Movies Similar to War Is Hell

Assignment in Korea(1951)

Swedish journalist visits Korea to report on the situation during the war

Welcome to Dongmakgol(2005)

Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.

Shim: American Opens a Cafe at the DMZ(2024)

A cafe is growing, tucked in to the mountainside air raid shelter of the DMZ borderlands. A light light flickers, illuminating the past, present, and future. I'll see you at the DMZ! Shim was a free, one-day pop-up cafe staged in Yangji-ri village’s air raid shelter at the Korean DMZ. Referencing Korean cafe culture’s fixation on third place, the DMZ’s evolution from security tourism, to ecological peace tourism, and its repurposing as art production site, Shim attempts to intervene and align the past and present. Yangji-ri was one of many minbuk propaganda villages established by the Park Chung Hee regime in the 1960s to showcase the farming bounty and prosperity of the south for a North Korean gaze. The village was formerly part of the Civilian Control Line (CCL) until 2013 when it was reterritorialized as a normal part of South Korea.

Devotion(2022)

The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.

Wildflowers on the Battleground(1974)

A look at the Korean War through the eyes of a mute boy who was kept as a mascot by a regiment of soldiers near the front lines.

Fighting Korea(1952)

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War(2004)

When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.

Five Marines(1961)

A brigade of five marines are sent on a dangerous mission to capture an enemy stronghold during the Korean War.

MacArthur(1977)

The film portrays MacArthur's life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.

War Hunt(1962)

Dispatched to the front lines during the Korean War, an idealistic American soldier discovers the horrors of combat and comes at odds with a psychopathic member of his platoon.

The Volunteers: To the War(2023)

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, New China was faced with "internal and external troubles". Since the outbreak of the Korean Civil War, the U.S. military has repeatedly provoked the border between China and North Korea, and civilians have been brutally bombed. In order to maintain the hard-won peace and long-term stability for generations, in October 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers entered North Korea, and the "Resist US Aid Korea" war kicked off.

Pork Chop Hill(1959)

Korean War, April 1953. Lieutenant Clemons, leader of the King company of the United States Infantry, is ordered to recapture Pork Chop Hill, occupied by a powerful Chinese Army force, while, just seventy miles away, at nearby the village of Panmunjom, a tense cease-fire conference is celebrated.

The Bridges at Toko-Ri(1954)

A U.S. Navy pilot and his squad are assigned to bomb a group of heavily defended bridges deep behind enemy lines during the Korean War.

Yurda Dönüş(1952)

The film depicts a romance set against the backdrop of the Korean War.

Ayla: The Daughter of War(2017)

In 1950, amidst the ravages of the Korean War, Sergeant Süleyman stumbles upon a a half-frozen little girl, with no parents and no help in sight and he risks his own life to save her, smuggling her into his army base and out of harm’s way.

The DMZ(1965)

The film exposes the atrocities of war through the eyes of two children who are stranded in the DMZ after the end of the Korean War. The DMZ, strewn with abandoned tanks, dead bodies, land mines, and unexploded shells, is an exceedingly dangerous place for children. But what most endangers them in the end are not weapons but people.

M*A*S*H(1970)

The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

The Testimony(1974)

June 25, 1950. When second lieutenant Jang has a date with his girl friend during weekend, numerous North Korean jet fighters make sudden air raids to the skies of Seoul. It is the beginning of Korean War. In spite of Korean Army's brave defense, North Korean army reddens South Korea with their state-of-the-art weapons. This movie describes the progress of war from the invasion in June 25, 1950 to the reclamation of territory on the basis of Sun-A's personal experience. Also this film reminds hard lessons from tragic history.

The Long Way Home(2015)

Nam-bok, a middle-aged South Korean farmer is conscripted and assigned a mission to deliver a classified military document that may decide the fate of the war. After losing it while under attack from the enemy, he then faces a teenage North Korean soldier named Yeong-gwang who happens to acquire the secret document on his way to the North.

The Rack(1956)

Army Captain Edward Hall returns to the U.S. after two years in a prison camp in the Korean War. In the camp, he was brainwashed and helped the Chinese convince the other prisoners that they were fighting an unjust war. When he comes back he is charged for collaboration with the enemy. Where does loyalty end in a prison camp, when the camp is a living hell?