Best movies like Dirty War
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
After years of meticulous planning, a terrorist operation is reaching its final stages. The authorities have received no intelligence; they are in a race against time but don't yet know it. As the operation unfolds, we see the working lives of men and women directly affected by terrorism. Among them: a firemen worried about the increasingly dangerous conditions he and his men are expected to work under; the head of the anti-terrorist branch whose responsibility it is to protect London and a female Muslim detective brought into Scotland Yard to investigate another suspected terrorist cell. But it is too late to stop the attack.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, detective, bleak, realistic
Best tv shows and movies like Dirty War (2004):
Similar in 81%
Face of Terror (2004)
Plot Summary:
A police officer searching for his missing sister in Spain uncovers a terrorist cell.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 484
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, realistic, exciting, tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 89%
The Stone Merchant (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Merchant (Harvey Keitel) is a Westerner. A merchant dealing in precious stones from Afganistan and Turkey. He's above suspicion. In truth, the "Stone Merchant" is a Christian convert into Islam. He's rich, cultured, fascinating. Leda (Jane March) is a successful woman who works as Head of the Public Relations for a big company. She's married to Alceo, a professor at the Sapienza University, specialized in the history of terrorist movements. Alceo is on a wheel chair. He lost his legs in the attack to the American Embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Shahid is a terrorist. Now he's planning an attack along the English Channel. Their lives, their destinies cross in Turkey, where Leda and Alceo are on holiday. And the plot will go on to Rome and Turin till the epilogue of the attack on the ferry boat.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, UK
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, realistic, exciting, tense
Similar in 89%
Secrets of State (2008)
Plot Summary:
In France, terrorist groups and intelligence agencies battle in a merciless war everyday, in the name of radically opposed ideologies. Yet, terrorist and secret agents lead almost the same lives. Condemned to secrecy, these masters of manipulation follow the same methods. Alex and Al Barad are two of them. The former is the head of the D.G.S.E.'s (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, the French equivalent of the CIA or the MI6) counter-terrorism unit while the latter reigns over a terrorist network, and both fight using the most ruthless of weapons: human beings.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, suspense, psychological thriller
Similar in 75%
The Eavesdropper (2004)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen deaf patients took part in an experimental clinical trail aimed at hearing restoration. Within days, fourteen of the fifteen participants in the trial become violently psychotic, ultimately taking their lives to stop violent side effects brought on by the treatment. This is the story of the sole survivor of the experiment, Patient #14 - Liza Raines, who participation in the experiment gave her super-normal hearing abilities - particularly, the ability to hear the frequency emitted by the brain when it thinks. When her life is suddenly thrown into jeopardy, Liza is forced to use her ability against those set on covering up the fact that she even existed.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, experimental
Similar in 84%
The Genius Club (2006)
Plot Summary:
Seven geniuses, with IQs over 200, are plucked from their lives on Christmas Eve to try to solve the world's problems in one night.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, futuristic, realistic, christian film, minimal cast
Similar in 79%
Killer Wave (2007)
Plot Summary:
Suddenly the US east coast is hit by a type of natural disaster formerly reserved, except after a major earthquake, for the Pacific and Indian ocean rims: tidal waves of the destructive tsunami type. Scientist and fiction author John McAdams attends a national emergency conference which concludes the phenomenon must be man-made, quite possibly abusing the findings of John's secret former Sea Lion project, but who wants to and has the means? Indeed John soon finds himself set-up for a murder and chased. Major destructions mean major contracts for construction and coastal defenses, so building tycoons like Victor Bannister certainly have a considerable interest.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 909
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, serious, exciting, captivating, disaster movie
Similar in 89%
The Grid (2004)
Plot Summary:
A team of American and British counter-terrorists are tasked with stopping a terrorist cell who's operating on a global level.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 817
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 266 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, detective
Similar in 85%
Time Lapse (2001)
Plot Summary:
Clayton Pierce is an agent working under deep cover. Although he is a top agent, he is questioning his loyalty after twenty years of service. His devotion has already cost him his wife, family and personal life. During a de-briefing from his last assignment, he is unknowingly administered the drug Oblivion, which destroys brain cells causing permanent memory loss. Within a few days of injection, the drug's effects become irreversible. Clayton will not only lose his memory, he will lose his identity as well. He realizes he can no longer rely on anyone at the agency to help him, not even his boss, Agent LaNova. With nowhere left to go, he appeals to his ex-wife, Kate, for help. Clayton and Kate must locate the antidote before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 321
Genere: Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, independent film, bleak, realistic, talky
Similar in 80%
Homeland Security (2004)
Plot Summary:
