Best movies like PT 109
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like PT 109? Share your expertise to steer others find movies and tv series you've viewed already that might suit them too. Aid in growing the cohort of people putting forward videos to one another. We welcome your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Dramatization of President John F. Kennedy's war time experiences during which he captained a PT boat, took it to battle and had it sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He and the survivors had to make their way to an island, find food and shelter and signal the Navy for rescue.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: historical drama, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful
Best tv shows and movies like PT 109 (1963):
Similar in 83%
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 78%
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 89%
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 82%
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 76%
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 84%
The Last Lieutenant (1993)
Plot Summary:
Norwegian war drama. The old sea-captain retires, but the next day German WWII occupation of Norway begins. He then kisses his wife good-bye and is off to Army HQ. There he finds a lack of leadership and morale that offends him. They even laugh at him and his out-dated uniform and officer-rank. Secondloitnanten then finds and leads his private troop of volunteers against the German attack. The movie tells the story of a man that refuses to give up, even when everybody else leaves. He will fight for the country he loves and do his duty.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 365
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Norway
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Raid on Rommel (1971)
Plot Summary:
Captain Foster plans on raiding German-occupied Tobruk with hand- picked commandos, but a mixup leaves him with a medical unit led by a Quaker conscientious objector. Despite all odds they succeed with their mission. On the way they pick up and drug the mistress of an Italian general, blow up the entire fuel supply for the Afrika Korps, and swap philatelic gossip with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Too Late the Hero (1970)
Plot Summary:
A WWII film set on a Pacific island. Japanese and allied forces occupy different parts of the island. When a group of British soldiers are sent on a mission behind enemy lines, things don't go exactly to plan. This film differs in that some of the 'heroes' are very reluctant, but they come good when they are pursued by the Japanese who are determined to prevent them returning to base.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, suspense, psychological, exciting, realistic, rough, serious, historically accurate, independent film
Similar in 78%
Das Boot - The Director's Cut (1981)
Plot Summary:
A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 261000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: West Germany, Italy, France, UK
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: epic, tense, suspenseful, realistic, atmospheric, suspense, tension, factual, rough, serious
Similar in 81%
The Crossing (2000)
Plot Summary:
A made-for-TV dramatization of George Washington's perilous gamble of crossing the Delaware River and attacking the British forces at Trenton.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: tense, exciting, realistic, serious, political, christian film, historical drama, historically accurate, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 79%
Everyman's War (2009)
Plot Summary:
No one in high command believed that German forces would attack in the sub zero temperatures and near blizzard conditions. As the pre-dawn attack comes, with communications down Sgt. Smith is left with no choice but to make his way through enemy fire, unarmed and wounded, into town and warn of the coming attack. Based on actual accounts "Everyman's War" explores the heroic events of this decorated veterans courage and the struggle between duty and desire. Between the prospect of the life and love, Dorine that waits at home and the harsh realities of war which marks the pivotal epoch in his life as he discovers that the loss of hope can be worse than the loss of life. One man's courage... One man's hope...Everyman's War.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, uplifting
Similar in 75%
Only the Brave (2006)
Plot Summary:
A searing portrait of war and prejudice, 'Only the Brave' takes you on a haunting journey into the hearts and minds of the forgotten heroes of WWII - the Japanese-American 100th/442nd.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 909
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspenseful, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 90%
Tobruk (1967)
Plot Summary:
In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, Spain
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: spectacular, exciting, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
Bat*21 (1988)
Plot Summary:
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, harsh, exciting, serious, suspenseful, rough, tense, sentimental, light
Similar in 84%
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 84%
Merrill's Marauders (1962)
Plot Summary:
Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads the 3,000 American volunteers of his 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), aka "Merrill's Marauders", behind Japanese lines across Burma to Myitkyina, pushing beyond their limits and fighting pitched battles at every strong-point.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, crying, technicolor, historical drama, cult film
Similar in 75%
Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of the senior-level preparations for the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 from the time of Dwight D. Eisenhower's appointment as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to the establishment of the beachhead in Normandy. The film recounts many of the trials and tribulation Ike had to face, not the least of which were the many prima donnas surrounding him (Patton, Montgomery and especially de Gaulle) and the need for tact and diplomacy to bring all sides together for what would be the largest amphibious assault ever attempted.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, political
Similar in 90%
Against the Sun (2014)
Plot Summary:
A WWII pilot, bombardier, and radioman find themselves adrift on a lifeboat without food or water after being forced to ditch their plane during a scouting mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, serious, realistic, minimal cast, independent film, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
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 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 75%
633 Squadron (1964)
Plot Summary:
When Norwegian resistance leader Lieutenant Erik Bergman reports the location of a German V-2 rocket fuel plant, the Royal Air Force's 633 Squadron is assigned the mission to destroy it. The plant is in a seemingly-impregnable location beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of a long, narrow fjord lined with anti-aircraft guns. The only way to destroy the plant is by collapsing the cliff on top of it.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spectacular, sincere, fast, crying, weeping
Similar in 83%
Anzio (1968)
Plot Summary:
Allied forces land at Anzio unopposed but instead of moving straight inland their commanding officer decides to dig in. A battle-hardened war correspondent borrows a jeep and drives to Rome and back without meeting any German forces, but his report on this absence of the enemy is discounted. By the time it is finally decided to make a move the Germans have arrived in strength and a prolonged.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: retro, macaroni combat, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 78%
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 81%
Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
Plot Summary:
World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, exciting, rough, serious, black and white, retro, intense, fast paced, esoteric
Similar in 81%
MacArthur (1977)
Plot Summary:
The film portrays MacArthur's (Gregory Peck) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman (Ed Flanders) for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: melancholic, epic, intense, realistic, serious, political, exciting, tense, sincere, rough
Similar in 76%
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 75%
Too Young the Hero (1988)
Plot Summary:
WWII drama.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 540
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 90%
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
Similar in 80%
The Big Red One (1980)
Plot Summary:
A veteran sergeant of the World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivor Pvt. Griff, the writer Pvt. Zab, the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium and France, ending in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where they face the true horror of war.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: bleak, realistic, political, cynical, cult classic, historical drama, exciting, rough, serious, captivating
Similar in 75%
Patton (1970)
Plot Summary:
"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 172 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, realistic, patriotic, historical drama, epic, political, art house, spectacular, aesthetic, twisted