Best movies like The War Lover
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Buzz Rickson is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions. His crew lives with this aspect of his personality only because they know he always brings them back alive.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: sex comedy, serious, realistic, vintage
Best tv shows and movies like The War Lover (1962):
Similar in 79%
Normandy (2011)
Plot Summary:
Klaus Muller, a battle-hardened veteran, finds himself fighting for his life on the Russian front. Surrounded by overwhelming numbers of Russian tanks and planes, he and his men are doomed until famed German tank ace, Michael Wittmann, shows up in his Tiger Tank and saves the day. Once wounded, Klaus is transferred to Normandy to serve under Field Marshal Rommel just days before the Allied invasion. Much to his surprise, he finds that his beloved Klaudia is also stationed nearby as a field nurse. Unfortunately, so is her father, who is working with the French resistance and now finds himself pursued by the ruthless Gestapo officer Brahms, whose search leads him to Klaus and Klaudia attempting a rescue. They are caught and imprisoned. As D-Day begins and the Allies attack from the beaches and the sky, they escape from the prison, fighting the Gestapo in the middle of the biggest invasion in world history... Written by tino struckmann.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 460
Genere: War
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, sex comedy, independent film
Similar in 76%
Angel of the Skies (2013)
Plot Summary:
War is declared and Britain must take action against Nazi Germany if Europe is going to be saved from its ruthless clutches. Determined to beat the enemy Flt. Office Earl Kirk, a young South African pilot, volunteers his services to the Royal Air Force, sacrificing his family, his future and himself in the fight against evil. Whilst in combat, surrounded by bombers and under relentless attack, Kirk must make the decision that could change his and his crew's life forever.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 825
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: South Africa
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 84%
None But the Brave (1965)
Plot Summary:
American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, serious, tense, bleak, realistic, retro
Similar in 78%
The 7th Dawn (1964)
Plot Summary:
Political and personal intrigues surround a group of characters in Malaya, after the close of the Second World War.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
Flight from Ashiya (1964)
Plot Summary:
Featuring an all-star cast and on-location shooting in Japan, where the story is set, three US Air Force rescue pilots must overcome their personal problems and differences to embark upon a dangerous mission to save raft-bound Japanese survivors from a murderous storm-tossed sea. As they head for their location, the film flashes back to chronicle the pasts of each pilot to make clear their mixed feelings about their upcoming assignment.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 706
Genere: Adventure, Romance, Drama, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, sentimental, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, independent film, disaster movie
Similar in 89%
The Last Drop (2006)
Plot Summary:
Different factions in WWII-era Holland race to find a stash of Nazi gold.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, suspenseful, exciting, suspense, crying
Similar in 89%
Zeppelin (1971)
Plot Summary:
The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable position. Although his allegiance is to Britain, his mother was from an aristocratic Bavarian family, and he spent his summers in Germany as a child. When Geoffrey is approached by a German spy who offers him a chance to defect, he reports the incident to his superiors, but instead of arresting the spy they suggest that he accept her offer--and become an Allied agent. In Germany, among old friends, Geoffrey discovers that loyalty is more complicated than he expected, especially when he finds himself aboard the maiden voyage of a powerful new prototype Zeppelin, headed for Scotland on a secret mission that could decide the outcome of the war.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, eurospy
Similar in 85%
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 79%
Hanover Street (1979)
Plot Summary:
Margaret is a nurse in England during WW2, and married to a secret agent. Things get complicated when she falls for David, an American pilot.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, sincere, period piece, vintage
Similar in 86%
Squadron 303 (2018)
Plot Summary:
After the fall of the September Campaign of 1939, two Polish pilots are forced to fight for their nation in foreign battlefronts.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland, UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, sincere
Similar in 88%
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 79%
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 76%
Torpedo Bombers (1983)
Plot Summary:
In 1944 a Soviet marine air force unit stationed near Murmansk is fighting off the German bombers attacking the British navy convoys supplying the Soviet Union with war materials under the lend-lease agreement.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 410
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Mosquito Squadron (1969)
Plot Summary:
In WW2, a RAF squadron leader mourns the death of a comrade and receives a bombing mission against a secret Nazi V-2 rocket testing facility in France.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
The Blockhouse (1973)
Plot Summary:
A group of Slave workers, drafted by the Nazis to help construct their coastal defenses in 1944 are trapped in an underground bunker when the Allies land at Normandy on D-Day. They find huge dtores of food but not enough candles. The slow dying of the light parallels their increasing boredom, illness and jealousy during their entrapment. Based on the Novel 'Le Blockhaus' by Jean Paul Clebert.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 84%
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 88%
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 89%
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 85%
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 84%
Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976)
Plot Summary:
The dramatized World War II adventures of US Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and his Marine Attack Squadron 214, AKA The Black Sheep Squadron.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: exciting, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, sitcom, vintage, period drama
Similar in 84%
Murphy's War (1971)
Plot Summary:
Murphy is the sole survivor of his crew, that has been massacred by a German U-Boat in the closing days of World War II. He is rescued, and ends up at a forgotten mission station near the mouth of the Orinoco, and begins to plot his vengeance. He wishes to sink the U-Boat by means of any method imaginable to him, and sets about to make the courageous attempt, assisted by Louis, the local oil company Administrator.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: realistic, exciting, serious, suspenseful, independent film, psychological, tense, clever, intellectual, feel good
Similar in 89%
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 85%
The Red Baron (2008)
Plot Summary:
Richthofen goes off to war like thousands of other men. As fighter pilots, they become cult heroes for the soldiers on the battlefields. Marked by sportsmanlike conduct, technical exactitude and knightly propriety, they have their own code of honour. Before long he begins to understand that his hero status is deceptive. His love for Kate, a nurse, opens his eyes to the brutality of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Germany, UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: emotional, exciting, sincere, touching, serious, captivating, romantic drama, colorful, realistic, costume drama
Similar in 79%
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 84%
Fortress (2012)
Plot Summary:
When the commander of the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber is killed in action in a raid over Sicily in 1943, his replacement, a young, naive pilot struggles to be accepted by the plane's already tight-knit Irish American crew.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, tense
Similar in 88%
The Great Escape (1963)
Plot Summary:
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocates them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 255000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 172 min
Plot tags: epic, suspenseful, suspense, clever, breathtaking, exciting, realistic, historical drama, motivational, funny
Similar in 86%
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 87%
Memphis Belle (1990)
Plot Summary:
The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Dresden, a heavily-defended city that invariably causes many Allied casualties.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 30000
Genere: Action, Drama, War
Country: UK, Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, emotional, rough, serious, inspirational, suspense, intense, period piece, realistic
Similar in 82%
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 82%
Piece of Cake (1988)
Plot Summary:
The lives and loves of the men of RAF Hornet Squadron who are transferred to France at the outbreak of World Wat II in September 1939. For the most part the men are competent fliers but there is little action in the first several months. The men wile away their time with some engaging in dangerous stunts while others woo some of the local lasses. The phony war comes to an end in April 1940 and the Battle of Britain begins. By September that year, few of them are left and despite their success, few see themselves as heroes. (6 episodes).
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 774
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 312 min
Plot tags: costume drama, exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, period drama