World War II Movie Night

"Pressure" hits theaters in wide release tomorrow, Friday, May 29. Please enjoy World War II Movie Night's spoiler-free review of this D-Day movie, starring Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Drop us a line at worldwartwomovienight@gmail.com  

Tonight we look at a movie very concerned with real-life events and real-life people from the War. The makers of 2001's "To End All Wars" probably thought it would be a big movie/Oscars contender. But... something happened on the way to cinematic glory. We'll examine what that was, and whether TEAW is still salvageable... Asides include Kiefer Sutherland movies, "Bridge on the River Kwai," and Sep...

Tonight's selection is 2014's "Phoenix," a German vehicle highly thought-of in some circles. Upon the war's end, camp-survivor Nelly returns to a Berlin very different from the one she left. Everyone has something to hide, and questions are not welcome. But when Nelly starts to see certain faces she questions what happened to her friends and, most of all, her husband. See if WWIIMN thinks as highl...

Hey, please enjoy World War II Movie Night's spoiler-free review of a movie that came out in theaters a few hours ago, "Nuremberg" (and please excuse the commercial!).   Drop us a line at worldwartwomovienight@gmail.com Check out our X at http://twitter.com/WWIIMovieNight  

World War II Movie Night returns with a classic, 1955's "Mister Roberts." Follow Henry Fonda (the titular character) as he juggles the dysfunction of his ship, from the dire morale to a vindictive captain (Jack Cagney) to the unruly Ensign Pulver (Jack Lemmon, who won an Oscar for the role). Palm trees, nurses and a goat keep things humming... asides include the legendary John Ford (and how he tre...

World War II Movie Night comes back from the dead for a bonus episode! We break with normal format for a...  clipshow ! Yes, we count down the top 10 scenes ever played on the podcast, plus two for educational purposes. Who will make the cut? And how much will you disagree? LOL. But seriously folks, chill out and enjoy this playful, experimental episode.  P.S.: Note that there are MAJOR spoilers i...

This is it! World War II Movie Night's 100th episode! Some celbratory plaudits are followed by a big announcement. As for the movie, it's one that was planned for the 100th episide before even the first one was recorded, 2017's "Dunkirk." Christopher Nolan parlayed the cash and clout from his Batman trilogy to bring his passion project into existence: a multi-layered take on one of the lesser-know...

World War II Movie Night returns to a ripe year for 1949's "Sands of Iwo Jima," a definitive U.S. Marines movie and starring vehicle for one John Wayne. This movie also features a very interesting connection to the war itself that may or may not merit celebration, which we'll get into... Asides include "Karate Kid" and its little-noticed World War II subplot, my non-relationship with coffee, and I...

Tonight we explore a movie that resulted from trying to make another "The Longest Day" (1962) for the late '70s. Yes, 1977's "A Bridge Too Far" shares many logistical, stylistic and thematic similarities with TLD, including the same author of the source novels. So join us as we chase a movie with a long runttime and myriad stars of its time, as they execute a real-life paratrooper-centered operati...

Ahoy hoy! Tonight World War II Movie Night closes out Spooky Movie Month with 1998's "Apt Pupil." Based on a 1982 Stephen King novella, tonight's movie sees up-and-coming director Bryan Singer follow his praised debut ("The Usual Suspects") with an adaptation that gives a late-'90s slickness to King's tale of an All-American teenager who discovers a Nazi in his neighborhood. Oh, and as far as toni...

World War II Movie Night kicks off Spooky Movie Month with 1978's "The Boys from Brazil." Is it horror? Is it science fiction? Is it Nazi'sploitation? The question is debated to this day. What we do know is that it was nominated for Oscars and has Gregory Peck playing... a 1970s Josef Mengele! Join us for a record three (!) entries into the Trophy Case,  and more accents than you can keep track of...

World War II Movie Night is shocked, shocked! to finally be doing our most famous movie ever, 1942's "Casablanca." When its creators made "Casablanca," they knew they had a good movie on their hands, but they didn't realize it would blow up into one of the most watched, remembered, quoted movies of all time. Tonight we examine: why is that? Why does this movie have the legacy it does? We also delv...

Tonight we explore 2002's "The Pianist," a movie that can be attributed to multiple countries EXCEPT America, for a very specific reason. How good (or not) is this movie that won its maker a (controversial) Best Director and its titular star a Best Actor? The answer's pretty striking, as we explore probably the best movie you can watch about what happened in Poland during the war... Asides include...

