Best movies like City of Life and Death
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
City of Life and Death takes place in 1937, during the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Japanese Army has just captured the then-capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing. What followed was known as the Nanking Massacre, or the Rape of Nanking, a period of several weeks wherein tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, bleak, black and white, tense, captivating, depressing, breathtaking, political, dark
Best tv shows and movies like City of Life and Death (2009):
Similar in 79%
The Eight Hundred (2020)
Plot Summary:
In 1937, eight hundred Chinese soldiers fight under siege from a warehouse in the middle of the Shanghai battlefield, completely surrounded by the Japanese army.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: China
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: bleak, suspense, suspenseful, exciting
Similar in 80%
Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
Plot Summary:
During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant's home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to interrogate the prisoners. The townspeople then struggle to accommodate the prisoners. One is a bellicose Japanese nationalist, the other a nervous translator. Will the townspeople manage to keep the prisoners until the New Year?.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: semi serious, atmospheric, humorous, realistic, dark comedy, depressing, cerebral, philosophical, absurd, independent film
Similar in 81%
Air Strike (2018)
Plot Summary:
An American pilot is sent to a Chinese province to teach a crew of would-be pilots how to fly war planes against the Japanese during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 3.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, epic, serious, rough, realistic
Similar in 78%
1911 (2011)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of the 20th century, China is in a state of crisis. The country is split into warring factions, the citizens are starving, and recent political reforms have made matters worse, not better. The ruling Qing Dynasty, led by a seven-year-old emperor, and his ruthless mother, Empress Dowager Longyu is completely out of touch after 250 years of unquestioned power. Huang Xing has recently returned from Japan, where he has studied the art of modern warfare. When he finds his country falling apart, he feels he has no choice but to pick up the sword.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, cult classic, cute, serious, realistic, stylized, cult film
Similar in 79%
Purple Butterfly (2003)
Plot Summary:
Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover... and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: China, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic, bleak, captivating, suspenseful, tense, atmospheric, non-linear
Similar in 86%
Men Behind the Sun (1988)
Plot Summary:
The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, Horror, War
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, extreme horror, bleak, rough, serious, realistic, brutal, splatter, bloody
Similar in 75%
Nanking (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, depressing, suspense, touching, emotional, political, dark, black and white
Similar in 88%
Men Behind the Sun 4 (1995)
Plot Summary:
Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre, also called Men Behind the Sun 4, is a 1994 Hong Kong film directed by Mou Tun Fei and is in many ways considered to be a follow up to the 1987 shockumentary film, Men Behind the Sun. The movie depicts the events behind the Nanking Massacre committed by the Imperial Japanese army against Chinese citizens and refugees during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Like Men Behind the Sun, the film was both criticized and praised for its brutal portrayal of the Japanese atrocities, such as the notorious contest to kill 100 people using a sword, during the early and late stages of World War II, but at the same time was questioned over historical accuracy and violence which gave the film a more exploitation feel to it.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 895
Genere: Drama, History, Horror, Thriller, War
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: disturbing, controversial, perverse, classic horror, terrifying, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Katyn (2007)
Plot Summary:
An examination of the Soviet slaughter of thousands of Polish officers and citizens in the Katyn forest in 1940.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sentimental, heartbreaking, realistic, sad, sincere, touching, epic, social, controversial
Similar in 86%
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Plot Summary:
In 1942, British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting suicide. One of the prisoners, interpreter John Lawrence, tries to explain the japanese way of thinking, but is considered a traitor.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, New Zealand, Japan
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, bleak, realistic, sad, experimental, avant garde, art film, serious, crying
Similar in 75%
Cross of Iron (1977)
Plot Summary:
It is 1943, and the German army, ravaged and demoralised, are hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of all this madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich are still vastly superior to the Russian army; however within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner, on the other hand is cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors. Steiner's lack of respect results in a growing animosity between the two.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, West Germany
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: political, brutal, cult classic, tense, bleak, realistic, independent film, philosophical, mind bending, psychedelic
Similar in 88%
Red Cherry (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, this horrifying tale follows two orphaned friends as they struggle to survive during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 745
Genere: Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, mesmerizing, saga, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Plot Summary:
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor named Basie, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirits, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 133000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: sad, emotional, heartbreaking, period piece, touching, realistic, inspirational, historical drama, sincere, philosophical
Similar in 88%
Come and See (1985)
Plot Summary:
