Best movies like Dear Elza!
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
"Mankind is nature's greatest mistake. In his actions echoes millions of years of instinct and a few genius's idea's useless revolution." End of 1942, eastern front, Ukraine. Private Lombos, tied to his family and his homeland by a strong loyalty, is serving in the Royal Hungarian Army. Due to an administrational error, he cannot go back home on leave. Despite his sorrow, he does his duty and takes up arms again to march further into the hell of the eastern front. During an attack he gets wounded and he's forced to spend a night behind enemy lines hiding out in a pit, where he meets an old man. They talk through the night, and the old man's words tremble his unbroken faith in his family and his country. As the dawn approaches, soviet shtrafbat soldiers find them and Private Lombos falls into captivity, then soon he's forced to join the "mine tramplers", a penal battalion whose soldiers clear minefields by stepping on them. Lombos has a hard time fitting into this new scenery, but the.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 575
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Dear Elza! (2014):
Similar in 84%
Desert Commandos (1967)
Plot Summary:
German commandos are dropped behind enemy lines in the Sahara Desert tasked with getting to Casablanca in an assassination attempt on allied leaders.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, West Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, macaroni combat, cult film
Similar in 77%
Heroes in Hell (1974)
Plot Summary:
In World War II, guerrillas kidnap a German general.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 174
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: perverse, macaroni combat, cult film
Similar in 84%
Jungle Fighters (1961)
Plot Summary:
Based on a play by Willis Hall. A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast. They now realize they are probably only 10 to 15 miles from a Japanese camp! The tension is added to by rowdy and openly admitted "non-hero" Private Bamforth who has nothing good to say about anyone and especially Corporal Johnstone (who holds an equal dislike for Bamforth). When a Japanese soldier is taken as their prisoner, the true colours of each man comes to the surface.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 969
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: ironic, independent film, tension, suspense, vintage
Similar in 82%
The Steel Claw (1961)
Plot Summary:
A Marine stationed in the Philippines loses a hand in an accident and is discharged from the Corps. When the Japanese invade the Philippines, he is called back into service to rescue a general held by Filipino guerrillas behind Japanese lines. Attaching a steel prosthetic in place of his missing hand, he and his men set out on the mission, which turns out to be not quite what he was told it was.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 188
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Similar in 87%
War Fever (1969)
Plot Summary:
A twist of fate leads a recent Westpoint grad into being responsible for the execution of two fellow American GIs. The young lieutenant comes of age, and the two battle hardened veterans achieve a state of grace through acts of sacrifice.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 275
Genere: War, Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: macaroni combat
Similar in 81%
Hell in Normandy (1968)
Plot Summary:
The movie is set during World War II in the days just prior to the D-Day invasion. A special parachute unit is sent to destroy a German flame thrower installation on Omaha Beach.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 315
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: macaroni combat
Similar in 82%
From Hell to Victory (1979)
Plot Summary:
From Hell To Victory follows the relationship of six friends throughout the Second World War. They meet in a cafe in Paris on 24th August 1939 and agree to meet there on the same day every year. The war however takes them on their own individual path's and keeping their friendship throughout proves complicated.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 479
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy, France, Spain
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: macaroni combat, spectacular
Similar in 88%
Trial on the Road (1986)
Plot Summary:
A Russian POW joins the partisan guerrillas and proves his loyalty fighting the Nazis.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: political, black and white
Similar in 81%
The Hot Snow (1972)
Plot Summary:
In November, 1942, near the Volga, Stanlingrad is under siege of Commander Friederich Paulus and his 330,000 men. The Russian high command unleashes an operation to protect the Mishkova River to avoid that about four hundred tanks join Paulus' army. The Soviet artillery soldiers protect their position with their lives in a bloodshed with few survivors.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 577
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Ambush Bay (1966)
Plot Summary:
A Marine unit on a Japanese-held island in the Philippines tries to hook up with local Filipino guerrillas.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 764
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
The Quick and the Dead (1963)
Plot Summary:
Pretty intense war-action drama about a small group of soldiers who capture a German observation post, but in turn are captured themselves. They soon escape and--with the aid of two women--try to fight their way to safety.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 164
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 75%
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 83%
King Rat (1965)
Plot Summary:
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. This was a POW detention center like no other. There were no walls or barbed-wire fences for the simple reason that there was no place for the prisoners to escape to. Included among the prisoners is the American Cpl. King, a wheeler dealer who has managed to established a pretty good life for himself in the camp. While most of the prisoners are near starvation and have uniforms that are in tatters, King eats well and and has crisp clean clothes to wear every day. His nemesis is Lt. Robin Grey, the camp Provost who attempts to keep good order and discipline. He knows that King is breaking camp rules by bartering with the Japanese but can't quite get the evidence he needs to stop him. King soon forms a friendship with Lt. Peter Marlowe an upper class British officer who is fascinated with King's élan and no rules approach to life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: black and white, bleak, realistic, sad, rough, serious, suspenseful, independent film, freeze frame, feel good
