Movies like The Steel Claw (1961)
The best movies like The Steel Claw (1961) are The Scarlet and the Black (1983), They Were Expendable (1945) and Taking Sides (2002). If The Steel Claw hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMegan Leavey (2017)7.3/10 from 876 votes
- NewestLucky Strike (2026)Released 2026
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Were Expendable (1945)
After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTaking Sides (2002)
One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 1930s, Wilhelm Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOperation Pacific (1951)
During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up personally. Even more personal is his quest to win back his ex-wife, a nurse; but he'll have to win her back from a navy flier who also happens to be his commander's little brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOperation Mincemeat (2022)
In 1943, two British intelligence officers concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning to attack by way of Greece rather than Sicily.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog (2020)
Follow the perilous journey to freedom when a young boy and his dog attempt to escape a concentration camp during World War II. Based on true events.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Woods (2023)
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPearl Harbor (2001)
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Barney Greenwald, a skeptical lawyer, reluctantly defends an officer of the navy who took control of the Caine from its captain, Lt. Philip Francis Queeg, while caught in a violent sea storm. As the court-martial proceeds, however, Greenwald increasingly questions if it was truly a mutiny or rather the courageous acts of a group of sailors who could not trust their unstable leader.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMegan Leavey (2017)
The true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey, who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, the two complete more than 100 missions and save countless lives, until an IED explosion puts their faithfulness to the test.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGigi & Nate (2022)
A young man with a bright future suffers a near-fatal accident and recreates his new life with the help of an unlikely animal friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLucky Strike (2026)
A wounded American soldier fights to survive behind enemy lines during WWII's Battle of the Bulge against the Germans, relying on his instinct, spy craft and a hand-radio to evade capture and find his way back to his unit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCave Rescue (2019)
When a youth football team of 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach is trapped deep inside a cave in Northern Thailand, thousands of volunteers and soldiers from around the world unite in a race against time to find them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999)
Lieutenant Hornblower and his shipmates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAng Araw sa Likod Mo (2017)
A story about the heroism, redemption, and sacrifice of both sides of the Mindanao conflict.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Langit Mo Kaligayahan Ko (2004)
This sensual drama depicts the story of an inseparable couple trying to cope with the obstacle in life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Whether the Weather Is Fine (2021)
Against the backdrop of the Typhoon Yolanda, a mother and her son struggle for survival and deal with absurdity of fate, sustained by the hope that they carry, and what is lost and gained.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kamunggai (2017)
Lolo Peping built his backyard farm in his hometown in Mindanao, out of vegetable scraps or whatever edible plant life he could find in the garbage heap. His neighbors get free food from his garden while he does all the work. They don’t even bother to pay him or say thank you. So Lolo Peping decided to put a bamboo fence around his garden to keep neighbors out.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kita Kita (2017)
Lea is a tour guide in Japan who suffered from temporary blindness and if not cured in a few weeks could be permanent. Tonyo who lives right across from Lea is persistent and determined to be her friend. They then become closer and Lea has seen the true character of Tonyo.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Santa Santita (2004)
After taking up with a charming cab driver, a wild and hedonistic teenage girl returns home to succeed her mother as a prayer woman.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Great Santini (1979)
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated marine pilot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Tale of Filipino Violence (2022)
With the imminent death of his autocratic grandfather, coinciding with the burgeoning oppressive regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Servando Monzon III, inheritor of the hacienda and businesses of his powerful clan, agonises on becoming the new feudal lord and capitulating with Marcos’ designs to control the Philippines. Aware of his clan’s long history of violence, Monzon knows the very violent history of his county and foresees a very violent future with the dictatorship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
ICU Bed #7 (2005)
Lolo Joseph, the stubborn and loud-mouthed patriarch, whose illness tears his two daughters Cely and Beth to make a decision whether to end or prolong his life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Last Day of the Week (2006)
Ang Huling Araw ng Linggo spans a week in a life of seven individuals with interconnected narratives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Steel Claw?
The closest matches to The Steel Claw are The Scarlet and the Black (1983), They Were Expendable (1945) and Taking Sides (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Steel Claw?
Start with The Scarlet and the Black (1983), the closest match to The Steel Claw.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Steel Claw?
Megan Leavey (2017), rated 7.3/10 by 876 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Steel Claw?
Lucky Strike (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Steel Claw?
Yes: The Scarlet and the Black (1983), They Were Expendable (1945) and Taking Sides (2002).
How are movies similar to The Steel Claw chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Steel Claw, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.