Movies Like Fires on the Plain

If you liked Fires on the Plain (1959), a drama and war movie directed by Kon Ichikawa, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
★ 6.9/10Also war and drama
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley…
2
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and war
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
3
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and…
4
King Rat (1965)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and war
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has…
5
Back to Bataan (1945)
★ 6.1/10Also war and drama
A U.S. Army colonel leads local fighters in a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese in the Philippines.
6
Too Late the Hero (1970)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and war
A WWII film set on a Pacific island. Japanese and allied forces occupy different parts of the island. When a group of British soldiers are sent on a mission behind enemy lines, things don't go exactly to plan. This…
7
Cross of Iron (1977)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and war
It is 1943, and the German army—ravaged and demoralised—is hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of the madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky…
8
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and war
In WWII Western Germany, Private David Manning reluctantly leaves behind a mortally wounded fellow soldier and searches for survivors from his platoon, only to learn from commanding officer Captain Pritchett that they…
9
The Thin Red Line (1998)
★ 7.4/10Also drama and war
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows…
10
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
★ 7.2/10Also war and drama
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot…
11
The Last Samurai (2003)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and war
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the…
12
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
★ 8.2/10Also drama and war
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The…
13
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
★ 8.2/10Also drama and war
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
14
Hamburger Hill (1987)
★ 6.6/10Also war and drama
The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill… up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They…
15
Jacknife (1989)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and war
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
16
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
★ 8.1/10Also drama and war
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.
17
Escape from Sobibor (1987)
★ 7.2/10Also drama and war
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
18
Decision Before Dawn (1951)
★ 6.8/10Also war
WWII is entering its last phase: Germany is in ruins, but does not yield. The US army lacks crucial knowledge about the German units operating on the opposite side of the Rhine, and decides to send two German prisoners…
19
The Last Full Measure (2020)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
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…
20
The Beast of War (1988)
★ 7.1/10Also war and drama
During the war in Afghanistan a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains.