Best movies like Privates on Parade
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
It is 1947, the year of the communist rebellion in Malaya and the British army's SADUSEA (Song And Dance Unit South East Asia) are called to the Malayan Jungle to entertain the troops. The eccentric, bible-bashing Major Giles Flack (John Cleese) is in command of the unit. Flack is accompanied by an ageing, theatrical drama queen, Terri Dennis (Denis Quilley) who hopes to entertain the troops with his flamboyant impressions, but the bored troops find other ways to enjoy themselves.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 977
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, entertaining, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like Privates on Parade (1983):
Similar in 78%
McHale's Navy (1962)
Plot Summary:
McHale's Navy is an American sitcom that aired 138 half-hour episodes over four seasons, from October 11, 1962, to April 12, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated from an hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962. Universal commissioned the colorization of the series in the 1980s for syndication in hope of reviving its popularity.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, semi serious, humorous, realistic, tense, captivating, slapstick
Similar in 80%
Kilometer Zero (2005)
Plot Summary:
Set during the Iraq-Iran war in the 80s, the film tells of a tragicomic road trip set in Iraq's Kurdistan.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 492
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: France, Iraq, Finland
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: emotional, touching, serious, captivating, sentimental, realistic, black comedy
Similar in 79%
All the Queen's Men (2001)
Plot Summary:
A mismatched team of British Special Services agents led by an American must infiltrate, in disguise, a female-run Enigma factory in Berlin and bring back the decoding device that will end the war.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA, Austria, Germany
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, captivating, spy comedy, art house, independent film, realistic, crying
Similar in 77%
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961)
Plot Summary:
Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 443
Genere: Comedy, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film, humorous, realistic, semi serious, psychotronic
Similar in 80%
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
Plot Summary:
An American Infantry officer assigned to a cloak-and-dagger role in Rome uses homing pigeons for outside contact, with humorous results.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 464
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: humorous, captivating, realistic, semi serious, freeze frame
Similar in 77%
The Triple Echo (1972)
Plot Summary:
A WW2 deserter holes up on a farm with disastrous results. Overlooked gem with Glenda Jackson in one of her best roles and Oliver Reed playing a part he was made for.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 910
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film, sentimental, touching, offbeat, humorous, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 87%
Ensign Pulver (1964)
Plot Summary:
1945, on an old cargo ship somewhere deep in the Pacific ocean: Captain Morton strives to become commander, so he demands the maximum quality of work from his crew, without granting them any freedom or favors - ignoring that they're thousand of miles away from the front. In one word: he drives his crew crazy. They are near mutiny, but no-one dares to do the first step. Until Ensign Pulver plays a prank on the captain that triggers fatal consequences.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, homoerotic
Similar in 89%
The Elusive Corporal (1962)
Plot Summary:
The story serves as a companion piece to Renoir's 1937 film, Grand Illusion, once more bringing together men from across the broad social spectrum of French society to depict one man's Sisyphean efforts to escape captivity in a German POW camp.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: France
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious
Similar in 77%
How I Won the War (1967)
Plot Summary:
An inept British WWII commander leads his troops to a series of misadventures in North Africa and Europe.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: clever, humorous, witty, black comedy, parody, realistic, semi serious, dark comedy, thought provoking, intellectual
Similar in 86%
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
Plot Summary:
In 1944, Capt. Josiah J. Newman is the doctor in charge of Ward 7, the neuropsychiatric ward, at an Army Air Corps hospital in Arizona. The hospital is under-resourced and Newman scrounges what he needs with the help of his inventive staff, especially Cpl. Jake Leibowitz. The military in general is only just coming to accept psychiatric disorders as legitimate and Newman generally has 6 weeks to cure them or send them on to another facility. There are many patients in the ward and his latest include Colonel Norville Bliss who has dissociated from his past; Capt. Paul Winston who is nearly catatonic after spending 13 months hiding in a cellar behind enemy lines; and 20 year-old Cpl. Jim Tompkins who is severely traumatized after his aircraft was shot down. Others come and go, including Italian prisoners of war, but Newman and team all realize that their success means the men will return to their units.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: psychological, humorous, emotional, realistic, captivating, sentimental, touching, serious
Similar in 77%
The Vultures (1984)
Plot Summary:
April 5, 1943: a battalion of the Foreign Legion arrives in El Ksour, Tunisia, to escort a fortune in gold bars to the home front. A German ambush awaits, and all but four die. Thanks to the street smarts of Sergeant Augagneur, the Legionnaires successfully counter attack. The bank manager and his seductive wife arrive, and so does a German lieutenant, whom the French arrest. Augagneur wants to steal the gold; warrant officer Mahuzard wants to do his duty. A series of alliances form and break apart, the group dwindles in number, and the gold heads south toward Betahoua. But in whose possession?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, feel good, light, suspense, surprise ending
Similar in 88%
Ambush Bay (1966)
Plot Summary:
A Marine unit on a Japanese-held island in the Philippines tries to hook up with local Filipino guerrillas.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 764
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
