Best movies like Hail, Hero!
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Hail, Hero! stars Michael Douglas in his screen debut as long-haired college student Carl Dixon. Reversing the usual procedure in late-1960s films, Dixon decides to quit school and enlist in the Army, even though he's already run afoul of the law as a Vietnam protestor. It is our hero's intention to use love, rather than bullets, to combat the Viet Cong. Needless to say, his idealism is no match for the harsher realities of war, but this doesn't stop him from endlessly spouting the sort of agit-prop rhetoric so beloved of filmmakers of the era. In addition to Michael Douglas, co-star Peter Strauss likewise makes his first film appearance in Hail, Hero! Dated in the extreme, the film is saved by the musical score by Gordon Lightfoot.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 233
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Best tv shows and movies like Hail, Hero! (1969):
Similar in 87%
Werther (1986)
Plot Summary:
This adaptation of Geothe's The Sorrows of Young Werther offers a chilly and remote view of love and its passions. The setting is changed to Spain, and Werther (Eusebio Poncela) has taken a job tutoring the son of an estranged husband and wife. The boy's mother is a surgeon and therefore a rather uncommon woman for her society. She and Werther gradually become romantically involved, and his feelings for her begin to run much deeper than is apparent on the surface.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 108
Genere: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 75%
The Lady from Yesterday (1985)
Plot Summary:
A man (Rogers) with a wife (Bedelia) and two daughters and a flourishing career is visited by a woman (Chen) whom he had an affair with when he was in Vietnam. Who reveals to him that they have a son and that she wants him to take him (their son).
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 42
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
The Naked Ape (1973)
Plot Summary:
Somewhat based on Desmond Morris's fascinating book of pop anthropology, this partially animated satirical docudrama produced by Playboy Magazine publisher Hugh Hefner, traces the evolution of human kind and offers insight into the reasons why we behave the way we do. Though often dealing with sexuality, nothing in the film is terribly offensive or graphic. A prime example of mainstream experimental film-making from the early 70's featuring a young and breathtakingly lovely Victoria Principal.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: psychotronic
Similar in 82%
Purple Haze (1982)
Plot Summary:
It's dynamite stuff.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 172
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
The Bad Bunch (1973)
Plot Summary:
A white ex-GI goes to a black ghetto to deliver a letter from his buddy, a black soldier who died in Vietnam. When he arrives there he encounters hostility and trouble from all sides.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 234
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 85%
Where It's At (1969)
Plot Summary:
A "Sixties Generation" comedy about an offbeat father-son relationship. Dad runs a Las Vegas hotel-casino and his son is a college student with a different set of moral and ethical standards. When they meet in Vegas, they immediately clash in their efforts to understand one another.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 218
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, offbeat, emotional, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 84%
The Last Passport (2009)
Plot Summary:
THE LAST PASSPORT takes place in a passport office...or so you think. George Miller is a 70 year old man who through a variety of encounters, takes us on a journey through his mysterious past to show us we are not all that different.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 99
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
Family Prayers (1993)
Plot Summary:
This coming of age story set in the 1960s takes a look at the effects of a couple's break-up on a sensitive, thirteen year old Jewish boy in the 1960s.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 184
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: crying, independent film
Similar in 82%
The Christmas Tree (1969)
Plot Summary:
A French-American millionaire (William Holden), his girlfriend (Virna Lisi) and his war buddy (Andre Bourvil) try to grant his dying son's every wish.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 720
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
All the Way Home (1981)
Plot Summary:
A wife and mother in 1915 Tennessee copes with the loss of her husband and the necessity of raising their children alone.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 105
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Cease Fire (1985)
Plot Summary:
Tim Murphy is a Vietnam Vet. When he loses his job he starts to relive all the pain and horror of his time in Vietnam. The stresses and strains nearly destroy his marriage and his family. Only after joining a veterans' therapy group does Tim find relief from his nightmares. With the support of his fellow vets and the love of his wife, Tim recovers. Written by Pfyre Caidmon.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 243
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Similar in 82%
All the Winters That Have Been (1997)
Plot Summary:
Dane Corvin (Chamberlain) returns to Raven Island where 20 years before he and Helen Raven (Allen) had fallen in love. She vowed never to see him again because he had arrested her brother, who he had been investigating. Dane is now determined to win her back and slowly re-enters her daily life. But Helen has a secret, and unless Dane can forgive her and understand the powerful feelings that motivated her to keep it from him, their fragile relationship will not survive.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 160
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
'68 (1988)
Plot Summary:
'68 covers exactly one year (January 1st through December 31st) in the lives of Zoltan Szabo and his family, Hungarian immigrants, working hard to make a life in San Francisco in 1968. The Szabos tries to adjust to the new country, changing times and each other. The year covered was one of particular cultural change in the US and this interplays with the cultural changes occurring around Zoltan, his wife and his two college-age sons.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 91
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film, soap opera
Similar in 78%
Calm at Sunset (1996)
Plot Summary:
