The Best '80s War Movie
War is hell and these films from the 1980s showed us exactly why. The following films either took place during wartime, showed us ways in which the war affected others or immersed us directly into the horrors on the battlefield.
Which of these '80s War movies will you most likely remember?
1970s <<< Vote Other Decades >>> 1990s
After voting, you may discuss the poll here.
Which of these '80s War movies will you most likely remember?
1970s <<< Vote Other Decades >>> 1990s
After voting, you may discuss the poll here.
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- DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMatthew ModineR. Lee ErmeyVincent D'OnofrioA pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsJürgen ProchnowHerbert GrönemeyerKlaus WennemannA German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
- DirectorElem KlimovStarsAleksey KravchenkoOlga MironovaLiubomiras LauceviciusAfter finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
- DirectorSlobodan SijanStarsPavle VuisicDragan NikolicDanilo 'Bata' StojkovicIt's April 5, 1941, somewhere in Serbia. A group of people go on a bus to Belgrade, on a journey that will change their lives forever.
- DirectorMoustapha AkkadStarsAnthony QuinnOliver ReedRod SteigerIn 1929, Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini appoints General Rodolfo Graziani as colonial governor to Italian Libya with orders to stamp-out all resistance from Libyan nationalists led by rebel guerrilla leader Omar Mukhtar.
- DirectorMori MasakiStarsIssei MiyazakiCatherine BattistoneYoshie ShimamuraA powerful statement against war, Barefoot Gen is a disturbing story about the effect of the atomic bomb on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsGaspard ManesseRaphael FejtöFrancine RacetteA French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsTatsuya NakadaiTsutomu YamazakiKen'ichi HagiwaraA petty thief with an utter resemblance to a samurai warlord is hired as the lord's double. When the warlord later dies the thief is forced to take up arms in his place.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsMatthew BroderickDenzel WashingtonCary ElwesRobert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsSam WaterstonHaing S. NgorJohn MalkovichA journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody 'Year Zero' cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million 'undesirable' civilians.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorPekka ParikkaStarsTaneli MäkeläVesa VierikkoTimo TorikkaIn 1939, two Finnish brothers are conscripted in the army to fight in the war between Finland and the Soviet Union.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsChristian BaleJohn MalkovichMiranda RichardsonA young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
- DirectorJimmy T. MurakamiStarsPeggy AshcroftJohn MillsRobin HoustonA naive elderly British rural couple survive the initial onslaught of a nuclear war.
- DirectorLuis PuenzoStarsNorma AleandroHéctor AlterioChunchuna VillafañeDuring the final months of Argentinian Military Dictatorship in 1983, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsKenneth BranaghDerek JacobiSimon ShepherdIn the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosStarsSylvester StalloneRichard CrennaCharles NapierRambo returns to the jungles of Vietnam on a mission to infiltrate an enemy base-camp and rescue the American POWs still held captive there.and Rambo III (1988)
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJames WoodsJim BelushiMichael MurphyA burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsGeorge DzundzaJason PatricSteven BauerA Soviet tank and its warring crew become separated from their patrol and lost in an Afghan valley with a group of vengeance-seeking rebels on their tracks.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsCatherine DeneuveGérard DepardieuJean PoiretIn occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Germans while doing both of their jobs.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobin WilliamsForest WhitakerTom T. TranIn 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMatthew ModineNicolas CageJohn HarkinsAfter two friends return home from the Vietnam War one becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsDavid BowieTom ContiRyuichi SakamotoDuring WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsHoward E. Rollins Jr.Adolph CaesarArt EvansAn African-American officer investigates a murder in a racially charged situation in World War II.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonSigourney WeaverLinda HuntA young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsLee MarvinMark HamillRobert CarradineA hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael J. FoxSean PennDon HarveyDuring the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
- DirectorRoger SpottiswoodeStarsNick NolteEd HarrisGene HackmanThree journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somoza regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayJohn CandyHarold RamisTwo friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodMarsha MasonEverett McGillHard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.