The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953 after North Korea invaded South Korea. Though the war only lasted for three years, several other countries were pulled in to help each country, including the United States, which fought on South Korea’s side. Several films have been made in the years since the war, and we have selected the eleven best Korean War movies for you to stream.
11. The Sacrifice (2020)
Our eleventh Korean War movie selection is The Sacrifice, which came out recently. The film is set in 1953 when the Korean War is entering its final stages. The People’s Volunteer Army of China has launched an attack in Kumsong, and soldiers must defend themselves from bombings and repair bridges as they await reinforcements. One of the more unknown battles, this film brings a little bit of forgotten history to light.
–IMDb score: 5.5
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10. The Battle of Jangsari (2019)
Our tenth selection of the Korean War movies list is titled The Battle of Jangsari, which tells the story of the Jangsari Landing Operation. The operation consisted of 772 student soldiers with an average age of 17 who only received two weeks of training before getting tossed into the front lines. These soldiers paved the way for the Incheon Landing Operation and helped turn the tide of the war.
–IMDb score: 6.2
9. Devotion (2022)
One of the most recent films on our list is Devotion. The film is set in 1950, focusing on Ensign Jesse Brown and Lt. Tom Hudner who join the Navy Fight Squadron VF-32 at the same time. Brown gets assigned as Hudner’s wingman and the two become best friends. When the Korean War breaks out, the VF-32 provides air support, with each mission being extremely dangerous and vital to the war effort.
–IMDb score: 6.6
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8. Sayonara (1958)
Blending both love and war is our eighth selection Sayonara. Major Lloyd Gruver is a Korean War pilot who supports the military opposition to marriages between American troops and Japanese women. But when he meets a certain Japanese performer, he is plunged into a world of navigating a possible U.S. Air Force conflict and Japan’s cultural taboos.
–IMDb score: 7.0
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7. Pork Chop Hill (1959)
One of the major battles of the Korean War was Pork Chop Hill, also the title of our seventh film selection. While negotiators are talking in Panmunjom to bring the conflict to an end, U.S. Lt. Joe Clemons is ordered to launch an attack on the Communist Chinese forces and retake Pork Chop Hill. This film was released not long after the end of the war and shows the gruesome events that happened on Pork Chop Hill.
–IMDb score: 7.0
6. 71: Into the Fire (2010)
Student soldiers become something more in the film 71: Into the Fire. While waiting for UN troops to arrive after the invasion, the South Korean army assembled to protect the Nakdong River. 71 student soldiers were left behind to guard the city of Pohang and a middle school, and later earned the mission of defending the country from North Korean troops.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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5. The Front Line (2011)
The Front Line gives a glimpse at the final battle of the Korean War, which later determines the border between North and South Korea. When the ceasefire is ordered, it doesn’t mean that all fronts have stopped fighting. On the Eastern front line of the Aerok Hills, the fighting continues in a race to set a new border. As the fighting continues between North and South, we get to see soldiers interact with each other, some of them with pasts that stretch beyond the war.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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4. Time Limit (1957)
Released four years after the ending of the Korean War was Time Limit, our fourth Korean War movie selection. In the film military investigator Colonel William Edwards is assigned to a case surrounding Major Harry Cargill. Cargill is a Korean POW accused of aiding the enemy, to which Cargill admits he is guilty. Though Edwards’ superiors want to move the case to a court-martial, Edwards himself believes that Cargill is innocent.
–IMDb score: 7.3
3. M*A*S*H (1970)
You’ve probably heard of the M*A*S*H* TV show, but did you know there was also a movie by the same name made in 1970? In the film, the staff of a Korean War hospital uses comedy and jokes to keep the tragedy and horror of the Korean War at bay. The film inspired the television series and also won an Oscar for best screenplay.
–IMDb score: 7.4
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2. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Our second-best Korean War movie is called The Manchurian Candidate and was filmed in 1962. Towards the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers gets captured by communists and brainwashed. When the platoon returns home after the war, they are lauded as heroes. When the platoon commander starts having strange nightmares though, he and a fellow soldier race to uncover a terrible plot.
–IMDb score: 7.9
1. Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Our final selection for the best Korean War movies is called Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War. The film takes place in South Korea in 1950, and stars brothers Jin-tae Lee and Jin-seok Lee. When the younger brother Jin-seok is forced to join the army after North Korea’s invasion, Jin-tae also enlists to protect his brother. As Jin-tae continues to take dangerous missions to protect his younger brother, the relationship between the two will begin to deteriorate into a dramatic ending.
–IMDb score: 8.0
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