Best movies like Sand Castle
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Set during the occupation of Iraq, a squad of U.S. soldiers try to protect a small village.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, psychological, tense, rough, captivating, suspense, melancholic, perverse
Best tv shows and movies like Sand Castle (2017):
Similar in 75%
A Melody to Remember (2016)
Plot Summary:
Second Lieutenant Han Sang-yeol leads his platoon during the Korean War in the early 1950s. He carries emotional scars and pain within. So when he meets some children from a choir, who have lost everything in the war, Sang-yeol is deeply moved and tries to protect to them.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 372
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
20 Cigarettes (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on director Aureliano Amadei's 2003 experiences in Iraq, 20 Cigarettes is the gripping story of a twenty-eight year old anarchist and anti-war activist who receives an offer to fly to Iraq as assistant director on a film about the Italian military peace mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 813
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 76%
Hyena Road (2015)
Plot Summary:
Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars – all stand at the intersection of modern warfare – a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, brutal, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Spitfire Over Berlin (2022)
Plot Summary:
August 1944. With the American Eighth Air Force poised to strike over Nazi Germany, British Intelligence learns that they could be flying into a deadly trap. With only hours to spare, Flight Lieutenant Edward Barnes must fly a life and death mission over Berlin in his unarmed Spitfire to obtain photographic evidence and save the lives of 1200 men.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 78%
D-Day (2019)
Plot Summary:
Some people called it a suicide, but for the Rangers of the 2nd Battalion, that's another word for mission. When an elite group of American soldiers are ordered to take out a series of German machine gun nests, they find themselves blindly venturing into hostile territory. Outnumbered and outgunned they must risk life and limb as they cross treacherous terrain, never knowing where the enemy might be hiding.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 984
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, mockbuster
Similar in 78%
The Sacrifice (2020)
Plot Summary:
In 1953, the Korean War is entering the final stage. The People's Volunteer Army of China has launched the last major battle in Kumsong. In order to arrive at the battleground on time and deliver enough force to the Kumsong front line, the soldiers have to defend themselves against the never ending bombing of enemy bombers and race with time to repair bridges, all under the circumstance of supply shortages and inferior equipment. The rarely told history slowly unfolds.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, philosophical, political
Similar in 87%
Megan Leavey (2017)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey, who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, the two complete more than 100 missions and save countless lives, until an IED explosion puts their faithfulness to the test.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, disturbing, suspenseful, tense, captivating, exciting, motivational, inspirational, emotional, sad
Similar in 90%
Death and Glory in Changde (2010)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Shen Dong and starring Ray Lui, An Yixuan and Yuan Wenkang, Death and Glory in Changde recalls one of the most cruel and controversial battles during China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), Changde Battle, in November 1943.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: China
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Blizzard of Souls (2019)
Plot Summary:
The love story of sixteen-year-old Arturs is interrupted by the First World War. After losing his mother and his home, he finds some consolation in joining the army, because this is the first time national battalions are allowed in the Russian Empire. But war is nothing like Arturs imagined – no glory, no fairness. It is brutal and painful. Arturs is now completely alone as war takes the lives of his father and brother. Also, no progress is made in the promised quick resolution of the war and timely return home. Within the notion that only he alone cares about returning home and that his homeland is just a playground for other nations, Arturs finds strength for the final battle and eventually returns home to start everything from scratch, just like his newly born country.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Latvia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, thought provoking, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 86%
The Yellow Birds (2017)
Plot Summary:
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, realistic, disturbing, sad
Similar in 80%
The Wall (2017)
Plot Summary:
An American sniper and his spotter engage in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with an Iraqi sniper.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, tense, rough, melancholic, minimal cast, psychological thriller, surprise ending, twist ending, interesting
Similar in 88%
The Fallen (2004)
Plot Summary:
THE FALLEN is a three-sided story about German, Italian, and American soldiers, set in Northern Italy during the final weeks of the World War II. On the one side, a group of American supply soldiers delivers ammunition to the front line, a journey that becomes a descent into hell, the success of the mission becomes less likely with every setback. On the other, a doomed German unit and their ragtag Italian partners struggle to maintain morale and discipline amongst their beleaguered troops in the face of certain defeat. Torn between these are the divided loyalties of the Italians, both fascist soldiers and communist partisans, who have turned brother against brother in a bloody civil war. The film looks at the everyday life of the soldiers, their encounters on the road, their hopes and dreams, and the differences in values, morals, and patriotism between the cultures at the end of that era.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 932
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Germany, Italy
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, realistic, bleak
Similar in 82%
Jarhead 2: Field of Fire (2014)
Plot Summary:
Battle-scarred and disillusioned by the war, Corporal Chris Merrimette is put in charge of a unit whose next mission is to resupply a remote outpost on the edge of Taliban-controlled territory. While driving through the hostile Helmand province, a Navy SEAL flags down their convoy and enlists the unit on an operation of international importance: they must help an Afghan woman famous for her defiance of the Taliban escape the country. Without tanks or air support, Merrimette and his team will need all the courage and firepower they can muster to fight their way across the war-torn country and shepherd the woman to safety.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, exciting, rough, captivating, suspenseful, perverse, bleak
Similar in 83%
The Lost Battalion (2001)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I. Based on a true story, The Lost Battalion is set in 1918 during the final months of WWI. Assigned to capture an enemy stronghold in Charlvaux at the height of the Argonne campaign, the men of the AEF 308th Battalion, 77th Division, are led by young American major Charles Whittlesey, an inexperienced but dedicated "citizen soldier." Totally cut off from the other allied troops, unaware of their vulnerability, and barraged by "friendly fire," the 500-plus men of the 308th bravely hold their position, suffering incredible losses and unspeakable deprivations in the process -- while the battalion's superior officers, far from the firing line, callously prepare to write off the men as expendable casualties.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, philosophical, political, historical drama, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Saints and Soldiers: The Void (2014)
Plot Summary:
Germany, May 1945, deep in the Harz Mountains a U.S. tank crew discovers a platoon of Germans preparing to ambush U.S. supply trucks.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, realistic, christian film, historical drama, independent film
Similar in 88%
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
Plot Summary:
In WWII Western Germany, Private David Manning reluctantly leaves behind a mortally wounded fellow soldier and searches for survivors from his platoon, only to learn from commanding officer Captain Pritchett that they have all been killed in action. Despite requesting a discharge on the grounds of mental disability, Manning is promoted to sergeant and assigned to lead a new platoon of young inductees.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, captivating, realistic, bleak
Similar in 89%
Battle for Haditha (2007)
Plot Summary:
An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, sexy, touching
Similar in 82%
Boys of Abu Ghraib (2014)
Plot Summary:
An American soldier deployed at Abu Ghraib finds himself behind the walls of the infamous Hard Site, where he develops a secret friendship with an Iraqi detainee.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, serious, realistic, tense, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 88%
Mosul (2019)
Plot Summary:
When ISIS took their homes, families and city, one group of men fought to take it all back. Based on true events, this is the story of the Nineveh SWAT team, a renegade police unit who waged a guerrilla operation against ISIS in a desperate struggle to save their home city of Mosul.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, captivating, disturbing, perverse, neo noir, independent film, tension, surprise ending
Similar in 89%
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Plot Summary:
A US Army officer had made a "friendly fire" mistake that was covered up and he was reassigned to a desk job. Later he was tasked to investigate a female chopper commander's worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. At first all seemed in order then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, realistic, dark, sad, hood, cult classic, suspense thriller, rough, thought provoking
Similar in 78%
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019)
Plot Summary:
Vietnam War, 1966. Australia and New Zealand send troops to support the United States and South Vietnamese in their fight against the communist North. Soldiers are very young men, recruits and volunteers who have never been involved in a combat. On August 18th, members of Delta Company will face the true horror of a ruthless battle among the trees of a rubber plantation called Long Tân. They are barely a hundred. The enemy is a human wave ready to destroy them.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, tense, rough, disturbing, perverse, cult film
Similar in 85%
The Kill Team (2019)
Plot Summary:
When Andrew Briggman—a young soldier in the US invasion of Afghanistan—witnesses other recruits killing innocent civilians under the direction of a sadistic Sergeant, he considers reporting them to higher-ups. However, the heavily-armed and increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear that he'll be the next target.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Spain, USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, disturbing, exciting, tense, captivating, action thriller
Similar in 78%
The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
Plot Summary:
At the height of WWII, the Atlantic Ocean becomes a deadly battleground as an American torpedo boat fights against the constant bombardment of German forces.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 717
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 83%
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 87%
Green Zone (2010)
Plot Summary:
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 142000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, France, Spain, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: political thriller, suspense, tense, exciting, political, serious, suspenseful, intense, entertaining, factual
Similar in 85%
Lone Survivor (2013)
Plot Summary:
Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 303000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: rough, tense, captivating, emotional, exciting, disturbing, realistic, serious, intense, touching
Similar in 86%
American Sniper (2014)
Plot Summary:
U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 519000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: tense, emotional, factual, serious, realistic, rough, suspenseful, political, clever, sad
Similar in 76%
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 83%
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Plot Summary:
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 468000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, emotional, tense, serious, rough, psychological, political, sad, factual
Similar in 87%
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