Rosie the Reviewer: a WW2 movies and shows podcast
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© Rosie the Reviewer
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Two female history buffs review and comment on World War Two media, such as movies, shows, and books, and share related personal experiences.
73 Episodes
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In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we tackle Valkyrie (2008), the Tom Cruise-led film about the real-life July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. We dig into the movie's balance between Hollywood drama and historical accuracy, the cast full of familiar faces, and whether Cruise managed to not be too Cruise-y.💻 Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss Grave of the Fireflies (1988), the harrowing Studio Ghibli animation that left us emotionally wrecked. We follow the story of Seita and Setsuko, two siblings trying to survive in Kobe, Japan during the final months of World War II. We discuss the film’s gut-wrenching portrayal of innocence lost and being forgotten, and why this is possibly the greatest movie you'll never want to watch again.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we review Walking with the Enemy (2013), exploring its depiction of WWII Hungary, the life of Elek Cohen (loosely based on Pinchas Rosenbaum), and the country’s political shifts during the war. We discuss standout performances, the film’s narrative choices, and are joined by our friend Katie, who shares insights into Hungary during WWII.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we're wrapping up our three-part journey through Masters of the Air with a look at episodes 7-9. We're once again joined by George! From the marches out of Stalag Luft III to Rosies' decision to fly more missions and Croz sleeping through D-Day. We get into the show's depiction of the Tuskegee Airmen and see where everybody ends up. Safe flight, Masters!🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we continue our Masters of the Air series with episodes 4 through 6. George is back again to help us cover everything from Quinn and Bailey’s escape routes to Black Week, and welcome Rosie Rosenthal. We break down new character arcs, major missions, and quiet emotional ... uh, breakdowns, including Bucky's slow downward spiral, Crosby's grief, and Rosie finding his rhythm (with some help from Artie Shaw).🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we cover the first three episodes of Masters of the Air, the latest Spielberg-Hanks WWII series following the Bloody Hundredth Bomb Group. Joined by our resident SAS Rogue Heroes correspondent George to talk about not the SAS, we unpack what works and what doesn't. From Buck and Bucky banter to B-17 flight scenes you come to a WWII show for. We talk ball turrets, bike races, bomber boys, and what we think is a missed opportunity to cast a critical look at the morality of bombing strategies.Plus: why Harry Crosby's memoir is a must-read, how the ground crew kept the B-17s flying, and straight-out-of-Blackadder Brits.💻 Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on The Imitation Game (2014) and unpick all the ways it does Alan Turing dirty. With guest George (our usual SAS Rogue Heroes correspondent) taking on several sidequests with us this summer), we tackle the unnecessary spy plot, the myth of the lone genius, and why turning one of history’s most brilliant minds into a socially inept robot is just lazy, disrespectful writing. Sam did all the reading, Maartje Googled for one minute and George has actually been to Bletchley Park. All of us instantly agree: this movie is not it.We talk queer erasure, posthumous pardons, codebreaking accuracy (or lack thereof), and Sam explains EXACTLY how Turing's codebreaking machine works ;). This movie is Oscar bait biopic mayhem (it worked, I guess), and we have some strong thoughts. What are yours?🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review x!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss the beautiful Ballad of a Soldier (1959), a Soviet-era WWII film that might just be the gentlest war movie we've ever seen. The film follows a young soldier named Alyosha as he travels across Russia to visit his mother on furlough. Along the way, he meets the love of his life. Not a very outspoken war movie, but a gentle story with sincere performances from main cast and supporting actors. 🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on the 1968 WWII film The Devil's Brigade, a movie full of misfit characters, Italian mountains, and a whole lot of bagpipes. Based on a real American-Canadian commando unit known as the Devil's Brigade or the Black Devils, the film mixes adventure with questionable casting choices (why does everyone look 47 or up?) and a fun hour long training session. We talk about William Holden, snake collections, the birth of the Green Berets, and good old Americans scrapping with Canadians. Also: fake red berets, what's up with that?💻 Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we’re joined by award-winning historian Clare Mulley, author of The Spy Who Loved..., The Women Who Flew for Hitler, and Agent Zo. We talk about Polish paratrooper Elżbieta Zawacka (Zo), Nazi-resisting test pilot Melitta von Stauffenberg, and the razor-sharp Christine Granville. Clare shares how she builds trust with her readers, balances storytelling with historical rigour, and restores women to their rightful place in the WWII record. And, this episode is full of stories about the heroic women Clare writes about. You'll want to pick up a book or two after this!🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we break down the final season of X Company, the gripping Canadian WWII spy series set at Camp X. We discuss what worked, what felt rushed, and what made us yell "girl, no, don't kiss that Nazi!" Season 3 brings heavy losses, moral complexity, and a too early farewell to our favourite Canadian covert operatives. From Krystina's subterfuge, Faber’s redemption arc, to how the show handles antisemitism, resistance, and trauma without easy answers.Bye, X Company. Gone too soon. 🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we take on Season 2 of X Company, the tense Canadian WWII drama set at Camp X. This season brings higher stakes, deeper trauma, and a brutal reckoning with the Dieppe Raid. We talk Alfred’s Magneto cage, the complexity of Faber and Sabine’s marriage and a certain “code machine that looks like a fancy typewriter”. Yes, the Enigma makes an appearance. Plus: tortured romances (literal and metaphorical), and Aurora absolutely going off-script.We also get into the real-life inspirations behind the season, from David O’Keefe’s Dieppe theory to the heartbreaking Canadian casualties. And no one is safe, emotionally or narratively. Not even Tom.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we dive into the explosive first season of X Company — the 2015 Canadian WWII drama about five secret agents trained at Camp X, Canada's spy training camp. From high-stakes sabotage in occupied France to moral grey zones and surprise betrayals, we explore what makes this little-known show so gripping. We talk about the character arcs we love, historical accuracy, and the surprisingly brutal tone. Expect fake dating, trauma flashbacks, Nazi hypocrisy, and that one guy from Schitt’s Creek.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we unpack The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the harrowing new WWII series starring Jacob Elordi as Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans. Based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, the show follows Dorrigo’s life before, during, and after his time as a POW forced to build the Burma Railway. We talk symbolism, adaptation choices, and why every character in this show feels trapped—by war, by love, by legacy. Plus, we ask, once again, why is it so f*cking dark?🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we sit down with Matt Hartman, retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer and author of the WWII spy thriller Other Than Honorable. We talk about writing spy fiction, morally complex heroes, the feeling of Berlin on the brink of war and what it’s like to build a Jason Bourne-ish spy with zero suave and actual consequences. From the emotional roots of Ridge Frost to Hartman’s Enigma rabbit holes, this one's got historical deep cuts, an awkward leading man and a leading lady who might be more competent than the man himself. We love spy shit.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we discuss the 2019 historical drama A Call to Spy, which follows the real-life wartime missions of Virginia Hall, Noor Inayat Khan, and Vera Atkins — three extraordinary women recruited into Churchill’s Special Operations Executive during WWII.We explore what the film gets right, where it fictionalises, and how the true stories behind these women are even more astonishing than what made it to the screen. We also reflect on why telling these stories now matters more than ever, as the generation that witnessed them is rapidly disappearing.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we embark on a cinematic sortie with Le Grand Cirque (The Big Show), the 1950 French film based on the bestselling memoir by ace pilot Pierre Clostermann. While the movie tries to be authentic with vintage aircraft footage and Free French pride, we found it weighed down by a lack of character depth and narrative, especially compared to Clostermann’s vivid, emotionally resonant book. We discuss Clostermann’s daring missions, the film’s historical context, its unique multilingual quirks, and why this underrated French perspective on WWII deserves more attention, perhaps from Hollywood—preferably with subtitles next time.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we dive into Quentin Tarantino’s violent alternate history film Inglourious Basterds (2009). From Christoph Waltz’s unforgettable performance as the terrifying Hans Landa to the film’s masterful tension, spaghetti-western style, and cathartic violence, we break down why this crazy WWII fantasy still captivates audiences. We also explore Tarantino’s bold music choices, and what makes alternate history so tricky — and thrilling — when it’s done right.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
This episode is also available as a video podcast. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/@RosietheReviewerIn this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, actor Bobby Schofield joins us and SAS Rogue Heroes Correspondent George to talk about his role as Corporal Dave Kershaw in SAS Rogue Heroes (available on BBC iPlayer, MGM+, and Max). We explore his journey from lifelong WWII history nerd to series regular, including the deep research and sleuthing that shaped his portrayal. Bobby shares stories of on-set camaraderie, unscripted lines like “No pasarán!”, and the emotional weight of playing a real WWII figure. We also discuss hopes for Season 3, listen to Bobby nerd out about Band of Brothers and grill him about life on set.If you’re a fan of SAS Rogue Heroes, WWII dramas, or the acting craft behind historical series—this one’s for you.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
In this episode of Rosie the Reviewer, we dive into Black Book, Paul Verhoeven’s 2006 thriller about a Jewish woman who goes undercover in the Dutch resistance. Nearly twenty years later, its themes of complicity, moral ambiguity, and survival feel sharper—and perhaps even more relevant—against the backdrop of today’s conflicts.We unpack the film’s chaotic plot, infamous pube-bleaching scene, and the real-life resistance fighter who inspired the story. And we discuss the uncomfortable: how Verhoeven uses a WWII setting not just to thrill, but to ask unsettling questions about the blurred lines between victim and aggressor—and how quickly one can become the other.A war movie that’s sexy, violent, politically loaded, and painfully relevant.🖥️ Visit our website: www.rosiethereviewer.com📸 Follow us on Instagram: @rosiethereviewerpodcast💬 Join the conversation and leave a review — we’d love to hear your thoughts!
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