Movies like Catch-22 (1970)
The best movies like Catch-22 (1970) are The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), Tropic Thunder (2008) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). If Catch-22 hooked you with its war and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Sting (1973)8.0/10 from 3,173 votes
- NewestLucky Strike (2026)Released 2026
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024)
During World War II, the British Army assigns a group of competent soldiers to carry out a mission against the Nazi forces behind enemy lines... A true story about a secret British WWII organization — the Special Operations Executive. Founded by Winston Churchill, their irregular warfare against the Germans helped to change the course of the war, and gave birth to modern black operations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTropic Thunder (2008)
A group of self-absorbed actors set out to make the most expensive war film ever. When budgets skyrocket and schedules fall far behind, the director tries to save the production by leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they inadvertently encounter real danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dirty Dozen (1967)
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Raid (2005)
As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisUSS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
The harrowing true story of the crew of the USS Indianapolis, who were stranded in the Philippine Sea for five days after delivering the atomic weapons that would eventually end WWII. As they awaited rescue, they endured extreme thirst, hunger, and relentless shark attacks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisFlight of the Intruder (1991)
U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Jake Grafton and his bombardier buddy, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Cole, are two soldiers embedded in the Vietnam War growing frustrated by the military's constraints on their missions. Despite the best efforts of their commanding officer, Cmdr. Frank Camparelli, to re-engage them, this disillusioned pair decide to take the war effort into their own hands with an explosive battle plan that could well get them court-martialed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisStripes (1981)
Hard-luck cabbie John Winger, directionless after being fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend, enlists in the U.S. Army with his close pal, Russell Ziskey. After his barely satisfactory performance in basic training, the irreverent Winger emerges as the figurehead for a ragtag band of misfits. However, his hijinks threaten to cause an international scandal when he inadvertently commandeers a military assault vehicle behind enemy lines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFreelance (2023)
An ex-special forces operative takes a job to provide security for a journalist as she interviews a dictator, but a military coup breaks out in the middle of the interview, they are forced to escape into the jungle where they must survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolf Hound (2022)
Inspired by the real-life German special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses, "Wolf Hound" takes place in 1944 German-occupied France and follows the daring exploits of Jewish-American fighter pilot Captain David Holden. Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade a ruthless enemy stalking him at every turn, and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHell Hath No Fury (2021)
Branded a traitor by her countrymen, French national Marie DuJardin is rescued by American soldiers on one condition: to survive, she must lead them to a cache of gold - before the Nazis return to claim it for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVon Ryan's Express (1965)
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Dictator (2012)
The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBritannia Hospital (1982)
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Bed Sitting Room (1969)
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Delta Force (1986)
A 707 aircraft jetliner, en route from Athens to Rome and then to New York City, is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists, who demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandos have been called in to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInto the Night (1985)
Ed Okin used to have a boring life. He used to have trouble getting to sleep. Then one night, he met Diana. Now, Ed's having trouble staying alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEnemy at the Gates (2001)
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoonwalkers (2015)
What if Apollo 11 never actually made it? What if, in reality, Stanley Kubrick secretly shot the famous images of the moon landing in a studio, working for the US administration? This is the premise of a totally plausible conspiracy theory that takes us to swinging sixties London, where a stubborn CIA agent will never find Kubrick but is forced to team up with a lousy manager of a seedy rock band to develop the biggest con of all time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Killer's Game (2024)
When top hitman Joe Flood is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend, he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuffalo Soldiers (2002)
A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tóth Family (1969)
The Tóth family resides in Northern Hungary. The couple has a daughter and a son, the latter a member of the armed forces. When his weary major is ordered to take a vacation, the son talks him into a visit to his family home. Hilarity ensues when the Tóths go overboard trying to make things pleasant for the visiting major in hopes of an easier life for their son, the soldier.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & comedy
Peter Cook & Co. (1980)
Peter Cook & Co. is a one-off sketch show special starring Peter Cook, with guest appearances from fellow comedians.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Camp Killer (2016)
The sheriff of a town plagued by an unstoppable killer Meets up with his nemesis one last time as a pair of survivors complicate matters for the worse. Who will be left standing and what will remain of their sanity?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Black Book (2006)
Israel, 1956: Jewish teacher Rachel Stein rather unexpectedly meets an old friend at the kibbutz. It brings back memories of her experiences in the Netherlands during the war, memories of betrayal. In September 1944, Rachel's hiding place is bombed by Allied troops; she makes contact with a resistance member and joins a group of Jews to be smuggled across the Biesbosch to the freed South Netherlands. Only Rachel escapes a massacre by patrol Germans, and is rescued by a resistance group under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers, whose son is captured trying to smuggle weapons. Kuipers asks Rachel to seduce SS-hauptsturmführer Ludwig Müntze, a mission that she will soon learn that the boat attack wasn't a coincidence.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Four Feathers (2002)
A young British officer resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers as symbols of what they view as his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSgt. Bilko (1996)
The US army is known for churning out lean mean fighting machines intent on protecting our great nation. Sergeant Ernie Bilko is the leader of a ragtag group of the sorriest soldiers ever to enlist in the armed forces.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Sting (1973)
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThis Girl for Hire (1983)
In this pilot for a proposed TV series, B.T. Brady is a flippant, but somewhat klutzy female private detective in Hollywood who sets out to solve the murder of a obnoxious mystery writer. Along the way, Brady gets help from her flamboyant mother Zandra, a washed-up actress, as well as Brady's live-in boyfriend Wolfe who runs a memorabilia shop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Kamthaan (2024)
A small-time thief makes the robbery of a lifetime when he accidentally breaks into the house of the newly appointed Police Inspector.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Catch-22?
The closest matches to Catch-22 are The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), Tropic Thunder (2008) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Catch-22?
Start with The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), the closest match to Catch-22.
What is the highest-rated movie like Catch-22?
The Sting (1973), rated 8.0/10 by 3,173 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Catch-22?
Lucky Strike (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Catch-22?
Yes: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), Tropic Thunder (2008) and The Dirty Dozen (1967).
How are movies similar to Catch-22 chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Catch-22, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.