Best movies like 1941
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
It's been six days since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Panic grips California, supposedly the next target of the Japanese forces. Everywhere in California, people are suffering from war nerves. Chaos erupts all over the state. An Army Air Corps Captain, a civilian with a deranged sense of Nationalism, civilian defenders, and a Motor Pool crew all end up chasing a Japanese sub planning to attack LA.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Action, Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: humorous, slapstick comedy, funny, satirical, cult classic, not serious, exciting, realistic, epic, absurd
Best tv shows and movies like 1941 (1979):
Similar in 81%
McHale's Navy (1997)
Plot Summary:
Retired Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale spends his days puttering around the Caribbean in the old PT-73 selling homebrew, ice cream, and swimsuit calendars. He's brought out of retirement when his old nemesis turned the second best terrorist in the world, Major Vladikov, takes over the island of San Moreno and starts building a nuclear launch silo on it. With help from his old crew and hindrances from Captain Wallace B. Binghampton, who sank a cruise liner a while back, McHale tries to put Vladikov out of business.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: humorous, melancholic, realistic, semi serious, parody, action comedy, cult classic, funny, light, romantic
Similar in 84%
Which Way to the Front? (1970)
Plot Summary:
Brendan Byers III (Jerry Lewis), one of the richest men in America, has been pronounced 4-F and can't serve his country in it's war against Hitler. Byers does not takes "No" for an answer and recruits other 4-F's to fight against Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: slapstick, exciting, humorous, realistic, not serious, slapstick comedy, cult film
Similar in 79%
McHale's Navy (1964)
Plot Summary:
The crew of PT-73 get into trouble when they back the wrong horse in a race. Now they have to come up with a way to raise the money to pay off the winners.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
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Similar in 89%
Stripes (1981)
Plot Summary:
John Winger, an indolent sad sack in his 30s, impulsively joins the U.S. Army after losing his job, his girlfriend and his apartment.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, cult classic, intense, not serious, hilarious, sex comedy, funny, light, parody
Similar in 86%
Dad's Army (2016)
Plot Summary:
A cinema remake of the classic sitcom Dad's Army (1968). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: not serious, humorous, funny, light, feel good, captivating, entertaining, realistic
Similar in 80%
Castle Keep (1969)
Plot Summary:
During the Battle of the Bulge, an anachronistic count shelters a ragtag squad of Americans in his isolated castle hoping they will defend it against the advancing Germans.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, retro, offbeat, serious, realistic, surreal, historical drama
Similar in 76%
Into the Sun (1991)
Plot Summary:
Paul Watkins (Michael Paré) is an American pilot stationed in the Middle East, who is taken away from his normal duties of protecting the skies to show an actor everything he needs to know about being a pilot in the Air Force. The actor, Tom Slade (Anthony Michael Hall), is about to start filming an Air Force movie and wants to "get the feeling" for the part. When Watkins takes Slade for a ride in an F-16 fighter, some other American jets are attacked and the pair comes to the rescue. However, it does not go according to the plan.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 965
Genere: Action, Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: suspense, action comedy, independent film, exciting, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, semi serious, fast
Similar in 89%
Hannibal Brooks (1969)
Plot Summary:
A POW in World War II is put to work in a Munich zoo, looking after an Asian elephant. The zoo is bombed by the Americans and the director of the zoo decides it is not safe for his Asian elephant Lucy to remain there. So he sends Brooks to safety with Lucy. They escape and go on the run in order to get to Switzerland.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, humorous, realistic, semi serious, buddy comedy, action comedy, cult film
Similar in 83%
Sgt. Bilko (1996)
Plot Summary:
The army is known for churning out lean mean fighting machines intent on protecting our great nation. Martin is the inexplicable the incorrigible the invicible sgt. Ernie bilko leader of a ragtag group of the sorriest soldiers ever to enlist in the armed forces.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: humorous, funny, light, hilarious, exciting, captivating, feel good, surprise ending, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Plot Summary:
Jake Blues is just out of jail, and teams up with his brother, Elwood on a 'mission from God' to raise funds for the orphanage in which they grew up. The only thing they can do is do what they do best – play music – so they get their old band together and they're on their way, while getting in a bit of trouble here and there.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 210000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Music, Musical
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: funny, road movie, cult classic, hilarious, surreal, action comedy, humorous, retro, philosophical, uplifting
Similar in 78%
Tropic Thunder (2008)
Plot Summary:
Vietnam veteran 'Four Leaf' Tayback's memoir, Tropic Thunder, is being made into a film, but Director Damien Cockburn can’t control the cast of prima donnas. Behind schedule and over budget, Cockburn is ordered by a studio executive to get filming back on track, or risk its cancellation. On Tayback's advice, Cockburn drops the actors into the middle of the jungle to film the remaining scenes but, unbeknownst to the actors and production, the group have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the home of heroin-producing gangs.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 440000
Genere: Action, Comedy, War
Country: USA, UK, Germany
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: parody, funny, hilarious, spoof, humorous, controversial, action comedy, entertaining, not serious, exciting
Similar in 90%
Ardennes Fury (2014)
Plot Summary:
As the Battle of the Bulge rages on, an American tank unit gets trapped behind Nazi lines. With just hours before the bombs of Operation Ardennes Fury fall, the tank's commander makes the risky decision to rescue an orphanage.
