10 Best Pacific War Movies, Ranked

The Pacific War is a term generally used to describe the hostilities exchanged between Allied forces and the Japanese Empire during World War II. It took place across multiple nations in East and Southeast Asia, as well as Oceania and a few outlying US territories. The jungle environments and coral atolls served as the stage for some of the most brutal fighting of the war and were a totally different battlefield than the ones on the Western Front over in Europe.

This theatre of the war partially began with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, which thrust the US into the conflict, but it also became a huge part of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937. This part of the war lasted for months after Germany surrendered in May of 1945 and finally ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, prompting the Japanese to surrender in September of the same year. With there being so much violence and so many stories to tell, it is to be expected that war movies would jump in on the conflict. These are the best Pacific War movies, which show an infamous part of the war that brought destruction to three different continents.

10

‘Midway’ (2019)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Midway was actually received poorly by critics, but for more casual audiences, it’s action-packed and thrilling despite some glaring historical inaccuracies. The story follows the American Navy’s confrontation with the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway Atoll, which contains a military base and belongs to the United States, though it also features snippets of the earlier Battle of the Coral Sea.

The Battle of Midway was one of the most pivotal battles in the Pacific War, stopping the Japanese Empire’s expansion dead in its tracks and coming in as the first major victory won by the Americans. It was a costly fight for the Japanese, who lost four aircraft carriers and loads of manpower. Midway brings the extraordinary story to life right in front of the audiences’ eyes, centering on the naval and aerial combat and showcasing the destruction and desperate circumstances faced by the US.

9

‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ (1970)

Directed by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukusaka, Akira Kurosawa, & Toshio Masuda

Tora! Tora! Tora! takes its name from the abbreviation of the Japanese words totsugeki raigeki, literally meaning “lightning attack,” which is similar to the German word Blitzkrieg that was coined during World War II. Both terms effectively refer to a fast and brutal surprise attack, with the attack in this case being the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor is a US naval base in Hawaii that the Japanese attacked before the US even entered the war for fear they would send help to the Allied forces in the Pacific. Unfortunately for them, it proved to be counter-productive because the US declared war on the Axis powers.

The movie details the attack on Pearl Harbor from both Japanese and American perspectives, with some of the Japanese sequences being directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, though he remains uncredited in it. Even though critics felt the film was pretty average, non-critics found it to be rather exciting and surprisingly informative. It was commended for just telling the story without seeming like it was trying to take a side. Rather, it focuses more on giving information and doesn’t feel like a propaganda film, coming as a joint project between former enemies to tell a story and show how Japanese-US relations have evolved in the decades since.

8

‘Flags of Our Fathers’ (2006)

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Flags of Our Fathers is about the famous photo of American soldiers raising their nation’s flag over Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in Japan. The film centers on the real-life men in the photo, showing their stories and what they, as people, were really all about. The image is one of the most famous war photos due to its patriotic spirit and symbolism, but the truth behind the picture is a lot more brutal than one would imagine.

Not only is Flags of Our Fathers about the battle itself, one of the last ones of World War II, but it’s also about the aftereffects of war and assimilating back into society once the guns have fallen silent. The movie isn’t just a way of putting names to the men in that iconic photo; it’s also a sweeping tale of heroism and the patriotic American spirit that was so needed during World War II.

7

‘Empire of the Sun’ (1987)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Empire of the Sun stars a young Christian Bale as Jim, a British schoolboy living in Shanghai, China, who finds himself caught up in the conflict when the Japanese invade the region. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie follows Jim as his privileged life falls into shambles. He must seek ways to survive amidst the brewing conflict, which should soon blow up into the most destructive conflict the world has ever seen.

Though it is not Spielberg’s finest film or even his finest war effort, Empire of the Sun is an ambitious project that sadly has never gotten the attention that it truly deserves. It received six Oscar nominations but was unfortunately robbed of every single one of them. Regardless, Empire of the Sun‘s far-reaching scope, along with its intriguing story and high-strung tension, make it an unforgettable ride from start to finish.

Directed by Mori Masaki

Barefoot Gen might look like a whimsy Japanese anime film for kids, but it gets dark real quick. Once it does, it becomes remarkably apparent that it may not even be safe for adults to view. The story is about a young boy living in Hiroshima, Japan, in the final days of World War II. Already, audiences can infer what will happen and that it likely isn’t going to be pretty. Of course, it does eventually happen: the atomic bomb is dropped on the city, turning the lives of the protagonists upside-down.

