Beachhead

1954

English

5.6

♡ 1

37%

Stuart Heisler Director

Tony Curtis as Burke

John Doucette as Maj. Scott

Mary Murphy as Nina Bouchard

Frank Lovejoy as Sgt. Fletcher

On a Japanese-occupied island during World War II, only two soldiers remain alive after a mission attempt goes horribly wrong. Trapped on the island, they must escort a scientist and his daughter to the other side of the island where their ship awaits. They must battle nature, hard terrain, and advancing Japanese troops.

Kokoda: 39th Battalion

2006

English

6.1

♡ 15

71%

Alister Grierson Director

Christopher James Baker as Blue

Jack Finsterer as Jack Scholt

Tom Budge as Johnno

William McInnes as The Colonel

A bitter battle is fought between Australian and Japanese soldiers along the Kokoda trail in New Guinea during World War II.

Merrill's Marauders

1962

English

6.6

♡ 10

70%

Samuel Fuller Director

Ty Hardin as 2nd Lt. Lee Stockton

Chuck Hicks as Cpl. Doskis

Chuck Hayward as Officer

Claude Akins as Sgt. Kolowicz

Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads the 3,000 American volunteers of his 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), aka "Merrill's Marauders", behind Japanese lines across Burma to Myitkyina, pushing beyond their limits and fighting pitched battles at every strong-point.

Fires on the Plain

1959

Japanese

7.9

♡ 17

100%

struggle for survival

War

world war ii

Kon Ichikawa Director

Yoshio Inaba as

Yûzô Hayakawa as

Shunji Tsuda as

Eiji Funakoshi as Tamura

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

Run Silent Run Deep

1958

English

7.3

♡ 12

100%

Robert Wise Director

Brad Dexter as Ens. Gerald Cartwright

Ken Lynch as Frank

Don Rickles as Quartermaster 1st Class Ruby

Rudy Bond as Sonarman 1st Class Cullen

The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.

Mister Roberts

1955

English

7.6

♡ 12

93%

Joshua Logan Director

Ken Curtis as Dolan

William Hudson as Olson

Perry Lopez as Rodrigues

Gregory Walcott as Shore Patrolman

Mr. Roberts is a Navy officer who's yearning for battle but is stuck in the backwaters of World War II on a non-commissioned ship run by the bullying Captain Morton.

Yamato

2005

Japanese

6.4

♡ 9

Jun'ya Satô Director

Shinobu Terajima as Ayako

Kimiko Yo as Sayo Nishi Yû Aoi

Yû Aoi as Taeko

Atsuko Takahata as Tsune Tamaki

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."

MacArthur

1977

English

6.5

♡ 14

45%

Joseph Sargent Director

Tom Rosqui as General Sampson

Garry Walberg as General Walker

Lloyd Kino as Japanese Administrative Assistant

Barry Coe as Television Reporter

The film portrays MacArthur's life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.

They Were Expendable

1945

English

7.2

♡ 16

92%

73%

Action

based on novel or book

John Ford Director

Cameron Mitchell as Ens. George Cross

John Roy as Man in Admiral's Office

Betty Blythe as Officer's Wife

Louis Jean Heydt as 'Ohio'

After a demonstration of new PT boats, navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.

Midway

1976

English

6.8

♡ 30

39%

Jack Smight Director

Tom Selleck as Aide to Capt. Cyril Simard

Lloyd Kino as Capt. Aoki

Edward Albert as Lieutenant Tom Garth

John Schuck as Wilson

This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

The Eagle of the Pacific

1953

Japanese

6.9

♡ 5

Ishirô Honda Director

Koreya Senda as

Toshirô Mifune as 1st Lieutenant Tomonaga

Eijirô Yanagi as Premier Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai

Rentarô Mikuni as Staff Officer

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He opposes the attack on Pearl Harbor, but, overruled, he leads his forces to the best of his ability.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

1983

Japanese

7.2

♡ 17

Action

based on novel or book

christmas movie alternative

Nagisa Ôshima Director

Daisuke Iijima as Corporal Ueki

Takeshi Kitano as Hara

Masanori Okada as Japanese Soldier

Hiroshi Mikami as Japanese Soldier

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

Battle of Okinawa

1971

Japanese

6.9

♡ 4

Kihachi Okamoto Director

Kenjirô Ishiyama as

Yûsuke Kawazu as

Eijirô Tôno as

Michitarô Mizushima as

The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970

English

7.5

♡ 48

57%

Kinji Fukasaku Director

Eijirô Tôno as Admiral Nagumo

Bill Zuckert as Adm. James O. Richardson

Richard Erdman as Colonel Edward F. French

Rosemary DeCamp as Grace Tully - Roosevelt's Secretary

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

The Final Countdown

1980

English

6.7

♡ 50

52%

Don Taylor Director

Gary Morgan as Helicopter Crewman

Katharine Ross as Laurel Scott

Dan Fitzgerald as Navy Doctor

Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky

During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Operation Pacific

1951

English

6.6

♡ 9

20%

George Waggner Director

Kathryn Givney as Cmdr. Steele

Paul Picerni as Jonesy

Carleton Young as Pilot Briefing Officers on Carrier

William Campbell as The Talker

During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up personally. Even more personal is his quest to win back his ex-wife, a nurse; but he'll have to win her back from a navy flier who also happens to be his commander's little brother.

Letters from Iwo Jima

2006

English

7.8

♡ 84

91%

Clint Eastwood Director

Tsuyoshi Ihara as Baron Nishi

Ken Watanabe as General Kuribayashi

Hiroshi Watanabe as Lieutenant Fujita

Ryô Kase as Shimizu

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

1957

English

7.3

♡ 7

83%

roman catholic church

War

world war ii

John Huston Director

Robert Mitchum as Corporal Allison USMC

Deborah Kerr as Sister Angela

A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave and forage for food together. Their forced companionship and the struggle for survival forge a powerful emotional bond between them.

Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet

2011

Japanese

6.7

♡ 8

Izuru Narushima Director

Masatô Ibu as Nagano

Hiroshi Tamaki as Shindo Toshikazu

Hiroshi Abe as Yamaguchi tamon

Mieko Harada as Yamamoto's wife

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the Japanese Naval commander who was given the order to attack Pearl Harbour, an order he was duty bound to obey which went against his own personal beliefs. While this infamous attack is a low point in Japanese and US history it wouldn’t have happened if the Japanese government had listened to Yamamoto in 1939 and searched for a more peaceful way to end their war campaign, proving his many ominous presages of the outcomes of the attack to come true.

Flags of Our Fathers

2006

English

7.1

♡ 78

76%

Clint Eastwood Director

Neal McDonough as Captain Severance

Robert Patrick as Colonel Chandler Johnson

Paul Walker as Hank Hansen

Erik Aude as Officer

There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.

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Beachhead

Kokoda: 39th Battalion

Merrill's Marauders

Fires on the Plain

Run Silent Run Deep

Mister Roberts

Yamato

MacArthur

They Were Expendable

Midway

The Eagle of the Pacific

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Battle of Okinawa

Tora! Tora! Tora!

The Final Countdown

Operation Pacific

Letters from Iwo Jima

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet

Flags of Our Fathers