Best movies like The Trench
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The Trench tells the story of a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916, the worst defeat in British military history. Against this ill-fated backdrop, the movie depicts the soldiers' experience as a mixture of boredom, fear, panic, and restlessness, confined to a trench on the front lines.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: France, UK
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: independent film, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy, freeze frame
Best tv shows and movies like The Trench (1999):
Similar in 77%
1911 (2011)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of the 20th century, China is in a state of crisis. The country is split into warring factions, the citizens are starving, and recent political reforms have made matters worse, not better. The ruling Qing Dynasty, led by a seven-year-old emperor, and his ruthless mother, Empress Dowager Longyu is completely out of touch after 250 years of unquestioned power. Huang Xing has recently returned from Japan, where he has studied the art of modern warfare. When he finds his country falling apart, he feels he has no choice but to pick up the sword.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: epic, exciting, cult classic, cute, serious, realistic, stylized, cult film
Similar in 82%
Storming Juno (2010)
Plot Summary:
Storming Juno is a film based on the remarkable and determined actions of a handful of young Canadian men who stormed Juno Beach on June 6, 1944. D-Day.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 747
Genere: History, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating
Similar in 87%
1939 Battle of Westerplatte (2013)
Plot Summary:
This harrowing war film is an epic dramatization of the first battle of World War II. The Battle of Westerplatte that began on 1 September 1939 will forever be remembered as the one that announced the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Over one week, fewer than 200 Polish soldiers fought against heavy German bombardment and in the process came to symbolize the power of resistance. As the violence rages, a complex battle of a more personal nature plays out between two Polish commanders over how to best lead their men. Amid the bloodshed, they must ask themselves – should they fight until the last man standing or surrender in the face of overwhelming odds? What unfolds is a stirring exploration of the fight against the forces of tyranny.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 956
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Poland, Lithuania
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, bleak, serious, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Greenery Will Bloom Again (2014)
Plot Summary:
World War I, Italian north-eastern front after the 1917 bloody battles on the Altipiano. A group of soldiers face the difficulty of war in a story that unfolds in the space of one night. Events follow one after the other without any kind of pattern: the peaceful mountains suddenly become a place where men die. But every story told in this film is a true story.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 969
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, serious, realistic, historical drama, contemplative, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 80%
The Lighthorsemen (1987)
Plot Summary:
Palestine, 1917. The British advance has been stopped by the Turkish line running from Gaza to Beersheba. The latest attack on Gaza has failed. The attacking forces included a regiment of Australian mounted infantry, the Light Horse... Lighthorseman Frank is wounded in a skirmish with Bedouin. He is replaced by a young soldier, Dave, who proves to be a crack shot, but reluctant to fire at the enemy. Dave proves himself during a German biplane attack. Recuperating in hospital, he meets a sympathetic nurse, Anne... The regiment is called upon for a bold flanking attack on Beersheba. But how do you convince the Turks the main attack will come at Gaza? And how do you attack across a desert without water?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, tense, anamorphic, epic, crying, independent film
Similar in 84%
Passchendaele (2008)
Plot Summary:
Sergeant Michael Dunne fights in the 10th Battalion, AKA The "Fighting Tenth" with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, emotional, realistic, epic, erotic, romantic drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 77%
Our World War (2014)
Plot Summary:
During the First World War, British troops face the horrors of the Battle of Mons in 1914, internal strife in 1916 and innovative tank warfare in 1918.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, costume drama, stylized
Similar in 82%
Gallipoli: End of the Road (2013)
Plot Summary:
April, 1915. First World War in Canakkale, Ottoman Empire. Two brothers leave their mountain village to fight on the front line. One is an experienced sniper fighting for Ottomans against the invasion, while his brother finds it much tougher to cope with life in the trenches. Meanwhile, landing of the occupation forces in the shores of Gallipoli has begun.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Turkey
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, epic, captivating, realistic, stylized, surprise ending
Similar in 79%
The Great War (2019)
Plot Summary:
In November of 1918 as World War I was ending, a unit of American soldiers goes behind enemy lines to find a lost platoon of African American soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating
Similar in 82%
The Passing Bells (2014)
Plot Summary:
At the outbreak of war, two teenage boys defy their parents to sign up.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, Poland
Duration:
Plot tags: historical drama, epic, realistic, serious, captivating, psychological, costume drama, emotional, gloomy
Similar in 75%
Company K (2004)
Plot Summary:
Based on the popular World War I novel by author William March, director Robert Clem's COMPANY K follows a veteran of the first great conflict as he finishes a book about his wartime experiences and reflects on how a man's true character is revealed through his actions on the battlefield. From the German soldier who visits him in dreams to the camaraderie that is forged by fighting together and the true gravity of laying down your life for a greater cause, World War I veteran Joe Delaney will attempt to exorcise his demons through writing while struggling to readjust to small-town life following the trauma of war.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 339
