Special Report

The 35 Best Vietnam War Movies Ever Made

Photo by Terry Fincher / Daily Express / Hulton Archive / Getty Images

While there’s no way to fully approximate the experience of combat or trauma on film, some of the best movies about the Vietnam War make a reasonable attempt. (These are the best war movies of all time.)

To determine the best Vietnam War movies, 24/7 Tempo developed an index of movies using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of Dec. 15, 2022, weighting all ratings equally. (Documentaries were not considered.) Directorial and cast credits are from IMDb.

The majority of these titles aren’t so much concerned with gratuitous violence as they are determined to capture a certain event or state of mind. Yes, the Vietnam War is a specific time in history, but it’s also a psychological condition that hovers over characters before, during, and after they go into the heart of battle. (Here are 29 horrifying images of the Vietnam War.)

In turn, the Vietnam War genre is arguably more versatile and wide-reaching than one might first imagine. War-based films such as “Platoon” and “Full Metal Jacket” might leap to mind, but titles like 1991’s “Dogfight” or 1985’s “Fandango” primarily use Vietnam as an abstract force that threatens to upend the livelihoods of certain characters. Meanwhile, 1990’s “Jacob’s Ladder” and 1996’s “The War at Home,” to name two examples, examine the psychological repercussions of combat with the Vietnam War as a backstory. 

Click here to see the 35 best Vietnam War movies ever made

To consider the genre in full is to gain a multi-faceted impression of a truly disastrous event. If an underlying theme emerges, it’s that virtually no one walked away from this war unscathed. Not only did it kill or traumatize soldiers, but their family members suffered greatly as well. That’s not to mention the power vacuums created in places such as Cambodia, as depicted in films like “The Killing Fields” and “First They Killed My Father.” May one watch in the hope that this history will never repeat itself, knowing all too well that it probably will.

Courtesy of Atlantic Releasing Corporation

35. In Country (1989)
> IMDb user rating: 5.9/10 (2,876 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 36% (2,657 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 68% (28 reviews)
> Directed by: Norman Jewison

The effects of the war loom large over this small-town drama from director Norman Jewison. While living with her traumatized uncle (Bruce Willis), a teenage girl (Emily Lloyd) learns about her father, who died in Vietnam. The film underperformed at the box office.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

34. Gardens of Stone (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (5,402 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (2,434 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 47% (15 reviews)
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

“Apocalypse Now” director Francis Ford Coppola revisited the Vietnam War from a more subdued perspective in this since-forgotten drama. James Caan plays frustrated veteran Sgt. Clell Hazard, who tries to prepare a young soldier (D.B. Sweeney) for the horrors and realities of combat.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

33. The War (1994)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (12,504 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (17,382 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 25% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Jon Avnet

A rare box office misfire for Kevin Costner at the height of his career, this coming-of-age drama stars the actor as Vietnam War veteran Stephen Simmons. Still haunted by his experiences, Simmons oversees a different kind of battle as his children square off against others over a treehouse.

Riccardo Savi / Getty Images

32. Green Dragon (2001)
> IMDb user rating: 6.1/10 (1,141 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 51% (1,581 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 61% (28 reviews)
> Directed by: Timothy Linh Bui

Set after the war, this historical drama follows Vietnamese refugees to California’s Camp Pendleton for orientation. Various stories unfold against this desperate backdrop, as characters young and old undergo dramatic life changes.

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Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

31. Uncommon Valor (1983)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (9,677 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 61% (6,881 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 56% (9 reviews)
> Directed by: Ted Kotcheff

Director Ted Kotcheff followed 1982’s “First Blood” – the initial “Rambo” movie, starring Sylvester Stallone as a troubled Vietnam vet – with another action-packed movie about a soldier who served in Vietnam. Convinced that his son is still being held as a POW, a retired U.S. Marine (Gene Hackman) enacts a dangerous rescue mission into the jungle of Laos.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

30. Dead Presidents (1995)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (21,208 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (30,238 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 45% (33 reviews)
> Directed by: Albert & Allen Hughes

After a traumatic tour of duty, a Black Vietnam veteran (Lorenz Tate) returns to the Bronx in this harrowing crime drama. He soon faces the harsh reality of American oppression and takes desperate measures as a result. Directors Albert and Allen Hughes create a link between two worlds to depict separate but equally tragic nightmares.

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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

29. Fandango (1985)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (7,744 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (5,739 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 50% (6 reviews)
> Directed by: Kevin Reynolds

This period dramedy, which takes place in 1971, follows five college friends on a final road trip across the Mexican border. It gradually adopts a serious tone as each respective character contemplates his uncertain future, with the Vietnam War looming over the narrative.

Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

28. Bat 21 (1988)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (8,520 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 58% (8,382 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (16 reviews)
> Directed by: Peter Markle

Lt. Col. Hambleton (Gene Hackman) is trapped behind enemy lines and only one man (Danny Glover) can save him in this Vietnam War survival film. It’s based on a book by retired Air Force Colonel William Anderson, which tells the true story of a harrowing rescue mission.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

27. The War at Home (1996)
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (2,409 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (1,588 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 60% (15 reviews)
> Directed by: Emilio Estevez

Director and star Emilio Estevez plays Vietnam War veteran Jeremy Collier in this somber adaptation of a 1984 play. Upon his return home, Collier grapples with his violent past while exhibiting worrisome behavior. Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen co-star.

