Best War Movies of the 1980s

1. 1
   Grave of the Fireflies 1988

   Directed by Isao Takahata · Streaming on Netflix
   8.4

   8.5 · 6.9K votes
2. 2
   Full Metal Jacket 1987

   Directed by Stanley Kubrick · Streaming on HBO Max, MGM Plus, Cinemax
   8.1

   8.1 · 12K votes
3. 3
   Come and See 1985

   Directed by Elem Klimov
   8.1

   8.2 · 2K votes
4. 4
   Das Boot 1981

   Directed by Wolfgang Petersen · Streaming on fuboTV
   8.0

   8.1 · 2.7K votes
5. 5
   Platoon 1986

   Directed by Oliver Stone · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
   7.7

   7.7 · 5.4K votes
6. 6
   Kagemusha 1980

   Directed by Akira Kurosawa
   7.6

   7.8 · 776 votes
7. 7
   Empire of the Sun 1987

   Directed by Steven Spielberg
   7.4

   7.5 · 2.2K votes
8. 8
   Glory 1989

   Directed by Edward Zwick · Streaming on Tubi TV, Sony Pictures Core
   7.4

   7.5 · 1.9K votes
9. 9
   Au Revoir les Enfants 1987

   Directed by Louis Malle · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
   7.4

   7.5 · 762 votes
10. 10
    Threads 1984

    Directed by Mick Jackson · Streaming on Philo, AMC Plus, AMC+
    7.4

    7.6 · 446 votes
11. 11
    The Killing Fields 1984

    Directed by Roland Joffé · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex
    7.3

    7.5 · 874 votes
12. 12
    Barefoot Gen 1983

    Directed by Mori Masaki · Streaming on Philo, Kanopy, Retrocrush
    7.3

    7.6 · 275 votes
13. 13
    Good Morning, Vietnam 1987

    Directed by Barry Levinson
    7.3

    7.3 · 3.1K votes
14. 14
    When the Wind Blows 1986

    Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Fandango at Home Free
    7.2

    7.5 · 358 votes
15. 15
    Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence 1983

    Directed by Nagisa Ōshima · Streaming on YouTube TV, Shout! Factory TV, YouTube Free
    7.1

    7.3 · 552 votes
16. 16
    Casualties of War 1989

    Directed by Brian De Palma · Streaming on Tubi TV, Sony Pictures Core
    7.1

    7.2 · 1.1K votes
17. 17
    The Last Metro 1980

    Directed by François Truffaut · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel
    7.1

    7.2 · 538 votes
18. 18
    Birdy 1984

    Directed by Alan Parker · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Fawesome
    7.0

    7.1 · 602 votes
19. 19
    Born on the Fourth of July 1989

    Directed by Oliver Stone · Streaming on HBO Max
    7.0

    7.0 · 2K votes
20. 20
    Lion of the Desert 1981

    Directed by Moustapha Akkad · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Fandango at Home Free, Plex
    6.9

    7.3 · 208 votes
21. 21
    Gallipoli 1981

    Directed by Peter Weir · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, YouTube Free
    6.9

    7.1 · 581 votes
22. 22
    Henry V 1989

    Directed by Kenneth Branagh · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Hoopla
    6.9

    7.1 · 425 votes
23. 23
    Escape from Sobibor 1987

    Directed by Jack Gold · Streaming on Philo, The Roku Channel, FlixHouse
    6.9

    7.2 · 220 votes
24. 24
    Heartbreak Ridge 1986

    Directed by Clint Eastwood
    6.8

    6.9 · 1.2K votes
25. 25
    Salvador 1986

    Directed by Oliver Stone · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM+
    6.8

    7.0 · 432 votes
26. 26
    Escape to Victory 1981

    Directed by John Huston
    6.8

    6.9 · 1.1K votes
27. 27
    The Beast of War 1988

    Directed by Kevin Reynolds · Streaming on YouTube Free
    6.8

    7.1 · 229 votes
28. 28
    Eastern Condors 1987

    Directed by Sammo Hung Kam-bo
    6.8

    7.3 · 122 votes
29. 29
    Legend of the Galactic Heroes: My Conquest Is the Sea of Stars 1988

