Best movies like Against the Sun
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
A WWII pilot, bombardier, and radioman find themselves adrift on a lifeboat without food or water after being forced to ditch their plane during a scouting mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, serious, realistic, minimal cast, independent film, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like Against the Sun (2014):
Similar in 82%
None But the Brave (1965)
Plot Summary:
American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, serious, tense, bleak, realistic, retro
Similar in 87%
Hell in the Pacific (1968)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, a shot-down American pilot and a marooned Japanese navy captain find themselves stranded on the same small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Following war logic, each time the crafty Japanese devises something useful, he guards it to deny its use to the Yank, who then steals it, its proceeds or the idea and/or ruins it. Yet each gets his chance to kill and/or capture the other, but neither pushes this to the end. After a while of this pointless pestering, they end up joining forces to build and man a raft.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, realistic, harsh, serious, rough, bleak, minimal cast, historical drama, independent film
Similar in 85%
Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story (1994)
Plot Summary:
Two thousand miles from home, Jim and Jennifer Stolpa (with baby Clayton) lose their way and are stranded in an endless wilderness of deep snow, battling for survival against the elements. Using only meager supplies and resourcefulness, the young couple struggles to keep themselves and their infant son alive in a frozen shelter while awaiting rescue. Realizing they won't be found, Jim ultimately strikes out on a courageous 50-mile mission, determined to reach help and return to save his loved ones in this exciting and moving true story. Written by Anonymous.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 717
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
PT 109 (1963)
Plot Summary:
Dramatization of President John F. Kennedy's war time experiences during which he captained a PT boat, took it to battle and had it sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He and the survivors had to make their way to an island, find food and shelter and signal the Navy for rescue.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: historical drama, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
USS Seaviper (2012)
Plot Summary:
Direct to DVD movie: The German U-Boat, U-234, from the Port of Kiel is trading cargo with the Japanese. USS Seaviper must locate and stop this dangerous exchange. The Captain of USS Seaviper must go ashore to conduct reconnaissance on an island near Sumatra, but the ship is left in the hands of Mister Cutter, after the Executive Officer is injured in battle. A conflict between Cutter and the Chief of the Boat puts the submarine in jeopardy. Seaviper is trapped below the surface, with decreasing oxygen, and a Japanese destroyer hunting them from above. Damage to the boat also leave her survival in question. They must fight the Japanese destroyer and get the information about U-235 back to Pearl Harbor.
IMDB Rating: 2.4
IMDB Votes: 966
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Faith of My Fathers (2005)
Plot Summary:
Faith of My Fathers is based on the story of Lieutenant Commander John McCain's experiences as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years during the Vietnam War, interleaved with his memories of growing up in a heritage rich with military service.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 643
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, captivating, disturbing, suspense, bleak, realistic, cult film
Similar in 76%
Oba: The Last Samurai (2011)
Plot Summary:
In 1944, the American military lands on the shores of Saipan. Refusing to commit suicide with his superiors or be forced into camps for prisoners of war, Captain Oba Sakae leads a group of his men and other similarly minded local residents into the mountains. Even after hearing reports of the Japanese military's surrender, Oba dismisses the reports as propaganda and continues to launch guerilla attacks against the American soldiers, earning him the nickname "The Fox". Soon, even the American commander who's charged with the task of capturing Oba comes to admire his persistent enemy.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 90%
The Blockhouse (1973)
Plot Summary:
A group of Slave workers, drafted by the Nazis to help construct their coastal defenses in 1944 are trapped in an underground bunker when the Allies land at Normandy on D-Day. They find huge dtores of food but not enough candles. The slow dying of the light parallels their increasing boredom, illness and jealousy during their entrapment. Based on the Novel 'Le Blockhaus' by Jean Paul Clebert.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 83%
The Last Lieutenant (1993)
Plot Summary:
Norwegian war drama. The old sea-captain retires, but the next day German WWII occupation of Norway begins. He then kisses his wife good-bye and is off to Army HQ. There he finds a lack of leadership and morale that offends him. They even laugh at him and his out-dated uniform and officer-rank. Secondloitnanten then finds and leads his private troop of volunteers against the German attack. The movie tells the story of a man that refuses to give up, even when everybody else leaves. He will fight for the country he loves and do his duty.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 365
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Norway
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 78%
Das Boot - The Director's Cut (1981)
Plot Summary:
A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 261000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany, Italy, France, UK
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: epic, tense, suspenseful, realistic, atmospheric, suspense, tension, factual, rough, serious
Similar in 78%
Everyman's War (2009)
Plot Summary:
No one in high command believed that German forces would attack in the sub zero temperatures and near blizzard conditions. As the pre-dawn attack comes, with communications down Sgt. Smith is left with no choice but to make his way through enemy fire, unarmed and wounded, into town and warn of the coming attack. Based on actual accounts "Everyman's War" explores the heroic events of this decorated veterans courage and the struggle between duty and desire. Between the prospect of the life and love, Dorine that waits at home and the harsh realities of war which marks the pivotal epoch in his life as he discovers that the loss of hope can be worse than the loss of life. One man's courage... One man's hope...Everyman's War.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, uplifting
Similar in 81%
Only the Brave (2006)
Plot Summary:
A searing portrait of war and prejudice, 'Only the Brave' takes you on a haunting journey into the hearts and minds of the forgotten heroes of WWII - the Japanese-American 100th/442nd.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 909
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspenseful, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Fires on the Plain (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the final days of World War II, occupying Japanese forces in the Philippines face resistance from the local population and the American offensive. The dwindling Japanese soldiers attempt to survive through the horrors of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 831
