Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keywords "japan", "japanese-army"

1. The Last Samurai (2003)

R | 154 min | Action, Drama

Nathan Algren, a US army veteran, is hired by the Japanese emperor to train his army in the modern warfare techniques. Nathan finds himself trapped in a struggle between two eras and two worlds.

Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Billy Connolly, William Atherton

Votes: 470,544 | Gross: $111.11M

2. Shin Godzilla (2016)

Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama, Horror

Japan is plunged into chaos upon the appearance of a giant monster.

Directors: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi | Stars: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi

Votes: 36,123 | Gross: $1.92M

3. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War

A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.

Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara

Votes: 309,878

4. Godzilla (1954)

Not Rated | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.

Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi

Votes: 39,539 | Gross: $2.42M

5. Empire of the Sun (1987)

PG | 153 min | Drama, War

A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers

Votes: 134,198 | Gross: $22.24M

6. Unbroken (I) (2014)

PG-13 | 137 min | Action, Biography, Drama

After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

Director: Angelina Jolie | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund

Votes: 182,589 | Gross: $115.64M

7. The Last Emperor (1987)

PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History

Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying

Votes: 111,399 | Gross: $43.98M

8. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War

British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.

Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa

Votes: 233,109 | Gross: $44.91M

9. In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

NC-17 | 109 min | Drama, Romance

A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.

Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui

Votes: 22,774

10. Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

R | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper, Joseph Cross, Jesse Bradford

Votes: 129,184 | Gross: $33.60M

11. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

R | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryô Kase

Votes: 169,952 | Gross: $13.76M

12. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)

Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

A UN reporter broadcasts a report on the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own. (US Version)

Directors: Ishirô Honda, Tom Montgomery | Stars: Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara, Yû Fujiki, Michael Keith

Votes: 11,202 | Gross: $2.73M

13. Man Behind the Sun (1988)

Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, History, Horror

Japanese troops round up Chinese and Russian prisoners of war and take them to unit 731, where they're horribly tortured and experimented on to test new biological weapons.

Director: Tun-Fei Mou | Stars: Gang Wang, Dai Yao Wu, Runshen Wang, Zhe Quan

Votes: 7,264

14. Dreams (1990)

PG | 119 min | Drama, Fantasy

A collection of tales based upon eight of director Akira Kurosawa's recurring dreams.

Directors: Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda | Stars: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baishô, Toshie Negishi, Mieko Harada

Votes: 29,139 | Gross: $1.96M

15. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama

A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami, Junya Fukuda

Votes: 13,728 | Gross: $0.44M

16. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

R | 123 min | Drama, War

During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.

Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano

Votes: 19,988 | Gross: $2.31M

17. Godzilla 1985 (1985)

PG | 87 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Thirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.

Directors: Koji Hashimoto, R.J. Kizer, Ishirô Honda, Toshio Masuda, Shûe Matsubayashi, Shirô Moritani | Stars: Raymond Burr, Keiju Kobayashi, Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi

Votes: 6,871 | Gross: $4.12M

18. Emperor (2012)

PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, History, War

As the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, General Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.

Director: Peter Webber | Stars: Matthew Fox, Colin Moy, Tommy Lee Jones, Eriko Hatsune

Votes: 14,838 | Gross: $3.35M

19. 55 Days at Peking (1963)

Unrated | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, U.S. marine, Maj. Matt Lewis, along with British consul, Sir Arthur Robertson, develop a plan to keep the rebels at bay until an international military relief force can arrive.

Directors: Nicholas Ray, Guy Green, Andrew Marton | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, David Niven, Flora Robson

Votes: 7,410

20. Flying Tigers (1942)

Approved | 102 min | Action, Drama, Romance

Capt. Jim Gordon's command of the famed American volunteer fighter group in China is complicated by the recruitment of an old friend who is a reckless hotshot.

Director: David Miller | Stars: John Wayne, John Carroll, Anna Lee, Paul Kelly

Votes: 4,245 | Gross: $3.27M

21. Farewell to the King (1989)

PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Borneo, 1942: An American soldier escapes WWII and becomes the king of the headhunters in the jungle. Two British soldiers are parachuted into the area to find local support for the battle against the Japanese.

Director: John Milius | Stars: Nick Nolte, Nigel Havers, Frank McRae, Gerry Lopez

Votes: 3,129 | Gross: $2.42M

22. The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)

Not Rated | 190 min | Drama, History, War

His ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival.

Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Tamao Nakamura, Yûsuke Kawazu

Votes: 7,310

23. Fukushima 50 (2020)

TV-PG | 122 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Director: Setsurô Wakamatsu | Stars: Ken Watanabe, Riho Yoshioka, Takumi Saitô, Tomorô Taguchi

Votes: 3,364

24. Up Periscope (1959)

Approved | 112 min | Action, Drama, Romance

In 1942, Navy Lieutenant Kenneth Braden from the underwater demolition team is sent to a Japanese island to photograph secret radio codes.

Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: James Garner, Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin, Alan Hale Jr.

Votes: 2,251

25. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (II) (1959)

Not Rated | 181 min | Drama, History, War

As a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist struggles to maintain his determination to keep his ideals.

Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Kokinji Katsura, Jun Tatara

Votes: 7,485

26. Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)

Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, Thriller

To avoid a death sentence for her prior acts of bloodshed, the vengeful swordswoman Lady Snowblood is conscripted by the Japanese Secret Police to assassinate political dissidents.

Director: Toshiya Fujita | Stars: Meiko Kaji, Jûzô Itami, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Yoshio Harada

Votes: 4,206

27. Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)

Not Rated | 156 min | Drama

Schoolteacher Hisako Oishi forms an emotional bond with her pupils and teaches them various virtues, while at the same time worrying about their future.

Director: Keisuke Kinoshita | Stars: Hideko Takamine, Itsuo Watanabe, Makoto Miyagawa, Takeo Terashita

Votes: 2,824

28. Before We Vanish (2017)

R | 129 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

Three aliens travel to Earth in preparation for a mass invasion, taking possession of human bodies.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, Hiroki Hasegawa, Masahiro Higashide

Votes: 2,818 | Gross: $0.05M

29. I Want To (1979)

85 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era, when rival samurai clans were battling to become the ... See full summary »

Director: Kôsei Saitô | Stars: Shin'ichi Chiba, Jun Etô, Moeko Ezawa, Ryô Hayami

Votes: 1,115

30. Return from the River Kwai (1989)

PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, War

A group of war prisoners from the Kwai bridge building camp undertake a harsh journey to Japan.

Director: Andrew V. McLaglen | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Nick Tate, George Takei, Edward Fox

Votes: 1,044

31. Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980 TV Movie)

156 min | Adventure, Drama, History

The decision to drop the atom bomb, the secrecy surrounding the mission, and the men who flew it.

Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Billy Crystal, Kim Darby, Patrick Duffy, Gary Frank

Votes: 325

32. Anatahan (1953)

PG | 91 min | Drama, History, War

From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.

Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma, Kisaburo Sawamura, Shôji Nakayama

Votes: 1,349 | Gross: $0.05M

33. Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)

96 min | Drama, Mystery, War

One woman's search to find the truth about her husband's death in World War II.

Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tetsurô Tanba, Sachiko Hidari, Shinjirô Ebara, Isao Natsuyagi

Votes: 1,168

34. Level Five (1997)

Not Rated | 106 min | Documentary, Romance, War

The French computer programmer Laura inherits the task of making a computer game of the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. She searches the internet for information on the battle, and ... See full summary »

Director: Chris Marker | Stars: Catherine Belkhodja, Kenji Tokitsu, Nagisa Ôshima, Junichi Ushiyama

Votes: 948 | Gross: $0.02M

35. The Battle of Port Arthur (1980)

185 min | Drama, History, War

The lives and battles of soldiers leading up to the 1904 siege of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War.

Director: Toshio Masuda | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Teruhiko Aoi, Toshirô Mifune, Hisaya Morishige

Votes: 336

36. Pacific Inferno (1979)

89 min | War

After the fall of the Philippines in World War II, the Japanese discover that Gen. MacArthur ordered millions of dollars in silver dumped in Manila Bay in order that it not fall into enemy ... See full summary »

Director: Rolf Bayer | Stars: Jim Brown, Richard Jaeckel, Timothy Brown, Rik Van Nutter

Votes: 270

37. The Burmese Harp (1985)

133 min | Drama, War

After becoming separated from his platoon, a Japanese soldier dons a Buddhist monk's robe and tends to the bodies of the many war casualties strewn across the countryside.

