Best movies like 21 Brothers
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like 21 Brothers? Offer your expertise to guide others to tv shows and films you've already viewed that might appeal to them too. Support expanding the assembly of people recommending videos to one another. We encourage your participation!
Plot Summary:
21 Brothers tells the story of the Canadian 21st Battalion as they prepare for the battle of Courcellette in WWI. Taking place in real time, the film follows Sgt. Reid as he must get his men ready for the impending battle. Not only must he prep his battalion Sgt. Reid must also deal with the day to day difficulties of Life in the trenches, including injuries to his men, supply issues, and an underage recruit who has recently been sent into the front lines.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, captivating, suspenseful, exciting
Best tv shows and movies like 21 Brothers (2011):
Similar in 83%
Mother at War (2020)
Plot Summary:
1918. World War I rages in Europe while Erna Jensen tends to her ordinary life at home in Bramstrup, with her simple-minded son, Kalle. One day the village constable comes to enlist Kalle for military service for the German Empire – of which Southern Jutland is a part. If Erna is to save Kalle from certain death, she must follow him through thick and thin. Upon a chance meeting with a deserting solder she trades identities. Now disguised as Private Julius Rasmussen, Erna heads for the front. In her encounters with the other soldiers and in the presence of the war, unknown sides of Erna are awoken. This is the story of a woman who won’t let a war prevent her from fighting for what she loves.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 804
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Denmark, Estonia, Belgium
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, suspense, period drama
Similar in 86%
The Legions (2019)
Plot Summary:
A universal story about entering adulthood in difficult times, growing up to the community. The great history is the background for the love story unfolding in the foreground: Józek, a deserter from the tsarist army who joins the emerging Legions, an intelligence agent for the I Brigade and Women’s Leage member – Ola, and Tadek, her fiancée, a member of Shooting Team.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 731
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, rough, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 82%
The Fear (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young soldier testifies of his thoughts about the first world war, between disillusion, fear and hate, following his path through the letters he sends to his lover.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 264
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France, Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, rough, exciting
Similar in 88%
Turkish Ice Cream (2019)
Plot Summary:
In 1915, two Turks in Australia make a living by selling ice cream. When they hear war has broken out, they decide to go to Çanakkale. Authorities don't let them leave the island, so the two decide to put up a fight in Australia.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Turkey
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 85%
The War Below (2021)
Plot Summary:
During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, powerful
Similar in 76%
Many Wars Ago (1970)
Plot Summary:
On the Italian/Austrian front during World War I, a disastrous Italian attack upon the Austrian positions leads to a mutiny among the decimated Italian troops.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, Yugoslavia
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: historical drama, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 89%
Gallipoli (2015)
Plot Summary:
As dawn breaks on April 25, 1915, ANZAC troops go into battle on the beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula. Landing in the dark chaos, Tolly, Bevan and their mates struggle to establish a tenuous foothold on the treacherous slopes and deep ravines. They endure the next eight months on the peninsula learning lessons of survival. By the time of the final evacuation they have also learned the skills of combat and what it means to be a young man in war.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 80%
Foxhole (2021)
Plot Summary:
Unfolding over the span of 36 hours in three separate wars – The American Civil War, World War I, and Iraq – FOXHOLE follows five soldiers confined in a foxhole as they grapple with morality, futility, and an increasingly volatile combat situation. Casting the same five actors in each episode, the film depicts the shifting roles of race and gender over time against the backdrop of the seemingly endless human struggle for power and domination. (Olivia Belluck).
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 199
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Natural Light (2021)
Plot Summary:
World War II, occupied Soviet Union. István Semetka is a simple Hungarian farmer who serves as a Sub-Lieutenant in a special unit scouting for partisan groups. On their way to a remote village, his company falls under enemy fire. As the commander is killed, Semetka has to overcome his fears and take command of the unit as he is dragged into a chaos that he cannot control.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Hungary, Latvia, France, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Chaco (2020)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, Bolivia is at war with Paraguay. Liborio and Ticona and other Bolivian indigenous soldiers are lost in the hell of the Chaco, under the commandment of German Captain Kundt. They're looking for the Paraguayan enemy that they haven't seen for months, and that they will never find. They leave together in a search that will make them realize, progressively, the destiny they have been pushed into and the inevitable condition of a defeated troop. They're walking like shadows, wandering forever in the middle of dust and silence.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 148
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Argentina, Bolivia
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, intense
Similar in 84%
120 (2008)
Plot Summary:
During the Sarikamis Battle, the Ottoman army runs out of ammunition and appeals to the people of Van for help, who happen to have supplies. However, the First World War is on and all men are fighting at four corners of the empire and therefore can not respond to to the appeal. The young children of Van want to do something.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Turkey
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, educational, serious
Similar in 77%
Memorial Day (2012)
Plot Summary:
Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it back. Luckily, he ignores them. Although Bud has never talked about the war, he finds himself striking a deal with his grandson: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs, and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one. Memorial Day not only takes us on a journey into Bud's complicated wartime past, but also into Kyle's wartime future. As the two men share parallel experiences in combat, they come to realize how that magical day on the porch shaped both of their lives. .
