Highest-Rated Movies about 'Pearl Harbor', Sort by Popularity

Hell to Eternity (1960), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Pride of the Marines (1945), War Comes to America (1945), Midway (2019), Operation Pacific (1951), The Final Countdown (1980), Task Force (1949) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Pearl Harbor movies.

#1. Hell to Eternity (1960)

Storyline: Guy Gabaldon (Jeffrey Hunter) is an orphaned Latino youth raised in Los Angeles by an adoptive Japanese-American family. With the dawn of conflict in the Pacific, Gabaldon enlists in the military as a translator. Fighting in the Battle of Saipan, he's horrified at the carnage. So, disobeying orders, he goes behind enemy lines and talks the Japanese into willful surrender, saving thousands of lives on both sides. The film is based on the true story of the decorated World War II veteran.

Plot Keywords: hero, japanese-american, mother, soldier, tense, patriotic, thrilling ...

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#2. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

Storyline: This dramatic retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack details everything in the days that led up to that tragic moment in American history. As United States and Japanese relations strain over the U.S. embargo of raw materials, Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda (Tatsuya Mihashi) plans the preemptive strike against the United States. Although American intelligence agencies intercept Japanese communications hinting at the attack, they are unwilling to believe such a strike could ever occur on U.S. soil.

Plot Keywords: admiral, commander, ambassador, lieutenant commander, japanese soldier, politician, gripping ...

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#3. Pride of the Marines (1945)

Storyline: A semi-fictionalized account of Al Schmid in relation to WWII is told. The year is 1941, and he, a foundry worker, is happily living in a rented room in the home of his friend and coworker Jim Merchant, Jim's wife Ella Mae Merchant, and their young teen daughter Loretta Merchant. For various reasons, Al is a confirmed bachelor, much to Loretta's dismay, he who is her first adult crush, and despite Ella Mae's continued attempts to set him up. The "date" Ella Mae sets up between Al and her friend and former coworker Ruth Hartley ends worse than most of those set-ups, but it is exactly their reaction to the date that leads to them instead falling in love. Their relationship hits a slight roadblock on December 7th with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into the war. Al makes the quick decision to join the US Marines, and while Al and Ruth make no initial commitments to the other before his departure on New Year's morning, they change their minds at the last minute to commit to each other to be husband and wife upon his return. Al's experience in the war, where he fights in the Battle of Guadalcanal for which is would be recognized as a war hero, changes in relation to Ruth. Blinded by a grenade in that battle, Al, at a military hospital in San Diego, is initially confident that surgery will be able to restore his sight, but goes first into denial when it looks he will be blind permanently and second into feeling sorry for himself in his new situation. As such, he plans not to tell Ruth about the loss of his sight in breaking up with her and not ever seeing her again in not wanting either her to marry him out of pity or him to be a burden on her. At the military hospital, Red Cross worker Virginia Pfeiffer, who assists the recuperating men in whatever is required, is also their unofficial voice of reason as she tries to convince him not only that his life is worth living to the fullest as a blind man, but that he owes it to Ruth to give her the opportunity to decide for herself what she is to do with her life in relation to him.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: soldier, fiancé, nurse, emotional, gripping, south pacific, hospital ...

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#4. War Comes to America (1945)

Storyline: In this final installment of the "Why We Fight" propaganda series, the subject focuses on the United States of America. We learn of its good qualities and the things worth fighting for. With that established, we learn of the history of the United States' population shifting opinion towards siding with the Allies against the Axis until the attack on Pearl Harbour which brought America into full scale involvement in the war.—Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

Plot Keywords: narrator, winston churchill, josef goebbels, adolf hitler, franklin delano roosevelt, patriotic, rousing ...

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#5. Midway (2019)

Storyline: MIDWAY centers on the Battle of Midway, a clash between the American fleet and the Imperial Japanese Navy which marked a pivotal turning point in the Pacific Theater during WWII. The film, based on the real-life events of this heroic feat, tells the story of the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome the odds.

Plot Keywords: navy pilot, fighter pilot, japanese soldier, american soldier, wife, naval officer, brooding ...

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#6. Operation Pacific (1951)

Storyline: The submarine USS Thunderfish successfully completes a secret mission to rescue a group of orphans on a remote Pacific island. On the way back to Honolulu they encounter a Japanese aircraft carrier but the torpedoes they fire explode about halfway to the target, a recurring problem that has plagued the submarine fleet for some time. The Thunderfish's XO, Duke Gifford runs into his ex-wife and Navy nurse Mary Stuart at the hospital. There's still a spark between them but the boat is sent out on another mission before anything is resolved. When Gifford's good friend and captain, Pop Perry, is killed Gifford believe it's his fault. A inquiry clears him and after he and his men solve the problem of the misfiring torpedoes, they set out to sea.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: submarine officer, captain, ex-wife, pilot, commander, enemy, gripping ...