Admiral McKee (Tom Skerritt) is retired, when following the events of 9/11 he receives a call from the White House informing him that his commander in chief requires him to serve his country once again. Shortly after this he is sworn into office as a senior member of the Office of Homeland Security under Tom Ridge. Once in office Admiral McKee faces the challenge of organising this new office so as to prevent further terrorist attacks against the United States. With this in mind Admiral McKee's wife, Elise Mckee, recommends he speaks to his friend, NSA Agent Sol Binder.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 449
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic
Similar in 75%
Diplomatic Siege (1999)
Plot Summary:
When Steve Mitchell is clandestinely sent to the US embassy in Bucharest, Romania to disarm a nuclear bomb that has secretly remained in the building since the end of the Cold War, little does he know that other problems will soon erupt. He must join Erica Long, a diplomatic attaché who is not all that she appears, to work together on setting the correct computer code that will disable the weapon and accomplish the mission. But while watching video monitors from inside a long-forgotten surveillance room, Steve witnesses a surprising deadly takeover of the building by the Serbian Liberation Front.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, realistic, suspense, independent film
Similar in 83%
American Meltdown (2004)
Plot Summary:
The telefilm centers on a present-day nuclear plant disaster and its aftermath.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 482
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, tense, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, fast
Similar in 90%
Heat Wave (2009)
Plot Summary:
When a sudden, unexplained rise in local temperatures threatens to turn Los Angeles County into a parched, lifeless desert, one scientist must put her theories to the test in a desperate effort to prevent the catastrophe.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 292
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 87%
Landslide (2005)
Plot Summary:
Manhattan fireman Mark Decker visits, for the first time, his Steven in his ex Emma's new apartment in one of her dad Donald Richardson's development estates, at the foot of Diamand-back Mountain. But Don's ambitious executive Stewart Hancock, who dreams of his own firm, has been cutting too many corners, at the expense of safety, causing a landslide. Mark gets trapped with Steven and the new concierge Harold, who knows everything about an additional danger: rattlesnakes awoken early from hibernation. Now Mark discovers artistic, nerdy Steven only did 'manly' stuff in the city because dad-son time is so rare. While they soldier on, landscape architect Emma discovers the truth and counters Stewart's plan B to literally cover it up.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 338
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Crash Point Zero (2001)
Plot Summary:
When a plane carrying a legendary and recently found death ray machine from Siberia to Canada is hijacked and crashes in the remote mountains of Alaska, only a fearless government agent (Treat Williams) will risk his life to save the world. A modern B movie, reusing lots of footage from other films.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 529
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense, cliffhanger
Similar in 78%
Detonator (2003)
Plot Summary:
A former FBI agent must stop a crazy man from blowing up bombs.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 423
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, tense
Similar in 86%
Live Wire (1992)
Plot Summary:
Danny O'Neill is a bomb disposal expert assigned to a case where terrorists have developed an "invisible" liquid explosive which is activated within the human body.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, rough, fast
Similar in 82%
The Zone (1995)
Plot Summary:
Former Gulf War hero Rowdy Welles is framed for murder by unscrupulous CIA boss Dick Althorp. As his price of freedom, Welles is ordered to undertake a deadly mission to destroy a nuclear processing plant in a foreign nation, owned by dangerous tyrant Lothar Krasna.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 219
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
The Domino Killings (1977)
Plot Summary:
Tucker is a chronic underachiever and a loser. A Vietnam war veteran who just can't seem to keep out of trouble, in the years since his discharge. The only thing he got out of the war was his skill with a rifle. Now, serving a long stretch in prison for murder, he has hit rock-bottom. But one day a man in a three-piece suit visits him in prison, a man he has never seen before, and informs him that he can walk out of prison a free man if he will shoot someone for them, no questions asked.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, cult film
Similar in 81%
Counterstrike (2002)
Plot Summary:
A Secret Service agent and his brother, a reckless ATF agent, try to stop a group of extreme right-wing U.S. military mercenaries, led by a fanatic Taiwanese vixen, who hijack the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner with the U.S. and Chinese presidents on board with the aim to steal China's nuclear codes to arm China's ICBM missiles to use as bargaining chips for their personal crusade against China.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 606
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Fatwa (2006)
Plot Summary:
In the midst of a personal crisis, junior senator Maggie Davidson (Holly) ascertains that she's the subject of a terrorist plot.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 482
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, independent film, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Complicit (2013)
Plot Summary:
An MI5 officer's attempts to foil a possible terrorist plot are undermined by bureaucracy and moral dilemmas. Will he make the world a safer place or be complicit in making a tense situation even worse?.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 789
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, captivating, psychological, disturbing, thought provoking, gloomy
Similar in 81%
The Agency (2001)
Plot Summary:
