If Vietnam War films have anything in common, it’s that they are all ruthless explorations of the horrors of war and the impact of military actions on people — both soldiers and civilians. In many ways, cinema is a way to process an incredibly complex topic like armed conflicts in history. This is especially true for large-scale events like the Vietnam War, one of the darkest periods in the history of American military intervention and foreign policy.

DE EN ES FR IT PT RU

DE EN ES FR IT PT RU

This popular theme in war films — the Vietnam War — was a proxy war within the larger Cold War, a global ideological and sociopolitical confrontation between capitalist and communist superpowers in the 20th century. Lasting from 1955 to 1975, the Vietnam War significantly influenced cultural changes in the U.S. during those decades, becoming a catalyst for the anti-war movement and pacifist sentiments. From the transatlantic cultural exchange sparked by the war to the atrocities committed by U.S. armed forces on foreign soil and hidden from the public—Vietnam War film plots are not for the faint of heart.

30 Da 5 Bloods, 2020

Four black veterans battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking the remains of their fallen squad leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide.

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29 Uncommon Valor, 1983

A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese. Led by his father (a retired Marine Colonel) and supported by a rich businessman whose son is also a P.O.W., the group engages in a dangerous and violent adventure trying to rescue the P.O.W.s, and at the same time, re-direct their lives.

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28 Dien Bien Phu (Diên Biên Phú), 1992

An American reporter finds himself in the middle of the 57-day battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam between the French army and the Vietminh, which finally resulted in the defeat and surrender of the French forces and France’s eventual withdrawal from Vietnam.

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27 Boat People (投奔怒海 | Tau ban no hoi), 1982

A Japanese reporter arrives in Vietnam hoping to capture the essence the society under the rule of the Communist Party. With the help of a vietnamese girl, he eventually opens his eyes to the painful truth of postwar Vietnam.

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26 The Last Full Measure, 2018

The incredible true story of Vietnam War hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen medic who personally saved over sixty men. Thirty-two years later, Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman investigates a Congressional Medal of Honor request for Pitsenbarger and uncovers a high-level conspiracy behind the decades-long denial of the medal, prompting Huffman to put his own career on the line to seek justice for the fallen airman.

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25 Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, 2019

In August 1966, in a Vietnamese rubber plantation called Long Tan, 108 young and inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives against 2500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers.

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24 The Post, 2017

In 1971, The New York Times has access to classified documents about the Vietnam War. However, the government uses the justice department to stop the distribution of newspapers claiming violation of the national security laws. Immediately after, the Washington Post has access to similar documents but they decide to face the government and publish the newspapers against the will of their lawyers and investors.

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23 Dead Presidents, 1995

This action film, directed by the Hughes brothers, depicts a heist of old bills, retired from circulation and destined by the government to be «money to burn.» However, more broadly, it addresses the issues of Black Americans’ involvement in the Vietnam War and their subsequent disillusionment with progress in social issues and civil rights back home in the United States, during the 1960’s.

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22 The Boys in Company C, 1978

1967. A group of new recruits arrive at a US Marine base for training. They’re from all over the US and all walks of life and will need to work together to survive in combat. After training they’re sent to Vietnam where the thing that is most likely to get them killed isn’t the enemy but the agendas and incompetence of their officers.

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21 Bullet in the Head (喋血街頭 | Dip huet gai tau), 1990

In 1967, on the way to the wedding of a friend a young man is accosted by a local gang member. Later, the three friends administer justice, in the process of which the gang member is killed, so they leave Hong Kong to avoid the police and the gang. They run black market supplies to Saigon and get embroiled in the war, being arrested as Viet Cong, then later captured by the Viet Cong, and find that their friendship is tested to the limits as they try to escape.

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