Movies like The Last War (1961)
The best movies like The Last War (1961) are Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Testament (1983) and The Day After (1983). If The Last War hooked you with its drama and science fiction, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTokyo Story (1953)8.1/10 from 1,288 votes
- NewestDDT Hybrid Performer 2026 ~Kaisei Takechi 2nd Anniversary Show~ (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseRhapsody in August (1991)Also in Japanese
Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTestament (1983)
It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in California. As people begin coping with the devastating aftermath of the attacks — many suffer radiation poisoning — the Wetherly family tries to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day After (1983)
In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein is deep in his graduate studies. When the unthinkable happens and the bombs come down, the town's residents are thrust into the horrors of nuclear winter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRhapsody in August (1991)
An elderly Nagasaki hibakusha spends a summer caring for her four grandchildren, whose curiosity about the 1945 bombing stirs buried memories and moral questions. When an American nephew from Hawaii visits, the family confronts grief, guilt, and the possibility of reconciliation across generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGrave of the Fireflies (2005)
Hisako loses her home in Tokyo to Allied bombing. With her husband fighting somewhere in Asia, she and her two children evacuate to a suburb of Kobe, where they share a house with Hisako's cousin, Kyoko. Kobe is bombed and Kyoko is killed. Hisako is forced to take care of Kyoko's two children in addition to her own, but there is not enough food for everyone.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKabei: Our Mother (2008)
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Rain (1989)
Shigematsu Shizuma, who lives with his family in a village near Fukuyama, was in Hiroshima with his wife and niece just after the devastating atomic bombing, a tragedy that cruelly took the lives of thousands of people and forever marked the harsh existence of the survivors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaborosi (1995)
A tragedy strikes a young woman's life without warning or reason. She continues living while searching for meaning in a lonely world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTokyo Twilight (1957)
Two sisters learn about the existence of their long-lost biological mother, but the younger is unable to accept the fact that she was abandoned as a child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen the Wind Blows (1986)
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Hen in the Wind (1948)
Tokiko patiently awaits her husband's return from WWII when her four-year old son falls ill. She takes him to the doctor but has no means of paying, so she resorts to prostitution. A month later, her husband returns to find his desperate wife, who tells him the truth. Together, they must deal with the consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShoplifters (2018)
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTokyo Story (1953)
The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)
The arranged marriage between a capricious woman from Tokyo high society and a quiet rustic man is tested by a marital crisis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sea of Trees (2016)
In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfter the Storm (2016)
Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIntentions of Murder (1964)
The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNobody Knows (2004)
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEarly Summer (1951)
In postwar Tokyo, Noriko lives with her extended family. Although she enjoys her career and her social life, her more traditional family worries about her single marital status at the advanced age of 28. 40-year-old business associate Takako proposes, Noriko's family press her into accepting, but when her widowed childhood friend Kenkichi returns to the neighborhood, she finds her heart leading in another direction.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisLa Jetée (1962)
A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBunker (2014)
Two isolated Canadian soldiers come to grip with a difficult order: launch a nuclear strike against the former USSR, some 25 years after the end of the Cold War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
TJPW club eX: Chapter Pause (2026)
TJPW club eX: Chapter Pause was a professional wrestling event promoted by Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). It was held on February 15, 2026 at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo, Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Apartment (1996)
Max is a former playboy who has decided to settle down by marrying his current love, Muriel. However, when Max catches a glimpse of the great lost love of his life, he becomes obsessed with rekindling their relationship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIzo (2004)
Izo is an assassin in the service of a Tosa lord and Imperial supporter. After killing dozens of the Shogun's men, Izo is captured and crucified. Instead of being extinguished, his rage propels him through the space-time continuum to present-day Tokyo. Here Izo transforms himself into a new, improved killing machine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDDT Hybrid Performer 2026 ~Kaisei Takechi 2nd Anniversary Show~ (2026)
Hybrid Performer 2026 was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), commemorating the second anniversary of crossover star Kaisei Takechi's in-ring debut. It took place on February 22, 2026, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Marigold New Years Golden Garden 2026 ~ Day 9 (2026)
Marigold New Years Golden Garden 2026 ~ Day 9 was a professional wrestling event promoted by Dream Star★Fighting Marigold. It took place on February 13, 2026 at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Heatwave Over Flowers 5 ~The Only Sauna in the World~ (2026)
Heatwave Over Flowers 5 ~The Only Sauna in the World~ was a professional wrestling event promoted by DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), primarily focused on the stable The37KAMIINA. It took place on February 14, 2026, at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Iron Eagle II (1988)
Chappy Sinclair is called to gather together a mixed Soviet/U.S. strike force that will perform a surgical strike on a massively defended nuclear missile site in the Middle East. Chappy finds that getting the Soviet and U.S. Pilots to cooperate is only the most minor of his problems as he discovers someone in the Pentagon is actively sabotaging his mission.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMarvelous Mio 10th Anniversary (2026)
Mio 10th Anniversary was a professional wrestling event promoted by Marvelous That's Women Pro Wrestling, commemorating the tenth anniversary of company star Mio Momono's in-ring debut. It took place on February 13, 2026, at Shin-Kiba 1st RING in Tokyo, Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Last War and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Last War?
The closest matches to The Last War are Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Testament (1983) and The Day After (1983). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Last War?
Start with Panic in Year Zero! (1962), the closest match to The Last War.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Last War?
Tokyo Story (1953), rated 8.1/10 by 1,288 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Last War?
DDT Hybrid Performer 2026 ~Kaisei Takechi 2nd Anniversary Show~ (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Last War?
Yes: Rhapsody in August (1991), Grave of the Fireflies (2005) and Kabei: Our Mother (2008).
How are movies similar to The Last War chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Last War, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.