10 Most Realistic Vietnam War Movies, Ranked

A divisive conflict that had long-term implications for the U.S., the Vietnam War was initially a civil war that became a broader/global one, with the U.S. and its allies supporting South Vietnam, and North Vietnam being supported by other international forces, including the Soviet Union. It went on for a while, and the U.S. involvement in it was controversial, and the troubling nature of being involved in such a conflict was largely explored through films made about the Vietnam War.

John Wayne made one of the first Vietnam War movies, sure, and at a time when the war was still ongoing, but most of the films made after it ended felt more honest about the whole thing. Some assumptions have to be made, when it comes to assessing realism without having fought in the conflict itself, but these Vietnam War movies – in one way or another – feel authentic, highlighting the stress, complex morality, trauma, and perhaps even the reality of the conflict, at least as well as films can.

10

‘Casualties of War’ (1989)

Directed by Brian De Palma

As you might expect from the title, Casualties of War is not a fun watch, and came near the tail end of what proved to be a particularly strong 10 years or so for Vietnam War movies. As the following titles will also largely demonstrate, this period spanned from the late 1970s until the late 1980s, addressing the Vietnam War at a time when it was certainly over, but also still fresh enough in people’s minds to feel particularly relevant.

Brian De Palma was no stranger to directing intense movies, but there’s a different kind of ferocity and tension here. Casualties of War is not at all fun or pulpy in the way some other De Palma films are, and is instead an admirably blunt and despairing film based on a real-life atrocity that happened during the Vietnam War. It’s also worth noting for having one of the best non-comedic Michael J. Fox performances, as he really gets to demonstrate his sometimes under-appreciated range here.

9

‘Bullet in the Head’ (1990)

Directed by John Woo

For a little while, Bullet in the Head feels like another John Woo action/crime film; possibly even one that might well go in a heroic bloodshed sort of direction. It’s not to be, though, since the main characters here (who want to make money through criminal activities in Vietnam) end up prisoners of the Vietcong, unexpectedly getting wrapped up in the conflict in Vietnam.

Much of Bullet in the Head feels like a prisoner of war movie, and it’s uncompromising when it comes to depicting such an existence. There is action here, and some bombast/spectacle, but it’s a largely downbeat affair that’s all the more affecting because the realistic war stuff sneaks up on you. You’re not necessarily expecting it, should you come across it expecting another typical John Woo film, and that makes it particularly impactful.

8

‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Hey, Apocalypse Now is Apocalypse Now, and it’s big/a lot of things at once. Not all of it is focused on being a realistic Vietnam War movie, necessarily, since most of the combat is shown in the first act, and there is a more dreamlike (and eventually nightmarish) feel to the last half of the movie or so, especially once Marlon Brando’s character finally makes an appearance.

But in showing some devastating combat, and the excessive force used at some points in the conflict, Apocalypse Now does still reflect a certain reality about the war. Also, the way it explores the psychological impact of living through a tense and continually dangerous conflict is unpacked in its own (sometimes surreal) way. The film does succeed in making you feel lost, confused, and overwhelmed, much like some of its main characters.

7

‘Rescue Dawn’ (2006)

Directed by Werner Herzog

Rescue Dawn is, for the most part, a movie about survival, following a pilot who’s shot down over Laos, while fighting in the Vietnam War, and has to survive in the jungle largely on his own. It was directed by Werner Herzog, who’s got a knack for making “man vs. nature” sorts of movies, and Christian Bale is in this in the lead role, being as typically committed to the material at hand as ever.

A war movie doesn’t have to be based on a true story to feel realistic, but the story of Rescue Dawn was a real one, and it’s further done in a way to make you feel the experience the pilot went through. Further, Herzog has also directed a documentary about the real-life man, Dieter Dengler, called Little Dieter Needs to Fly.

6

‘Born on the Fourth of July’ (1989)

Directed by Oliver Stone

While Tom Cruise is now best known for doing wild stunts in various action movies, there was a time when he seemed more focused on proving his worth as a dramatic actor. Magnolia might represent this side of Cruise best, but it was Born on the Fourth of July that might well have shown off Cruise’s dramatic side first (well, this or Rain Man), as he plays real-life soldier turned political activist Ron Kovic here.

