Movies like The Storm of the Pacific (1960)
The best movies like The Storm of the Pacific (1960) are Midway (1976), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and They Were Expendable (1945). If The Storm of the Pacific hooked you with its war and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Thin Red Line (1998)7.4/10 from 3,495 votes
- NewestOperation Dynamo (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseWife of a Spy (2020)Also in Japanese
Midway (1976)
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Were Expendable (1945)
After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Pacific (1951)
During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up personally. Even more personal is his quest to win back his ex-wife, a nurse; but he'll have to win her back from a navy flier who also happens to be his commander's little brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPearl Harbor (2001)
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun Silent, Run Deep (1958)
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalls of Montezuma (1951)
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAir Force (1943)
The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlags of Our Fathers (2006)
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, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWife of a Spy (2020)
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Barney Greenwald, a skeptical lawyer, reluctantly defends an officer of the navy who took control of the Caine from its captain, Lt. Philip Francis Queeg, while caught in a violent sea storm. As the court-martial proceeds, however, Greenwald increasingly questions if it was truly a mutiny or rather the courageous acts of a group of sailors who could not trust their unstable leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDestination Tokyo (1943)
During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidway (2019)
The story of the Battle of Midway, and the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome massive odds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Final Countdown (1980)
During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAttack Force Z (1982)
Sent to rescue survivors from the site of a plane crash in the South Pacific during WWII, Captain Kelly and his elite squad of Australian commandos must keep tabs on a defecting Japanese official who could hold the secret to peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisIsoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet (2011)
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the Japanese Naval commander who was given the order to attack Pearl Harbour, an order he was duty bound to obey which went against his own personal beliefs. While this infamous attack is a low point in Japanese and US history it wouldn’t have happened if the Japanese government had listened to Yamamoto in 1939 and searched for a more peaceful way to end their war campaign, proving his many ominous presages of the outcomes of the attack to come true.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlight of the Intruder (1991)
U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Jake Grafton and his bombardier buddy, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Cole, are two soldiers embedded in the Vietnam War growing frustrated by the military's constraints on their missions. Despite the best efforts of their commanding officer, Cmdr. Frank Camparelli, to re-engage them, this disillusioned pair decide to take the war effort into their own hands with an explosive battle plan that could well get them court-martialed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisAge of Heroes (2011)
The true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisTombstone of the Fireflies (2008)
Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Closed to the Light (2021)
In a moment captured in time, die-hard Italian fascists conduct reprisal executions of civilians in Lombardy during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
The Battle of the Rails (1946)
During the Second World War, many French railway workers participated in the resistance. Daily acts of sabotage, spectacular derailments: the railway network took many actions against Nazi occupation. Stationmanager Camargue and his deputy, Athos, risk their lives in managing the network in their sector.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisResistance (2020)
The story of mime Marcel Marceau as he works with a group of Jewish boy scouts and the French Resistance to save the lives of ten thousand orphans during World War II.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Dynamo (2024)
Two soldiers are thrown together and make their way through German-occupied Dunkirk. After several agonising close calls they make it within sight of safety. A split second decision gives only one of them a chance at survival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Conquered City (1962)
Filmed in 1962 but not released in the US until 1966 (with 20 of its 108 minutes removed), Conquered City is an all-star World War II drama financed in Italy and filmed in Greece. An Athens hotel, full of refugees and expatriates of all nationalities, is captured by Allied troops in the closing days of the War. British Major David Niven has been ordered to prevent a cache of weapons hidden in the hotel from falling into the hands of renegade troops. He cannot allow himself to trust anyone--not even the most innocent-looking (or attractive) of guests. Originally titled La Citta Prigioniera. Conquered City was released in English-speaking countries outside the U.S. as Captive City.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent it, Hitler orders an all-out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn the Name of the Motherland (1943)
The film deals with a Russian battalion under siege by the Germans during the Second World War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Katyn (2007)
On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland, unleashing World War II. On September 17th, the Soviet Red Army crosses the border. The Polish army, unable to fight on two fronts, is defeated. Thousands of Polish men, both military and government officials, are captured by the invaders. Their fate will only be known several years later.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like The Storm of the Pacific and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Storm of the Pacific?
The closest matches to The Storm of the Pacific are Midway (1976), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and They Were Expendable (1945). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Storm of the Pacific?
Start with Midway (1976), the closest match to The Storm of the Pacific.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Storm of the Pacific?
The Thin Red Line (1998), rated 7.4/10 by 3,495 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Storm of the Pacific?
Operation Dynamo (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Storm of the Pacific?
Yes: Wife of a Spy (2020), Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet (2011) and Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008).
How are movies similar to The Storm of the Pacific chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Storm of the Pacific, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.