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The Vietnam Conflict’s lingering consequences are as much a part of popular culture in 2020 as the war itself was in the late 1960s. The Vietnam War is still a contentious topic today. The battle in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia lasted from November 1955 until April 30, 1975, when the “Fall of Saigon” occurred. People from all around the planet were able to tune in and also watch some of the horrific events occurring hundreds of miles away and express their opinions on the conflict in novel ways. Since the United States’ participation in Vietnam started in the early 1960s, the conflict significantly influenced American society.
Let us look into the list of the best Vietnam war movies on Netflix:
1. LBJ (2016 film)
Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Joey Hartstone
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Michael Stahl-David, Richard Jenkins
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
LBJ is a 2016 U.S political drama film depicting the rise to power of US President Lyndon B. Johnson. The political turmoil that Vice President Johnson encountered when he was catapulted into the presidency by an assassin’s gunshot in November 1963 is the focus of LBJ. Lyndon Johnson faces adversaries from inside his party and the White House in the early aftermath of the Kennedy assassination as he desperately tries to protect the legitimacy of his administration before it slips from his fingers forever. It is definitely under the list of top 100 Vietnam war movies.
2. American Gangster (2007)
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Steven Zaillian
Cast: Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
It is indeed one of the best Vietnam war movies on Netflix. Frank Lucas works as a driver for one of Harlem’s most powerful mobsters in this film. He does this by purchasing heroin straight from the source in Southeast Asia and devising a novel method of bringing the narcotics into the United States. Thus, he begins to control the inner-city drug trade via inventiveness and a rigorous business ethic, blocking the roads with purer products at low prices. Meanwhile, experienced detective Richie Roberts detects a shift in the mob’s power structure and seeks to bring his foe to justice.
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: David Benioff, Skip Woods
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10
Logan and Victor, two mutant brothers two hundred years ago, have experienced emotional issues and only rely on each other. However, Logan’s tranquil existence is disrupted when his ruthless brother, Victor Creed, murders Kayla. Logan’s desire for vengeance drives him to the Weapon X program, where he undertakes a painful surgery to bond adamantium to his bones, making him practically indestructible and far more capable than Victor. It is one of the best entertaining and action Vietnam war movies to watch. Do watch all x men movies in chronological order to completely understand the origin of wolverine.
4. Not Fade Away (film) (2012)
Director: David Chase
Writers: David Chase
Cast: James Gandolfini, John Magaro, Jack Huston
IMDB Rating: 6/10
Doug quit college in 1960s New Jersey to focus on the rock band he started in high school, much to his father’s dismay. Meanwhile, Douglas and Wells are given a chance to perform for Jerry Ragovoy 2 years after the band’s formation. There’s also his working-class father, who wants Douglas to put in the effort while he sees his own life fill up with regrets. This movie gives the feels of authentic 1980s Vietnam war movies.
5. Love and Honor (2013)
Director: Danny Mooney
Writers: Jim Burnstein, Garrett K. Schiff
Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Austin Stowell, Teresa Palmer
IMDB Rating: 5.7/10
Love and Honor is a romantic drama film released in 2013. The tragics are the focus of the narrative. When a young soldier in Vietnam is rejected by his homegirl, he and his closest friend plan to go AWOL and return to the United States to win her back. They make some life-altering decisions while on a covert voyage back to the United States, where they learn the truth about love, honor, and commitment. This might not be one of the best Vietnam war movies on Netflix, but its storyline is captivating.
6. We Were Soldiers (2002)
Director: Randall Wallace
Writers: Randall Wallace
Cast: Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
In the Ia Drang valley of Vietnam in 1965, the 1st Battalion, 7 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division fought against overwhelming odds. This gripping military movie depicts the real narrative of the first major combat between US and North Vietnamese soldiers. It’s a picture of extraordinary bravery and nobility in the face of adversity, military devotion, and the courage and suffering of men and women at home and abroad. It is in our list of top 100 Vietnam war movies.
7. Detroit (film) (2017)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writers: Mark Boal
Cast: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
The real tale of its most horrific events of the summer of 1967 in Detroit, when the city was shaken by civil unrest. In 1967, a police raid in Detroit ended in one of the biggest racial riots in US history. The cops surround the hotel and put everyone up against the wall, wanting to know who the gunman was. Three unarmed men are gunned and killed by the end of the night, while numerous more are severely assaulted.
