Netflix has more WWII films than you might expect, but the catalog rotates constantly and is thinner than people assume for a service its size. What's here today may be gone next month — this post reflects what's actually streaming on Netflix US right now, verified title by title through Watchmode.

If you're looking for documentaries or limited series, those are separate categories with their own guides. This post covers feature films only — the dramas, thrillers, and war pictures currently sitting in Netflix's library.

The Standouts

The films worth watching first.

Schindler's List (1993 · 195 min)

Spielberg's account of Oskar Schindler's efforts to shield Jewish workers from the camps is the film most people think of first when they hear "World War II movie." Shot in black and white, it documents the Holocaust with a directness that still feels startling over thirty years later. The restraint of certain scenes — the girl in the red coat, the quiet of the final roll call — is what stays with you. If you watch one film on this list, make it this one.

Saving Private Ryan (1998 · 169 min)

The D-Day opening is the most discussed sequence, but the film that follows is a grounded, morally complicated story about a squad sent to find one man behind enemy lines. Tom Hanks carries the weight of it. It's long and occasionally sentimental, but the combat scenes set a standard that war films are still measured against.

Dunkirk (2017 · 107 min)

Nolan's film covers the 1940 evacuation from three perspectives — land, sea, and air — with minimal dialogue and maximal tension. It's the shortest of the major WWII films on Netflix and the most formally inventive. If you want a war film that treats cinema as a clock, this is it.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016 · 139 min)

Mel Gibson's film about Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who served as a medic at Okinawa without carrying a weapon, is violent in a way that makes its pacifist core land harder. Andrew Garfield's performance holds the film together. The combat sequences are among the most intense on this list.

Inglourious Basterds (2009 · 153 min)

Tarantino's alt-history WWII film is not a history lesson — it's a revenge fantasy built around a fictional plot to assassinate Nazi leadership in a Paris cinema. Christoph Waltz's Hans Landa is one of the great screen villains. Watch it when you want a WWII film that's having fun with the genre rather than bearing witness.

Life Is Beautiful (1997 · 116 min)

Roberto Benigni's film about a father shielding his son from the reality of a concentration camp through humor and imagination is divisive — some find its tone offensive, others find it devastating. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes and three Oscars. The Italian-language film is available with subtitles; the tonal tightrope is the whole point, for better or worse.

Netflix Originals

Several of Netflix's in-house WWII productions are international films — the company has invested in European war stories that Hollywood hasn't told. If you've already seen the American canon, this is where the new material is.

The Forgotten Battle (2020 · 126 min)

Dutch-language film covering the Battle of the Scheldt — the campaign to open the port of Antwerp in 1944. It follows three storylines: a Dutch resistance fighter, a German soldier, and a Canadian glider pilot. It's one of the better Netflix war originals and doesn't shy away from the muddy, inglorious reality of the campaign.

Munich: The Edge of War (2021 · 130 min)

Set in the months before the 1938 Munich Agreement, this follows two Oxford classmates — one British, one German — trying to avert war through back-channel diplomacy. It's a chamber-piece thriller rather than a combat film. Jeremy Irons plays Chamberlain. If you're interested in the diplomatic failure that preceded the war, this covers ground most WWII films skip.

Blood & Gold (2023 · 100 min)

German-language action film set in the final days of the war, following a German soldier trying to get home to his daughter and a band of deserters who clash with a fanatical SS unit over a cache of hidden gold. It's pulpy and violent — closer to a Western than a traditional war film. Subtitles required.

Narvik: Hitler's First Defeat (2022 · 108 min)

Norwegian film about the 1940 Battle of Narvik — the first major engagement the Allies won, before they were forced to retreat. It focuses on a Norwegian soldier and his wife, who gets involved with a German officer. Norwegian and German dialogue with subtitles. A solid entry if you want a front most English-language films ignore.

International Films

Most of the non-English WWII films on Netflix are Netflix Originals (see above). One licensed title is also currently available:

Winter in Wartime (2008 · 103 min)

Dutch film about a teenager in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands who discovers a wounded British pilot and decides to help him. It's a coming-of-age story set against the occupation rather than a combat film. Dutch-language with subtitles. A quieter, smaller film than the others on this list.

Documentaries and Docudramas

Netflix's WWII documentary catalog is thin at the moment — only two verified titles are currently streaming. If you want a broader selection, our guide to WWII documentaries streaming right now covers what's available across all services.