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 86%
Greenery Will Bloom Again (2014)
Plot Summary:
World War I, Italian north-eastern front after the 1917 bloody battles on the Altipiano. A group of soldiers face the difficulty of war in a story that unfolds in the space of one night. Events follow one after the other without any kind of pattern: the peaceful mountains suddenly become a place where men die. But every story told in this film is a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 969
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, serious, realistic, historical drama, contemplative, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Passchendaele (2008)
Plot Summary:
Sergeant Michael Dunne fights in the 10th Battalion, AKA The "Fighting Tenth" with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, realistic, epic, erotic, romantic drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
Our World War (2014)
Plot Summary:
During the First World War, British troops face the horrors of the Battle of Mons in 1914, internal strife in 1916 and innovative tank warfare in 1918.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, costume drama, stylized
Similar in 80%
Gallipoli: End of the Road (2013)
Plot Summary:
April, 1915. First World War in Canakkale, Ottoman Empire. Two brothers leave their mountain village to fight on the front line. One is an experienced sniper fighting for Ottomans against the invasion, while his brother finds it much tougher to cope with life in the trenches. Meanwhile, landing of the occupation forces in the shores of Gallipoli has begun.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Turkey
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, epic, captivating, realistic, stylized, surprise ending
Similar in 79%
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 87%
The Great War (2019)
Plot Summary:
In November of 1918 as World War I was ending, a unit of American soldiers goes behind enemy lines to find a lost platoon of African American soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating
Similar in 80%
The Passing Bells (2014)
Plot Summary:
At the outbreak of war, two teenage boys defy their parents to sign up.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, Poland
Duration:
Plot tags: historical drama, epic, realistic, serious, captivating, psychological, costume drama, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Company K (2004)
Plot Summary:
Based on the popular World War I novel by author William March, director Robert Clem's COMPANY K follows a veteran of the first great conflict as he finishes a book about his wartime experiences and reflects on how a man's true character is revealed through his actions on the battlefield. From the German soldier who visits him in dreams to the camaraderie that is forged by fighting together and the true gravity of laying down your life for a greater cause, World War I veteran Joe Delaney will attempt to exorcise his demons through writing while struggling to readjust to small-town life following the trauma of war.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 339
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, epic, serious, captivating, disturbing, bleak, emotional, realistic
Similar in 84%
Beneath Hill 60 (2010)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Australia's cat-and-mouse underground mine warfare – one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented and mystifying conflicts of WW I. It was a secret struggle BENEATH the Western Front that combined daring engineering, technology and science, and few on the surface knew of the brave, claustrophobic and sometimes barbaric work of these tunnellers.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, uplifting, bleak
Similar in 78%
Defenders of Riga (2007)
Plot Summary:
The film dramatizes November 11, 1919- a crucial date in the battle for Latvian independence. A year after the end of the official hostilities of WWI, a renegade German general and troops remain outside the Latvian capital. Latvian riflemen, most of them inexperienced volunteers, somehow managed to defeat a larger, better-armed force of German and Russian mercenaries.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Latvia
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
The Trench (1999)
Plot Summary:
The Trench tells the story of a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916, the worst defeat in British military history. Against this ill-fated backdrop, the movie depicts the soldiers' experience as a mixture of boredom, fear, panic, and restlessness, confined to a trench on the front lines.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France, UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, freeze frame
Similar in 89%
April 9th (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the early morning of April 9th 1940 the Danish army is alerted. The Germans have crossed the border; Denmark is at war against Europe's strongest army. In Southern Jutland Danish bicycle- and motorcycle companies are ordered out, to against all odds, hold back the forces until the Danish reinforcements can be mobilized. In the fatal hours, we follow second lieutenant Sand and his bicycle company - they will as the first Danish soldiers meet the enemy in combat on April 9th 1940.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Denmark
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, tense, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
1944 The Final Defence (2007)
Plot Summary:
The Soviet army breaks through the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus in June 1944, advancing with overwhelming force. Somehow, the Finnish troops must find the strength to fight back, with all odds against them. The Battle of Tali-Ihantala was the largest battle ever fought in the history of the Nordic countries. This film depicts the true events through five separate stories.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Finland
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, rough, bleak
Similar in 75%
1944: Forced to Fight (2015)
Plot Summary:
The events of the war in 1944, from the Blue Hills to Sõrve Peninsula. Shown through the eyes of Estonian soldiers who had to pick sides and fight against fellow brothers. Choices have to be made, not only by the soldiers, but also by their loved ones.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Estonia, Finland
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, psychological, captivating, suspense
Similar in 78%
Anzacs (1985)
Plot Summary:
Anzacs was a 1985 5-part Australian miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914, fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, and then on the Western Front for the remainder of the war. It follows in the wake of Australian New Wave war films such as Breaker Morant, Gallipoli, and precedes The Lighthorsemen. Recurring themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as mateship and larrikinism, the loss of innocence in war, and also the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 839
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, vintage, period drama
Similar in 81%
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
Plot Summary:
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: bleak, sad, suspenseful, historical drama, sincere, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, tragic ending
Similar in 77%
Von Richthofen and Brown (1971)
Plot Summary:
The story of Manfred von Richtofen, the german air ace during the World War I and his struggle with the enemy aces and some jealous german officers.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, suspenseful, realistic, psychotronic, independent film, cult film
Similar in 77%
Behind the Lines (1997)
Plot Summary:
Based on Pat Barker's novel of the same name, 'Regeneration' tells the story of soldiers of World War One sent to an asylum for emotional troubles. Two of the soldiers meeting there are Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, two of England's most important WW1 poets.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, independent film