Movies Like The Burmese Harp

If you liked The Burmese Harp (1956), 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
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
★ 8.2/10Also war and drama
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he…
2
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
★ 8.4/10Also war and drama
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his old life, he faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his…
3
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…
4
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…
5
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.
6
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
★ 8.2/10Also war and drama
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts…
7
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.
8
Emperor (2012)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and war
As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years…
9
Play Dirty (1969)
★ 6.3/10Also war and drama
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
10
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and war
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the…
11
The Steel Helmet (1951)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
A ragtag group of American stragglers battles against superior Communist troops in an abandoned Buddhist temple during the Korean War.
12
Running on Empty (1988)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then…
13
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
★ 6.9/10Also war and drama
A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave…
14
Prisoner of War (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also war
British RAF Wing Commander James Wright is captured by the Japanese during WWII and forced to fight in brutal hand-to-hand combat. The Japanese soldiers get more than they bargained for when Wright’s years of martial…
15
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…
16
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…
17
The Outpost (2020)
★ 6.9/10Also war and drama
A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a…
18
Lucky Strike (2026)
★ 6.6/10Also war
A wounded American soldier fights to survive behind enemy lines during WWII's Battle of the Bulge against the Germans, relying on his instinct, spy craft and a hand-radio to evade capture and find his way back to his…
19
Cross of Iron (1977)
★ 7.2/10Also 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…
20
Empire of the Sun (1987)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and war
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…