Best movies like Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis? Share your expertise to navigate others to tv series and films you've seen already that may also spellbind them. Help enlarge the network of people mentioning videos to each other. We welcome your involvement!
Plot Summary:
True story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, its crew's struggle to survive the sharks and exposure, and the captain's scape-goat court-martial.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 934
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, exciting, serious, captivating, disaster movie
Best tv shows and movies like Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991):
Similar in 82%
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 85%
The Last Escape (1970)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, American officer Capt. Lee Mitchell (Stuart Whitman) and a British military unit boldly infiltrate German-occupied enemy territory and attempt to kidnap brilliant Nazi scientist Dr. Von Heinken (Pinkas Braun) and bring him back in one piece. While shuttling their prized captive to safety, the Allied forces courageously assist desperate refugees and tussle with overpowering German and Russian forces.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 268
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
A Taste of Hell (1973)
Plot Summary:
Set in the Philippines during WW II, two U.S. Army officers are caught and shot by a Japanese officer. One survives and soon joins with a guerrilla troop to battle the enemy... and get revenge.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 90
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Philippines
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, cult film
Similar in 86%
Hell Boats (1970)
Plot Summary:
A war drama of motor torpedo boats which did much unsung work in WW2, but the naval battles merely provide an exciting story in which an even more special romantic drama is wrapped up.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 518
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 90%
The Ravagers (1965)
Plot Summary:
Cruel captors of the war in the pacific.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 109
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Philippines, USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, psychotronic
Similar in 80%
The Wall (1982)
Plot Summary:
A dramatic re-enactment of the Warsaw Ghetto Jewish uprising in April 1943 were 650 armed members of the Jewish Fighting Organization of Poland held off a 3,000 strong Nazi force in which only a handful of Jews survived. Tom Conti plays Dolek Berson, a Jewish smuggler who joins the resistance movement and is aided on the Aryan side of the wall by a former teacher named Regina Kowalski played by Rachel Roberts in her final role.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Action, War, Drama
Country: Poland, USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 90%
Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers (2011)
Plot Summary:
Untold and lost history. A true story of the American Pathfinders, the volunteer paratroopers whose deadly mission was to land 30 minutes before the Normandy invasion, locate and mark strategic "drop zones" and set up the top-secret navigation equipment needed to guide the main airborne assault on D-Day.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, captivating, suspenseful, epic, serious, independent film
Similar in 85%
Yamato (2005)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, exciting, serious, touching
Similar in 90%
The Gustloff (2008)
Plot Summary:
Joseph Vilsmaier Two-part TV movie focuses on the tragic events surrounding the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German passenger ship, at the end of World War II. On 30 January 1945, Captain Hellmuth Kehding was in charge of the ship, evacuating wounded soldiers and civilians trapped by the Red Army. Soon after leaving the harbor of Danzig, it was hit by three torpedoes from the Soviet submarine and sank in less than an hour.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 567
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 188 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, bleak, captivating, realistic
Similar in 84%
Back Door to Hell (1964)
Plot Summary:
During WWII, a three-man commando team places its trust in the hands of a band of Filipino resistors, as they try to knock out a Japenese communication center.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 907
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Philippines, USA
Duration: 75 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, tense, psychotronic, bleak, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
April 9th (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the early morning of April 9th 1940 the Danish army is alerted. The Germans have crossed the border; Denmark is at war against Europe's strongest army. In Southern Jutland Danish bicycle- and motorcycle companies are ordered out, to against all odds, hold back the forces until the Danish reinforcements can be mobilized. In the fatal hours, we follow second lieutenant Sand and his bicycle company - they will as the first Danish soldiers meet the enemy in combat on April 9th 1940.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Denmark
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, tense, suspense, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Stalingrad (2013)
Plot Summary:
Drama set in 1942, during one of the most important battles of World War II, which stopped the progress of Nazi forces and turned the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Soviet army mounts a counter-attack on the Nazi forces that occupy half of Stalingrad on the other side of the Volga, but the operation to cross the river is unsuccessful. A few soldiers who managed to get to the other side take refuge in a house on the bank of Volga. Here they find a girl who didn’t escape when the Germans came. While the whole might of the German army descends onto them, the heroes of Stalingrad experience love, loss, joy and the sense of ultimate freedom that can only be felt by those about to die. They defend the house at all costs while the Red Army prepares for another attack.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Russia