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#7. The Final Countdown (1980)

Storyline: In 1980, the assistant of the Department of Defense Warren Lasky is assigned by his mysterious chief Richard Tideman to visit the aircraft carrier USS Nimtz commanded by Capt. Matthew Yelland as an observer of the routines. Lasky finds that Wing Commander Richard T. Owens has a great knowledge of history. Out of the blue, the vessel faces a weird storm and they find that they have traveled back in time to the eve of the attack of Pearl Harbor on 06 December 1941. When the two Japanese Zeros attack the motorboat of Senator Samuel Chapman, the crew of the Nimitz rescues the senator and his assistant Laurel Scott. But sooner Lasky learns that the senator had disappeared on that day and Capt. Matthew Yelland is planning to attack the Japanese. Will these actions create a time paradox?

Plot Keywords: ship captain, crew member, thrilling, pearl harbor, aircraft carrier, countdown, time warp ...

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#8. Task Force (1949)

Storyline: On the day of his retirement, Rear Admiral Jonathan L. Scott reflects on his role in introducing aircraft carriers to the U.S. Navy. After World War I, there was a general downsizing of the military. There were only limited opportunities to create a carrier-bound air capability. The aircraft were not designed specifically for landing on a flat top and several death occur during training. Over the years however, Scott is one of several men who pursue their dream of aircraft carriers and aircraft specifically designed for that purpose. Their worth is proved in World War II at the Battle of Midway and throughout the war.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: admiral, naval officer, friend, navy pilot, diplomat, wife, fascinating ...

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#9. Pearl Harbor (2001)

Storyline: Pearl Harbor is a classic tale of romance set during a war that complicates everything. It all starts when childhood friends Rafe and Danny become Army Air Corps pilots and meet Evelyn, a Navy nurse. Rafe falls head over heels and he and Evelyn and Rafe hook up. Then Rafe volunteers to go fight in Britain, and Evelyn and Danny get transferred to Pearl Harbor. While Rafe is off fighting, suddenly one morning comes the air raid we now know as "Pearl Harbor."

Plot Keywords: pilot, pretty woman, friend, franklin delano roosevelt, nurse, military officer, emotional ...

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#10. It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)

Storyline: After an encounter at sea with an unknown underwater creature, a naval commander works with two scientists to identify it. The creature they are dealing with is a giant, radioactive octopus that has left its normal feeding grounds in search of new sources of replenishment. As the creature attacks San Francisco, the Navy tries to trap it at the Golden Gate Bridge but it manages to enter the Bay area leading to a final confrontation with a submarine.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: naval officer, professor, scientist, suspenseful, emotional, submarine, ocean ...

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#11. Battleship (2012)

Storyline: An international fleet of naval warships encounters an alien armada while on a Naval war games exercise and faces the biggest threat mankind has ever faced. An intense battle is fought on sea, land and air. If they lose, the world could face a major extinction event and an alien invasion. Will humans win this alien war, what are the aliens doing here, and what do they want?

Plot Keywords: naval officer, brother, physical therapist, admiral, crew member, alien, thrilling ...

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#12. Only the Brave (2006)

Storyline: A searing portrait of war and prejudice, 'Only the Brave' takes you on a haunting journey into the hearts and minds of the forgotten heroes of WWII - the Japanese-American 100th/442nd. In 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, overnight Japanese Americans were put into internment camps for the duration of the war. Determined to prove their loyalty, 1400 Japanese Americans successfully petitioned the government to serve becoming the 100th Infantry Battalion. They were sent to North Africa, Italy and finally France were they performed an impossibly-dangerous rescue of the Texas 36th Division. During their two years of combat these men received an unparalleled 21 Medals of Honor, 9,486 Purple Hearts, 8 Presidential Citations, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars and 5,200 Bronze stars - making them the most decorated unit of their size in American military history. This is their story.—Randolph Kret

Plot Keywords: japanese-american, american soldier, japanese soldier, brutal, creative, emotional, engaging ...

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#13. Submarine Raider (1942)

Storyline: On December 6, 1941, Captain Yamanada of the Japanese aircraft carrier "Hiranamu", orders full steam ahead for Pearl Harbor. His ship encounters and sinks an American yacht and the single survivor, Sue Curry, is rescued by an American submarine, the "Sea Serpent", commanded by Commander Chris Warren. He hears her story and attempts to radio a warning to Pearl Harbor. Yamanada, hearing the signals, orders the airlines jammed, and then sends his son into the air to sink the sub. The attack fails, after the sub makes a crash dive, but they fail in their warning attempts. The next morning, December 7th, the men on the sub hear the story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and devise a desperate plan to sink the Japanese carrier by letting the carrier know their position. The carrier comes in search of the submarine.—Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>

Plot Keywords: beautiful woman, marine, survivor, submarine officer, japanese soldier, suspenseful, moving ...

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