The Agency is a CBS television drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA. The series was created by Michael Frost Beckner and was executive produced by Michael Frost Beckner, Shaun Cassidy Productions and Radiant Productions in association with Universal Network Television and CBS Productions. It aired from September 27, 2001 until May 17, 2003, lasting two seasons. It featured unprecedented filming from the actual CIA headquarters. The show was controversial regarding its exploration of current international affairs and its treatment of the ethical conflicts inherent in intelligence work. Beckner's pilot script, written in March 2001, posited a re-invented CIA tasked with a "War on Terror" after Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization plots a lethal attack on the west. The pilot was to premiere at CIA Headquarters on September 18, 2001 and set to air on CBS September 21, 2001, however, the actual 9/11 attacks convinced the network to hold the pilot and instead air a later episode. That first episode was aired later as the third episode of the first season. The September 11, 2001 terrorist events changed the way Americans viewed topical entertainment and "The Agency", at the time, was one of the most topical offering on network television. The producers of the series quickly responded to this new American perspective on world affairs, but CBS chose to cancel the show shortly after the second season's final episode.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, cerebral, exciting, serious
Similar in 82%
Sleeper Cell (2005)
Plot Summary:
A chilling and unflinching look at all sides of a complicated issue, focusing on an African-American Muslim who joins an Islamic sleeper terrorist cell in the United States while working undercover for the FBI.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, captivating, suspenseful, erotic, detective, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Secret Agent (1996)
Plot Summary:
London of the late 19th century is a haven for political exiles of all sorts - refugees, partisans, anarchists. Verloc has made his living spying for the Russian goverment, an agent provacateur of sorts, while simultaneously providing information to the London police, specifically Chief Inspector Heat. When the new Russian ambassador demands he prove his worth or lose his salary, Verloc sets off a tragic chain of events that involves his pretty young wife Winnie, her retarded brother Stevie, and a figure called the Professor, whose fascination with explosives and destruction makes him the person to call on when Verloc needs a bomb.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, harsh, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, political thriller, bleak, light, romantic
Similar in 75%
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
Plot Summary:
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political, political thriller, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 83%
The Enemy Within (1994)
Plot Summary:
Colonel Casey discovers what appears to be plans by General Lloyd to use fake military excercises to assist Jack Giddings in his plans to remove President Foster from office. Colonel Casey, and President Foster must find evidence that there is a coup planned and stop it, before it takes place. Unfortunately, there isn't much time.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, political thriller
Similar in 84%
Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair (1990)
Plot Summary:
Genua, 3rd October 1985. Together with over 500 other passengers Margot and Pierre Bergeron, a married couple from France, the Serafinis, an Italian family, Anne Higgins, an Englishwoman, Gitta and Helmut Holzer from Germany and an American couple called Marilyn and Leon Klinghoffer board the 'Achille Lauro'. The mood is cheerful and relaxed, everyone is looking forward to twelve days of sun, sea and peace. No one suspects that there are four Palestinian terrorists among the passengers: Al Assadi, Fatayer, Al Ashker and Molqi, their leader. The ship puts to sea in perfect weather. Three marvellous days follow. Everyone appears to be happy and contented. But in the case of some of the passengers appearances are deceiving. Marilyn Klinghoffer, for example, only pretends to her crippled husband that she is well and happy; in reality she is seriously ill with cancer and knows that this will be her last voyage. She does not want to upset her husband, however. A crisis is brewing between.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 269
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: Italy, France, USA, West Germany, UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
Hour of Valor (2000)
Plot Summary:
A Presidential candidate running against the Vice-President plans a trip to the Balkans to negotiate the release of American servicemen being held hostage. Before he leaves, he receives a disk documenting evidence that the Vice-President has been trying to revive the American economy by causing a war in the Balkans. He plans to show it to both sides in the hopes of ending the situation. However, Secret Service agents hijack the Concorde he is on and kill the pilots. It's up to an Air Force officer, nicknamed "Washout" because he can't fly a plane, to land the Concorde. Written by Leigh Roche.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 650
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 85%
Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997)
Plot Summary:
A retired and disgruntled scientist is brought out of retirement to explain why tidal waves are wiping out coastal communities. But is he part of the problem?.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 550
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, psychotronic, disaster movie
Similar in 87%
The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
Plot Summary:
The Cassandra Crossing is an all-star disaster spectacular telling of the terrifying odyssey of 1000 doomed passengers trapped aboard a plague-infested train. A terrorist infected with a deadly virus boards the Stockholm to Geneva Express and exposes all aboard to the disease. Colonel Mackenzie (Burt Lancaster) is called in to handle the situation and finds Dr. Chamberlain (Richard Harris) who is on board the train. Mackenzie decides to re-route the train to the Cassandra Crossing where it will plunge into oblivion. But passengers miraculously begin to recover and Chamberlain must race against time to disconnect the cars.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Italy, West Germany
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, tense, intense, rough, serious, entertaining, retro, suspenseful, surprise ending