Best 1980s War Movies

Looking for the best 1980s War movies? These are the 14 highest-rated 1980s War titles in our catalogue, led by Grave of the Fireflies, Full Metal Jacket and Glory. The list is ranked by audience score; open any title for its cast, trailer and legal places to watch.

1. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

★ 8.5/10

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned…
2. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

★ 8.1/10

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
3. Glory (1989)

★ 7.5/10

Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
4. Empire of the Sun (1987)

★ 7.5/10

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the…
5. A Case of Honor (1988)

★ 7.5/10

A Case of Honor is a 1991 film directed by Eddie Romero. After escaping from a Vietnamese pow camp where they had suffered for five years, five American soldiers attempt to get out of the country before being spotted…
6. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

★ 7.3/10

A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor.
7. Casualties of War (1989)

★ 7.2/10

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.
8. Return of the Kickfighter (1987)

★ 7.2/10

The plot concerns a unit of US marines operating in the Vietnam war during 1970, with the movie opening on a raid in a village. After massacring the villagers, the marines steal the villages gold, much to the objection…
9. When the Tenth Month Comes (1984)

★ 7.2/10

In the final days of the war, Duyên faces a daily struggle to take care of her young son and ailing father-in-law, all the while hiding from them the fact that her husband has recently been killed in battle.
10. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

★ 7.0/10

Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
11. Rambo III (1988)

★ 6.2/10

Combat has taken its toll on Rambo, but he's finally begun to find inner peace in a monastery. When Rambo's friend and mentor Col. Trautman asks for his help on a top secret mission to Afghanistan, Rambo declines but…
12. Fort Saganne (1984)

★ 6.0/10

In 1911, a willful and determined man from peasant stock named Charles Saganne enlists in the military and is assigned to the Sahara Desert under the aristocratic Colonel Dubreuilh.
13. The Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982)

★ 5.3/10

An American soldier and a British intelligence agent try to track down an ancient relic called the Golden Cobra, rumored to have supernatural powers. An early Raiders rip-off directed Antonio Margheriti.
14. Friend or Foe (1982)

★ 5.0/10

Two evacuated children in wartime rural England find two German airmen hiding out in the woods. An adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1977 novel from writer/director John Krish .