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, atmospheric, realistic, captivating, rough, bleak, serious, gloomy, cult film
Similar in 76%
Canopy (2013)
Plot Summary:
An unlikely friendship between 2 young men becomes everything, when an Australian soldier takes refuge under the canopied jungles of Singapore, during the violent Japanese invasion in World War II. Jim is lost, injured and defenseless in a hostile, tropical world, hunted by Japanese troops, Seng, a Singapore-Chinese resistance fighter emerges from the jungle and the two young men find themselves thrown together hoping to survive.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Australia, Singapore
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, exciting, serious, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 82%
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 75%
Into the White (2012)
Plot Summary:
Into the White is an anti-war movie. High above the harsh Norwegian wilderness, English and German pilots shoot each other to the ground after a violent chance encounter. Isolated, they must fight to survive the brutal winter. Though war has made them enemies, antagonism is hard to maintain as days go by. Through mutual need, unlikely friendships bloom. Somehow, they become comrades. War, after all, is absurd.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Norway, Sweden, France
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, touching, breathtaking, social, poignant
Similar in 88%
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
Plot Summary:
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His diplomatic status in a Catholic country prevents Colonel Kappler from openly arresting him, but O'Flaherty's activities become so large that the Nazi's decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican. O'Flaherty continues his work in a variety of disguises. Based on a true story. Written by John Vogel.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK, Italy
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: realistic, factual, tense, serious, suspenseful, christian film, psychological, captivating, period piece, spiritual
Similar in 79%
Alive (1993)
Plot Summary:
The amazing, true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's plane that crashed in the middle of the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive and pull through alive, forced to do anything and everything they could to stay alive on meager rations and through the freezing cold.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: realistic, inspirational, emotional, disturbing, suspense, sad, suspenseful, intense, breathtaking, exciting
Similar in 77%
All Is Lost (2013)
Plot Summary:
During a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, a veteran mariner awakes to find his vessel taking on water after a collision with a stray shipping container. With his radio and navigation equipment disabled, he sails unknowingly into a violent storm and barely escapes with his life. With any luck, the ocean currents may carry him into a shipping lane -- but, with supplies dwindling and the sharks circling, the sailor is forced to face his own mortality.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 83000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: harsh, reflective, touching, suspenseful, tense, serious, minimal cast, rough, captivating, philosophical
Similar in 80%
The Donner Party (2009)
Plot Summary:
Based on the real events of The Donner Party tragedy. The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American settlers caught up in the western expansion of the 1840s. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada during the winter of 1846-1847, a number of the trapped settlers joined together in a final effort to reach California and organize a rescue party.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, disturbing, serious, realistic, mysterious, suspenseful, bleak, wild
Similar in 79%
127 Hours (2010)
Plot Summary:
The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 395000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspense, inspirational, breathtaking, psychological, intense, touching, unusual plot structure, depressing, motivational, thought provoking
Similar in 85%
MacArthur (1977)
Plot Summary:
The film portrays MacArthur's (Gregory Peck) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman (Ed Flanders) for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: melancholic, epic, intense, realistic, serious, political, exciting, tense, sincere, rough
Similar in 77%
The 33 (2015)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story about the collapse at the mine in San Jose, Chile that left 33 miners isolated underground for 69 days.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Chile, Colombia, Spain, USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: factual, touching, suspense, tense, serious, period piece, captivating, inspirational, romantic, sad
Similar in 83%
Unbroken (2014)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 180000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport, War
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: motivational, uplifting, inspirational, epic, dramatic, serious, emotional, realistic, brutal, harsh
Similar in 86%
The Diary of Anne Frank (1980)
Plot Summary:
The story of a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family who are forced into hiding by the Nazis during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 629
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991)
Plot Summary:
True story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, its crew's struggle to survive the sharks and exposure, and the captain's scape-goat court-martial.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 934
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, exciting, serious, captivating, disaster movie
Similar in 79%
Too Young the Hero (1988)
Plot Summary:
WWII drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 540
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 88%
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
Plot Summary:
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret wartime project in New Mexico where the first atomic bombs were designed and built.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: factual, suspense, intense, serious, realistic, anamorphic, independent film, sincere, thought provoking, captivating
Similar in 84%
Jungle (2017)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious guide escorts an enthusiastic adventurer and his friend into the Amazon jungle, but their journey turns into a terrifying ordeal as the darkest elements of human nature and the deadliest threats of the wild force them to fight for survival.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: Australia, UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspense, atmospheric, serious, suspenseful, realistic, tense, motivational, uplifting, touching, slasher
Similar in 88%
The Grey (2011)
Plot Summary:
An oil drilling team struggles to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wilds of Alaska. Hunting them is a pack of wolves that sees them as intruders.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 261000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bad ending, harsh, tense, exciting, emotional, psychological, suspense, rough, scenic