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Courtesy of Netflix

26. Da 5 Bloods (2020)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (47,695 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 54% (2,407 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (302 reviews)
> Directed by: Spike Lee

Director Spike Lee squeezes numerous ideas into this recent war drama, which sends four aging Black Vietnam vets back to Vietnam on the hunt for missing gold and the remains of their slain squad leader. It features a career-best performance from Delroy Lindo, whose character loses his grip on reality as the action unfolds.

Courtesy of Entertainment International Pictures

25. Deathdream (1974)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (4,909 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 64% (1,216 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (12 reviews)
> Directed by: Bob Clark

The same year he released the proto-slasher “Black Christmas,” director Bob Clark delivered this horror gem with socio-political themes. Brought back from the dead, a Vietnam soldier returns home and goes searching for blood. “Bob Clark’s quiet masterpiece is still one of the most inspired anti-war genre pics out there,” wrote critic Brian Juergens for Bloody Disgusting.

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Courtesy of Saban Films

24. Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (13,447 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 74% (100 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 71% (35 reviews)
> Directed by: Kriv Stenders

This Aussie war film centers on The Battle of Long Tan, during which an infantry company of 108 men confronted thousands of enemy soldiers. It plays loose with the facts and doesn’t examine broader contextualism as much as it focuses on an explosive fight for survival.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

23. Tigerland (2000)
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (40,406 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (34,490 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (47 reviews)
> Directed by: Joel Schumacher

This gritty drama follows rebellious draftee Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell) through Advanced Infantry Training at Louisiana’s Fort Polk aka Tiger Land. It opened to largely positive reviews but completely tanked at the worldwide box office, earning less than $150,000.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

22. We Were Soldiers (2002)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (135,231 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (203,283 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 63% (147 reviews)
> Directed by: Randall Wallace

This violent war film dramatizes the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, America’s first major engagement against the North Vietnamese army. It tackles the subject of sacrifice and bravery, exhibited by the soldiers who fight but also by their family members back home.

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Courtesy of Allied Artists Pictures

21. Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (3,200 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (725 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (10 reviews)
> Directed by: Robert Aldrich

This multifaceted thriller tells the story of rogue General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and touches down on prescient political themes. Upon taking control of a missile silo, Dell threatens to unleash WWIII unless the American government reveals the truth about the Vietnam War.

Courtesy of Warner Bros,

20. Big Wednesday (1978)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (6,437 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (5,901 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 67% (12 reviews)
> Directed by: John Milius

Director John Milius drew from his own passions and experiences when making this coming-of-age drama about three California surfers. It goes from innocence to experience as the Vietnam War injects harsh realities into an otherwise dreamy lifestyle.

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Courtesy of Miramax

19. The Quiet American (2002)
> IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (27,871 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (10,692 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (156 reviews)
> Directed by: Phillip Noyce

The second film adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1955 novel examines the deadly love triangle between two men (Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser) and a Vietnamese woman. It takes place during the First Indochina War but also foreshadows America’s later involvement in Vietnam.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

18. Casualties of War (1989)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (42,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (21,829 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (47 reviews)
> Directed by: Brian De Palma

Director Brian De Palma followed the Oscar-winning crime drama “The Untouchables” with this long-gestating passion project. It adapts a New Yorker article about the incident on Hill 192, in which American soldiers raped and murdered a young Vietnamese woman. An extended version was released on DVD in 2006 with two previously cut scenes.

Matthias Nareyek / Stringer / Getty Images Entertainment

17. The Beautiful Country (2004)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (3,839 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (2,234 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (76 reviews)
> Directed by: Hans Petter Moland

Terrence Malick (credited as Lingard Jervey) co-created the story for this American drama and also co-produced. Set in 1990, it trails a Vietnamese Amerasian boy to America as he searches for his biological father. Writing for the Detroit Free Press, critic Terry Lawson called it “a poignant and affecting portrait of the war’s lingering consequences.”

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Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

16. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (103,096 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (53,129 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 73% (66 reviews)
> Directed by: Adrian Lyne

Adrian Lyne’s psychological thriller turns the stuff of PTSD into a literal nightmare. Following his return from Vietnam, postal clerk Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) begins to suffer from severe and disturbing hallucinations. The story ties back to an experimental government program and incorporates religious themes.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures

15. Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (102,082 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (59,404 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (48 reviews)
> Directed by: Oliver Stone

Vietnam veteran turned director Oliver Stone won an Academy Award for this adaptation of a 1976 autobiography. Tom Cruise plays real-life figure Ron Kovic, a staunch patriot who has a change of heart after experiencing the horrors of combat firsthand. It makes up the second part of Stone’s trilogy on Vietnam, bookended by “Platoon” (1986), the No. 6 film on this list, and “Heaven & Earth” (1993).

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

14. Hamburger Hill (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 6.7/10 (24,707 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 72% (33,083 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (12 reviews)
> Directed by: John Irvin

This graphic war film chronicles1969’s Battle of Hamburger Hill and unfolds through a series of violent engagements. It simultaneously examines the psychological toll of warfare and the racial friction between soldiers of different backgrounds.

Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

13. Rescue Dawn (2006)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (103,818 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (125,788 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (163 reviews)
> Directed by: Werner Herzog

This Werner Herzog drama adapts the director’s own 1997 documentary about POW Dieter Dengler. It stars Christian Bale as the U.S. fighter pilot, who endures mental and physical torture at the hands of the Viet Cong.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

12. Dogfight (1991)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (8,952 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (7,703 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 78% (18 reviews)
> Directed by: Nancy Savoca

Viewers may find themselves pleasantly surprised by this overlooked period drama starring River Phoenix and Lili Taylor. On the night before they head to Vietnam, a group of young soldiers search for “ugly” dates as part of a mean-spirited game. But for one soldier (Phoenix), the game will have life-changing consequences.

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Courtesy of Netflix

11. First They Killed My Father (2017)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (17,217 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (2,399 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (71 reviews)
> Directed by: Angelina Jolie

Director Angelina Jolie presents the story of human rights activist Loung Ung (played by Sareum Srey Moch) in this tragic thriller. When the U.S. pulls out of Cambodia in 1975, it creates a power vacuum filled by the repressive Khmer Rouge. Under the new regime, Ung is pulled from her middle-class lifestyle and thrown into the heart of a nightmare.

Courtesy of TriStar Pictures

10. Birdy (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (22,438 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (8,291 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (29 reviews)
> Directed by: Alan Parker

Three years before appearing in Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” Matthew Modine played the title character in this period drama. Mentally scarred by the Vietnam War, Birdy undergoes extreme alienation and delusion upon his return home. It won the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

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Courtesy of United Artists

9. Coming Home (1978)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (13,070 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (5,177 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 84% (25 reviews)
> Directed by: Hal Ashby

Hal Ashby’s humane drama won three Academy Awards in the categories of acting and writing. It stars Jane Fonda as a conservative housewife who’s torn between two men of differing opinions on the subject of war. Jon Voight and Bruce Dern co-star.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

8. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (132,985 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (131,515 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (42 reviews)
> Directed by: Barry Levinson

Actor Robin Williams kicked off a new chapter of his career with this blockbuster war dramedy, based on true events. He plays real-life radio personality Adrian Cronauer, who delivers galvanizing but controversial monologues while on assignment in Vietnam. New York Times critic Vincent Canby called it “one man’s tour de force.”

Courtesy of Buena Vista Home Video

7. Bullet in the Head (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (10,957 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (5,000 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (6 reviews)
> Directed by: John Woo

Before making it big in Hollywood, Chinese director John Woo helmed this Hong Kong action classic with a war-based backdrop. The story takes place in 1967 and follows three gang members to Saigon, where they face a brutal struggle to survive.

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Courtesy of Orion Pictures

6. Platoon (1986)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (395,356 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (240,012 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (69 reviews)
> Directed by: Oliver Stone

Director Oliver Stone drew upon his own experiences in Vietnam when crafting this intense war drama. Charlie Sheen plays fresh recruit Chris Taylor, who finds himself fighting enemies within his own platoon. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

5. The Killing Fields (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (55,512 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (10,000 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (43 reviews)
> Directed by: Roland Joffé

This British historical drama culls from true events and takes place in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge’s genocidal campaign. Two journalists plunge themselves into the heart of a massacre and one is forced to live under the new regime. It won three Academy Awards.

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Courtesy of Universal Pictures

4. The Deer Hunter (1978)
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (324,627 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (103,588 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (78 reviews)
> Directed by: Michael Cimino

Director Michael Cimino’s masterpiece opens with a portrait of small-town life before sending a group of close friends into combat. The harrowing experiences that follow change each character forever and not everyone makes it out alive. Featuring a top-notch ensemble cast, including Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken, the film won five Academy Awards.

3. Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (2,167 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 91% (1,581 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (10 reviews)
> Directed by: Jonathan Demme

This low-budget concert film stars actor Spalding Gray in an adaptation of his successful one-man play. Employing just a few basic props, Gray shares his experiences making the award-winning war drama “The Killing Fields” (No. 5 on this list).

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

2. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (701,608 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (324,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (83 reviews)
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick’s seminal war drama strips freshly recruited marines of their humanity before sending them into combat. Former drill instructor turned actor R. Lee Ermey delivers an iconic performance in the movie’s first half, drawing upon previous experience as he whips each character into shape.

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Courtesy of United Artists

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (629,925 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (286,235 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (96 reviews)
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola’s hallucinatory adaptation of a Joseph Conrad novella reimagines the source material within a Vietnam War setting. Follow Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) and a small boat crew as they snake through the Nung River on the trail of a rogue Colonel (Marlon Brando). Multiple versions exist, including a bootleg workprint cut that clocks in at 289 minutes.

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