Top 15 World War 2 Eastern Front combat films ranked and No 14 is banned in Russia
Top 15 World War 2 Eastern Front combat films ranked and No 14 is banned in Russia.
New German World War 2 Eastern Front combat film, The Tank, has been storming the Top 10 on Amazon Prime Video. Despite its controversial ending, the movie remains incredibly popular on the streaming service. Over the decades, there have been some incredible action films set on the Eastern Front of the Second World War, the biggest and bloodiest land war in history, and not just focused on battles between the Nazi and Soviet forces. Check out the Top 15 World War 2 Eastern Front combat movies as ranked by film fans on IMDb.
Set during 1944's Lapland War, this recent action thriller follows a Finnish Army commando turned gold prospector attempting to defend himself from being robbed and murdered by a Waffen-SS platoon. Influenced by the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, this gory outing received critical acclaim upon release.
This Estonian war film takes place during the Soviet Union's recapture of Estonia from German occupiers. The movie follows the horror of young Estonians meeting each other in battle, having been volunteered or conscripted by both sides, despite little commitment to the fascist and communist regimes. Whichever side wins will see the Estonians on the losing side as traitors set for deportation or execution. The film is banned in Russia as it doesn't align well with the official Russian narrative of World War 2, which emphasises the Red Army's heroic liberation.
Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and George MacKay star as the real-life Bielski brothers. The Polish Jews led a partisan group that saved and recruited Jews in Belarus during World War 2.
This West German war film, based on Fritz Wöss' novel, is set around the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest of World War 2 and arguably in history.
Known as My Private War in English, this German documentary film interviews six German Wehrmacht veterans who shot 16mm footage during the invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.
Based on Väinö Linna's magnum opus novel of the same name, this is the second of three film adaptations. Set during the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union, the story follows a machine gun company of Finnish soldiers and portrays the daily realities of war.
This Russian-Belarusian war film is set during the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa and the defence of Brest Fortress from invading Wehrmacht forces. The story is narrated from the perspective of a 15-year-old boy and focuses on three resistance zones holding out against the German advance.
Set on the Eastern Front in late 1943, this film follows a class conflict between a Prussian aristocratic officer determined to win the Iron Cross and a battle-weary NCO. This anti-war classic did poorly around the release of Star Wars in the US, but did well at the West German box office.
A German anti-war film set on the Eastern Front, this one follows a platoon who end up fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad between July 1942 and February 1943.
Taking place during the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-3, this thriller follows Jude Law's Soviet sniper hero in his duel with Joseph Fiennes' Wehrmacht sniper school director. Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, Ed Harris and Ron Perlman co-star.
Based on Antti Tuuri's novel Talvisota, this Finnish war film is set during the 1949 Winter War. The story follows a Finnish infantry regiment fighting on the Karelian Isthmus.
The third big screen adaptation of Linna's Continuation War film, it was Finland's most expensive movie at its release, with a budget of 7 million euros.
The original cinematic adaptation was the most successful Finnish movie at the time of its release, with over half the population seeing it on the big screen.
Andrei Tarkovsky's first feature film is this Soviet war drama based on Vladimir Bogomolov's 1957 short story. The picture focuses on an orphaned boy whose parents were killed by the invading Germans and follows his experiences through World War 2. The movie shot Tarkovsky to international fame after it won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
A Soviet anti-war tragedy, Come and See, focuses on the Nazi occupation of Belarus through the eyes of a teenager who joins the resistance. Hitler's atrocities against the populace are horrifyingly depicted in a film that mixes hyper-realism with surrealism. This Russian picture is now considered one of the greatest movies ever made.