Tonight we revisit the Royal Air Force for a special bombing mission: to destroy a German V-2 rocket factory. But that's easier said than done, given the details of the mission. Meanwhile, what will become of the Norwegian resistance-fighter helping the mission? Can gruff American Roy Grant separate his feelings about the mission from his feelings about the resistance-fighter's sister? Let's find...

Tonight World War II Movie Night returns to non-English WWII movies that punch ya' in the gut with 1993's "Stalingrad"! A platoon of German soldiers is plucked from the Italian Riviera for a new mission at the Eastern Front: Stalingrad. Despite thinking they'll make short work of the Russians, what the soldiers go through is akin to a horror movie, with not only death, injury and starvation, but d...

Tonight we return to form with a real meat-and-potatoes World War II movie. Hollywood player Samuel Fuller had written, directed or produced countless pulpy movies for decades. However, he decided to mine his own World War II experiences for "The Big Red One," which ended up being his greatest achievement. An old-fashioned, combat-heavy ensemble piece, TBRO features the ever-dependable Lee Marvin,...

Tonight we consider a highlight of Italian cinema, and world cinema in general: 1945's "Rome, Open City." Roberto Rossellini wanted to make a movie reflecting his and others' experiences living in Occupied Italy. He may have succeeded too much, as although "Rome, Open City" would become an honored part of Italy's hertigae, it was initially cold-shouldered by Italian audiences, who didn't want to b...

World War II Movie Night covers one of the more compelling post -war events with 2018's "Operation Finale," which portrays the secret Mossad mission to kidnap Adolf Eichmann from Argentina and bring him back to Israel. Along the way we address just how and why Argentina became a haven for Nazis after the war. Oh, and did we mention Ben Kingsley plays Eichmann!?... Asides include the Onion, Bernie...

World War II Movie Night does a listener request with the 1968 American movie, "Hell in the Pacific," about two men trapped on an island together, and one of them we never even hear what he's saying! Despite this sparse premise, director John Boorman turns in a surprisingly eventful character study... asides include a time I could've scored some WWII LIFE magazines, at least two times this premise...

Tonight we're having a communist party (!) as we look at a part of the War not often explored, the Russian camps. Storied director Peter Weir ("Gallipoli") brought this true (?) story to the screen in 2010, starring Ed Harris and Colin Farrell. The result? An overlooked gem and a muscular statement against Stalinism... Asides include, there are too many movies, Boris Yeltsin's lost in the supermar...

At first blush, 1943's "Bataan" might seem like a run-of-the-mill, black-and-white, ensemble-cast World War II movie: easily absorbed and easily dismissed. Upon closer inspection, though, it reveals itself as a fascinating bit of mid-war propoganda, i.e., a passion play and literal call-to-arms. We'll also examine its surprising horror elements, as the faceless Japanese pick off our men in a near...

World War II Movie Night keeps the faith (and the format) as we delve into the 2015 Hungarian movie "Son of Saul," which many believe gives the truest representation of life in Auschwitz outside an actual documentary. Saul is a "Sonderkommando," prisoners given unpleasant duties in the camp in exchange for a slightly better status - until they're no longer useful, that is... Asides include a certa...

Join World War II Movie Night as we reassess the oft-maligned "Valkyrie," from 2008. No casting in one of our movies was as criticized from jump as Tom Cruise playing Claus von Stauffenberg, the German colonel who made the most famous attempt on Hitler's life. "Valkyrie" had almost everything going for it: acting, writing, directing, and a bigger budget than the filmmakers even asked for - so why...

It'd be hard to find a more successful movie - at least upon release - than Miramax's "The English Patient." This late-1996 pic made tons of money, swept the Oscars, and was one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the decade. Case settled, right? Not so fast. On World War II Movie Night we like to look past the luster. Does TEP hold up? Is it an actual WWII movie? Join us as we ponder the d...

Tonight we do the 1981 American sports movie "Victory" (also called "Escape to Victory" in European markets). A powerhouse cast of Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pele take us through the story of Allied POWs who agree to stage a soccer game against Germans. The idea quickly spirals out of control, though, resulting in bigger stakes than they could've imagined... asides includ...