Best movies like The Way Back
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Peter Weir's follow-up to Master & Commander (2003) is the stark & brilliant The Way Back, which takes on the theme of man's struggle for freedom. At the dawn of WWII, several men escape from a Russian gulag. The film details their perilous & uncertain journey to freedom, as they cross deserts, mountains, & several nations.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates, Poland, India
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: realistic, epic, inspirational, rough, serious, bleak, visually appealing, intense, road movie, dramatic
Best tv shows and movies like The Way Back (2010):
Similar in 76%
The Mission (1986)
Plot Summary:
When a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portugese aggressors.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 65000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: UK, France
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: epic, thought provoking, christian film, harsh, spiritual, realistic, breathtaking, dramatic, visually stunning, touching
Similar in 89%
Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America (2007)
Plot Summary:
An unexpectedly modern take on a tale of two Viking warriors abandoned on the American coast. Warning – contains a graphic answer to the question: do Vikings sh*t in the woods?.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 554
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, epic, serious, stylized, offbeat
Similar in 85%
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Plot Summary:
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, War
Country: USA, Luxembourg
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bleak, tense, harsh, rough, emotional, intense, realistic, epic, sad
Similar in 89%
To Brave Alaska (1996)
Plot Summary:
A young couple and their dog struggle to survive in Alaska.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 588
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: uplifting, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy
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Similar in 82%
East/West (1999)
Plot Summary:
June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Spain
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: touching, heartbreaking, realistic, harsh, sentimental, suspenseful, emotional, sincere, serious, gloomy
Similar in 84%
Van Diemen's Land (2009)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Australia’s most notorious convict, Alexander Pearce and his infamous journey into the beautiful yet brutal Tasmanian wilderness. A point of no return for convicts banished from their homeland, Van Diemen’s Land was a feared and dreaded penal settlement at the end of the earth.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Thriller
Country: Australia
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, suspenseful, disturbing, atmospheric, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 76%
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)
Plot Summary:
The German soldier Clemens Forel - determined to be reunited with his beloved family - makes a dramatic escape through bitter cold winters, desolate landscapes, and life threatening ventures from a Siberian labor camp after World War II. 8000 miles and three endless years of uncertainty later, he is finally about to reach his destination...An edge of your seat drama that celebrates the power of the human spirit and the force of will, while inspired and impowered by love.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, tense, suspenseful, sincere, breathtaking, road movie, epic, crying, rough
Similar in 83%
Follow the River (1995)
Plot Summary:
Mary Ingles is pregnant when she and her two sons are captured from their homestead in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains by Shawnee Indians. Her husband, Will, narrowly escapes death during the attack. Impressed by her grace under the pressure of captivity, Wildcat, the Shawnee chief, confers special privileges on Mary and her children, eventually proposing that Mary become his mate. Surprised by her attraction to the handsome brave, Mary nonetheless opts to remain faithful to Will and engineers a plan for her escape. Separated from her children, Mary joins another female settler, and together they embark on a harrowing homeward trek. Her odyssey comes full circle more than a decade later when she is finally reunited with her long-lost children.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 494
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, epic
Similar in 87%
The Physician (2013)
Plot Summary:
The story of Rob Cole, a boy who is left a penniless orphan in an 11th-century English mining town when his mother dies of a mysterious illness. Vowing to become a physician and vanquish Death itself, he travels to Isfahan in Persia to study medicine under the great Ibn Sina. Through countless ordeals and challenges, and making many sacrifices along the way, he struggles on unwaveringly. His unflagging quest for knowledge leads to the blossoming of friendship and true love.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: Germany
Duration: 155 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, captivating, epic, costume drama, serious, scenic, psychological, rough, romantic, spiritual
Similar in 76%
The Bounty (1984)
Plot Summary:
The familiar story of Lieutenant Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This version follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Lieutenant Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, Romance
Country: UK, USA, New Zealand
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: epic, period piece, costume drama, captivating, suspenseful, breathtaking, suspense, intense, factual, melancholic
Similar in 80%
Paradise Road (1997)
Plot Summary:
Paradise Road is a 1997 film which tells the story of a group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women who are imprisoned in Sumatra during World War II. It was directed by Bruce Beresford and stars Glenn Close as beatific Adrienne Pargiter, Frances McDormand as the brash Dr. Verstak, Pauline Collins as missionary Margaret Drummond (based on missionary Margaret Dryburgh), Julianna Margulies as American socialite Topsy Merritt, Jennifer Ehle as British doyenne and model Rosemary Leighton Jones, Cate Blanchett as Australian nurse Susan McCarthy and Elizabeth Spriggs as dowager Imogene Roberts. Basing his picture on real events, Bruce Beresford tells the story of a vocal orchestra created by the women in a Japanese P.O.W. camp, a classic survivors' tale extolling women's ability to survive hardship and atrocity through perseverance, solidarity and creativity.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: touching, harsh, serious, uplifting, emotional, realistic, costume drama, intense, gloomy, sentimental
Similar in 77%
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. But that told only half the story. “Heart of the Sea” reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 147000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA, Australia, Spain
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: scenic, suspense, exciting, realistic, inspirational, captivating, emotional, suspenseful, harsh, factual
Similar in 78%
Alive (1993)
Plot Summary:
The amazing, true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's plane that crashed in the middle of the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive and pull through alive, forced to do anything and everything they could to stay alive on meager rations and through the freezing cold.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 60000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: realistic, inspirational, emotional, disturbing, suspense, sad, suspenseful, intense, breathtaking, exciting