The Last Days (1998 · 87 min)

Steven Spielberg executive-produced this documentary for the Shoah Foundation, interviewing five Hungarian Jewish survivors about their experiences in the final months of the war. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The testimonies are direct and unadorned — no reenactments, no narration, just survivors speaking. It is a difficult and necessary film.

UnBroken (2023 · 97 min)

A daughter's investigation into her mother's childhood — one of seven Jewish siblings who survived the war by hiding across Europe. It's a personal documentary rather than a historical survey, built around family photographs and interviews. If you've seen the major Holocaust documentaries and want something that works at the scale of a single family, this is it.

Worth Knowing About

These are on Netflix and worth being aware of, but each comes with a caveat — historical liberties, mixed reception, or a specific audience rather than broad appeal.

The Imitation Game (2014 · 113 min)

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Enigma code at Bletchley Park. The film takes significant liberties with the historical record — Turing's personality, the timeline, the nature of the work. As a drama it works; as history it's loose. Watch it for Cumberbatch's performance and take the details with a grain of salt.

Fury (2014 · 135 min)

A tank crew in the final days of the European war, led by Brad Pitt's battle-hardened sergeant. The film is grim, claustrophobic, and effective inside the tank, less so when it reaches for larger statements about war. If you want a film that captures what it was like to fight in a Sherman, this does that well.

Unbroken (2014 · 137 min)

Angelina Jolie's film about Louis Zamperini, the Olympic runner turned WWII bombardier who survived a crash, 47 days adrift, and a Japanese POW camp. It's a remarkable true story told in a conventional way — the direction is respectful but never surprising. The source material (Laura Hillenbrand's book) is better, but the film gets the job done. If you finish this and want the long-form version, our WWII limited series guide covers Band of Brothers and other multi-part options.

Midway (2019 · 138 min)

Roland Emmerich's film covers the Battle of Midway from Pearl Harbor through the decisive carrier battle. It's historically loose, heavy on CGI, and lighter on character than it should be. If you want a Pacific theater film and Hacksaw Ridge doesn't cover enough of the naval war, this fills the gap — just don't rely on it for facts.

The Monuments Men (2014 · 118 min)

George Clooney directed and stars in this film about the Allied unit tasked with recovering art stolen by the Nazis. The cast is stacked — Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman — but the tone is uncertain, swinging between heist-movie lightness and Holocaust seriousness. It's watchable but never quite figures out what it wants to be.

Enemy at the Gates (2001 · 131 min)

Jude Law plays a Soviet sniper in the Battle of Stalingrad, with Ed Harris as his German counterpart. The sniper duel is tense, the love triangle is not, and the historical accuracy is poor — the real duel was heavily mythologized by Soviet propaganda, and the film doesn't help. Watch it for the atmosphere of ruined Stalingrad and skip the rest.

Anthropoid (2016 · 120 min)

The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague, 1942 — the real operation, not a fictionalized version. Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan play the Czech agents. It's dour and methodical, building to a long siege sequence that earns its tension. If you want a WWII thriller that takes its history seriously, this is one of the better options on Netflix.

The Zookeeper's Wife (2017 · 126 min)

Jessica Chastain plays Antonina Żabińska, who with her husband Jan hid hundreds of Jews in the Warsaw Zoo during the occupation. Based on a true story. The film is well-intentioned and beautifully shot but somewhat sanitized — the reality was harder than the film suggests. Worth watching if the story is new to you.

Operation Mincemeat (2021 · 128 min)

The true story of the British deception operation that planted false documents on a dead body to mislead the Germans about the Allied invasion of Sicily. Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen lead the cast. It's a solid, well-acted spy story — more desk work than combat, which is the point. If you liked Munich: The Edge of War, this is a natural follow-up.

Operation Finale (2018 · 124 min)

The 1960 Mossad operation to capture Adolf Eichmann in Argentina — technically post-war, but directly about the Holocaust's aftermath. Ben Kingsley plays Eichmann. It's a procedural thriller rather than a war film, and a good one. The interrogation scenes between Kingsley and Oscar Isaac are the best material on Netflix about the hunt for the men who ran the camps.

Allied (2016 · 124 min)

Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard play a Canadian intelligence officer and a French Resistance fighter who fall in love during a mission in Casablanca, then face the question of whether she's a German spy. Robert Zemeckis directed. The first half is strong; the second half doesn't quite hold. If you want a WWII romance and Casablanca itself isn't on Netflix, this is the closest thing.

Netflix rotates its catalog aggressively, and the titles listed here may leave with little warning. If something on this list catches your eye, it's worth checking the Leaving Soon page to see if it's scheduled to depart this month.