The struggle between a father and son at odds over the youths career choice. The 18 years old James Pfeiffer quits college and decides to become a fisherman like his father. Margaret and Russell are very upset with their son's decision. They had a lot of hopes for him, finishing law school and, like his older brother Joseph, make a decent living on shore rather than an uncertain and dangerous career at sea. But James dreams of having his own boat and is determined to persevere.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 131
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 82%
The Prodigal (1983)
Plot Summary:
They were a family torn apart by redemption...kept apart by pride...but brought together by a miracle.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 149
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: christian film, independent film
Similar in 88%
Like Normal People (1979)
Plot Summary:
A mentally-challenged man and woman meet, fall in love and are determined to get married, despite the initial objections of their families and friends. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 237
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: psychological, romantic, thought provoking, suspense
Similar in 80%
All Fall Down (1962)
Plot Summary:
Ralph and Annabell Willart are a feuding couple who are constantly bickering over their worthless, good-for nothing son Berry-Berry.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: retro, social, black and white, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
Summertree (1971)
Plot Summary:
Jerry, not a member of the 'protest generation' but is instead, an 'All American boy,' is drafted into the Army, just as things begin to go well for him. He decision to flee to Canada sparks off conflict with his parents, ending in the film's conclusion - in Vietnam.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 364
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, cult film
Similar in 89%
Native Son (2019)
Plot Summary:
A young African-American man named Bigger Thomas takes a job working for a highly influential Chicago family, a decision that will change the course of his life forever.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: bleak, suspenseful, psychological, surprise ending, disturbing
Similar in 85%
The Great Santini (1979)
Plot Summary:
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated marine pilot.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, captivating, independent film, touching, feel good, unusual plot structure, heartbreaking, dramatic
Similar in 86%
The Face on the Milk Carton (1995)
Plot Summary:
Based on the book by Caroline B. Cooney, a girl happens to look down at a milk carton one day and she sees herself on the back! Could her parents really have kidnapped her?.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Blue River (1995)
Plot Summary:
Edward's father walked out on his family years ago. In the years since, his mother has become a fundamentalist Christian and fallen for the school's self-righteous principal, Henry Howland. When Howland begins to mistreat Edward's mother, Edward's troubled older brother decides to get revenge. Now, Edward must protect his family from his brother's wrath.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 308
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 79%
Safe Passage (1994)
Plot Summary:
A mother with seven sons feels like she's losing control of her life and her family. But personal.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, melancholic, serious, sentimental, talky, independent film, crying, dread, light
Similar in 83%
We Only Know So Much (2018)
Plot Summary:
A married woman has an affair with a suicidal lover while caring for her husband's sick relatives.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 165
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 85%
Tex (1982)
Plot Summary:
Coming-of-age adventure about two teenage brothers and their struggles to grow up, on their own, after their mother dies and their father leaves them.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: sentimental, uplifting, touching, feel good, serious, realistic, enigmatic, bleak, unusual plot structure, entertaining
Similar in 88%
Dog Days of Summer (2007)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious drifter lures two boys into uncovering the secrets of a sleepy southern town.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 462
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, offbeat, serious, realistic, surprise ending, neo noir
Similar in 81%
Time to Run (1973)
Plot Summary:
The protagonist is young runaway Barbara Sigel (a Golden Globe nominee for her performance in this film), who has a mad-on against the world. Refusing help from anyone over 30, the runaway likewise rejects the solace of the church. This generation gap can only be closed by total and willing acceptance of God and Jesus Christ. Randall Carver and Ed Nelson head the supporting cast, while Rev. Billy Graham makes a brief appearance as himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 131
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: christian film, independent film
Similar in 80%
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Plot Summary:
A River Runs Through is a cinematographically stunning true story of Norman Maclean. The story follows Norman and his brother Paul through the experiences of life and growing up, and how their love of fly fishing keeps them together despite varying life circumstances in the untamed west of Montana in the 1920's.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 64000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, sentimental, melancholic, intense, tense, atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 80%
Alpha Male (2006)
Plot Summary:
Drama about a family torn apart after the death of its patriarch. Haunted by their father's death, Jack and Elyssa have a fraught relationship with their remarried mother even now they have come of age.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 345
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, realistic, contemplative, psychological, sentimental, sincere, serious
Similar in 83%
Jack (2004)
Plot Summary:
Jack, in full puberty, not only has to deal with his parents' divorce, but also feels his world is falling apart when his dad tells him he is living with a man. He slowly comes to terms with his own feelings when the girl he has a crush on turn out to have a gay dad as well and his best friend's parents end up not having the perfect marriage Jack thought they had.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 576
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, humorous, realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, semi serious, melancholic, clever, queer cinema