Ten Best Pacific World War II Movies

[Charles Martel]

Anybody else like Pacific WW II movies? I find they tend to be more realistic and honest than movies about the European theatre of operations.

I enjoy some of the old ones made during the war, since they tend to be less "politically correct" than some of the modern ones.

Here are my top ten Pacific WW II movies.


This is a great movie except for a fictional politically-correct romantic sub-plot.

#10

Midway (1976)

 

[Charles Martel]

A great movie. It was financed in part by China, since the Cultural Marxists in Hollywood would nowadays never finance a movie like this one, which portrays white American men as heroic.

#9

Midway (2019)

 

[Charles Martel]

This is one of the very best submarine combat movies. Although I've never liked Burt Lancaster, he was well-suited for his role in this movie, and Clark Gable, who I consider a brilliant actor, was also perfectly cast. The first half of this movie is a bit dull, but creates the character development necessary for the second half to be highly enjoyable.

#8

Run Silent Run Deep (1958)

 

[Charles Martel]

I enjoy the unique style of director Terrence Malick, he creates a feeling that you're actually right there watching the events unfold.

#7

The Thin Red Line (1998)

 

[Charles Martel]

This is a patriotic movie about the Doolittle Raid, the first American air raid on mainland Japan. Parts of the movie were a bit too liberal with the Chinese being portrayed as saintly (historical fact is that Chinese captured some of the Americans involved in the raid and turned them over to the Japanese, by whom they were then tortured and executed). Still, much of this film is historically accurate. The acting was very good and it portrays the American airmen as heroic.

#6

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

 

[Charles Martel]

This a very realistic, historically accurate movie about the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima from a Japanese perspective. It's actually somewhat more honest and less "politically correct" than Flags of Our Fathers, which covers the same battle.

#5

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

 

[Charles Martel]

Although during later years his movies were overly liberal, probably made so at the urging of the producers, David Lean was as skillful a director as there ever was. This movie might be considered "racist" nowadays, because it portrays the Japanese as less competent than the British in engineering and less capable of quickly and efficiently building a large bridge.

#4

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

 

[Charles Martel]

The critics didn't like this one perhaps because, unlike most Hollywood movies, it portrays Christians in a positive way. It isn't as "politically correct" as most modern war movies - it honors the brave Americans who liberated the POW camp and is honest about the cruelty of the Japanese. There was great reluctance on the part of the owners of the movie company to release it after it was made - it was filmed in 2002 but not shown in cinemas until 2005.

#3

The Great Raid (2005)

 

[Charles Martel]

This is a good old-fashioned war movie portraying the American soldiers as decent and courageous men, which most of them probably were. It would be great to have the same script, word for word, in a movie made with modern technology.

#2

Bataan (1943)

 

[Charles Martel]

My number one is The Pacific, actually a TV mini-series rather then a movie. Most of the episodes (those written by Bruce McKenna and Lawrence Andries) are consistent with history, realistic and honest. Others episodes are not quite as good (those written by Robert Schenkkan), but overall it's excellent.

The Pacific focuses on several marines such as John Basilone and Eugene Sledge and gives accurate accounts of battles that involved the 1st Marine Division such as Guadalcanal, Peleliu and Okinawa. It provides a great history lesson for anyone who wants to learn about the Pacific War.

There were no African-Americans in the 1st Marine Division at that time, and true to history, there are none in any of the combat scenes in The Pacific.

#1

The Pacific (2010)

 

[Extra Point]

I'm surprised that The Sands of Iwo Jima is not on your list.

 

[Leonardfan]

My number one is The Pacific, actually a TV mini-series rather then a movie. Most of the episodes (those written by Bruce McKenna and Lawrence Andries) are consistent with history, realistic and honest. Others episodes are not quite as good (those written by Robert Schenkkan), but overall it's excellent.

The Pacific focuses on several marines such as John Basilone and Eugene Sledge and gives accurate accounts of battles that involved the 1st Marine Division such as Guadalcanal, Peleliu and Okinawa. It provides a great history lesson for anyone who wants to learn about the Pacific War.

There were no African-Americans in the 1st Marine Division at that time, and true to history, there are none in any of the combat scenes in The Pacific.

#1

The Pacific (2010)

The Pacific was a great series. I felt it was better than the very good Band of Brothers. It was very different - the tone of the series was darker and more graphic. I felt it did a great job representing the stark differences between the war in the Pacific and the war in Western Europe. I actually bought my uncle the book Eugene Sledge wrote “With the old breed”. Got it for him as a Christmas present a few years back. Need to read it myself.

 

[Charles Martel]

I'm surprised that The Sands of Iwo Jima is not on your list.

I was disappointed in that one. Too much hackneyed conversation, not enough about the actual battle.

 

[Booth]

1. Unbroken
2. Flags of Our Fathers
3. Letters From Iwo Jima
4. Sands of Iwo Jima
5. Empire of the Sun
6. Midway
7. Windtalkers
8. Pearl Harbor
9. MacArthur
10. The Thin Red Line

 

[Booth]

I made this thread before the movie Midway (2019) came out. That one should definitely be in my top ten.

I probably could have included the Midway (1976) movie too, overall it was very good despite the annoyingly absurd fictional romantic sub-plot.

I want to thank you for your list. I would have never heard of the movie The Pacific. I also agree with you about the 1976 movie Midway and the romance plot was just totally out of place.