Best Vietnam War Movies of All Time - Based on 125 Published Sources

Scene from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987), ranked second best Vietnam War movie.

Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings for best Vietnam War movies of all time. The rankings for Vietnam War movies are based on our pre-launch rankings for its parent genre, best war movies of all-time, which captures war movies more broadly. The top Vietnam War movie rankings are based on the 125 movie ranking sources we found for war movies (see bottom of the war page for sources). In the list of war movies, there were 120 movies, and of those, 10 were Vietnam War movies; these 10 Vietnam War films are ranked below.  As with the broader war genre, these Vietnam War movie rankings are based on rankings created by movie experts as well as rankings from polling sites that were found online.

The Vietnam War implemented a draft and was arguably one of the most controversial wars in U.S. history. Not all soldiers received a hero’s welcome. Many men wrote about their experiences, and the film industry was interested in capturing their vivid depictions of a war amidst widespread political and moral introspection. Francis Ford Coppola's  Apocalypse Now (1979), the all-time best war movie and Vietnam War movie, showcases the feelings men had to confront during what few choices they had. What caused men to go insane? Are they correct to feel that way? In this sense, although loosely based on the book Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now (1979) is a film that delved deep into the self-reflection and conflicting motivation of soldiers. Full Metal Jacket (1987), ranked the third best war movie and second best Vietnam War film, also asks soldiers to self-reflect on their indoctrination during their earliest days in the military. Platoon (1986), ranked third best Vietnam War film, features a soldier who realizes he is not needed in the unnecessary war. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) must confront the enemy and figure out how to survive within his platoon, an experience other soldiers can relate to. The Deer Hunter (1979) follows three young men in their plight to survive capture by the Viet Cong and the psychological aftermath of their service. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Best Director (Michael Cimino), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. These films all capture, in different ways, how the Vietnam War forced men to question war and whether or not they should fight a war they did not support. This is what sets Vietnam War movies apart from other war movie sub-genres. 

Top 10 Vietnam War Movies

Percent of online top fives movies appear in shown

1 . Apocalypse Now (1979): 60.4%

2 . Full Metal Jacket (1987): 33.8%

3 . Platoon (1986): 29.0%

4 . The Deer Hunter (1979): 6.45%

5 . Born on the Fourth of July (1989): 2.41%

6 . We were soldiers (2002): 2.41%

7 . The Green Berets (1968): 1.61%

8 (tied). The Boys in Company C (1978): .806%

8 (tied). Casualties of War (1989): .806%

10 . Good Morning Vietnam (1987): .806%

For the sources these are based on, please see our best War movies page. 

Identifying the top movies is our mission.

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