Similar in 85%
The Battle of the Eagles (1979)
Plot Summary:
The first Yugoslav Partisan air force unit. Loosely based on historical facts.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 918
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Yugoslavia
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: epic, cult film
Similar in 83%
Pacific Inferno (1979)
Plot Summary:
After the fall of the Philippines in World War II, the Japanese discover that Gen. MacArthur ordered millions of dollars in silver dumped in Manila Bay in order that it not fall into enemy hands. Among the prisoners the Japanese have taken are two American U.S. Navy deep-sea divers, whom they then force to dive in search of the sunken treasure.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 263
Genere: War
Country: USA, Philippines
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: cult film
Similar in 80%
The Last Escape (1970)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, American officer Capt. Lee Mitchell (Stuart Whitman) and a British military unit boldly infiltrate German-occupied enemy territory and attempt to kidnap brilliant Nazi scientist Dr. Von Heinken (Pinkas Braun) and bring him back in one piece. While shuttling their prized captive to safety, the Allied forces courageously assist desperate refugees and tussle with overpowering German and Russian forces.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Beach Red (1967)
Plot Summary:
American troops storm ashore on a Japanese-held island and push inland while their enemies plan a counterattack in this look at warfare. Soldiers on both sides are haunted by memories of home and the horrifying, sickening images they find in combat.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: spectacular, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 75%
Breakthrough (1979)
Plot Summary:
Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
They Fought for Their Country (1975)
Plot Summary:
In July 1942, in the Second World War, the rearguard of the Russian army protects the bridgehead of the Don River against the German army while the retreating Russian troops cross the bridge. While they move back to the Russian territory through the countryside, the soldiers show their companionship, sentiments, fears and heroism to defend their motherland.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: heroic, tense, sentimental, rough, suspenseful, philosophical, political, suspense
Similar in 76%
The Last Rescue (2015)
Plot Summary:
World World II: Shortly after D-Day, three American soldiers and two Army Corps nurses are stranded behind enemy lines. They take a high-ranking German officer as their prisoner and try to orchestrate an escape.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, tense, suspense
Similar in 80%
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 84%
Raid on Rommel (1971)
Plot Summary:
Captain Foster plans on raiding German-occupied Tobruk with hand- picked commandos, but a mixup leaves him with a medical unit led by a Quaker conscientious objector. Despite all odds they succeed with their mission. On the way they pick up and drug the mistress of an Italian general, blow up the entire fuel supply for the Afrika Korps, and swap philatelic gossip with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
A Midnight Clear (1992)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1944 France, an American Intelligence Squad locates a German Platoon wishing to surrender rather than die in Germany's final war offensive. The two groups of men, isolated from the war at present, put aside their differences and spend Christmas together before the surrender plan turns bad and both sides are forced to fight the other.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, sexy, scenic, cult classic, rough, serious, suspenseful, independent film, psychological
Similar in 78%
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 88%
The Unknown Soldier (1985)
Plot Summary:
Second silver screen adaption of the Finnish war book by Väinö Linna. The story is based on Linna's experiences as an infantry man in the Finnish army during the so called "Continuation War" (1941-1944).
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Finland
Duration: 197 min
Plot tags: realistic, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, sentimental, sexy, bleak, breathtaking, bloody
Similar in 90%
El Alamein - The Line of Fire (2002)
Plot Summary:
War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians; then the Brits attack, and there's no luck or heroism in death. Finally, it's retreat in confusion. Serra, his sergeant Rizzo, and his lieutenant Fiori take a last walk toward home. It's said that each soldier gets three miracles; when Serra's are used up, what then?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, sincere, captivating, realistic, historical drama
Similar in 75%
Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
Plot Summary:
World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, black and white, retro, intense, fast paced, esoteric
Similar in 79%
Ambush (1999)
Plot Summary:
It is the summer of 1941 and the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola is waiting for orders to go on the offensive. The platoon receives orders for a recon mission through the wilderness around the Lieksa lake to search for possible Russian defensive positions.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: War, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, intense, sincere, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, brutal, sex comedy
Similar in 75%
Stalingrad (1993)
Plot Summary:
"Stalingrad" follows the progress of a German Platoon through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After having half their number wiped out and after being placed under the command of a sadistic Captain, the Lieutenant of the platoon leads his men to desert. The men of the platoon attempt to escape from the city which is now surrounded by the Soviet Army.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, gloomy, rough, epic, captivating, factual, talky, political
Similar in 87%
Unknown Soldier (2017)
Plot Summary:
The film follows Finnish army machine gun company in Continuation War against Soviet Union, 1941–1944. Based on Väinö Linna's best selling novel Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the novel's uncensored version, Sotaromaani (A War Novel).
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Finland, Belgium, Iceland
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, thought provoking, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, novela, historical drama