    Directed by Noboru Ishiguro
    6.8

    7.9 · 56 votes
30. 30
    Breaker Morant 1980

    Directed by Bruce Beresford · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Kanopy
    6.7

    7.1 · 164 votes
31. 31
    Gramps Is in the Resistance 1983

    Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré · Streaming on France Channel
    6.7

    6.9 · 457 votes
32. 32
    The Night of the Shooting Stars 1982

    Directed by Paolo Taviani · Streaming on Kanopy, Tubi TV
    6.7

    7.1 · 135 votes
33. 33
    Macross: Do You Remember Love? 1984

    Directed by Shoji Kawamori
    6.7

    7.2 · 110 votes
34. 34
    The French Revolution 1989

    Directed by Richard T. Heffron · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
    6.7

    7.5 · 66 votes
35. 35
    Hope and Glory 1987

    Directed by John Boorman · Streaming on TCM
    6.7

    6.9 · 226 votes
36. 36
    Rambo: First Blood Part II 1985

    Directed by George P. Cosmatos · Streaming on AMC+, YouTube TV, Pluto TV
    6.7

    6.7 · 4.5K votes
37. 37
    Life and Nothing But 1989

    Directed by Bertrand Tavernier · Streaming on Hoopla
    6.6

    7.2 · 92 votes
38. 38
    The Big Red One 1980

    Directed by Samuel Fuller · Streaming on Howdy
    6.6

    6.7 · 360 votes
39. 39
    The Final Countdown 1980

    Directed by Don Taylor · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, The Roku Channel
    6.6

    6.6 · 711 votes
40. 40
    Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain 1984

    Directed by Xie Jin
    6.5

    8.4 · 23 votes
41. 41
    To Be or Not to Be 1983

    Directed by Alan Johnson · Streaming on Shout! Factory
    6.5

    6.7 · 244 votes
42. 42
    Hamburger Hill 1987

    Directed by John Irvin
    6.5

    6.6 · 533 votes
43. 43
    Under Fire 1983

    Directed by Roger Spottiswoode · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    6.5

    6.7 · 194 votes
44. 44
    The Winter War 1989

    Directed by Pekka Parikka
    6.5

    6.9 · 102 votes
45. 45
    The Scarlet and the Black 1983

    Directed by Jerry London · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo
    6.5

    7.1 · 69 votes
46. 46
    Bashu, the Little Stranger 1989

    Directed by Bahram Beyzai
    6.5

    7.4 · 40 votes
47. 47
    Trial on the Road 1986

    Directed by Aleksei German
    6.5

    7.1 · 57 votes
48. 48
    Barefoot Gen 2 1986

    Directed by Toshio Hirata · Streaming on Kanopy, Retrocrush, Plex
    6.4

    6.9 · 81 votes
49. 49
    Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie 1988

    Directed by Marcel Ophüls · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, OVID
    6.4

    7.1 · 40 votes
50. 50
    The Mouth of the Wolf 1988

    Directed by Francisco J. Lombardi · Streaming on Fawesome
    6.4

    7.3 · 31 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes.

1. 1
   Space Runaway Ideon: Be Invoked 1982

   Directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino
   6.3

   7.9 · 16 votes
2. 2
   Penguin's Memory: A Tale of Happiness 1985

   Directed by Shunji Kimura
   6.3

   8.2 · 10 votes
3. 3
   Camp de Thiaroye 1988

   Directed by Ousmane Sembène
   6.3

   7.5 · 22 votes
4. 4
   The Boy Soldier 1981

   Directed by Yves Boisset
   6.3

   7.5 · 21 votes
5. 5
   Genocide 1982

   Directed by Arnold Schwartzman · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Kanopy
   6.3

   7.5 · 20 votes
6. 6
   The Last Assault 1985

   Directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu
   6.3

   7.6 · 16 votes
7. 7
   Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket 1989

   Directed by Fumihiko Takayama
   6.3

   7.7 · 13 votes
8. 8
   Those Whom Death Refused 1988

   Directed by Flora Gomes
   6.2

   7.9 · 10 votes
9. 9
   When the Tenth Month Comes 1984

   Directed by Dang Nhat Minh
   6.3

   7.2 · 21 votes
10. 10
    Port Arthur 1980

    Directed by Toshio Masuda
    6.2

    7.4 · 14 votes