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, exciting, rough, serious, bleak, epic, historical drama
Similar in 86%
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 87%
Kokoda: 39th Battalion (2006)
Plot Summary:
A bitter battle is fought between Australian and Japanese soldiers along the Kokoda trail in New Guinea during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, tense, inspirational
Similar in 81%
The Star (2002)
Plot Summary:
The film is based on the eponymous book by Emmanuil Kazakevich. In the summer of 1944 the Nazi Armies prepare a massive Tank Division named 'Viking" for the offensive on occupied Russian land. The Russian Army's special group of seven snipers named "Zvezda" is sent for a reconnaissance operation behind the enemy lines in the back of the Nazi Tank Division. Two previous Russian groups never came back. The seven Russians know that they are going to an almost certain Death for the sake of Victory.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Russia
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, bleak, captivating, epic, rough
Similar in 89%
The Lost Battalion (2001)
Plot Summary:
Fact-based war drama about an American battalion of over 500 men which gets trapped behind enemy lines in the Argonne Forest in October 1918 France during the closing weeks of World War I. Based on a true story, The Lost Battalion is set in 1918 during the final months of WWI. Assigned to capture an enemy stronghold in Charlvaux at the height of the Argonne campaign, the men of the AEF 308th Battalion, 77th Division, are led by young American major Charles Whittlesey, an inexperienced but dedicated "citizen soldier." Totally cut off from the other allied troops, unaware of their vulnerability, and barraged by "friendly fire," the 500-plus men of the 308th bravely hold their position, suffering incredible losses and unspeakable deprivations in the process -- while the battalion's superior officers, far from the firing line, callously prepare to write off the men as expendable casualties.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, philosophical, political, historical drama, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Saints and Soldiers: The Void (2014)
Plot Summary:
Germany, May 1945, deep in the Harz Mountains a U.S. tank crew discovers a platoon of Germans preparing to ambush U.S. supply trucks.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, realistic, christian film, historical drama, independent film
Similar in 86%
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 79%
The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
Plot Summary:
At the height of WWII, the Atlantic Ocean becomes a deadly battleground as an American torpedo boat fights against the constant bombardment of German forces.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 717
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 86%
Fortress (2012)
Plot Summary:
When the commander of the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber is killed in action in a raid over Sicily in 1943, his replacement, a young, naive pilot struggles to be accepted by the plane's already tight-knit Irish American crew.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, tense
Similar in 82%
Submarine X-1 (1968)
Plot Summary:
After losing a submarine and fifty crew in a battle with a German ship during WWII, a Royal Navy officer gets a second chance in a daring raid with midget subs.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 723
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Midway (1976)
Plot Summary:
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, factual, suspense, intense, exciting, suspenseful, serious, historical drama, spectacular
Similar in 90%
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
Plot Summary:
The harrowing true story of the crew of the USS Indianapolis, who were stranded in the Philippine Sea for five days after delivering the atomic weapons that would eventually end WWII. As they awaited rescue, they endured extreme thirst, hunger, and relentless shark attacks.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: dramatic, exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, realistic, suspenseful, factual, historical drama, disgusting
Similar in 75%
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Plot Summary:
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 37000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: epic, factual, talky, intense, serious, exciting, suspenseful, realistic, political, patriotic
Similar in 76%
In Enemy Hands (2004)
Plot Summary:
At the height of Hitler's infamous U-boat war, the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish were heading home after months at sea. They never made it. Now prisoners of war aboard U-boat 429, a small group of American survivors will find their loyalties put to the ultimate test when they're forced to join their German captors to fight for their very lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War, Action
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, suspense
Similar in 79%
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 84%
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 80%
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 77%
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980)
Plot Summary:
Well-intentioned history lesson; the decision to drop the atom bomb, the secrecy surrounding the mission, and the men who flew it.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 89%
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