Best movies like Escape to Athena
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a greek island are trying to escape. They don't want only their freedom, but they also seek for an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island's mountain.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, suspense, disturbing, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, historical drama
Best tv shows and movies like Escape to Athena (1979):
Similar in 78%
The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988)
Plot Summary:
A renegade team of World War II soldiers. This time, one of the 12 is a woman and, with a Nazi spy within their midst, they're up against German wartime geniuses out to establish a Fourth Reich.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: USA, Yugoslavia, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, rough, serious, realistic
Similar in 75%
Hannibal Brooks (1969)
Plot Summary:
A POW in World War II is put to work in a Munich zoo, looking after an Asian elephant. The zoo is bombed by the Americans and the director of the zoo decides it is not safe for his Asian elephant Lucy to remain there. So he sends Brooks to safety with Lucy. They escape and go on the run in order to get to Switzerland.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, humorous, realistic, semi serious, buddy comedy, action comedy, cult film
Similar in 79%
Eastern Condors (1987)
Plot Summary:
A motley group of Asian prisoners held in the US are given one chance for freedom. They are to go deep into Vietnam and destroy a secret depot of missles that the US left behind during the pull-out. The group, led by Lt. Lam and convict Tung, hook up with a trio of female freedom fighters and a happy go lucky martial artist named 'Rat'. The entire group is captured by the VC because one of them is a double agent, but they escape, cross an un-crossable bridge, and get to the secret base just ahead of the VC. By this point nearly all of the original group is dead, and it's up to Tung and Rat to fight the VC's leader, a bizarre giggling man who's lightning fast with martial arts.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: Hong Kong
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, grindhouse, bleak, fast, eighties
Similar in 79%
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 79%
The Ascent (1994)
Plot Summary:
The real-life adventure of a dashing Italian soldier who escapes a British prisoner-of-war camp because he dreams of climbing 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya and planting the Italian flag at the summit. The obsessive British camp commander pursues him, and the two men are locked in a battle of wills, fuelled by honor and their love for the same woman.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 205
Genere: Adventure, War
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 80%
Shout at the Devil (1976)
Plot Summary:
During World War One an English adventurer, an American elephant poacher and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battle-cruiser which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. The story is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, which in turn is very loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, slapstick comedy, slapstick
Similar in 77%
The Hunt for Wehrwolf (2011)
Plot Summary:
A small group of Russian soldiers with mixed skills are assembled to go on a covert mission to map out the area of Hitler's new HQ in the Ukraine known as Wehrwolf. But it's not until they get to their destination that the squads leader then decides to unveil the true details of the mission.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 74
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: Russia, Ukraine
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, captivating, suspenseful, serious, realistic
Similar in 84%
Ardennes Fury (2014)
Plot Summary:
As the Battle of the Bulge rages on, an American tank unit gets trapped behind Nazi lines. With just hours before the bombs of Operation Ardennes Fury fall, the tank's commander makes the risky decision to rescue an orphanage.
IMDB Rating: 2.3
IMDB Votes: 939
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, psychological, tense, mockbuster, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Plot Summary:
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from Nazi Germany by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, retro, rough, serious, suspenseful, tragic ending, tense, sentimental, clever
Similar in 83%
The Misfit Brigade (1987)
Plot Summary:
War story of the 27th Panzers, Hitler's heavy-duty combat regiment composed of prisoners.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK, Denmark, Yugoslavia, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 80%
The Last Drop (2006)
Plot Summary:
Different factions in WWII-era Holland race to find a stash of Nazi gold.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, exciting, suspense, crying
Similar in 84%
Age of Heroes (2011)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, tense, suspenseful, epic, captivating, realistic, fast
Similar in 80%
Triple Cross (1966)
Plot Summary:
A safecracker turns double agent during WWII.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, France, West Germany
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: political thriller, serious, realistic, suspenseful, eurospy
Similar in 88%
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 82%
The Heroes of Telemark (1965)
Plot Summary:
Set in German-occupied Norway, this is based on the efforts of the Norwegian resistance to sabotage German development of the atomic bomb. Resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physicist Rolf Pedersen in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant in rural Telemark. British commandos dispatched to destroy the plant are killed when their glider crashes. A resistance raid ends in the partial destruction of the heavy water but the Germans resume production quickly. Pedersen recommends that the Allies bomb the plant. Straud opposes him to prevent civilian deaths. The air raid takes place, but it fails to destroy the heavy water. The remaining heavy water is loaded onto a ferry for Germany, and the resistance attempt to blow it up. Pedersen boards the ferry to try and minimize civilian deaths. The film closes with resistance members rescuing passengers as the ferry sinks.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, independent film, microfilm, cult film
Similar in 81%
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Plot Summary:
World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, mind blowing, retro, educational, dieselpunk, visually stunning, historical drama, twisted
Similar in 82%
The Fallen (2004)
Plot Summary:
THE FALLEN is a three-sided story about German, Italian, and American soldiers, set in Northern Italy during the final weeks of the World War II. On the one side, a group of American supply soldiers delivers ammunition to the front line, a journey that becomes a descent into hell, the success of the mission becomes less likely with every setback. On the other, a doomed German unit and their ragtag Italian partners struggle to maintain morale and discipline amongst their beleaguered troops in the face of certain defeat. Torn between these are the divided loyalties of the Italians, both fascist soldiers and communist partisans, who have turned brother against brother in a bloody civil war. The film looks at the everyday life of the soldiers, their encounters on the road, their hopes and dreams, and the differences in values, morals, and patriotism between the cultures at the end of that era.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 932
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Germany, Italy
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, realistic, bleak
Similar in 78%
The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987)
Plot Summary:
Learning of a Nazi plot to attack Washington, D.C. with a deadly nerve gas, Major Wright leads twelve convicts on a suicide mission deep into occupied France to destroy the secret factory where the poison is made.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA, Croatia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, bleak
Similar in 75%
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Plot Summary:
A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: Yugoslavia, USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: entertaining, light, cynical, semi serious, humorous, realistic, witty, parody, action comedy, relaxing
Similar in 88%
Company of Heroes (2013)
Plot Summary:
American soldiers lost behind enemy lines during the WWII make a horrific discovery: Hitler has a super bomb in development. Against all odds, they set out to find the scientist in charge of the program who is looking to defect.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, exciting, realistic, suspenseful, tense, scenic
Similar in 83%
The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985)
Plot Summary:
Major Reisman is "volunteered" to lead another mission using convicted army soldiers, sentenced to either death or long prison terms. This time their mission is to kill a Nazi general who plans to assassinate Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious
Similar in 75%
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
Plot Summary:
In WWII Western Germany, Private David Manning reluctantly leaves behind a mortally wounded fellow soldier and searches for survivors from his platoon, only to learn from commanding officer Captain Pritchett that they have all been killed in action. Despite requesting a discharge on the grounds of mental disability, Manning is promoted to sergeant and assigned to lead a new platoon of young inductees.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, captivating, realistic, bleak
Similar in 88%
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Plot Summary:
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, suspense, intense, serious, realistic, perverse, action adventure, mind blowing, spectacular
Similar in 78%
The Inglorious Bastards (1978)
Plot Summary:
Set in Europe during WWII, a group of American soldiers on their way to military prison are beset upon by a German artillery attack, escaping with Switzerland in their sights. Before making it any farther, they volunteer to steal a V2 warhead for the French Underground - taking them deep into the heart of German territory.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Adventure, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: realistic, grindhouse, talky, intense, rough, suspenseful, semi serious, cult classic, exciting, perverse
Similar in 88%
U-571 (2000)
Plot Summary:
In the midst of World War II, the battle under the sea rages and the Nazis have the upper hand as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. However, after a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Action, War
Country: France, USA, Italy
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: realistic, exciting, suspenseful, suspense, factual, intense, rough, serious, dramatic, action packed
Similar in 77%
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Plot Summary:
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, tense, intense, serious, epic, fast paced, realistic, suspenseful, retro
Similar in 80%
The Sea Wolves (1980)
Plot Summary:
This true story follows the exploits of a top secret British military mission to destroy Nazi radio ships in a neutral harbor during WWII. The daring plan is led by British Intelligence officers Col. Lewis Pugh (Gregory Peck) and Capt. Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore). Since the ships are in neutral territory the British Military command, while encouraging the scheme, must deny any knowledge of it if it fails. Pugh and Stewart enlist the aid of retired officer Col. Bill Grice (David Niven) and some of his former soldiers. On the pretext of being on a fishing expedition, these seemingly drunken old men in civilian clothing must board and destroy 3 Nazi ships, whose radio transmissions have resulted in Nazi submarines sinking allied ships. While Stewart arranges a diversion on shore, Pugh and Grice carry out the dangerous raid on and destruction of the Nazi ships.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, History, War
Country: UK, USA, Switzerland
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, suspense, realistic, serious, factual, cult classic, independent film, black comedy
Similar in 85%
Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
Plot Summary:
Mallory and Miller are back. The survivors of Navarone are sent on a mission along with a unit called Force 10, which is led by Colonel Barnsby. But Force 10 has a mission of their own which the boys know nothing about.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, tense, stylized, intense, serious, suspenseful, patriotic, realistic, clever
Similar in 89%
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Plot Summary:
In March of 1945, as the War in Europe is coming to a close, fighting erupts between German and American troops at the last remaining bridgehead across the Rhine.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Czechoslovakia, West Germany
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: realistic, harsh, intense, exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, spectacular, bleak
Similar in 86%
The Devil's Brigade (1968)
Plot Summary:
1968 American war film about the formation and first mission of the joint Canadian-American WWII special forces winter and mountain unit formally called 1st Special Service Force, but commonly known as “The Devil’s Brigade”. The film dramatises the Brigade's first mission in the Italian Campaign, the task of capturing the German mountain stronghold Monte la Difensa, in December 1943. The film is based on the 1966 book of the same name, co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col. George Walton, a member of the brigade.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, tense, harsh, serious, suspenseful, epic, retro, cult classic, historical drama