Lists World War II Five Onscreen Depictions of World War II Featuring SFF Elements TV shows and movies that mix WWII history with aliens, monsters, and time travel. By Lorna Wallace | Published on September 18, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share There are a fair few famous war movies that I perhaps shouldn’t admit to never having seen. It’s not that I’m avoiding critically-acclaimed films like Schindler’s List (1993) and Das Boot (1981)—I’ve just not gotten around to them yet. But if a war story has sci-fi or fantasy elements included, there’s a far higher chance of me getting around to it sooner rather than later. Depictions of war tend to be brutal, messy, and terrifying as a rule, but the five WWII-set movies and TV episodes on this list make things even more chaotic by adding monsters, aliens, and time travel into the mix… Overlord (2018) The lengthy D-Day landings section of Saving Private Ryan (1998) is lauded by both critics and historians for its brutally realistic depiction of the horrors of war, and I think that the paratrooper jump scene in Julius Avery’s Overlord is similarly effective in capturing a sense of fear, dread, and frenzied violence. The film starts with an American paratrooper unit flying over France in 1944, tasked with destroying a German-controlled radio tower. The nervous energy in the plane is palpable and it soon turns to outright fear when enemy fire starts tearing apart the fuselage. The camera follows Edward Boyce (Jovan Adepo) as he scrambles to survive amidst the fiery and bloody mayhem. The sequence is viscerally terrifying—with the visuals being enhanced by excellent sound design—but it’s just the start of Boyce’s waking nightmare. Once on the ground, Boyce and a few other survivors find each other and set out to complete their mission. But after discovering that the Nazis are conducting bizarre experiments in a secret underground lab, the film morphs from a serious war story into a fun action-horror thriller. While this genre switch might not work for everyone, I had a great time when the gruesome-yet-goofy gorefest really got going. Shadow in the Cloud (2020) I’m going to be upfront with this one: Shadow in the Cloud doesn’t have the best reviews. Anyone expecting a realistic war film will definitely be disappointed. But for those who are in the mood for a pulpy B-movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Shadow in the Cloud absolutely delivers. Many silly, ridiculous, and unbelievable things happen over the course of the runtime—but to me that’s what makes it so much fun. Directed by Roseanne Liang, the film is set in 1943 and starts with Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) boarding a B-17 bomber called The Fool’s Errand in New Zealand. The otherwise all-male crew aren’t too happy with her being there (despite her papers proving that she’s assigned to the flight) and force her into the ball turret at the bottom of the plane. Once in the air, they have to contend not only with Japanese fighter planes, but also with a bizarre creature that’s clinging to the outside of the bomber. All of the silly chaos that ensues is set to a fantastic synth-heavy score, composed by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper. “The Bullet” — Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Killer of Killers is split into four parts that follow various Predators hunting for prey in different time periods and places. The third section of the animated film—titled “The Bullet”—is set in 1942 and follows John J. Torres (Rick Gonzalez), a Wildcat fighter pilot with the U.S. Navy who is stationed in the North Atlantic Ocean. When a mysterious and unseen aircraft begins attacking both sides indiscriminately, Torres puts his life on the line in an effort to save his fellow soldiers from the alien threat. Although “The Bullet” only totals around 20 minutes, a lot of action is packed in, with the animated medium being used to its maximum potential (which is true of the entire film!). We get to see Torres take on the Predator in an aerial dogfight and while the high-flying action alone is exhilarating, extra oomph is added thanks to his quick and creative thinking each time an extraterrestrial curveball is thrown his way. “Triangle” — The X-Files (1998) It wasn’t all that long ago that I expressed my love for this season 6 episode of The X-Files on a list of fantastic long takes, but I couldn’t pass up including it here too. The episode starts with FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) boarding the SS Queen Anne, a luxury passenger liner that inexplicably disappeared in 1939. Once aboard, he tries to explain to everyone he meets that they’ve time-traveled to 1998, but then it dawns on him that he’s the one who’s out of time. With Mulder now stuck in the past on a Nazi-infested ship at the outbreak of WWII, he does everything he can to throw a wrench into their plans. Multiple long shots are used throughout the episode, tracking not just Mulder through the ship, but also Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) through the FBI office as she attempts to rescue her foolhardy and troublemaking partner. The long takes aren’t just a gimmick—they add a particularly propulsive drive to the fun and tense story. Oh and Mulder punches multiple Nazis, so what more could you really want? “How Zeke Got Religion” — Love, Death + Robots (2025) This season 4 episode of animated anthology Love, Death + Robots may only be 15 minutes long, but it’s a wild thrill ride from start to finish. Directed by Diego Porral and based on John McNichol’s short story “How Zeke Got Religion at 20,000 Feet” (which you can read in SNAFU Resurrection), the titular Zeke (Keston John) is a solider aboard The Liberty Belle—a B-17 tasked with bombing a Nazi-occupied church in France. The crew don’t know what’s going on inside the church, but we see that mere seconds before the bombs drop the Nazis successfully complete a ritual sacrifice that unleashes a fallen angel. This episode manages to be simultaneously horrifying and beautiful. The unholy creature, of course, is the source of the horror—not only does it create a wealth of gore, but its design is inventively scary. The beauty comes from the style of animation itself, with the bold use of color being a particular highlight. The most obvious oversight on this list is likely Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)—a film that I absolutely adore (Cap is my favorite superhero) but that doesn’t really need additional recommendations from me, given how popular it already is. If there are any others shows or movies that belong on this list—be they obvious or obscure—please leave them in the comments below![end-mark] The post Five Onscreen Depictions of World War II Featuring SFF Elements appeared first on Reactor.