Best movies like Hacksaw Ridge
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 577000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, USA, UK, China
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, sentimental, harsh, motivational, emotional, brutal, tense, christian film, suspense
Best tv shows and movies like Hacksaw Ridge (2016):
Similar in 81%
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
Plot Summary:
In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent this occurrence, Hitler orders an all out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp. "The Battle of the Bulge" shows this conflict from the perspective of an American intelligence officer as well as from a German Panzer Commander.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 167 min
Plot tags: epic, factual, tense, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, retro, rough
Similar in 82%
Colonia (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young woman's desperate search for her abducted boyfriend that draws her into the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a sect nobody ever escaped from.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance, Thriller
Country: Germany, France, Luxembourg, UK, USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, harsh, political, exciting, atmospheric, tense, touching, emotional, enigmatic
Similar in 77%
The Great Raid (2005)
Plot Summary:
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, harsh, rough, suspenseful, realistic, epic, scenic, edutainment, historical drama, atmospheric
Similar in 78%
The Battle of Okinawa (1971)
Plot Summary:
The Americans are swiftly closing on Okinawa, an island just south of the Japanese mainland. The Imperial command sends top generals and several army divisions to defend it at all costs. The mission quickly degenerates as vital resources and troops are diverted to other islands. After a civilian evacuation ends in tragedy most of non-combatants are forced to remain on the island. Many convert to soldier status. Tokyo sends mixed messages that squander time and resources, as when they order the defenders to build an airstrip for aircraft that never come. The truth soon becomes obvious: the high command decides that the island cannot be held and effectively abandons the Okinawan defenders. When the Americans land many troops are deployed in the wrong places. As the slaughter mounts, a suicidal attitude takes hold. Okinawa becomes a death trap, for civilian volunteers and non-combatants as well.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
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 86%
Jarhead (2005)
Plot Summary:
Jarhead is a film about a US Marine Anthony Swofford’s experience in the Gulf War. After putting up with an arduous boot camp, Swafford and his unit are sent to the Persian Gulf where they are eager to fight, but are forced to stay back from the action. Swofford struggles with the possibility of his girlfriend cheating on him, and as his mental state deteriorates, his desire to kill increases.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 203000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA, UK, Germany
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, factual, tense, serious, disturbing, suspenseful, psychological, visually stunning, dark comedy
Similar in 90%
Land of Mine (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war were handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent out to the West Coast, where they were ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys were forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of the Danish sergeant, Carl Leopold Rasmussen.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Denmark, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, emotional, sentimental, brutal, realistic, heartbreaking, suspenseful, intense, historical drama
Similar in 76%
The Outpost (2019)
Plot Summary:
A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack. The Battle of Kamdesh, as it was known, was the bloodiest American engagement of the Afghan War in 2009 and Bravo Troop 3-61 CAV became one of the most decorated units of the 19-year conflict.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, brutal, perverse, cult classic, surprise ending, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy, captivating
Similar in 79%
Silence (2016)
Plot Summary:
Two Jesuit priests travel to seventeenth century Japan which has, under the Tokugawa shogunate, banned Catholicism and almost all foreign contact.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA, UK, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags: philosophical, stylized, cerebral, intellectual, suspense, melancholic, visually stunning, psychological, epic, emotional
Similar in 85%
Unbroken (2014)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 180000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport, War
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: motivational, uplifting, inspirational, epic, dramatic, serious, emotional, realistic, brutal, harsh
Similar in 88%
The Pianist (2002)
Plot Summary:
The true story of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 890000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France, Poland, Germany, UK, USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: emotional, heartbreaking, harsh, bleak, suspense, poignant, reflective, touching, dramatic, motivational
Similar in 76%
Conspiracy (2001)
Plot Summary:
The historical recreation of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, in which Nazi and SS leaders gathered in a Berlin suburb to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Lead by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, this group of high ranking German officials came to the historic and far reaching decision that the Jews of Europe were to be exterminated in what would come to be known as the Holocaust.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: political, factual, bleak, disturbing, atmospheric, intense, suspense, realistic, historical drama, non fiction
Similar in 90%
Windtalkers (2002)
