Best movies like The American Dream
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Armed with dreams that extend beyond their block, Luis and Ronald, two best friends from Los Angeles, videotape their last 36 hours before shipping off to Afghanistan. One hundred days before Obama's inauguration, these young men have joined the Marines together to face the obstacles and circumstances that seem to overwhelm their passage into manhood. Luis wants to be a filmmaker and Ronald wants to travel the world and raise a family. Through the lens of Luis's video camera, they capture their friends, family members and places they call home - to remember who they are and where they come from. In their darkest hour, they turn on the video camera for the last time and document the final moments of their journey home. They soon realize that their dreams and promises of a new life mean nothing in a place called War.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 120
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, contemplative, sincere, realistic, non-linear, independent film
Best tv shows and movies like The American Dream (2011):
Similar in 83%
The 4 Soldiers (2013)
Plot Summary:
A climate of civil war, a fight that has made them lose everything including their youth, four soldiers aged 13 to 20 years, will meet and build friendships. In the grip of an adult conflict, which they do not understand, Matéo, Dominique, Big Max and Kevin will keep recreating, round a pond and a cabin, a family.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 192
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 83 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, bleak, gloomy, canadian science fiction
Similar in 82%
Two Fingers from Sidon (1986)
Plot Summary:
The story of a platoon of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon of 1986, shortly before Israeli withdrawal, and the dilemmas they face in having to fight against Lebanese guerilla in a hostile but civilian area.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 115
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Israel
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
I'll Remember April (1999)
Plot Summary:
Four young boys find a shipwrecked Japanese sailor during World War II and struggle with the decision to save him.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 753
Genere: Drama, Family, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, exciting, melancholic, sincere, touching, independent film
Similar in 83%
Deserter (2002)
Plot Summary:
Unlikely friends in a melting pot of confusion. Simon Murray fights for the French Foreign Legion. Pascal Dupont fights for himself. War torn men question honour, hope, morality...because you can desert everything...except yourself.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
The Last Winter (1983)
Plot Summary:
Tells the story of two women seeking leads to their missing husbands after the end of the Yom Kippur War (1973). A relationship builds between them when each identified her husband in the same blurred image of a foreign newsreel.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 111
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, Israel
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, gloomy
Similar in 79%
Memorial Day (1983)
Plot Summary:
An attorney finds himself at the center of a surprise reunion with the veterans of his platoon from Vietnam.The reunion stirs up painful memories and disturbing secrets for all involved.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 74
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 79%
The Veteran (2006)
Plot Summary:
Sidney J. Furie's The Veteran is a respectable straight-to-DVD movie that was headed for the "pleasant surprise" category before self-destructing with a terrible, out-of-the-blue ending.
IMDB Rating: 3.9
IMDB Votes: 655
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, rough, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, cult film
Similar in 89%
Happy New Year (2011)
Plot Summary:
A war-torn marine returns home to face his fiercest battle yet - the one against himself.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 123
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, rough, captivating, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Afghan Luke (2011)
Plot Summary:
Disheartened when his story about Canadian snipers possibly mutilating corpses in Afghanistan is buried, Luke (Nick Stahl) quits his job but is even more determined to return to Afghanistan to get the real story. With his offbeat buddy, Tom (Nicolas Wright), tagging along, Luke returns to Afghanistan and intends to gather enough evidence to get his old story into print. But he soon finds that the country is an even more dangerous place than when he left. To make matters worse, his old friend and fixer, Mateen (Stephen Lobo) has been hired away by Luke's journalistic nemesis, Imran Sahar (Vik Sahay). Soon the trip for Luke and Tom in Afghanistan turns into a surreal and perilous adventure, a journey into an alternate reality, filtered through a haze of gun smoke.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 811
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, thought provoking, captivating, psychological, rough, serious, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Alexandra (2007)
Plot Summary:
An elderly woman takes a train trip to visit her grandson at his army camp inside Chechnya.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Russia, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, contemplative, touching, slow cinema, aesthetic
Similar in 82%
A Soldier's Sweetheart (1998)
Plot Summary:
An Army medic brings his girlfriend to stay with him at an out of the way Vietnam outpost in 1967, the woman disappears one day and he begins searching for her.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 655
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: sex comedy, psychological, atmospheric, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, disturbing
Similar in 85%
A Marine Story (2010)
Plot Summary:
Marine officer Alexandra is tough enough to kick any guy's ass in a bar fight, but there's one opponent she can't beat: military policy. When she returns to her conservative hometown from Iraq with a mysterious personal life, she finds herself charged with preparing a tempestuous teenage girl to boot camp.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, uplifting, serious, realistic, independent film, queer cinema
Similar in 85%
Lifted (2010)
Plot Summary:
The chance to shine in a singing competition offers much-needed hope for a Southern middle-schooler who's drowning in worries, from bullies in the halls to turmoil at home -- and the news that his reservist father has been called back to Afghanistan.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sentimental, uplifting, feel good, serious, independent film
Similar in 89%
Wicked Spring (2002)
Plot Summary:
