Best movies like Fighting for Life
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Fighting for Life is a very different movie about war and medicine, a real-life "M*A*S*H" for our times about the doctors and nurses fighting on the front lines. The film interweaves stories of military doctors, nurses, and medics who are working with skill, compassion, and dedication amid the vortex of the Iraq War; wounded soldiers and marines reacting with courage, dignity, and determination to survive and to heal; and students at Uniformed Services University, the "West Point" of military medicine, on their journey toward becoming career military physicians. The film also follows 21-year-old Army Specialist Crystal Davis from Iraq to Germany to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC as she fights to recover and "bounce back" from the loss of a leg.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 155
Genere: Documentary, War
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: uplifting, thought provoking, serious, realistic, contemplative, documentary filmmaking
Best tv shows and movies like Fighting for Life (2008):
Similar in 90%
The 4 Soldiers (2013)
Plot Summary:
A climate of civil war, a fight that has made them lose everything including their youth, four soldiers aged 13 to 20 years, will meet and build friendships. In the grip of an adult conflict, which they do not understand, Matéo, Dominique, Big Max and Kevin will keep recreating, round a pond and a cabin, a family.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, bleak, gloomy, canadian science fiction
Similar in 83%
The Wipers Times (2013)
Plot Summary:
When Captain Fred Roberts discovered a printing press in the ruins of Ypres, Belgium in 1916, he decided to publish a satirical magazine called The Wipers Times - "Wipers" being army slang for Ypres. Full of gallows humour, The Wipers Times was poignant, subversive and very funny. Produced literally under enemy fire and defying both authority and gas attacks, the magazine proved a huge success with the troops on the western front. It was, above all, a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. In his spare time, Roberts also managed to win the Military Cross for gallantry.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: War
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, realistic, clever, humorous, witty, semi serious, period drama
Similar in 89%
Marines (2003)
Plot Summary:
The cold war is over. East and West are fighting together against illegal secretly heavily armed terrorists, criminals and resistance fighters. During one of these missions, four soldiers are kidnapped and seems like a great international crisis to emerge. The highest military bosses in America and Russia are in panic. The well-known cover-up must offer a solution. But ... Marines are not just aside and decisions without official support to do everything to liberate their comrades. Additional help comes from an unexpected angle, but whether this will be enough.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 404
Genere: Action, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, suspenseful, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
20 Cigarettes (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on director Aureliano Amadei's 2003 experiences in Iraq, 20 Cigarettes is the gripping story of a twenty-eight year old anarchist and anti-war activist who receives an offer to fly to Iraq as assistant director on a film about the Italian military peace mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 813
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 88%
The Four Horsemen (2008)
Plot Summary:
Four high school football stars enlist in the Marines and head off to fight in the war in Iraq. When one of them is killed and another wounded, they return home only to find is extremely difficult to pick up the threads of their old lives. The memories of events in Iraq combined with the lack of public support pushes many of these men to the breaking point.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 466
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, bleak
Similar in 82%
The American Dream (2011)
Plot Summary:
Armed with dreams that extend beyond their block, Luis and Ronald, two best friends from Los Angeles, videotape their last 36 hours before shipping off to Afghanistan. One hundred days before Obama's inauguration, these young men have joined the Marines together to face the obstacles and circumstances that seem to overwhelm their passage into manhood. Luis wants to be a filmmaker and Ronald wants to travel the world and raise a family. Through the lens of Luis's video camera, they capture their friends, family members and places they call home - to remember who they are and where they come from. In their darkest hour, they turn on the video camera for the last time and document the final moments of their journey home. They soon realize that their dreams and promises of a new life mean nothing in a place called War.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 120
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, sincere, realistic, non-linear, independent film
Similar in 84%
Happy New Year (2011)
Plot Summary:
A war-torn marine returns home to face his fiercest battle yet - the one against himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 82%
Kippur (2000)
Plot Summary:
The film takes place in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War in which Egypt and Syria launched attacks in Sinai and the Golan Heights. The story is told from the perspective of Israeli soldiers. We are led by Weinraub and his friend Ruso on a day that begins with quiet city streets, but ends with death, destruction and devastation of both body and mind. Various scenes are awash in the surreal, as Weinraub's head hangs out over a rescue helicopter's open door, watching with tranquil desperation as the earth passes beneath, the overpowering whir of the blades creating a hypnotic state. It is not a traditional blood, guts and glory film. There are no men in battle, only the rescue crew trying to pick up the broken pieces.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Israel, France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, rough, serious, realistic, atmospheric, bleak, gloomy
Similar in 89%
Normandy (2011)
Plot Summary:
Klaus Muller, a battle-hardened veteran, finds himself fighting for his life on the Russian front. Surrounded by overwhelming numbers of Russian tanks and planes, he and his men are doomed until famed German tank ace, Michael Wittmann, shows up in his Tiger Tank and saves the day. Once wounded, Klaus is transferred to Normandy to serve under Field Marshal Rommel just days before the Allied invasion. Much to his surprise, he finds that his beloved Klaudia is also stationed nearby as a field nurse. Unfortunately, so is her father, who is working with the French resistance and now finds himself pursued by the ruthless Gestapo officer Brahms, whose search leads him to Klaus and Klaudia attempting a rescue. They are caught and imprisoned. As D-Day begins and the Allies attack from the beaches and the sky, they escape from the prison, fighting the Gestapo in the middle of the biggest invasion in world history... Written by tino struckmann.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, sex comedy, independent film
Similar in 85%
John Ford Goes to War (2002)
Plot Summary:
When World War II broke out, John Ford, in his forties, commissioned in the Naval Reserve, was put in charge of the Field Photographic Unit by Bill Donavan, director of the soon-to-be-OSS. During the war, Field Photo made at least 87 documentaries, many with Ford's signature attention to heroism and loss, and many from the point of view of the fighting soldier and sailor. Talking heads discuss Ford's life and personality, the ways that the war gave him fulfillment, and the ways that his war films embodied the same values and conflicts that his Hollywood films did. Among the films profiled are "Battle of Midway," "Torpedo Squadron," "Sexual Hygiene," and "December 7.".
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 153
Genere: Documentary, Action, Biography, War
Country: USA
Duration: 56 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, disturbing, black and white, documentary filmmaking
Similar in 84%
Wicked Spring (2002)
Plot Summary:
During the 1864 battle of the Wilderness, three Union soldiers and three Confederate Soldiers get seperated from their units as twilight engulfs the ravaged battlefield. The men wander alone through the dangerous woods, separate of each other, until they meet by chance on the banks of a quiet creek. The men meet and spend the night around a campfire, not realizing they are enemies until the next morning when the sun rises and a new day of battle begins.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, epic, emotional, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Redacted (2007)
Plot Summary:
Redacted is a film written and directed by Brian De Palma that is a fictional drama loosely based on the Mahmudiyah killings in Iraq.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Crime, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, bleak, sexy, thought provoking, mockumentary, captivating, realistic
Similar in 86%
Speed & Angels (2008)
Plot Summary:
Inspired by the passion of two young Navy officers, director Peyton Wilson captures Jay and Meagan as they pursue their childhood dream of becoming naval aviators flying the F-14 Tomcat. Shot in epic Hi Definition, the aerial footage and stunning cockpit photography provide a dramatic backdrop for the more universal story of what it’s like to fight for your dreams. From dogfights in the Nevada desert, to night landings on aircraft carriers in the Atlantic what begins as a story of realizing a childhood dream turns into a story of fighting for one's life.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 336
Genere: Documentary, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, exciting, captivating
Similar in 83%
The Situation (2006)
Plot Summary:
The first U.S.-made film drama set during the Iraq war, THE SITUATION chronicles the tragic death of an Iraqi teenager at the hands of U.S. soldiers. The incident sets off an "investigation," a cover-up, and complications involving Iraqi mayor Sheikh Tahsin (Saïd Amadis), who has a complex relationship with the Americans.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 885
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, extraordinary
Similar in 80%
Private (2004)
Plot Summary:
A Palestinian family is trapped inside a house commandeered by Israeli soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 922
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, suspenseful, disturbing, tense, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Live from Baghdad (2002)
Plot Summary:
A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War.A Directors Guild Award-winning movie for director Mick Jackson, starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter. In 1990, CNN was a 24-hour news network in search of a 24-hour story. They were about to find it in Baghdad. Veteran CNN producer Robert Wiener and his longtime producing partner Ingrid Formanek find themselves in Iraq on the eve of war. Up against the big three networks, Weiner and his team are rebels with a cause, willing to take risks to get the biggest stories and - unlike their rivals - take them live at a moment's notice. As Baghdad becomes an inevitable US target, one by one the networks pull out of the city until only the crew from CNN remains. With a full-scale war soon to be launched all around them, and CNN ready to broadcast whatever happens 24 hours a day, Wiener and Formanek are about to risk their lives for the story of a lifetime.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, sincere, emotional, realistic, cult classic, talky
Similar in 87%
Occupation (2009)
Plot Summary:
Three ex-servicemen return to Basra, each for a different reason.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, serious, suspenseful, sincere, captivating, realistic, contemplative, islamic
Similar in 85%
American Soldiers (2005)
Plot Summary:
Iraq, 2004: during a routine sortie a US patrol is ambushed and the young soldiers are forced to put their training and skills into action fast. A determined foe with superior local knowledge, the Fedayeen insurgents soon draw them into close quarter combat and a desperate fight for survival.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 80%
A Little Pond (2009)
Plot Summary:
The Korean war does not start well for the US. They are being routed by the North Koreans and In July 1950, the early stage of the Korean War, at the Jugok Village in the middle of the Korean Peninsula, Chang-yee and his friends grow excited over the amateur singing contest knowing nothing about what is going on around them. At the time, the US Army keeps losing and are pushed back to the village, evacuating all villagers to head south. The villagers took refuge like going on a picnic believing that the US Army is protecting them, they just follow their orders moving south bound.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 286
Genere: Drama, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, captivating
Similar in 81%
The Hanoi Hilton (1987)
Plot Summary:
Lionel Chetwynd's film documents the horrific struggles that faced American POWs held in the North Vietnamese prison Hoa Lo -- more infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton -- between 1964 and 1975. Williamson (Michael Moriarty) leads a group of American servicemen who are prisoners at the detention camp. He assumes command after Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) is dragged off to be tortured.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: political, grindhouse, independent film, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Tobruk (2008)