A Farewell to Fools (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set during World War II, somewhere in Eastern Europe. A German soldier is found dead near the village. The local authorities must find the culprit, or they will be all shot by the Nazis the morning after. There's no way to find the guilty one, but there's Ipu, the madman of the village, whom they promise a hero's funeral if he will claims responsibility and agrees to die in their place. He must decide, and time is running out.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 514
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: Romania, Germany, Belgium
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, semi serious, offbeat, captivating, tragicomedy, realistic, independent film, art film
Similar in 77%
All the King's Men (1999)
Plot Summary:
Feature-length drama about the mystery of Sandringham Company, which disappeared in action at Gallipoli in 1915. Commanded by Captain Frank Beck, their estate manager, the men advanced into battle, were enveloped in a strange mist and never seen again.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, realistic, uplifting
Similar in 84%
Chaco (2020)
Plot Summary:
In 1934, Bolivia is at war with Paraguay. Liborio and Ticona and other Bolivian indigenous soldiers are lost in the hell of the Chaco, under the commandment of German Captain Kundt. They're looking for the Paraguayan enemy that they haven't seen for months, and that they will never find. They leave together in a search that will make them realize, progressively, the destiny they have been pushed into and the inevitable condition of a defeated troop. They're walking like shadows, wandering forever in the middle of dust and silence.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 148
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Argentina, Bolivia
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, intense
Similar in 90%
Biloxi Blues (1988)
Plot Summary:
During the Second World War, Eugene enlists in the US Army during the last year of the War and is sent to basic training in Biloxi Mississippi. There he must live with a variety of fellow soldiers while enduring the whims of a mentally unstable drill sergeant.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: humorous, funny, clever, realistic, light, captivating, epic, colorful, independent film, semi autobiographical
Similar in 79%
Two Men Went to War (2002)
Plot Summary:
Comedy drama based on the true story of two British Army dentists who in 1942, eager to see action, go AWOL and invade occupied France on their own.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 934
Genere: Comedy, War, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, entertaining, captivating, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 81%
To Be or Not to Be (1983)
Plot Summary:
A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when Poland is invaded by the Germans in World War II. His wife has the habit of entertaining young polish officers while he's on stage, which is also a source of depression to him. When one of her officers comes back on a Secret Mission, the actor takes charge and comes up with a plan for them to escape. remake of Ernst Lubitsch's 1942 black comedy with the same name.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: humorous, parody, entertaining, funny, light, hilarious, witty, captivating, dark comedy, offbeat
Similar in 86%
Sword of Honour (2001)
Plot Summary:
Guy Crouchback joins the war effort during World War 2, an idealistic quest to join the forces of good in the fight against evil. But his efforts is not rewarded, he never has any chance to join any real fighting, circumstances always prevent it. Instead he finds himself in the middle of an army full of cowards, incompetents and a few outright evil men. They of course reap the fortunes of war, promotions and fame, but never Crouchback. His war is just an endless list of transfers and an hopeless but noble quest for righteousness.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 918
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 208 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, touching, semi autobiographical, gloomy
Similar in 77%
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 88%
Beach Red (1967)
Plot Summary:
American troops storm ashore on a Japanese-held island and push inland while their enemies plan a counterattack in this look at warfare. Soldiers on both sides are haunted by memories of home and the horrifying, sickening images they find in combat.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: spectacular, independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, crying
Similar in 78%
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 75%
The Long Day's Dying (1968)
Plot Summary:
Three British soldiers and their German captive trek through the European countryside.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 527
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, cult film
Similar in 87%
Attack on Leningrad (2009)
Plot Summary:
When in 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, their troops quickly besieged Leningrad. Foreign journalists are evacuated but one of them, Kate Davies, is presumed dead and misses the plane. Alone in the city she is helped by Nina Tsvetnova a young and idealist police officer and together they will fight for their own survival and the survival of the people in the besieged Leningrad. Written by Marcio Eduardo.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Russia, UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 85%
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 88%
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 84%
MASH (1970)
Plot Summary:
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and high jinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: satirical, humorous, black comedy, witty, talky, funny, dark comedy, hilarious, captivating, cult classic
Similar in 87%
The Boys in Company C (1978)
Plot Summary:
Disheartened by futile combat, appalled by the corruption of their South Vietnamese ally, and constantly endangered by the incompetence of their own company commander, the young men find a possible way out of the war. They are told that if they purposely lose a soccer game against a South Vietnamese team, they can spend the rest of their tour playing exhibition games behind the lines.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hong Kong, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, cult film
Similar in 78%
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 75%
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