IMDB Rating: 2.3
IMDB Votes: 939
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, psychological, tense, mockbuster, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
War Pigs (2015)
Plot Summary:
A rag tag unit of misfits known as the War Pigs must go behind enemy lines to exterminate Nazis by any means necessary.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, perverse
Similar in 79%
Sahara (1995)
Plot Summary:
After the fall of Tobruk in June 1942, U.S. Army sergeant Joe Gunn leads his tank into the Sahara desert, in order to evade advancing Rommel's forces and reach Allied lines. Along the way he picks up few Allied soldiers, but soon they are running out of water. They find water at the ancient well, but the well is a goal of an entire German battalion. Despite the impossible odds, Sergeant Gunn decides to defend the well.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, War
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987)
Plot Summary:
Learning of a Nazi plot to attack Washington, D.C. with a deadly nerve gas, Major Wright leads twelve convicts on a suicide mission deep into occupied France to destroy the secret factory where the poison is made.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA, Croatia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, bleak
Similar in 86%
Company of Heroes (2013)
Plot Summary:
American soldiers lost behind enemy lines during the WWII make a horrific discovery: Hitler has a super bomb in development. Against all odds, they set out to find the scientist in charge of the program who is looking to defect.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, tense, scenic
Similar in 76%
Catch-22 (1970)
Plot Summary:
A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a "military mentality" and of a bureaucratic society in general.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, surreal, absurd, black comedy, dark, grim, cult classic, psychological, clever, humorous
Similar in 76%
Fortress (2012)
Plot Summary:
When the commander of the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber is killed in action in a raid over Sicily in 1943, his replacement, a young, naive pilot struggles to be accepted by the plane's already tight-knit Irish American crew.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, tense
Similar in 76%
Midway (1976)
Plot Summary:
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, factual, suspense, intense, exciting, suspenseful, serious, historical drama, spectacular
Similar in 78%
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: epic, factual, talky, intense, serious, exciting, suspenseful, realistic, political, patriotic
Similar in 82%
U-571 (2000)
Plot Summary:
In the midst of World War II, the battle under the sea rages and the Nazis have the upper hand as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. However, after a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Action, War
Country: France, USA, Italy
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, exciting, suspenseful, suspense, factual, intense, rough, serious, dramatic, action packed
Similar in 87%
Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Mallory and Miller are back. The survivors of Navarone are sent on a mission along with a unit called Force 10, which is led by Colonel Barnsby. But Force 10 has a mission of their own which the boys know nothing about.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, tense, stylized, intense, serious, suspenseful, patriotic, realistic, clever
Similar in 88%
The Sea Wolves (1980)
Plot Summary:
This true story follows the exploits of a top secret British military mission to destroy Nazi radio ships in a neutral harbor during WWII. The daring plan is led by British Intelligence officers Col. Lewis Pugh (Gregory Peck) and Capt. Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore). Since the ships are in neutral territory the British Military command, while encouraging the scheme, must deny any knowledge of it if it fails. Pugh and Stewart enlist the aid of retired officer Col. Bill Grice (David Niven) and some of his former soldiers. On the pretext of being on a fishing expedition, these seemingly drunken old men in civilian clothing must board and destroy 3 Nazi ships, whose radio transmissions have resulted in Nazi submarines sinking allied ships. While Stewart arranges a diversion on shore, Pugh and Grice carry out the dangerous raid on and destruction of the Nazi ships.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, History, War
Country: UK, USA, Switzerland
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, suspense, realistic, serious, factual, cult classic, independent film, black comedy
Similar in 82%
Memphis Belle (1990)
Plot Summary:
The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Dresden, a heavily-defended city that invariably causes many Allied casualties.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK, Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, emotional, rough, serious, inspirational, suspense, intense, period piece, realistic
Similar in 79%
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Plot Summary:
In March of 1945, as the War in Europe is coming to a close, fighting erupts between German and American troops at the last remaining bridgehead across the Rhine.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Czechoslovakia, West Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: realistic, harsh, intense, exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, spectacular, bleak
Similar in 84%
Red Tails (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic, action packed, historical drama, retro, disgusting, uplifting
Similar in 88%
The Devil's Brigade (1968)
Plot Summary:
1968 American war film about the formation and first mission of the joint Canadian-American WWII special forces winter and mountain unit formally called 1st Special Service Force, but commonly known as “The Devil’s Brigade”. The film dramatises the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing the German mountain stronghold Monte la Difensa, in December 1943. The film is based on the 1966 book of the same name, co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, tense, harsh, serious, suspenseful, epic, retro, cult classic, historical drama
Similar in 85%
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Plot Summary:
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 348000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 183 min
Plot tags: romantic, sentimental, emotional, epic, period piece, factual, exciting, serious, realistic, captivating
Similar in 85%
Fury (2014)
Plot Summary:
Last months of World War II in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant in the 2nd Armored Division named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank called "Fury" and its five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 532000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, China, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, realistic, sad, cult classic, historical drama, psychological
Similar in 79%
Midway (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of the soldiers and aviators who helped turn the tide of the Second World War during the iconic Battle of Midway in June 1942.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 93000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Canada, China, Hong Kong
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: historical drama, exciting, bleak, scary, suspense, sad, motivational, stylized, patriotic, cult classic