The Greatest Military Movies of the ’80s

Memorial Weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer. Memorial Day is an important day of remembrance for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms: our military loved ones we have lost. Some of the greatest '80s military movies saw a true breakthrough in showing what soldiers went through, particularly in Vietnam.

Other miliary movies gave us laughs and provided a lighter look at the military lifestyle. Others were based off of fictional circumstances but still gave us a better understanding of the sacrifices made by our soldiers for the greater good.

Check out our list of the greatest military movies of the '80s below and for those who have served, thank you for your service. We hope you will check out I Thank You Friday, celebrating our veterans.

I saw Platoon in the movie theatre. My friend and I decided to go even though we weren't 18 and the movie was rated R. The person who sold us the tickets hesitated and asked if we were 18. I was honest and said that we were not. They told us it was rated R and we were too young. I just looked at him and said, "Seriously?" He decided to go ahead and let us buy tickets and I am glad he did. Platoon was extremely moving and gave me a picture of war that I had never experienced before.

One of the YouTube comments for Full Metal Jacket really brings it into focus, "I was 11 the first time I watched Full Metal Jacket, with my grandpa next to me and the only conversation we had after was: 'Was it really like that?' 'Yeah.'" (but also, really Grandpa? That's a lot for an 11 y.o. to take in.)

Three of the five Rambo movies were made in the '80s. Sylvester Stallone was 33 years old when he made Rambo: First Blood Part II, the most successful of the franchise. It was the first movie to open in more than 2,000 theaters in the U.S. The Rambo franchise has made roughly a billions dollars total.

The rapid-fire comedic style of Robin Williams was made for Good Morning Vietnam. DJ Adrian Cronauer was a real person. He said the signature "GOOOOD MORNING, VIETNAM!" began with his first deployment in Greece at Iraklion Air Force Base. He really did volunteer to go to Vietnam and carried his signature opening over with him.

A difficult story based on the novel of the same name written by Ron Kovic about his experiences in Vietnam. Ron really was born on the fourth of July. He felt it was his patriotic duty to go to Vietnam. After his experiences in Vietnam and after, he became a staunch fighter against the Vietnam war.

We've listed movies based on true stories, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there is the movie Stripes. A couple of guys looking for direction in their careers join the Army to have some fun. This movie may be part of the reason why my sister joined the military.

Russians invade and immediately start shooting up the high schools. That was a part of Red Dawn, but I actually liked the movie a lot and still do. An unbelievable cast (Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlies Sheen, Jennifer Grey), Red Dawn is the story of a U.S. invasion by the Russians. A group of high school students defy the odds and become the unlikely heroes in a war that we didn't think we could win. (There was also a 2012 remake)

A couple more of the '80s greatest military movies are Empire of the Sun and Hamburger Hill.