Plot Summary:
It is the story of Jiri and Jan, two Czech soldiers, battling alongside the allied forces against the Germans, during World War II in Tobruk, Libya. Jiri Pospichal, eighteen years old, signs up as a volunteer in the Czechoslovak army. His naive ideas about heroism are rawly confronted with the hell of the African desert, complicated relationships in his unit and the ubiquitous threat of death.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: History, War
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, realistic
Similar in 83%
Brothers War (2009)
Plot Summary:
The story is set in the latter days of World War 2, against the backdrop of fierce combat on the eastern front. Brother's War is based on real events.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 890
Genere: History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak
Similar in 78%
The Only Way (1970)
Plot Summary:
In April 1940, the armies of Nazi Germany invaded Denmark. The Danish government promised peaceful cooperation on the condition that Denmark s Jews remain free. The Nazi s agreed. In October, 1943, the agreement was broken...This is the true and magnificent saga of Denmark s valorous actions to save Danish Jews from Nazi extermination at peril of death!.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 306
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, Denmark, Panama, UK
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Company K (2004)
Plot Summary:
Based on the popular World War I novel by author William March, director Robert Clem's COMPANY K follows a veteran of the first great conflict as he finishes a book about his wartime experiences and reflects on how a man's true character is revealed through his actions on the battlefield. From the German soldier who visits him in dreams to the camaraderie that is forged by fighting together and the true gravity of laying down your life for a greater cause, World War I veteran Joe Delaney will attempt to exorcise his demons through writing while struggling to readjust to small-town life following the trauma of war.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 339
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, epic, serious, captivating, disturbing, bleak, emotional, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Iron Triangle (1989)
Plot Summary:
Based on the diary of an unknown Viet Cong soldier, this film provides a sympathetic look at a Viet Cong soldier who protected a captured American soldier whom he believed did not kill him when the American had the opportunity. Written by John Sacksteder.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 532
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, serious, independent film, bleak, captivating, cult film
Similar in 89%
Over There (2005)
Plot Summary:
Gritty, intense, evocative and emotional, "Over There" takes you to the front lines of battle and explores the effects of war on a U.S. Army unit sent to Iraq on their first tour of duty, as well as the equally powerful effects felt at home by their families and loved ones.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, disturbing, sincere, rough, intellectual, realistic, serious, captivating, controversial
Similar in 88%
Battle for Haditha (2007)
Plot Summary:
An investigation of the massacre of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq allegedly shot by 4 U.S. Marines in retaliation for the death of a U.S. Marine killed by a roadside bomb. The movie follows the story of the Marines of Kilo Company, an Iraqi family, and the insurgents who plant the roadside bomb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tense, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, sexy, touching
Similar in 75%
Boys of Abu Ghraib (2014)
Plot Summary:
An American soldier deployed at Abu Ghraib finds himself behind the walls of the infamous Hard Site, where he develops a secret friendship with an Iraqi detainee.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, serious, realistic, tense, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 88%
Texas '46 (2002)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story its the untold story of Italian World War II POW"S in Jan 1946. Luca Zingaretti stars as one of over 50,000 Italian Prisoners of War detained at POW camps in the U.S. Roy Schneider stars as Colonel Gartner, the Commander of the camp. Things take a turn for the worse when Manin is brought back from his most recent escape by a patrol force, only to realize that the camp has been evacuated while he was gone. Gartner is forced to keep Manin at the camp until another patrol force can come pick him up. However, no one ever comes. The phone lines get cut, and the two men realize they are completely isolated from the outside world. It is up to each man now to escape the camp.An untold and rarely known fact of US held Italian POW"S.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 235
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, exciting, bleak, serious, captivating
Similar in 79%
The Color of War (2001)
Plot Summary:
A series featuring actual color footage of World War II.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 156
Genere: History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 780 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, disturbing, realistic, bleak, contemplative