Kovic is paralyzed while fighting in the Vietnam War, and turns to activism following such a life-changing injury, organizing protests against the ongoing U.S. involvement in the conflict. Born on the Fourth of July certainly isn’t subtle (Cruise goes big, and there’s no question here how director Oliver Stone feels), but it’s got a certain forcefulness that does prove effective. It’s an exceptionally passionate film, and one that’s all about exploring the physical and psychological consequences of being sent overseas to fight in a violent conflict.

5

‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978)

Directed by Michael Cimino

The structure of The Deer Hunter makes it pretty clear what the movie’s trying to do: showcase life before, during, and after involvement in the Vietnam War for a group of American men. It takes its time narratively, playing out over three hours and devoting roughly one third to each section of such a three-part story (but that runtime still pales in comparison to The Human Condition trilogy, which does a similar before/during/after thing for World War II, but is made up of three movies that are all at least three hours each).

There are historical inaccuracies in The Deer Hunter, or some things that are exaggerated for dramatic effect, but the film itself feels grounded. It is also successful in what it sets out to do, as you get a clear idea of who these people were before the war, and then how fighting in it permanently changed them (and never for the better).

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Dehumanization is the central theme of Full Metal Jacket, a film comprised of two halves that don’t totally link narratively, but more than line up thematically. In the first half, you’re shown life in boot camp before deployment, with one particularly troubled soldier pushed to breaking point by a horrifying drill sergeant, and then in the second half, the chaos of combat itself is depicted.

Different people are cruel in different ways throughout both halves, and each half of the movie ends in an exceptionally violent sequence that drives home first, the horror of boot camp, and, second, the horror of war more broadly. In truth, the horror starts in boot camp. The process of dehumanization begins long before combat starts, and it’s one of the truths put forward by Full Metal Jacket that makes it an exceptionally difficult and troubling watch.

3

‘Platoon’ (1986)

Directed by Oliver Stone

A few years before Born on the Fourth of July, Oliver Stone made another Vietnam War movie very much critical of the U.S.’s involvement: Platoon. It’s anti-war while also being sympathetic to some of the young soldiers who are shown wrapped up in the conflict, with any sense of idealism or moral righteousness crushed by the scale, horror, and brutality of the war itself.

Stone might get a little carried away with the bombast here, but so much of Platoon still packs one hell of a punch. It is both cinematic and maybe a little faster-paced than you’d expect actual combat to be, but in showing the physical and emotional consequences of war throughout (and without ever shying away), Platoon does also work as something that feels like it captures certain realities.

2

‘Coming Home’ (1978)

Directed by Hal Ashby

Released the same year as The Deer Hunter, Coming Home is also a movie that looks at how war impacts life after one’s involvement in combat is over, but here, it does so while barely showing any actual combat. The setting is, for the most part, the U.S., and the struggles of life post-Vietnam for the soldiers who survived are the main things explored throughout.

Also, Coming Home is a romance film, highlighting how the Vietnam War influences the relationships of a trio of people: two drift apart, and then one strikes up a new relationship with a paralyzed veteran. It’s a film that gets extra points for doing what it does so soon after the Vietnam War concluded, and for having a very “real” feel throughout (in a very New Hollywood way, parts feel improvised, no one looks particularly glamorous, and real locations seem to be favored over sets).

1

‘Hamburger Hill’ (1987)

Directed by John Irvin

A little like Platoon, but with less of an emphasis on narrative and more of a focus on just telling it like it was (for lack of a better term), Hamburger Hill is very blunt and also somewhat underrated. Well, overshadowed might be the better word to use, since Platoon and Full Metal Jacket came out around the same time, and tend to be the Vietnam War movies most people remember.

But Hamburger Hill is more matter-of-fact than those movies, and it feels arguably more authentic, as a result. It might not be the best war film ever made, but it comes pretty close to feeling like one of the most “real” of all time, kind of doing for the Vietnam War what 2025’s Warfare did for the Iraq War.

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