The Best History Asian Films

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.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)

On October 26, 1979, President Park Chung-hee, who had ruled South Korea since 1961, was assassinated by his director of intelligence. The film depicts the events of that night.

The President's Last Bang (2005)

Having defeated the best fighters of the Imperial Japanese army in occupied Shanghai, Ip Man and his family settle in post-war Hong Kong.Struggling to make a living, Master Ip opens a kung fu school to bring his celebrated art of Wing Chun to the troubled youth of Hong Kong. His growing reputation soon brings challenges from powerful enemies, including pre-eminent Hung Gar master, Hung Quan. However, when corrupt colonial officials stage a life-or-death contest with formidable British boxer, Twister, to humiliate the Chinese people, the masters quickly forget their differences. Soon, the eyes of the nation are on the one man capable of securing a victory-Grandmaster Ip Man!

Ip Man 2 (2010)

The Soong family was a political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. This film follows the lives of the three Soong daughters, who were educated in America and returned to China. Ai-ling (the oldest) married a wealthy and powerful businessman. Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary founder of modern China. Mei-ling (the youngest) married Chiang Kai-shek, China's leader during World War II. The sisters captured the world's fascination for their brilliant marriages and their strong influence on their nation.

The Soong Sisters (1997)

City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of several weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.

City of Life and Death (2009)

A planned prequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" that focuses on the Battle of Hansan Island.

Hansan: Rising Dragon (2022)

13 years after the King Injo Revolt, the Chosun Dynasty is attacked by the Chung Dynasty of China. A young man named Na-mi leaves his demolished village to find his young sister, Ja-in, and her finance Su-koon, who were to wed on the very day of the attack. While on his mission to rescue her, he is being traced by Jushinta, a fierce Chung Warrior, and his band of malicious men who are out to stop him. Na-mi has but a day to rescue his sister before she is taken away to be a slave. When Na-mi finally finds his sister, Jushinta comes between them and a fierce battle between two of the finest warriors unfolds.

War of the Arrows (2011)

It follows a young man who dreams of becoming a general and Ying Zheng, whose goal is unification.

Kingdom II : Harukanaru Daichi e (2022)

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

A Taxi Driver (2017)

Ta Gon has now become the most powerful man in Arthdal. He has an affectionate relationship only with Taealha, the daughter of the rival Hae Tribe, because of their shared ambitions.

Arthdal Chronicles Part 2: The Sky Turning Inside Out, Rising Land (2019)

The Founding of a Republic is a Chinese historical film commissioned by China's film regulator and made by the state-owned China Film Group (CFG) to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The film retells the tale of the Communist ascendancy and triumph.

The Founding of a Republic (2009)

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

Ran (1985)