Brion McClanahanWWII films worth seeing:
The Band of Brothers series
The Pacific series
(though both are highly jingoistic, they are a fairly accurate portrayal of American combat in the European and Pacific theaters)
Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima (watch back to back)
Saving Private Ryan for the D-Day sequence in the first 20 mins. Generally regarded as the most accurate portrayal of Operation Overlord on film.
Tora! Tora! Tora! Though it has some historical inaccuracies, it is still a very good film on the Pearl Harbor attack.
Valkyrie Excellent movie that is a fairly accurate portrayal of the almost successful attempt to kill Hitler.
The Downfall One of the best films on Nazi Germany I have seen. Centers on Hitler’s last days in his bunker.
Das Boot An excellent German film.
Enemy at the Gates Great film about the Battle of Stalingrad
The Pianist
Empire of the Sun
Patton
Midway
A Bridge Too Far
The Big Red One
The Longest Day
The Dirty Dozen
Where Eagles Dare Not historically accurate, but a good movie.
Hope that helps. There are so many documentaries on WWII, it is impossible to keep up. Two that I show in class are in the Lost Worlds series, one on atomic cities in the U.S. and one on Hitler’s plans for Germania.