Best movies like The Battleship Island
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
During the Japanese colonial era, roughly 400 Korean people, who were forced onto Battleship Island (‘Hashima Island’) to mine for coal, attempt to escape.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, sad, twisted
Best tv shows and movies like The Battleship Island (2017):
Similar in 88%
Attack Force Z (1981)
Plot Summary:
Tim Burstall directs then-up-and-comers Mel Gibson and Sam Neill in this action-packed Cannes Film Festival selection about the grim realities of World War II, a gritty drama based on actual events. Sent to rescue survivors from the site of a plane crash in the South Pacific, Capt. P.G. Kelly (Gibson) and his elite squad of Australian commandos must keep tabs on a defecting Japanese official who could hold the secret to peace.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, Taiwan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: retro, serious, realistic, independent film
Similar in 90%
Tankers (2018)
Plot Summary:
The film is based on the true story about a Soviet KV-1 crew of a Soviet KV-1 tank, under the command of Semyon Konovalov , whom despite being heavily outnumbered by German forces, destroyed 16 tanks, 2 armored vehicles and 8 other enemy vehicles at the village of Nizhnemytyakin, Tarasovsky district, Rostov region on July 13th, 1942.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Russia
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, bleak, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 78%
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010)
Plot Summary:
Seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher's death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful, serious, stylized, anime, non stop action
Similar in 82%
Fighter in the Wind (2004)
Plot Summary:
An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, spiritual
Similar in 76%
Blades of Blood (2010)
Plot Summary:
In the 16th century in Chosun dynasty, HWANG Jung-hak and LEE Mong-hak create the “Grand Alliance” with the united dream of a better world. While the new leader LEE dreams of eradicating this world of all its corruption and becoming king himself, the legendary blind swordsman HWANG who had once been his comrade goes after him with the loss of his good friend at the hands of LEE. Just as the king abandoned his kingdom from Japanese invasion, the two come face-to-face inside the empty palace and begin their last battle they were destined to fight.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 834
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: exciting, captivating, serious, tense, epic, realistic, stylized
Similar in 78%
Escape from Mogadishu (2021)
Plot Summary:
Diplomats from the North and South Korean embassies in Somalia attempt a daring joint escape from Mogadishu when the outbreak of civil war leaves them stranded.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, political thriller, mindfuck
Similar in 81%
Commitment (2013)
Plot Summary:
The son of a North Korean spy decides to follow in his father's footsteps to protect his little sister. After his father’s botched espionage mission, North Korean Myung-hoon and his young sister Hye-in are sent to a labor prison camp. In order to save his sister’s life, Myung-hoon volunteers to become a spy and infiltrates the South as a teenage defector. While attending high school in the South, he meets another girl named Hye-in, and rescues her when she comes under attack. South Korean Intelligence soon discover Myung-hoon’s activities and begin tracking him, all the while his own government sends a vicious assassin to eliminate him.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: suspense, exciting, captivating, tense, sad, scenic, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
The Battle of El Alamein (1969)
Plot Summary:
This movie's opening prologue states: "June 1942. As Rommel swept toward the Nile, the fall of Egypt and the capture of the Suez Canal seemed inevitable. Italian and German advance units raced toward Alexandria. Mussolini had given explicit orders: The Italians must arrive first!".
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 683
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: macaroni combat, exciting, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
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Similar in 88%
My Way (2011)
Plot Summary:
Jun-shik, who works for Tatsuo’s grandfather’s farm while Korea is colonized by Japan, dreams about participating in the Tokyo Olympics as a marathon runner. Tatsuo also aims to become a marathon runner, so the two become rivals. But the war breaks out and they both are forced to enlist in the army. Tatsuo becomes the head of defense in Jun-shik’s unit and he devises a scheme but fails. Jun-shik and Tatsuo are held captive by the Soviets. They run away but soon are captured by the Germans and forced to separate. In 1944, they meet again on the shores of Normandy.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, rough, captivating, touching, epic, realistic, odd
Similar in 89%
Death and Glory in Changde (2010)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Shen Dong and starring Ray Lui, An Yixuan and Yuan Wenkang, Death and Glory in Changde recalls one of the most cruel and controversial battles during China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), Changde Battle, in November 1943.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: China
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, disturbing
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Similar in 78%
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 87%
The Swordsman (2020)
Plot Summary:
After being blinded in a coup against the king, Joseon’s greatest swordsman (Jang Hyuk) goes into hiding, far removed from his city’s anguish. But when traffickers kidnap his daughter, he has no choice but to unsheathe his sword once more.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, period drama
Similar in 81%
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%
The Last Rescue (2015)
Plot Summary:
World World II: Shortly after D-Day, three American soldiers and two Army Corps nurses are stranded behind enemy lines. They take a high-ranking German officer as their prisoner and try to orchestrate an escape.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, tense, suspense
Similar in 89%
The Secret Invasion (1964)
Plot Summary:
