Best tv shows like Island at War
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Island at War is a British television series that tells the story of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands. It primarily focuses on three local families: the upper class Dorrs, the middle class Mahys and the working class Jonases, and four German officers. The fictional island of St. Gregory serves as a stand-in for the real-life islands Jersey and Guernsey, and the story is compiled from the events on both islands. Produced by Granada Television in Manchester, Island at War had an estimated budget of £9,000,000 and was filmed on location in the Isle of Man from August 2003 to October 2003. When the series was shown in the UK, it appeared in six 70-minute episodes.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 540 min
Plot tags: tense, atmospheric, captivating, suspenseful, historical drama, bleak, serious, realistic, stylized, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Island at War (2004):
Similar in 78%
Amar es para siempre (2005)
Plot Summary:
The series is set in the Spanish Civil War and the first years of the Franco regime and tells the stories of characters who lived the aftermath of the war.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 350
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Spain
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 75%
Morocco: Love in Times of War (2017)
Plot Summary:
Oblivious to the strife that awaits them, a group of young nurses from Spain's upper class head to war-torn Marocco in 1921 to help where help is needed. Many lessons in love and life are learned before they overcome deepest conflicts, grow as human beings and find out what they really want from life and whom they truly love.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Spain
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, tense, thought provoking, medical drama, telenovela
Similar in 81%
Waiting for Anya (2020)
Plot Summary:
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Belgium
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
Strange Gardens (2003)
Plot Summary:
Lucien, 14, can’t understand why his father, a serious and respected teacher, makes a fool of himself by dressing up as a clown and giving a show. André, Lucien’s father’s best friend, feels for the teenager and decides to reveal something from their mutual past that will explain the reason for Lucien’s father’s strange behavior.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 80%
Alyosha (2020)
Plot Summary:
Summer 1944. The Second World War rages. On one side, elite German soldiers serving in the most dangerous and cruel army the world has ever seen. On the other, Russian partisans-fatigued, wounded and hungry, they have almost forgotten the warmth of home. But they do remember one thing: their country is behind them, and they cannot give up. The story is about machine gunner Yefrem Zhavoronok and Alyosha, a young boy. Alyosha is only sixteen, and Yefrem knows that he must look after him like his own. In war, everyone's children, mothers, wives and brothers are your family.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 19
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Russia
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense
Similar in 75%
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 78%
The Halcyon (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story of a bustling and glamorous five star hotel at the centre of London society and a world at war.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: costume drama, realistic, disturbing, psychological, thought provoking, captivating, anime, historical drama, period drama, interesting
Similar in 87%
Land Girls (2009)
Plot Summary:
The lives, loves and highs and lows of four members of the Women's Land Army working at the Hoxley Estate during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 225 min
Plot tags: realistic, captivating, costume drama, historical drama, psychological, atmospheric, serious, period drama
Similar in 87%
Colditz (2005)
Plot Summary:
Three prisoners, Jack Rose, Tom Willis and Nick McGrade, embark on an heroic plan to escape from a World War Two POW camp. As Rose And Willis are recaptured by the Germans, McGrade manages to traverse their clutches and travels to London to inform Rose's girlfriend of his capture. So begins a complex love story.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, touching, exciting, tense, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 88%
The Young Guard (2015)
Plot Summary:
A young partisan Viktor Tretyakov and his school friends decide to organize a resistance group to the fascists. They call it the "Young Guard" and attract familiar boys and girls to it. After a while, the Young Guards are joined by scouts sent to the city to collect information — Lyubov Shevtsova and the Artist. For a long time, the "Young Guard" manages to successfully commit sabotage, but they are opposed by an experienced and insidious enemy, who, in the end, manages to expose the Young Guards.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 56
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Russia
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense
Similar in 85%
Fortunes of War (1987)
Plot Summary:
Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet. Other cast members included Ronald Pickup, Robert Stephens, Alan Bennett, Philip Madoc and Rupert Graves. The series stays relatively faithful to the original novels, with no notable departures from their plot.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 863
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 407 min
Plot tags: tense, clever, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, period drama
Similar in 90%
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 75%
The Winds of War (1983)
Plot Summary:
In the late 1930s, world politics begin to head in a dangerous direction. In Europe, Germany expands and rearms and proceeds to annex several border countries into the Reich. Meanwhile, Italy attempts to establish a Facist Colonial Empire under Mussolini while the Empire of Japan stands ready for a major war with China. Enter the Henry family, headed by career naval officer Victor "Pug" Henry. "Winds of War" thus follows the exploits of Pug and his children, all of which are set against the backdrop of world events leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 883 min
Plot tags: epic, sentimental, sincere, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, family saga, vintage
Similar in 76%
Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001)
Plot Summary:
Anne Frank: The Whole Story is a film based on the life of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl growing up in Nazi occupied Holland. When war breaks out Anne & her family, Otto her father, Edith her mother & Margot her sister move from Germany to Holland where they are sure they will be safe. However when the Nazi's invade Holland, the family are forced into hiding.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: USA, Czech Republic
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: uplifting, sincere, bleak, emotional, sad, inspirational, depressing, serious, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Bomb Girls (2012)
Plot Summary:
Focusing on a group of women working in a munitions plant during World War II, this ensemble drama depicts the dangers and new experiences they face.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, serious, stylized, historical drama, tense, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 80%
X Company (2015)
Plot Summary:
An emotionally-driven character drama, set in the thrilling and dangerous world of WWII espionage and covert operations. It follows the stories of five highly skilled young recruits - Canadian, American and British - torn from their ordinary lives to train as agents in an ultra-secret facility on the shores of Lake Ontario. These agents parachute behind enemy lines, where they're fair game for torture and execution. From elegant hotels to hellholes in the field, it's one risky operation after another, masterminded by the brains of Camp X.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 44 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, captivating, tense, suspense, dark, educational, historical drama
Similar in 77%
Home Fires (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story of a group of inspirational women in a rural Cheshire community with the shadow of World War II casting a dark cloud over their lives. As the conflict takes hold and separates the women from their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers, the characters find themselves under increasing and extraordinary pressures in a rapidly fragmenting world. By banding together as the Great Paxford Women’s Institute, they help maintain the nation’s fabric in its darkest hour, and discover inner resources that will change their lives forever.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, serious, psychological, historical drama, touching, period piece, costume drama, period drama
Similar in 82%
Stones for the Rampart (2014)
Plot Summary:
To be defeated and not be - a victory. This is the motto that life is guided by three young friends: Alek, Sophy and Rudy. Scouts, high school graduates high school in Warsaw drifting ambitious plans for the future broken through September 1939. Entering adulthood in a very dramatic times, which puts them a choice - to survive at any cost, or to join the fighting for a free homeland, risking everything. The boys brought up in patriotic homes, shaped by the ideals of scouting, they decide to fight. They become soldiers, and although every scrape with death, they can live a full life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 77%
Generation War (2013)
Plot Summary:
Berlin, 1941. Five friends eager to become heroes in an adventure that will change the face of Europe - and that will forever change them as well.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Action, Drama, History, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 270 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, serious, thought provoking, anime, mind blowing, realistic, controversial, epic, period drama
Similar in 85%
War and Remembrance (1988)
Plot Summary:
War and Remembrance is an American miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Herman Wouk. It is the sequel to highly successful The Winds of War.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 1620 min
Plot tags: historical drama, exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, saga, epic, vintage
Similar in 75%
Generation Kill (2008)
Plot Summary:
Marines prepare to invade Iraq at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom; while the soldiers wait to receive their orders, they learn a Rolling Stone columnist will be embedded with them.
IMDB Rating: 8.5
IMDB Votes: 58000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, disturbing, political, realistic, rough, dramatic, exciting, stylized, anime
Similar in 79%
In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997)
Plot Summary:
In the Warsau Ghetto of 1943, one man's struggle to keep his family together leads him to the ultimate crisis of faith, and one final chance at redemption. Written by legendary 'Twilight Zone' creator, Rod Sterling.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 80%
This Life (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the Fiil's a family of innkeepers who during Nazi-Germany's occupation of Denmark took up arms against the German occupiers. But in the fight for freedom, some must die so that others may live.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Denmark
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, disturbing, captivating, tense, bleak, serious
Similar in 86%
Massacre in Rome (1973)
Plot Summary:
In the Nazi occupied city of Rome, an assault on an SS brigade draws retaliation from the military governship. "Massacre in Rome" is the true story of how this partisan attack led to the mass execution of Italian nationals under the orders of SS-Lieutenant Colonel Kappler.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Varian's War: The Forgotten Hero (2001)
Plot Summary:
Varian Fry rescues more than 2,000 artists from Nazi persecution during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 896
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: UK, USA, Canada
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 79%
Above and Beyond (2006)
Plot Summary:
True Story about the Atlantic Ferry Operation during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 227
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada
Duration: 240 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 84%
World on Fire (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of World War II told through the intertwining fates of ordinary people from all sides of this global conflict as they grapple with the effect of the war on their everyday lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 57 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, disturbing, retro, period piece, costume drama, historical drama, period drama
Similar in 84%
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
Similar in 76%
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 83%
The Saboteurs (2015)
Plot Summary:
The story about the heavy water war unfolds during the prolouge, eruption and the end of the second world war. We follow the story of the the key personnel in the race of who develops the atomic bomb first.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Norway, Denmark, UK, Czech Republic, Sweden
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, tense, period piece