There have been hundreds of World War 2 movies over the years but only the very best get the Academy Awards attention.
On BBC iPlayer’s Film section, there are currently three Oscar-winning British films about the fight against the Nazis that are streaming for a limited time.
In fact, watching them together makes for a fantastic marathon with a fourth film by the Americans added on the end too.
First up is 2010’s The King’s Speech starring Colin Firth as King George VI coping with his stammer ahead of his wartime radio broadcast upon the 1939 declaration of war.
Tom Hooper’s film co-starring Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Firth and Best Original Screenplay. The movie is streaming on BBC iPlayer for the next eight days only.
Next is Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which depicted the 1940 Allied evacuation of France, as Hitler continued to conquer much of Europe. The 2017 film starred an ensemble cast including Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Mark Rylance and Michael Caine. Dunkirk, which leaves BBC iPlayer on Monday, was nominated for eight Academy Awards and went home with three Oscars for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
We recommend following this film up with Darkest Hour, which was released the same year and was also set in 1940. The movie, which is available for the next 12 days on the streaming service, focuses on Winston Churchill in his early days as Prime Minister during Dunkirk. Darkest Hour won two Oscars including Best Actor for Gary Oldman in the lead role.