Similar in 80%
I Am David (2003)
Plot Summary:
Based on Anne Holm's acclaimed young adult novel North to Freedom, I Am David chronicles the struggles of a 12-year-old boy (Ben Tibber) who manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own -- through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark and a compass to help get him there.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: emotional, sentimental, touching, uplifting, tense, sad, serious, epic, realistic, inspirational
Similar in 88%
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Plot Summary:
A cargo plane goes down in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for an airplane they will build to escape before their food and water run out.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: suspense, harsh, serious, captivating, exciting, bleak, suspenseful, psychological, retro, action adventure
Similar in 83%
127 Hours (2010)
Plot Summary:
The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 395000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspense, inspirational, breathtaking, psychological, intense, touching, unusual plot structure, depressing, motivational, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Plot Summary:
A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Country: Soviet Union, Japan
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, dramatic, visually appealing, cerebral, visual, breathtaking, touching, stylized, inspirational, road movie
Similar in 81%
Never Cry Wolf (1983)
Plot Summary:
This film dramatizes the true story of Farley Mowat, when he was sent to the Canadian tundra area to collect evidence of the grievous harm the wolf population was allegedly doing to the caribou herds. In his struggle to survive in that difficult environment he studies the wolves, and realizes that the old beliefs about wolves and their supposed threat are almost totally false. Furthermore, he learns that humans represent a far greater threat to the land, and also to the wolves, a species which plays an important role in the ecosystem of the north.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scenic, semi autobiographical, philosophical, offbeat, sensitive, anthropological, uplifting, touching, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Arctic (2018)
Plot Summary:
A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA, Iceland
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: minimal cast, suspense, touching, uplifting, disturbing, inspirational, captivating, action adventure, clever, intellectual
Similar in 81%
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
Plot Summary:
Austrian mountaineer, Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of war. He escapes with a fellow detainee and makes his way to Llaso, Tibet, where he meets the 14-year-old Dalai Lama, whose friendship ultimately transforms his outlook on life.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 153000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: inspirational, captivating, epic, breathtaking, dramatic, scenic, uplifting, serious, philosophical, realistic
Similar in 82%
Europa Europa (1990)
Plot Summary:
A Jewish boy separated from his family in the early days of WWII poses as a German orphan and is taken into the heart of the Nazi world as a 'war hero' and eventually becomes a Hitler Youth. Although improbabilities and happenstance are cornerstones of the film, it is based upon a true story.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, France, Poland
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, realistic, retro, mind bending, psychedelic, surreal, epic, tense, thought provoking, serious
Similar in 87%
Unbroken (2014)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 180000
Genere: Action, Biography, Drama, Sport, War
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: motivational, uplifting, inspirational, epic, dramatic, serious, emotional, realistic, brutal, harsh
Similar in 87%
Life of Pi (2012)
Plot Summary:
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 658000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, Taiwan, UK, Canada, India, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: philosophical, motivational, visually appealing, scenic, reflective, touching, captivating, spiritual, dramatic, suspense
Similar in 80%
Cast Away (2000)
Plot Summary:
Chuck, a top international manager for FedEx, and Kelly, a Ph.D. student, are in love and heading towards marriage. Then Chuck's plane to Malaysia ditches at sea during a terrible storm. He's the only survivor, and he washes up on a tiny island with nothing but some flotsam and jetsam from the aircraft's cargo.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 626000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: suspense, captivating, psychological, serious, scenic, emotional, motivational, sad, inspirational, feel good
Similar in 81%
Into the Wild (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of top student and athlete, Christopher McCandless, who after graduating from Emory University in 1992, abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 648000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: road movie, philosophical, melancholic, inspirational, motivational, reflective, touching, independent film, sad, atmospheric
Similar in 75%
The Grey (2011)
Plot Summary:
An oil drilling team struggles to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wilds of Alaska. Hunting them is a pack of wolves that sees them as intruders.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 261000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, bad ending, harsh, tense, exciting, emotional, psychological, suspense, rough, scenic
Similar in 78%
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Plot Summary:
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on the early frontier.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, epic, realistic, scenic, meditative, factual, serious, bleak, existential, spaghetti western
Similar in 78%
Apollo 13 (1995)
Plot Summary:
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1971, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 310000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History
Country: USA, UK, Canada, Japan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: factual, realistic, suspenseful, inspirational, suspense, epic, sentimental, touching, intense, breathtaking
Similar in 76%
The Snow Walker (2003)
Plot Summary:
A bush pilot in nothern Canada who with the aid of modernity thinks he can handle it all & knows it all. After reluctantly agreeing to transport a local indian girl to a medical facility his light plane crashes & they have to survive whilst finding their way back to civilization. Along the journey the man finds a new respect for the native ways as they battle to survive the elements.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, sentimental, breathtaking, realistic, compassionate, touching, heartbreaking, sad, scenic
Similar in 77%
The Revenant (2015)
Plot Summary:
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 854000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Western
Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan, USA
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: breathtaking, atmospheric, scenic, exciting, visually stunning, suspenseful, harsh, rough, realistic, serious