The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 92000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: bleak, disturbing, thought provoking, rough, political, psychological, atmospheric, depressing, controversial, serious
Similar in 79%
Shooting Dogs (2005)
Plot Summary:
Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: disturbing, bleak, sad, emotional, sincere, christian film, breathtaking, inspirational, depressing, epic
Similar in 77%
Sometimes in April (2005)
Plot Summary:
Debra Winger, Oris Erhuero and Idris Elba star in this drama framed by the Rwandan genocide.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Rwanda, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, sad, disturbing, inspirational, political, informative, bilingual
Similar in 76%
The Flowers of War (2011)
Plot Summary:
A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 55000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: China
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, harsh, visually stunning, brutal, sentimental, rough, bleak, serious
Similar in 78%
Fortress of War (2010)
Plot Summary:
A war drama set during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, in which Russian troops held on to a border stronghold for nine days. The film shows the heroic defense of Brest Fortress, which has taken upon the first stroke of German fascist invaders on June 22 1941.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Belarus, Russia
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, tense, captivating, touching, epic
Similar in 76%
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Plot Summary:
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen – John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes, who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 128000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, epic, factual, suspense, serious, touching, patriotic, historical drama
Similar in 87%
The Water Diviner (2014)
Plot Summary:
In 1919, Australian farmer Joshua Connor travels to Turkey to discover the fate of his three sons, reported missing in action. Holding on to hope, Joshua must travel across the war-torn landscape to find the truth and his own peace.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 77000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: touching, reflective, emotional, dramatic, compassionate, sentimental, political, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 76%
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990)
Plot Summary:
The movie follows the perspective of several characters (such as Japanese victims, soldiers, American prisoners of war and others) and how they lived or tried to survive the effects felt during the aftermath of the Atomic Bomb dropping by the Enola Gay at Hiroshima, during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 78%
The Grey Zone (2001)
Plot Summary:
A Nazi doctor, along with the Sonderkomando Jews – who are forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz against their fellow-Jews – find themselves in a moral grey zone.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: depressing, bleak, disturbing, factual, emotional, harsh, compassionate, serious, realistic, heartbreaking
Similar in 90%
Europa Europa (1990)
Plot Summary:
A Jewish boy separated from his family in the early days of WWII poses as a German orphan and is taken into the heart of the Nazi world as a 'war hero' and eventually becomes a Hitler Youth. Although improbabilities and happenstance are cornerstones of the film, it is based upon a true story.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, France, Poland
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, realistic, retro, mind bending, psychedelic, surreal, epic, tense, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 87%
Downfall (2004)
Plot Summary:
In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 370000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, Austria, Italy
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: psychological, bleak, dramatic, disturbing, harsh, realistic, suspense, political, atmospheric, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
John Rabe (2009)
Plot Summary:
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: France, China, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, disturbing, bleak, serious, uplifting, epic, edutainment, emotional, contemplative
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The Counterfeiters (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story Jewish counterfeiter, Salomon Sorowitsch, coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Crime, Drama, History, War
Country: Austria, Germany
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, brutal, bleak, harsh, serious, disturbing, suspenseful, realistic, intense, sincere
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Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Plot Summary:
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 168000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: emotional, bleak, realistic, epic, disturbing, contemplative, touching, bloody, dramatic, black and white
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The Thin Red Line (1998)
Plot Summary:
Based on the graphic novel by James Jones, The Thin Red Line tells the story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. A powerful frontline cast - including Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson and George Clooney - explodes into action in this hauntingly realistic view of military and moral chaos in the Pacific during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 197000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 170 min
Plot tags: visually stunning, epic, visual, philosophical, visually appealing, atmospheric, rough, captivating, intense, existential
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In Darkness (2011)
Plot Summary:
A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied Polish city of Lvov. In Darkness tells the true story of Leopold Soha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his own good, the thief and burglar hides Jewish refugees for 14 months in the sewers of the Nazi-occupied town of Lvov (former Poland).
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland, Germany, Canada
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: harsh, disturbing, sincere, uplifting, social, educational, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
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Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 368000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, South Africa, Italy, USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, informative, rough, political, sad, depressing, inspirational, sincere, touching