Best movies like A Soldier's Story
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
In the towm of Tynen, Louisiana, a black Master Sergeant is found shot to death just outside the local Army Base. A military lawyer, also a black man, is sent from Washington to conduct an investigation. Facing an uncooperative chain of command and fearful black troops, Captain Davenport must battle with deceipt and prejudice in order to find out exactly who really did kill Sergeant Waters.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, War
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: suspense, sincere, crime drama, cult classic, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like A Soldier's Story (1984):
Similar in 84%
Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
Plot Summary:
A company of British soldiers in colonial India is shaken when the widow of their most honored hero is assaulted. A young officer must defend a fellow lieutenant from the charges in an unusual court-martial, while investigating the deepening mystery behind the attack.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 937
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: action thriller, serious, realistic, suspense, crying, independent film, period drama
Similar in 88%
True Believer (1989)
Plot Summary:
Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mom, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he did not commit.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, clever, suspenseful, serious, captivating, realistic, biting, independent film, psychological
Similar in 83%
Mutiny (1999)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based story about 300 predominantly black sailors who were killed on July 17, 1944 while loading munitions on a ship in San Francisco. Three weeks later, 50 survivors were court-martialed for refusing to load another shipment. The men cited the Navy's lack of care for their safety.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 319
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 79%
The Winston Affair (1964)
Plot Summary:
In a remote jungle outpost in the Far Eastern theater of World War II, a hotheaded American soldier murders an allied British sergeant in cold blood. Stalwart American Lt. Colonel Barney Adams (Mitchum) is dispatched to defend him in the ensuing court martial. But when Lt. Adams starts encountering roadblocks in his search for evidence, and his key witnesses start disappearing one after another, he soon realizes he's merely a pawn in a mysterious conspiracy that could extend to the highest levels of military power.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 805
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, suspenseful, independent film, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Perry Mason: The Case of the Maligned Mobster (1991)
Plot Summary:
A gangster who has commited all kinds of crimes is accused to have killed his wife. As he was not the murderer in this case Perry Mason intents to find the killer.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 373
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: mind bending, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 76%
King & Country (1964)
Plot Summary:
During World War I a British soldier, charged with desertion, is defended by an officer who at first despises his actions and then grows to feel sympathy for him.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, sincere, atmospheric, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 83%
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988)
Plot Summary:
A full-length adaptation, originally staged as a play, of the court-martial segment from the novel "The Caine Mutiny".
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 693
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, clever, serious, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, talky, biting, suspense
Similar in 85%
Carter's Army (1970)
Plot Summary:
The officer (Stephen Boyd) is put in charge of a squad of all black troops charged with the mission of blowing up an important hydro dam in Nazi Germany. Their failure would delay the Allies advance into Germany, thus prolonging the war. These African-Americans a have little military training, but Captain Beau Carter has no choice. He leads the rag-tag and they turn out to be heroic.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 589
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, cult film
Similar in 77%
Small Town Conspiracy (2002)
Plot Summary:
Crime - Set in Florida at the close of 1941, this film noir follows small-town police chief John Haleran's (Zen Gesner) investigation of the murder of a young Japanese girl, a case that leads to a top secret government conspiracy. With the help of retired cop Taylor (William Morgan Sheppard), Haleran discovers a connection between the victim and an imminent Japanese attack. - Zen Gesner, Jeannetta Arnette, William Morgan Sheppard.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, War
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense, bleak
Similar in 77%
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)
Plot Summary:
Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm’s frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon discovers some unsettling truths about the firm – truths that conflict with his values of helping the poor and dispossessed – and finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme actions.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, United Arab Emirates, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspense, inspirational, tense, captivating, suspenseful, serious, dramatic, cult classic, black cinema
Similar in 75%
The Night of the Generals (1967)
Plot Summary:
An unusual World War II crime thriller about a Nazi investigation into the murder of a prostitute. Major Grau finds himself focusing on three suspects: the Generals Tanz, Kahlenberg and Seydlitz-Gabler – all three of whom, it seems, are also involved in a plot to kill Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, War
Country: UK, France
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, serious, captivating, detective, retro, neo noir, psychological
Similar in 78%
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990)
Plot Summary:
A film about the early life of the baseball star in the army, particulary his court-martial for insubordination regarding segragation.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 241
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, clever, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, talky
Similar in 83%
Hope & Redemption: The Lena Baker Story (2008)
Plot Summary:
Based on true events, The Lena Baker Story recounts one African-American womans struggle to rise above the challenges of her life, to face the choices she makes, and to ultimately triumph over her...Lena Baker was the first and only woman to be sentenced to death by the electric chair in the state of Georgia and was executed in 1945. She was pardoned posthumously in 2005.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Crime, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film