During World War II, convicts are recruited by the Allies for an extremely hazardous mission.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, surprise ending, psychotronic, cult film
Similar in 89%
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 83%
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 81%
To End All Wars (2001)
Plot Summary:
Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), Lt. Jim Reardon (Kiefer Sutherland) and Maj. Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle) are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: harsh, tense, suspenseful, rough, serious, sentimental, intense, realistic, touching, captivating
Similar in 82%
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Plot Summary:
When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, emotional, tense, sad, captivating, rough, serious, suspenseful, heroic
Similar in 79%
The Showdown (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the 11th year of Kwang Hae-gun, Jo-seon soldiers go to war with China after an invasion. In the middle of Manchu, three people who have barely survived are being cornered by the Chinese forces, and begin a bloody battle not with their enemies but with their friends.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 364
Genere: Action, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, exciting, tense, rough, captivating, realistic, serious, stylized
Similar in 83%
6 Days (2017)
Plot Summary:
In April 1980, armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in Princes Gate, London and took all inside hostage. Over the next six days a tense standoff took place, all the while a group of highly trained soldiers from the SAS prepared for a raid the world had never seen the likes of.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: New Zealand, UK
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, serious, factual, surprise ending, suspense, independent film, detective, tension
Similar in 89%
186 Dollars to Freedom (2012)
Plot Summary:
A young California surfer has to grow up in a hurry when he is thrown into a Peruvian political prison in 1980.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 575
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: Peru, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, serious, captivating, suspense, exciting, rough, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
Plot Summary:
The film mainly follows the famous 1597 Battle of Myeongryang during the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592-1598), where the iconic Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin managed to destroy a total of 133 Japanese warships with only 13 ships remaining in his command. The battle, which took place in the Myeongryang Strait off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, is considered one of the greatest victories of Yi.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: South Korea
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: epic, tense, exciting, suspenseful, captivating, suspense, serious, realistic, period piece, period drama
Similar in 76%
The Sea Wolves (1980)
Plot Summary:
This true story follows the exploits of a top secret British military mission to destroy Nazi radio ships in a neutral harbor during WWII. The daring plan is led by British Intelligence officers Col. Lewis Pugh (Gregory Peck) and Capt. Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore). Since the ships are in neutral territory the British Military command, while encouraging the scheme, must deny any knowledge of it if it fails. Pugh and Stewart enlist the aid of retired officer Col. Bill Grice (David Niven) and some of his former soldiers. On the pretext of being on a fishing expedition, these seemingly drunken old men in civilian clothing must board and destroy 3 Nazi ships, whose radio transmissions have resulted in Nazi submarines sinking allied ships. While Stewart arranges a diversion on shore, Pugh and Grice carry out the dangerous raid on and destruction of the Nazi ships.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, History, War
Country: UK, USA, Switzerland
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, tense, suspense, realistic, serious, factual, cult classic, independent film, black comedy
Similar in 88%
The Great Raid (2005)
Plot Summary:
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: tense, harsh, rough, suspenseful, realistic, epic, scenic, edutainment, historical drama, atmospheric
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The Outpost (2019)
Plot Summary:
A small unit of U.S. soldiers, alone at the remote Combat Outpost Keating, located deep in the valley of three mountains in Afghanistan, battles to defend against an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in a coordinated attack. The Battle of Kamdesh, as it was known, was the bloodiest American engagement of the Afghan War in 2009 and Bravo Troop 3-61 CAV became one of the most decorated units of the 19-year conflict.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, brutal, perverse, cult classic, surprise ending, independent film, black comedy, dark comedy, captivating
Similar in 83%
Escape from Sobibor (1987)
Plot Summary:
During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in Sobibor to vow (actually threaten) that his camp would never experience the same thing. But those who were its captives, the Jewish laborers that had been spared from the ovens, knew that they were on borrowed time and that their only hope was to escape... the only question was how to do it. On October 14, 1943, members of the camp's underground resistance succeeded in covertly killing eleven German officers and a number of Ukrainian guards. Of the 600 inmates in the camp, roughly 300 escaped, although most were later re-captured and killed. The escape forced the Nazis to close the death camp, dismantling it and planting a forest.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, rough, serious, suspenseful, psychological, exciting, thought provoking, suspense, philosophical
Similar in 75%
Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991)
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
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Similar in 77%
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Plot Summary:
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 168000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: emotional, bleak, realistic, epic, disturbing, contemplative, touching, bloody, dramatic, black and white