Best Indonesian war movies

Returning home with his friends, a soldier reunites with his wife, not knowing she's become a ghost. But her death's not the end of their love story.

The Dutch declare unilaterally that they are not longer bound by the Renville Treaty, and to stop the ceasefire. On December 19, 1948, Army Commander General Spoor Noord Simons leads military aggression II to attack Yogyakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia at the time. The Dutch arrested Soekarno-Hatta and exiled them to the island of Bangka. General Soedirman who suffered from tuberculosis leads the guerrilla war for seven months against the Dutch.

An Indonesia vacation cruise has been attacked by pirates in international territory. Indonesian special task force try to liberate them.

Musa, who is only a thirteen-year-old shoe shiner, undergoes destiny through his adventure of waging war during the war time. Will he manage to bring peace among the troops who keep on fighting for nothing?

After the successful raid on Dutch Army's Supply Convoy, Amir, Thomas, Dayan, and Marius immediately found the General Soedirman's Headquarter deep in the forest. And with the experienced the got, they've been recruited into the elite unit under command of the explosive yet wise soldier, Sergeant Yanto. Captain Amir then replace Yanto's position as the unit leader. Their first mission, to crippled the the dutch army's airfield construction. Whatever the cost, whatever the risk.

Set in 1896, "Tjoet Nja' Dhien" celebrates one of Indonesia's great heroes who fought for independence from the Dutch. The pious Muslim people of Aceh, a city that had flourished since ancient times as a trade port, enter into a fierce war with the Dutch. Tjoet Nja' Dhien, the widow of a rebel leader operating in Aceh in Sumatra, assumes the leadership when her husband Teuku Uma is killed in an ambush. Dhien's charismatic presence and power of survival motivate the locals to join and later continue their opposition to the Dutch. Despite personal obstacles, she remained in the thick of the struggle for ten years.

The movie starts with the tough lives of the aforementioned characters in a military school, showing friendship and even competition among them. But the lives of the young cadets changes when Dutch soldiers suddenly attack their camp, tearing them apart. With limited weaponry and forces, they decided to unite to fight against the Dutch and defend their freedom. Combining action, drama, humor, romance, human tragedy and strong personal stories, the movie is aimed at inspiring the new generation with the spirit of the generations before them who fought and sacrificed themselves for the freedoms Indonesia enjoys today.

Six months after PETA's failure to fight Nippon, Hardo returns to his village in Blora. His presence is smelled by Nippon, tracked and pursued. In a chase one day and night before the proclamation of independence, a drama of struggle is revealed. The betrayal of Hardo's fiance's father is juxtaposed with the betrayal of his best friend Karmin; the resistance of Dipo and Kartiman juxtaposed with Hardo's resistance; the cruelty of the war and the ego of the invaders, a shidokan of Nippon juxtaposed with the deterioration of war victims of Hardo and Ningsih's father.

It tells the story of an Indonesian revolutionary who falls in love with one of his Dutch prisoners.

When the Dutch initiates an aggression against Indonesia to regain its rule post World War II, a group of inexperienced cadets need to defend the last remaining airbase so they may have a chance to help the Republic win the revolutionary war and to protect what they have come to care for.

Devoted to the heroes who fought for their homeland’s freedom in the 1947 Indonesian war of liberation.

All sorts of unlikely figures come to prominence in wartime, no matter what the country. Indonesia is no exception. In this comedy, Naga Bonar, a pickpocket who has seized the opportunity of the moment to declare himself a general in the Freedom Forces during the chaos of the Japanese occupying forces’ withdrawal in 1945, as the Dutch attempted to reassert their control over the area. However, soon a mask becomes his true self, and he becomes a true soldier and patriot.

The official story of the events surrounding the September 30 to October 1, 1965 attempted coup d'etat in Indonesia by a group calling itself the "30 September Movement", leading to the downfall of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the rise of Suharto's New Order regime.

The son of a veteran named Agus was faced with the shadow of his father's absence, so he grew up to be an undisciplined child. Until the veteran died and made his son follow in his father's footsteps to enter the military world.

In war-torn Jakarta 1946, a haunted violinist ordered to bomb a colonial theatre sees his plan unravel when a charismatic rebel falls for his wife—jeopardising Indonesia’s freedom and their lives.

True story of a number of Imperial Japanese Army officers and soldiers who remained in Indonesia to fight off European colonists trying to retake the country after Japan's surrender.

This is the story of one of the heroes of independence from South Sulawesi - Wolter Monginsidi. Monginsidi is portrayed as a flamboyant young man, brave and daring yet emotional at times. He and his troops always ambush the Dutch until they are finally caught. His father is persuaded to sign the clemency form, which turns out to be a trap, set up by the Dutch. He receives the death sentence instead.

Set on 24 March 1946 in Bandung, when the city was engulfed in explosions as if it was a sea of fire, the battle scenes between Indonesian and Dutch dominate the film. The main plot line is the conflict of Nani, a Red Cross nurse, who loves Priyatna, an ex PETA fighter. Meanwhile, Hidayat, the commander of Priyatna’s troop, also likes Nani. It is a small story, within a war, that ends with the death of Hidayat.

A women in prison movie set in a Japanese POW camp during World War 2.

Garuda member contingent, Captain Satria, Lieutenant Arga, and Sergeant Gulamo, assigned to Lebanon as peacekeepers. Satria among others, should mediate disputes between Israeli soldiers by the Lebanese army, and managed to free the Spanish army of Hezbollah soldiers hostage.

In a neverland, King Wasit Aron organises forces to reclaim his throne that was seized by Abu Garin. The greedy Abu Garin is not satisfied, as he still wants to marry Wasit's daughter, Tirza, and get Wasit’s sacred stone. The battle between their two forces continues to go on. Then, King Wasit meets Rhoma, a wanderer who is always carrying a guitar. After the wanderer shows his power in fighting and his skill in healing the wounds of the King's daughter, Tirzah, King Wasit and his followers are successfully persuaded by Rhoma to convert to Islam.

The story of Indonesia's fight for independence from the Dutch.

With the failure of Linggarjati Agreement as the background, a heroic and also a love story are interwoven. The army headquarters in Yogja decides to withdraw all existing trains to Yogya.

Depicting the celebrated recapture of the town of Yogyakarta from Dutch forces in March 1949, by Indonesian youth of the resistance and members of the Indonesian army. Although it was held only for a few hours, it resulted in a UN resolution calling on the Dutch to leave.

During the revolution, Japan is defeated but has yet to surrender so a 14-year-old boy insists on joining the army, to avenge his father, who is incarcerated in Nusa Kambangan for murder. His actions are brave yet extreme in every way. Recognising this, the commander promotes the boy to section head, even though all his men are older than he is. He takes the most dangerous missions and as a result, one of his men dies. The late man’s girlfriend then volunteers, and is also killed, after being just as reckless as the boy.

This is the heroic story of Mochamad Toha, who successfully blew up a Dutch ammunition depot in Bandung and ruined their defences. Set in Bandung at the time of transition, between the departing Japanese and the incoming Dutch (who are supported by the British), Indonesians had to fight for their independence. Toha emerged as a leader of the common people, who saw injustice and oppression, and who sacrificed himself by blowing up the ammunition depot.