Director: Kon Ichikawa | Stars: Kôji Ishizaka, Kiichi Nakai, Takuzô Kawatani, Atsushi Watanabe

Votes: 196

38. Taiheiyô no washi (1953)

119 min | Drama, History, War

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant tactician, is a loyal subject of the emperor, despite his grave misgivings about leading Japan's navy into war with the United States. He ... See full summary »

Director: Ishirô Honda | Stars: Denjirô Ôkôchi, Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi, Masao Shimizu, Eijirô Yanagi

Votes: 124

39. Rail of the Star (1993)

76 min | Animation, Biography, Drama

A young Japanese actress remembers her war childhood in Korea. Her father goes to fight, her baby sister Miko dies of typhoid, her beloved Korean maid Ohana is fired due to a mistake which ... See full summary »

Directors: Toshio Hirata, Satoru Namekawa | Stars: Ken'ichi Ogata, Reiko Suzuki, Tomoko Maruo, Shinpachi Tsuji

Votes: 115

40. China's Little Devils (1945)

74 min | Drama, War

A group of young Chinese boys are led by an older boy, and rescue downed American pilots from the Japanese army in WW II.

Director: Monta Bell | Stars: Harry Carey, Paul Kelly, 'Ducky' Louie, Gloria Ann Chew

Votes: 101

41. Dai Nippon teikoku (1982)

180 min | Drama, History, War

Favorable portrayal of Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who approved of the bombardment of Pearl Harbor, as a patriot. The film is a jingoistic defense of Japanese imperialism.

Director: Toshio Masuda | Stars: Tetsurô Tanba, Teruhiko Aoi, Tomokazu Miura, Masako Natsume

Votes: 55

42. Destination Unknown (1942)

Passed | 63 min | Drama, Romance, War

A beautiful Dutch girl finds herself in Peking being pursued by agents of the Japanese government.

Director: Ray Taylor | Stars: William Gargan, Irene Hervey, Sam Levene, Turhan Bey

Votes: 51

43. Battle of Okinawa in Color (2017)

Documentary, History, War

From white-knuckle, high-speed dogfights to brutal land combat, witness the Battle of Okinawa in vivid color.

Stars: Jeff Wilburn, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., Chester W. Nimitz, Mitsuru Ushijima

Votes: 20

44. Judgment: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya - General Yamashita (1974 TV Movie)

90 min | Drama, History, War

Dramatization of the trial of General Yamashita when he was tried for his actions in the Philippines during World War 2 that resulted in the death of thousands of civilians. And of how the lawyers assigned to defend him tried to.

Directors: Lee Bernhardi, Stanley Kramer | Stars: Philip Ahn, Philip Bruns, William Devane, John Fujioka

Votes: 25

45. Unsinkable: Japan's Lost Battleship (2020 TV Movie)

Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary, History, War

October 24, 1944, Japan's navy gambles on a decisive victory against the United States to turn the tide of World War II. Instead, Musashi, its top-secret super battleship, ends up at the bottom of the ocean.

Star: Brad Koed

Votes: 59

46. Taiheiyô sensô to Himeyuri butai (1962)

93 min | Drama, War

The last fight put up by remaining Japanese forces and a special volunteer nursing corps on Okinawa at the end of World War II (1944-45).

Director: Kiyoshi Komori | Stars: Tôru Abe, Kanjûrô Arashi, Shinjirô Asano, Kikuko Hanaoka

Votes: 14

47. Wasurerarenu hitobito (2000)

121 min | Drama, War

The story of 3 men who served together in the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. The story is told in flashbacks from modern day Japan to scenes on the island they are defending. In modern... See full summary »

Director: Makoto Shinozaki | Stars: Tatsuya Mihashi, Minoru Ôki, Tomio Aoki, Keiko Utsumi

Votes: 57

48. Futility (2010)

TV-G | 11 min | Short, Action, Drama

A fallen photo makes a moment of difference in the lives of two enemy soldiers.

Director: Wayne Bradford | Stars: Evert McQueen, Shinji Ikefuji, Anna Waters-Massey, Cleo Massey

Votes: 19

49. Onoda's War (2016)

Short, History

Hiro Onoda was a second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout who did not surrender in 1945, but instead spent nearly 30 years holding out on a Philippine island.

Director: Rhyme Lu | Stars: Toshiya Agata, Eiji Inoue, Masa Kanome, Rikio Nakashita

50. Pobeda kitayskogo naroda (1950)

88 min | Documentary, History, War

This color documentary account of the Communist conquest of China begins in 1929 (all archive footage) when Mao Zedong and his small army held only a few cities in the northern part of ... See full summary »

Directors: Ivan Lukinsky, Leonid Varlamov | Stars: Leonid Khmara, Kai-Shek Chiang, Madame Chiang, Zedong Mao

Votes: 15