The bomb scene is absolutely horrifying, depicting what happens to the human body and infrastructure during an atomic detonation without leaving anything up to the imagination. It’s a shocking scene, but one that is a harrowing reminder of the horror that was the event of that day. While Barefoot Gen is a great movie, it is most certainly not for the faint of heart because it’s just as jarring in animated form as it would be in live-action.

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5

‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’ (1983)

Directed by Nagisa Ōshima

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence borrows its name from a line uttered by a Japanese officer in the film, who gets absolutely hammered and pretends to be Santa Claus for a while. As such, it wouldn’t be wrong to consider this a Christmas movie as well as a war movie. It is about a British officer who has been taken as a prisoner by the Japanese on the occupied Indonesian island of Java. This officer, who is fluent in Japanese, seeks to befriend his captors so as to prevent more bloodshed.

The plot is largely about the coming together of cultures on opposite sides of the conflict and is fittingly a project shared between British and Japanese filmmakers. However, the most notable part of the film is its exceptional soundtrack, which is so memorable on account of the influence of two of the movie’s stars: British singer David Bowie and Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. There might not be a lot of action, but there doesn’t need to be because what’s important is the human connection in times of adversity. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence has a real heart, delivering a powerful and timeless message that really isn’t talked about enough.

4

‘The Thin Red Line’ (1998)

Directed by Terrence Malick

The Thin Red Line takes audiences to the Solomon Islands, specifically to the island of Guadalcanal, one of the most crucial islands of the war that saw heavy fighting between the Allies and the Axis. The reason that Guadalcanal was so important was that it was home to a United States airbase and because it was one of the last lines of defense preventing the Japanese from reaching Australia.

The movie places viewers right in the middle of the action. The jungles of Guadalcanal were a hostile environment for the American troops, but the Japanese soldiers were in their element and masters of jungle warfare. The Thin Red Line was praised for its emotional harshness and message about love and camaraderie in the most unexpected of places, as well as its handling of an often overlooked yet pivotal battle of the Second World War.

3

‘Hacksaw Ridge’ (2016)

Directed by Mel Gibson

Hacksaw Ridge is a biopic about US combat medic Desmond Doss, played by Andrew Garfield. Doss was a conscientious objector, meaning he willingly chose not to lay his hand on a gun, preferring to save lives via medicine rather than take lives. During the Battle of Okinawa, Japan, in 1945, Doss worked through the night to save the lives of 75 wounded soldiers, both American and Japanese, entirely on his own. His actions would earn him a Medal of Honor, making him the first conscientious objector to receive the title.

Hacksaw Ridge was a brilliant way to immortalize Doss’ extraordinary story, showing that in war, sometimes the finest heroes aren’t doing any shooting. It’s not just about this monumental feat of saving 75 people but about standing up for one’s beliefs and never losing sight of who you are, even in the most trying of times. Desmond Doss unfortunately passed away some years ago, but Hacksaw Ridge is an excellent reminder of his legacy and accomplishment in the heat of battle.

2

‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ (2006)

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Letters from Iwo Jima can be seen as a sister film to Flags of Our Fathers, except this one is definitely the better one. It takes a bit of a different approach, lending a sympathetic ear to the Japanese soldiers on the losing side of the battle and challenging the traditional hero-villain narrative. It is largely about the preparations for the battle and the individual stories of the Japanese soldiers, expertly led by Ken Watanabe.

This movie is all about the human aspect of the conflict, emphasizing that the Japanese soldiers aren’t necessarily fighting because they believe in their nation’s cause but because they literally have no choice. A story about empathy and the life behind the common soldier, Letters from Iwo Jima is an underrated masterpiece featuring great action, compassion, and tenderness towards a fallen enemy and showing the things each fighter had to endure in order to return to their families.

1

‘Grave of the Fireflies’ (1988)

Directed by Isao Takahata

Grave of the Fireflies comes from Studio Ghibli, a studio that seems physically incapable of producing films that are anything less than a masterpiece. But most of these movies are whimsical and fantastical, whereas this movie is much more grounded. The film takes place in Japan, where two children, Seita and Setsuko, have lost their homes and family in an American bombing raid. As the war reaches its final days, the two children are left on their own in the “everyone-for-themselves” landscape.

Grave of the Fireflies is pretty much perfect, but it’s a movie that can only be watched once due to the deeply depressing nature of its content. It shows how two innocent children are subject to things that no child should be and portrays the harsh reality that when war strikes, civilians are the ones who suffer the most. It’s a necessary watch, but one should definitely be warned upon viewing it, as it may be too much for even the most steadfast viewers to handle. Grave of the Fireflies‘s emotional factor and moving story make it the best movie about the Pacific War and one of the best movies ever in general.

NEXT: 25 Best WWII Movies, Ranked