Fancast Fourth of July Five: World War II Movies

World War II. The Greatest Generation fought the last great war, and the United States of America emerged as one of the world’s superpowers. Fancast has five free movies for you to watch right here and right now, showing the Big One from a variety of perspectives.

Von Ryan’s Express [watch the movie]
Frank Sinatra is an American soldier leading Trevor Howard and a pack of Allied troops in their efforts to escape an Italian P.O.W. camp by hijacking a German train through Italy in hopes of reaching Switzerland.

The Longest Day [watch the movie]
A balanced account of the invasion of Normandy from both the Allied and Axis perspectives, with a massive cast featuring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Roddy McDowall, Rod Steiger, Robert Wagner and Sean Connery.

Halls of Montezuma [watch the movie]
Richard Widmark is Lt. Carl Anderson, a no-nonsense Marine leading his outnumbered squad on missions to capture Japanese soldiers to interrogate them about their experimental rocket base. Also starring Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden and Neville Brand, with Jack Webb as a chain-smoking war correspondent.

Guadalcanal Diary [watch the movie]
In a stunningly quick turnaround time, this 1943 film details the battle in the Pacific theater of WWII only a year after the first significant Allied victory over the Japanese actually happened. Starring Anthony Quinn, William Bendix, Richard Jaeckel and Lionel Stander.

The Desert Rats [watch the movie]
The international perspective features Richard Burton as a Scottish commando put in charge of an Australian regiment fighting the crucial battles against Rommel’s (James Mason) forces in North Africa during the Siege of Tobruk.