Am I the only person who thinks that "Band of Brothers" (I know, a television miniseries) is as good or better than almost all of the classic World War II films mentioned? But maybe not as good as these three:

"They Were Expendable"

"Twelve O'Clock High"

"The Bridge on the River Kwai"

All made within ten (eleven?) years of the end of World War II--"They Were Expendable" made while the war was still in progress.

And for "coming home" (but not the movie, "Coming Home"):

"The Best Years of Our Lives"

Maybe do this by country/war:

Two fine Russian World War II movies that could not be more opposite:

"Ballad of a Soldier"

"Come and See"

And for the Russian Revolution, although "Dr. Zhivago" should get an honorable mention, even if it was made in (Spain and Finland?):

"A Slave of Love"--on the very margin of qualifying as a war movie, but one of the best movies that you have never heard of.... Years later, the same director did the much better known, very bleak "Burnt by the Sun"--a sort of Soviet-era "Coming Home."