Plot Summary:
Joe Enders is a gung-ho Marine assigned to protect a "windtalker" - one of several Navajo Indians who were used to relay messages during World War II because their spoken language was indecipherable to Japanese code breakers.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 73000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: realistic, factual, stylized, intense, sincere, serious, rough, emotional, suspense, exciting
Similar in 87%
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Plot Summary:
A Bridge Too Far tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the failed attempt by the allies to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland and allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German Panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine, the titular 'bridge too far') was doomed to failure.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, suspense, intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking, cult classic, spectacular
Similar in 84%
Lone Survivor (2013)
Plot Summary:
Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 303000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: rough, tense, captivating, emotional, exciting, disturbing, realistic, serious, intense, touching
Similar in 77%
American Sniper (2014)
Plot Summary:
U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 519000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: tense, emotional, factual, serious, realistic, rough, suspenseful, political, clever, sad
Similar in 88%
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
Similar in 81%
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Plot Summary:
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 417000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: realistic, epic, rough, captivating, suspenseful, intense, factual, brutal, disturbing, political
Similar in 77%
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
Similar in 75%
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Plot Summary:
Enemy at the Gates is a war film from Jean-Jacques Annaud from 2001 that takes place during the battle of Stalingard in World War II between the Russians and the Germans.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 274000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Ireland, UK, France, Germany, USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, serious, rough, bleak, suspenseful, dramatic, historical drama, exciting, clever
Similar in 90%
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 149000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: France, Germany, USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: serious, factual, realistic, emotional, suspenseful, sentimental, brutal, epic, suspense, intense
Similar in 87%
Fury (2014)
Plot Summary:
Last months of World War II in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened U.S. Army sergeant in the 2nd Armored Division named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank called "Fury" and its five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 532000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, China, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, exciting, tense, rough, suspenseful, realistic, sad, cult classic, historical drama, psychological
Similar in 87%
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Plot Summary:
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 15000000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 153 min
Plot tags: absurd, suspense, atmospheric, captivating, tense, dark comedy, witty, epic, rough, realistic
Similar in 83%
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Plot Summary:
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 731000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: motivational, heartbreaking, disturbing, harsh, bleak, atmospheric, emotional, factual, brutal, rough
Similar in 75%
The Patriot (2000)
Plot Summary:
After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 289000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: period piece, dramatic, rough, uplifting, factual, inspirational, sincere, realistic, historical drama, sentimental
Similar in 88%
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
Similar in 87%
The 12th Man (2017)
Plot Summary:
After a failed anti-Nazi sabotage mission leaves his 11 comrades dead, Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud finds himself fleeing from the Gestapo through the snowbound reaches of Scandinavia.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: Norway
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: uplifting, suspense, serious, motivational, inspirational, entertaining, dark, costume drama, action adventure, beautiful
Similar in 77%
Lincoln (2012)
Plot Summary:
A revealing drama that focuses on the 16th President's tumultuous final months in office. In a nation divided by war and the strong winds of change, Lincoln pursues a course of action designed to end the war, unite the country and abolish slavery. With the moral courage and fierce determination to succeed, his choices during this critical moment will change the fate of generations to come.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 270000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, India
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: political, period piece, emotional, epic, factual, thought provoking, suspense, sentimental, historical drama, captivating
Similar in 87%
Schindler's List (1993)
Plot Summary:
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 9.0
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 195 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, heartbreaking, realistic, thought provoking, poignant, black and white, dramatic, serious, sad
Similar in 86%
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Plot Summary:
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 15000000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 169 min
Plot tags: realistic, epic, breathtaking, captivating, touching, motivational, rough, visually stunning, tense, inspirational