8. All the Way (film) (2016)
Director: Jay Roach
Writers: Robert Schenkkan
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Melissa Leo
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
It’s an election year, so it’s a good time to remember that change in our nation takes blood, sweat, and tears. It’s beneficial to reflect on one of the pivotal moments in the United States’ political system at a time when the country feels more divided than ever. In the tumultuous aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s death, Lyndon B. Johnson was elected President of the United States and spent his first year in office trying to enact the Civil Rights Act.
9. Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Writers: Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10
A disgraced monster hunter persuades the US government to sponsor a voyage to an uncharted South Pacific island. The crew heads to “Skull Island” under the pretext of geological study. The enormous ape attacks the unit, dispersing the survivors all across the island. Kong, Conrad says, guards the island and its inhabitants from subterranean creatures and is not to be slain.
10. Dead Presidents (1995)
Director: Albert Hughes
Writers: Allen Hughes, Michael Henry Brown
Cast: Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
After a terrible tour of service in Vietnam, soldier Anthony Curtis comes to his Bronx home. However, Anthony and his pals’ misery continues as they struggle to find regular jobs and support for their families in a struggling economy. He was exposed to brutality in Vietnam, he can’t find employment, he’s begun drinking, and his wife is nagging him about not being able to maintain his family.
11. The Fog Of War (2003)
Director: Errol Morris
Writer: Errol Morris
Cast: Robert McNamara
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
Every scene in this film is fraught with ambiguity, and there is minimal space for errors regarding split-second judgments. However, mistakes are all too often discovered in retrospect, and leaders regret their decisions. The troubled McNamara is given a forum in this Academy Award-winning documentary to address his and the US government’s conduct in Southeast Asia.
12. The Veteran (2006)
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Writers: J. Stephen Maunder, John Flock
Cast: Ally Sheedy, Bobby Hosea, Michael Ironside
IMDB Rating: 3.8/10
Robert Miller, a veteran paratrooper, is going home to his house in a violently deteriorating South London after serving in Afghanistan. This soldier uncovers a plot involving the intelligence agencies and a group of drug traffickers after recovering from the war in Afghanistan. Miller obtains a job in clandestine surveillance through an ex-army comrade. He’s quickly recruited into an undercover operation to maintain tabs on a network of possible terrorist cells by a couple of unscrupulous government officials.
13. The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
Director: David Leaf
Writers: David Leaf, John Scheinfeld
Cast: John Lennon
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
A documentary on John Lennon’s life focused on the period when he transitioned from a musician to an anti-war campaigner. When John Lennon utilizes his singing talent and notoriety to advocate against the Vietnam War, he enrages the US government. David Leaf and John Scheinfeld’s film focuses on his life and antiwar actions with Yoko Ono from 1966 until 1976. It is the best Vietnam war documentary.
14. Rules of Engagement (2007)
Director: Ted Wass
Writers: Tom Hertz
Cast: Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, Oliver Hudson
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
When Hayes Hodges gets injured in Vietnam, his professional ambitions are crushed. He returns to America and becomes a disgruntled lawyer who takes on the Army to defend Colonel Terry Childers, accused of instigating a protest that results in the deaths of many protestors. But now, the country he so bravely served has placed him on trial for a ruined rescue operation.
15. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Jane Goldman, Simon Kinberg
Cast: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto, Wolverine, and Storm join the gang in a secluded Chinese temple. They are convinced that mutants are a menace to humankind, and create the Sentinels, massive robotic weapons that can identify a mutant gene and focus on the individual who has it. The Sentinels have grown into incredibly effective killing machines in the twenty-first century.
16. The Butler (2013)
Director: Lee Daniels
Writers: Danny Strong
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Cecil Gaines was a sharecropper’s kid who grew up as a domestic worker for the white family who casually demolished his farm in the 1920s. Cecil has had a front-row seat to history and the inner workings of the White House for the past three decades. On the other hand, his devotion to his “First Family” causes strain at home, distancing his wife and generating friction with his anti-establishment kid. Cecil must determine if he should take any action in his manner as his wife battles with her alcoholism and their headstrong eldest son, Louis, pushes for a just world. Watch one of the best Vietnam war movies on Netflix.
17. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Writers: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Daniel Flaherty, Yahya Jeremy Strong, Abdul-Mateen II
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, a peaceful demonstration devolved into a violent confrontation with police and the National Guard. Hayden and his colleagues are outraged by the Yippies’ outlandish actions undercutting their defense in defiance of the system, even as Seale is denied the opportunity to defend himself in his way. Hayden is allowed to argue for a moderate punishment after the trial.
18. The Last Full Measure (2019)
Director: Todd Robinson
Writers: Todd Robinson
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
The actual story of William H. Pitsenbarger, a Vietnam War hero. Scott Huffman, a rising political staffer at the Department of Defense, investigated a proposal to elevate an award to the Medal of Honour in 1999. For his service and deeds on the battlefield, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger Jr. receives the Medal of Honor.
19. Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
Director: Kriv Stenders
Writers: James Nicholas, Karel Segers
Cast: Travis Fimmel, Luke Bracey, Daniel Webber
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
In August 1966, 108 young and immature Australian and New Zealand soldiers were battling for their lives in a Vietnamese rubber plantation named Long Tan against 2500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. Even during the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam, Australian and New Zealand soldiers are fighting for their lives against overwhelming odds. The Battle of Long Tan is remembered as one of the most bloody and decisive battles in ANZAC history.
20. Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight (2013)
Director: Stephen Frears
Writers: Shawn Slovo
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Frank Langella, Ed Begley, Jr.
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
Muhammad Ali, the world champion boxer, requested a religious exemption from the military draught in 1964. His plea was denied, and he was charged and imprisoned to 5 years in prison for refusing enrollment into the army. In the film, Ali is not played by an actor; instead, Frears used genuine television news snippets of Ali performing, boxing, and giving interviews.
21. Independent Lens The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013)
Director: Bill Siegel
Writers: Jeffrey Dinsmore, Lois Vossen
Cast: Imam Dr. Nasir Ahmad, John Ali, Lonnie Ali
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
The Trials of Muhammad Ali examines the pivotal moments in Ali’s life. Cassius Clay’s conversion to Islam and unwillingness to participate in the Vietnam War resulted in his being banned from boxing and risking a five-year jail sentence. Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali, was caught in the crossfire of religious, racial, and wartime opposition before becoming the most famous face on the planet.
22. The Man Nobody Knew (2011)
Director: Carl Colby
Writers: Carl Colby
Cast: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Barbara Colby, Dale Andrade
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
The Man Nobody Knew follows the older Colby’s career in the United States intelligence agency, as well as his personal life, such as the secrets he hid from his family. Carl Colby, a filmmaker, digs into the biography of his father, former CIA Director William Colby, and the history of the intelligence collecting organization. Colby, who died in 1996 under unknown circumstances after going on a late-night solo canoeing expedition near his house, was discovered eight days later.
23. Da 5 Types Of Blood (2020)
Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo
Cast: Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
During the Vietnam War, a team of Black US Army troops from the 1st Infantry Division secures the crash site of a CIA jet and recovers the plane’s cargo, a cache of gold bars meant as a reward for the Lahu people’s assistance in defeating the Viet Cong.
24. The Post (film) (2017)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer
Cast: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
A four-decade-long cover-up forces the nation’s first female magazine publisher and reporter to enter a great press-government struggle. Reporters from the Post set out to find Ellsberg and a complete copy of the documents to complete. The Washington Post obtains access to comparable records shortly later, but they opt to go against their attorneys and investors and print the newspapers despite the government’s wishes.
25. Across the Universe (film) (2007)
Director: Julie Taymor
Writers: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Across The Universe is a fictitious love tale set in the 1960s, during the stormy years of anti-war protests, the fight for freedom of speech and civil rights, mental exploration, and rock & roll. The societal upheaval that comes with the Vietnam War threatens Jude and Lucy’s relationship as they grow in love.
26. Bad Ass (2012)
Director: Craig Moss
Writers: Craig Moss, Elliot Tishman
Cast: Danny Trejo, Charles S. Dutton, Patrick Fabian
IMDB Rating: 5.5/10
Frank Vega, a decorated Vietnam hero, comes home only to be ostracised by society, leaving him jobless and without his high school love. When his closest buddy is murdered and the police are reluctant to investigate the case, a distinguished Vietnam War veteran takes matters into his own hands.
27. The Sapphires (2012)
Director: Wayne Blair
Writers: Keith Thompson, Tony Briggs
Cast: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy
IMDB Rating: 7/10
The year 1968 was a watershed moment in history. This is the year that four young Aboriginal siblings from a foreign mission will remember for the rest of their lives. Protests and revolutions erupted in cities all around the world. As a result, indigenous Australians have been granted the right to vote for the first time.
28. American Pastoral (film) (2016)
Director: Ewan McGregor
Writers: John Romano
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning
IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
Returning to the beginning of the narrative, a young Swede persuades his father, glove billionaire Lou Levov, to allow him to marry his high school girlfriend. Swede devotes himself to locating his beloved adolescent daughter and restoring his family when she vanishes after being accused of performing a violent crime.
29. Bobby (2006)
Director: Emilio Estevez
Writers: Emilio Estevez
Cast: Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon
IMDB Rating: 7/10
Through the use of genuine broadcast and new video footage of the senator intercut with dramatic events involving largely fictional people, the film recreates the era’s atmosphere and recalls the aspirations aroused by Kennedy. Raja is the 18-year-old son of a rich Bombay businessman who is chilly and neglected by his parents.
30. Faith of Our Fathers (film) (2015)
Director: Carey Scott
Writers: Kevin Downes, Carey Scott
Cast: Kevin Downes, David A.R. White, Stephen Baldwin
IMDB Rating: 3.9/10
Two young dads report for duty in 1969, as the Vietnam War rages. A guy of enormous faith and skepticism. Wayne and John Paul, their sons, meet as strangers a quarter-century later. The two sons are led to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. by the letters. Carey Scott is the director.
31. Rescue Dawn (2006)
Director: Werner Herzog
Writers: Werner Herzog
Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
A real narrative of personal bravery and comradeship during the early days of the Vietnam War, based on the events of Lt. Dieter Dengler, whose Navy propeller plane was shot down in 1965. After surviving the collision, he is kidnapped by Pathet Lao. The province governor offers Dengler mercy if he signs a paper denouncing America, but he declines.
32. Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
Director: Rory Kennedy
Writers: Mark Bailey, Keven McAlester
Cast: Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Stuart Herrington
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
North Vietnamese soldiers closed in on Saigon in the closing days of the Vietnam War as South Vietnamese resistance collapsed. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats must choose between obeying White House instructions to evacuate solely U.S. nationals and risking reason to complete the fight and save the spent lives of as many South Vietnamese civilians as possible.
33. Vietnam in HD (2011)
Director: Sammy Jackson
Writers: Liz Reph, Ben Kaplan,
Cast: Adrian Grenier, Edward Burns, Kevin Connolly
IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
North Vietnamese soldiers closed in on Saigon in the closing days of the Vietnam War as South Vietnamese defenses collapsed. On the field, American soldiers and diplomats must choose between obeying White House instructions to evacuate solely U.S. nationals and risking treason in saving the lives of many more South Vietnamese civilians as possible. This comes among the Vietnam war movies of Marlon Brando-level acting.
34. Frost/Nixon (2008)
Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Peter Morgan
Cast: Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
This film is one of the best Vietnam war movies on Netflix. Richard Nixon chose British TV personality David Frost to do a one-on-one, exclusive interview with him in 1977, three years after the Watergate crisis that terminated his administration. Frost’s crew, meanwhile, had reservations about their boss’s ability to hold his own. However, while the cameras rolled, a tense war of wits ensued.
35. Faith of Fathers (2015)
Director: Carey Scott
Writers: Kevin Downes, Carey Scott
Cast: Kevin Downes, David A.R. White, Stephen Baldwin
IMDB Rating: 3.9/10
Two young dads report for the military during the Vietnam War. Their boys meet for the first time decades later before visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. When two strangers find a series of messages written by their dads together during their stay in Vietnam, they develop a relationship. The two sons are led to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. by the letters. Carey Scott is the director of this brilliant movie.
