuters take down a massive Nazi naval gun, not only Marie, but her entire extended family step up and put their lives in danger to help the incoming Americans.
- 1116 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Year: 1948
Main Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Robert Stack
What It’s About: The plot gives an inside look at a squadron of pilots, focusing on the trajectory of a talented but noncompliant pilot named Hardin.
Why It Lands: Fighter Squadron was made just a few years after the war had ended. With victory, and loss, still on America's mind, the film honed in on a small number of pilots to show how war could change a man.
Today, it's interesting to watch the film and recognize the differences of what was accepted back then vs now. For example, Hardin won't allow his men to marry, so they're not “distracted” in the air. This is only further backed when the only married pilot, when he's going down, admits thoughts of his wife led to him not being as sharp as he could have been when his plane was shot.
- 1210 VOTES
Screaming Eagles
Photo: Allied ArtistsRelease Year: 1956
Main Cast: Tom Tryon, Jan Merlin, Jacqueline Beer
What It’s About: A troop of paratroopers, known as the Screaming Eagles, are getting ready to jump on D-Day only to get a group of new, inexperienced recruits who they need to train up quickly.
Why It Lands: Screaming Eagles has a large cast, for good reason. They want the audience to get to know all the different personalities of the regiment. Then, as they are dropped in the wrong location, we see the men we just got to know begin getting picked off, one by one.
By the end of the film, as the survivors finally get to safety, we're left reeling over how quickly men were lost in the events surrounding D-Day.
- 134 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Year: 1950
Main Cast: John Agar, David Brian
What It’s About: A lieutenant fresh out of officer school is sent to lead a veteran squad just before they storm the beaches on D-Day.
Why It Lands: Breakthrough celebrates the camaraderie that developed between soldiers in the impossible situations of fighting in World War II. At the same time, it highlights how many officers were woefully unprepared when they were sent overseas and how the soldiers under them supported them as they got their bearings.
- 147 VOTESPhoto: 20th Century Fox
Release Year: 1956
Main Cast: Robert Taylor, Richard Todd, Dana Wynter
What It’s About: The film follows two men, an American captain and English lieutenant colonel, who discuss the hardships of being in love with the same woman.
Why It Lands: While the war is a very present backdrop, the film is more of a love story than hardened war flick. The audience gets to know the emerging love of Captain Brad Parker and Valerie Russell, a British woman serving in the war. Before long, we learn that Valerie is in love with another man, Lieutenant Colonel John Wynter, who ends up becoming Brad's commander in the early hours of D-Day.
The movie concludes by showing the heartbreaking, and very real dangers, of falling in love in war.
- 154 VOTESPhoto: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Year: 1964
Main Cast: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint
What It’s About: An army major is captured by Nazis just before D-Day. The man awakes in an American-looking hospital, where the doctors convince him that he's been asleep for years and is suffering from amnesia. After sharing the details of the invasion, the major realizes he has been tricked.
Why It Lands: After a while, the plots of many D-Day films overlap - eventually ending up storming the beaches on June 6, 1944. 36 Hours is a great film to consider if you want a unique take on the espionage surrounding the events of the day.
Prior to the Allied push on France, the Axis Powers knew something was coming; they just didn't know the details. In this film, they go through extraordinary measures to try to kidnap an American soldier and create a whole world to deceive him into offering up the Allies' secrets.
James Garner delivers a stellar performance in this film as well, making a bit of a name for himself and D-Day roles, as New York Times critic Bosley Crowther pointed out:
James Garner, who did very nicely as the navy officer who finally got to Omaha Beach in The Americanization of Emily, does nicely as the follow in this case, too.
- 166 VOTESPhoto: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Year: 1985
Main Cast: Ed Harris, Max von Sydow
What It’s About: The Germans, desperate to get information about the Allied invasion of France, tap into their double agent working in British Intelligence, Emerald (played by Ed Harris), not knowing he's actually a triple agent.
Why It Lands: If you're looking for an espionage-actioned-packed D-Day film, Code Name: Emerald could be a good choice. The entire film has mulitple sources of tenstion: the tension between the SS and Gestapo as they frantically try to learn the Allies' plans; and a tension with Emerald, having to keep up the charade and make the Nazis believe him.