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychological, epic, serious, captivating, disturbing, bleak, emotional, realistic
Similar in 80%
Beneath Hill 60 (2010)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Australia's cat-and-mouse underground mine warfare – one of the most misunderstood, misrepresented and mystifying conflicts of WW I. It was a secret struggle BENEATH the Western Front that combined daring engineering, technology and science, and few on the surface knew of the brave, claustrophobic and sometimes barbaric work of these tunnellers.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, uplifting, bleak
Similar in 81%
Defenders of Riga (2007)
Plot Summary:
The film dramatizes November 11, 1919- a crucial date in the battle for Latvian independence. A year after the end of the official hostilities of WWI, a renegade German general and troops remain outside the Latvian capital. Latvian riflemen, most of them inexperienced volunteers, somehow managed to defeat a larger, better-armed force of German and Russian mercenaries.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Latvia
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
Merry Christmas (2005)
Plot Summary:
In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war ever at that time in human history, was well under way. However on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal, and unauthorized, truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 31000
Genere: Drama, History, Music, Romance, War
Country: France, Germany, UK, Belgium, Romania, Japan
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, sincere, emotional, captivating, political, christian film, realistic, educational, spiritual
Similar in 79%
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 90%
1944 The Final Defence (2007)
Plot Summary:
The Soviet army breaks through the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus in June 1944, advancing with overwhelming force. Somehow, the Finnish troops must find the strength to fight back, with all odds against them. The Battle of Tali-Ihantala was the largest battle ever fought in the history of the Nordic countries. This film depicts the true events through five separate stories.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Finland
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, rough, bleak
Similar in 90%
Anzacs (1985)
Plot Summary:
Anzacs was a 1985 5-part Australian miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion of the First Australian Imperial Force in 1914, fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, and then on the Western Front for the remainder of the war. It follows in the wake of Australian New Wave war films such as Breaker Morant, Gallipoli, and precedes The Lighthorsemen. Recurring themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as mateship and larrikinism, the loss of innocence in war, and also the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 839
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 165 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, vintage, period drama
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 85%
Gallipoli (1981)
Plot Summary:
As World War I rages, brave and youthful Australians Archy and Frank, both agile runners, become friends and enlist in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps together. They later find themselves part of the Dardanelles Campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula, a brutal eight-month conflict which pit the British and their allies against the Ottoman Empire and left over 500,000 men dead.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, touching, harsh, emotional, intense, serious, captivating, realistic, depressing, sad
Similar in 79%
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%
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
Plot Summary:
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: bleak, sad, suspenseful, historical drama, sincere, serious, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, tragic ending
Similar in 85%
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 82%
El Alamein - The Line of Fire (2002)
Plot Summary:
War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians; then the Brits attack, and there's no luck or heroism in death. Finally, it's retreat in confusion. Serra, his sergeant Rizzo, and his lieutenant Fiori take a last walk toward home. It's said that each soldier gets three miracles; when Serra's are used up, what then?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, sincere, captivating, realistic, historical drama
Similar in 87%
Aces High (1976)
Plot Summary:
The first World War is in its third year and aerial combat above the Western Front is consuming the nation's favored children at an appalling rate. By early 1917, the average life-span of a British pilot is less than a fortnight. Such losses place a fearsome strain on Gresham, commanding officer of the squadron. Aces High recreates the early days of the Royal Flying Corps with some magnificently staged aerial battles, and sensitive direction presents a moving portrayal of the futilities of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK, France
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 78%
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 75%
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 89%
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 87%
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 84%
Behind the Lines (1997)
Plot Summary:
Based on Pat Barker's novel of the same name, 'Regeneration' tells the story of soldiers of World War One sent to an asylum for emotional troubles. Two of the soldiers meeting there are Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, two of England's most important WW1 poets.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 89%
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Plot Summary:
A Bridge Too Far tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the failed attempt by the allies to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland and allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German Panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine, the titular 'bridge too far') was doomed to failure.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: epic, realistic, suspense, intense, rough, serious, suspenseful, breathtaking, cult classic, spectacular