This is a list of fictional feature films or miniseries which feature events of World War II in the narrative. There is a separate list of World War II TV series.

Criteria

Fictional feature films specifically pertaining to the Holocaust appear in the List of Holocaust films.

Common topics

Many aspects of this conflict have repeatedly been the subject of drama. These common subjects will not be linked when they appear in the film descriptions below:

Films made during the War of Ethiopia and the Sino-Japanese War

Before the Second World War explicitly began with the Nazi German, then later Soviet (Russian) invasions of Poland in September 1939, Germany had already absorbed Austria in the Anschluß of 1938, then the Czechoslovakian lands of Bohemia and Moravia. Meanwhile, Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union were involved in the Spanish Civil War, (1936–1939), and Italy had conquered Ethiopia (1935–1936) and Albania (1939). China had been fighting against Japan since the 1931 invasion of their northeastern province of Manchuria in a war that completely opened in 1937, called the Second Sino-Japanese War, until Japan attacked the U.S.A. at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, then the British Empire and the Dutch East Indies colonial possessions also in December 1941.

1936

1937

1938

Films made during the Second World War

Note: Soviet films are in Russian and originate in the Russian SFSR, unless otherwise noted.

1939

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

Late 1940s

Films made 1950–1989

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

Films made since 1990

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Science fiction, fantasy and horror

TV series

Dramatised documentaries

A dramatised documentary is a documentary film which includes dramatised scenes using actors in costume. This format is distinct from a docudrama, which is a fully dramatised fact-based fictional work in a documentary style.

Spanish Civil War

In the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalists (the rebel side) are supported by Mussolini's Italy, Hitler's Germany, and a small number of internaxxxtional rightist volunteers. The Republicans (government side) are supported by Stalin's Soviet Union and a large number of leftist volunteers, the International Brigades. The Nationalists under Francisco Franco win. During World War II, Franco remains neutral – so Gibraltar is never overrun – but nevertheless he sends the Blue Division to fight for Germany on the Eastern Front. For films about the Blue Division, see the List of World War II films since 1950.