Similar in 90%
Heavens Fall (2006)
Plot Summary:
Successful New York attorney Sam Leibowitz travels to the South in 1933 to defend nine young black men accused of raping two women on an Alabama freight train.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: serious, sincere, disturbing, independent film, uplifting, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
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 87%
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Plot Summary:
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe, but also from the widow of a Nazi general, an idealistic U.S. Army captain and reluctant witness Irene Wallner.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 179 min
Plot tags: political, black and white, emotional, suspenseful, disturbing, sincere, tense, realistic, talky, philosophical
Similar in 79%
12 Angry Men (1997)
Plot Summary:
During the trial of a man accused of his father's murder, a lone juror takes a stand against the guilty verdict handed down by the others as a result of their preconceptions and prejudices. The film is adapted by Reginald Rose from his own 1957 film version (directed by Sidney Lumet) and from the Westinghouse One television production that predated it. George C. Scott won a Golden Globe for his supporting role; righteous juror Jack Lemmon was denied such an honor for Best Actor, but recipient Ving Rhames (for Don King) dedicated his award to Lemmon.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, captivating, clever, talky, tense, inspirational, retro, philosophical, cerebral
Similar in 87%
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Plot Summary:
An African American detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racist southern town.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: detective, tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, suspense, thought provoking, intense, serious, rough, neo noir
Similar in 89%
High Crimes (2002)
Plot Summary:
A female attorney learns that her husband is really a marine officer awol for fifteen years and accused of murdering fifteen civilians in El Salvador. Believing her husband when he tells her that he's being framed as part of a U.S. Military cover-up, the attorney defends him in a military court.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: clever, suspenseful, suspense, twist ending, serious, surprise ending, tense, realistic, detective, psychological
Similar in 84%
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Plot Summary:
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: neo noir, detective, dark, atmospheric, clever, stylized, suspense, psychological, political, mysterious
Similar in 82%
The Chamber (1996)
Plot Summary:
Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi prison which has held him since the crime. The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds. Not only does he fight for his grandfather, but perhaps for himself as well. He has come to heal the wounds of his own father's suicide.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: emotional, suspense, thought provoking, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, talky, anamorphic, contemplative
Similar in 87%
Miss Evers' Boys (1997)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the US Government's 1932 Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiments, in which a group of black test subjects were allowed to die, despite a cure having been developed.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, black cinema
Similar in 81%
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Plot Summary:
Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 329000
Genere: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: touching, black and white, enigmatic, compassionate, sentimental, thought provoking, southern gothic, educational, inspirational, gothic
Similar in 86%
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)
Plot Summary:
A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 251000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: clever, serious, captivating, suspense, psychological, tense, suspenseful, enigmatic, twisted, entertaining
Similar in 77%
A Time to Kill (1996)
Plot Summary:
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, sincere, suspense, serious, political, realistic, tense, brutal, intense, emotional
Similar in 76%
Hart's War (2002)
Plot Summary:
Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous eye of the Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 55000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, suspense, harsh, factual, rough, serious, sincere, emotional, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995)
Plot Summary:
During the Second World War, a special project is begun by the US Army Air Corps to integrate African American pilots into the Fighter Pilot Program. Known as the "Tuskegee Airman" for the name of the airbase at which they were trained, these men were forced to constantly endure harassement, prejudice, and much behind the scenes politics until at last they were able to prove themselves in combat.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: inspirational, factual, emotional, sincere, serious, tense, exciting, realistic, hood, fairy tale
Similar in 83%
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
Plot Summary:
Ghosts of Mississippi is a drama covering the final trial of the assassin, Bryon De La Beckwith, of the 60s civil rights leader Medgar Evers. It begins with the murder and the events surrounding the two initial trials which both ended in a hung jury. The movie then covers District Attorney, Bobby DeLaughters transformation and alliance with Myrlie Evers, wife of Medgar Evers, of the, as he becomes more involved with bringing Beckwith to trial for the third time 30 years later. Some of the characters are played by the actual participants in this story.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: inspirational, talky, factual, intense, compassionate, sincere, thought provoking, serious, political, political thriller
Similar in 89%
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Plot Summary:
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his, former Sheriff, partner.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, disturbing, realistic, political thriller, tense, suspenseful, psychological, intense, atmospheric
Similar in 80%
A Few Good Men (1992)
Plot Summary:
When cocky military lawyer Lt. Daniel Kaffee and his co-counsel, Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway, are assigned to a murder case, they uncover a hazing ritual that could implicate high-ranking officials such as shady Col. Nathan Jessep.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 282000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, serious, realistic, tricky, clever, suspenseful, feel good, entertaining, sincere