During the 1864 battle of the Wilderness, three Union soldiers and three Confederate Soldiers get seperated from their units as twilight engulfs the ravaged battlefield. The men wander alone through the dangerous woods, separate of each other, until they meet by chance on the banks of a quiet creek. The men meet and spend the night around a campfire, not realizing they are enemies until the next morning when the sun rises and a new day of battle begins.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, thought provoking, epic, emotional, serious, captivating, realistic, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 75%
Shot Through the Heart (1998)
Plot Summary:
The horrors of war are examined from the view points of lifelong friends (Linus Roache, Vincent Perez), who end up on opposing sides in the civil war in Sarajevo. One is an expert marksman, who trains the snipers used to terrify the city and the other becomes a freedom fighter, who rejects his friend's offer to gain an escape from the city. As might be expected, the two eventually have to face-off against one another.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, biting, suspense
Similar in 80%
How I Got Lost (2009)
Plot Summary:
HOW I GOT LOST is the heartbreaking yet hopeful story of Andrew and Jake, two friends dealing with loss amidst events bigger than them. Andrew is the friend we all have, the one who convinces you to come along despite your better judgment. Talented but with seemingly nothing to lose, his tailspin is balanced only by his professional drive to succeed as a trader on Wall Street. His best friend Jake, broken-hearted and writing sports instead of fiction, does his best to clean up the mess his friend creates until he runs into his capricious ex, Sarah again. So Andrew convinces him to ditch New York and hit the road, going nowhere. They commandeer a cab to Philadelphia, where they borrow Andrews moms station wagon. But when their car runs out of gas in the middle of Pennsylvania, Andrew reveals the real reason for the trip -- his father has died, and he doesn't think he can make it through the funeral alone.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 309
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 84%
Firelight (2012)
Plot Summary:
Incarcerated women join a band of volunteers who battle forest fires and assist during natural disasters.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 631
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, psychological, captivating
Similar in 79%
3 Nights in the Desert (2014)
Plot Summary:
Three former band mates enter a cave after hearing it has the power to give them what they need. As unsettling desires rise to the surface, they all wonder if the cave has real power.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, talky, serious, realistic, minimal cast, independent film
Similar in 82%
Camp X-Ray (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young woman joins the military to be part of something bigger than herself and her small-town roots. Instead, she ends up as a new guard at Guantanamo Bay, where her mission is far from black and white. Surrounded by hostile jihadists and aggressive squadmates, she strikes up an unusual friendship with one of the detainees.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 43000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: sincere, intense, serious, captivating, realistic, dramatic, depressing, novela, cult classic, teen
Similar in 77%
The Situation (2006)
Plot Summary:
The first U.S.-made film drama set during the Iraq war, THE SITUATION chronicles the tragic death of an Iraqi teenager at the hands of U.S. soldiers. The incident sets off an "investigation," a cover-up, and complications involving Iraqi mayor Sheikh Tahsin (Saïd Amadis), who has a complex relationship with the Americans.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 885
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, rough, realistic, extraordinary
Similar in 78%
Close to Home (2005)
Plot Summary:
Smadar (Smadar Sayar) and Mirit (Naama Schendar), both 18 years old, are assigned to patrol the streets of Jerusalem together as part of their military service. Worlds apart in their personality their initial frosty relationship changes to friendship as they deal with their own emotional issues, the crushes and break-ups in their love lives, as well as the political realities.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 947
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, suspense
Similar in 89%
Taking Chance (2009)
Plot Summary:
Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min
Plot tags: realistic, touching, emotional, sincere, sentimental, sad, serious, harsh, christian film, motivational
Similar in 87%
Occupation (2009)
Plot Summary:
Three ex-servicemen return to Basra, each for a different reason.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 719
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: thought provoking, touching, serious, suspenseful, sincere, captivating, realistic, contemplative, islamic
Similar in 78%
Memorial Day (2012)
Plot Summary:
Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it back. Luckily, he ignores them. Although Bud has never talked about the war, he finds himself striking a deal with his grandson: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs, and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one. Memorial Day not only takes us on a journey into Bud's complicated wartime past, but also into Kyle's wartime future. As the two men share parallel experiences in combat, they come to realize how that magical day on the porch shaped both of their lives. .
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 76%
The Yellow Birds (2017)
Plot Summary:
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, realistic, disturbing, sad
Similar in 75%
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 81%
Stop-Loss (2008)
Plot Summary:
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: emotional, sad, harsh, serious, thought provoking, realistic, suspense, cult classic, edutainment, psychological
Similar in 87%
Boys of Abu Ghraib (2014)
Plot Summary:
An American soldier deployed at Abu Ghraib finds himself behind the walls of the infamous Hard Site, where he develops a secret friendship with an Iraqi detainee.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, serious, realistic, tense, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 84%
Green Dragon (2001)
Plot Summary:
A tale about Vietnamese refugees sent to an orientation camp on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in California, 'Green Dragon' focuses on a young boy and his sister. Set in 1975, the film chronicles the stories told to the two children by other refugees in the camp and of Tai Tran, who dares to introduce himself to Sergeant Jim Lance. In developing a relationship with Lance, Tran is able to improve.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, touching, emotional, independent film, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
Face (2002)
Plot Summary:
Genie, a Chinese-American teenager, develops feelings for a charming African-American DJ, but her grandmother forbids their romance forcing Genie to choose between family and love.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, emotional, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative