There’s something magical about a great D-Day film—it wraps around your neck and won’t let go. It could be the pomp, the raw brutality, or how the movies make you stand on the beaches of Normandy with your chest pounding in your chest. You’re a historian, a movie buff, or simply someone who appreciates a great yarn; D-Day films are a class of their own. To honor the 80th anniversary of D-Day, here’s a countdown of ten movies that capture the chaos, bravery, and depth of June 6, 1944—and its enduring impact.
10. The Great Escaper (2023)
Michael Caine’s last film is as much a war spectacle as it is a low-key contemplation. Playing Bernard Jordan, a 90-year-old World War II veteran, who breaks out of his nursing home to celebrate the 70th anniversary of D-Day. What follows is a moving reminder that the war did not finish in 1944—but in the memories of men there. Caine brings warmth and gravitas to a half-healing, half-historic tale.
9. Overlord (2018)
The least from a standard war movie. Overlord begins with an astonishing paratrooper assault on France before plunging into a pulp action-horror mashup when soldiers find a Nazi experimentation facility filled with outrageous procedures. It’s disgusting, unhinged, and not to be skipped—but its D-Day segment is one of the most thrilling interpretations of the invasion to reach the big screen in recent history.
8. Churchill (2017)
In the London Blitz, Brian Cox plays a vulnerable Churchill, the Prime Minister, last struggles and negotiates before the landing. The film, instead of depicting soldiers fighting on beaches, shows brilliantly those struggles “offstage”: Churchill facing indecision, terror, and obligation. A portrayal that conveys the message: even those who became history titans had their doubts.
7. D-Day, the Sixth of June (1956)
When talking about war love stories, this would be the perfect example. The plot of the film, featuring Richard Todd, Robert Taylor, and Dana Wynter, is set against the backdrop of the invasion, where love is destined to be sacrificed. Fun fact: Todd was on D-Day himself, so the movie is like a double shot of realism.
6. Breakthrough (1950)
This early postwar movie combines Hollywood narratives with actual combat footage from the war, tracing the advancement of Lieutenant Joe Mallory and his men up Omaha Beach through combat. Although the characters are somewhat generic, the use of authentic combat footage makes it one of the more realistic reenactments of the invasion.
5. Overlord (1975)
Unlike the 2018 movie, Stuart Cooper’s Overlord is a chilling black-and-white meditation on war’s mortality. Combining scripted drama with historical footage, it creates a hauntingly realistic portrait of a single young soldier’s journey to D-Day. More of an atmospheric work than an action movie, it haunts you long after the credits have finished.
4. Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004)
Selleck forgoes his signature ‘stache to tackle Dwight Eisenhower in this apprehensively made-for-TV movie. Filmed throughout the spring months preceding the invasion, the film has Ike battling politics, army battles, and difficult decisions. It’s a verbose but compelling picture of crisis leadership.
3. The Big Red One (1980)
Directed by seasoned director Sam Fuller, this gritty war drama traces Lee Marvin and his platoon from Africa to Normandy. With Mark Hamill in the cast, it succeeds in balancing the themes of camaraderie, black humor, and violence. The D-Day finale is a showstopper, but what succeeds for it is the war-wary perspective of the war from the war-hardened soldiers.
2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Few war movies are as powerful as Spielberg’s contemporary classic. The opening 20 minutes of the Omaha Beach sequence are one of the most realistic and frightening portrayals of combat ever committed to film. Tom Hanks commands a company that is ordered to save one paratrooper, but the film is more than one mission—it’s a film about sacrifice, morality, and the toll of war.
1. The Longest Day (1962)
Before CGI, Hollywood just had brute ambition. The Longest Day is a grand, ensemble telling of D-Day, taken from Cornelius Ryan’s terrific book. With masses of stars and views from many nations, it gets across the scale of the operation in a way that no other film is able to. Even now, its scale and scope are awe-inspiring.
From serene meditations to sweeping epics, D-Day films are a tribute to the bravery, confusion, and humanity of June 6, 1944. Whether supplied by romance, by horror, or by history, the films guarantee memory of the day—and of the men and women who survived it—never wane.