Movies like Basic Training
If Basic Training hooked you with its comedy, these are the films to watch next. Every pick says why it matches.
In the Loop (2009)
The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers are either promoting the war or are trying to prevent it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEddie Izzard: Definite Article (1996)
Eddie arrives on stage through a huge book which opens to reveal herself sitting at the top of a staircase. Then discusses Caesar dog food, 24 hour garages, Latin, and winds her way through James Bond gadgets, Einstein and Pavlov.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRichard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)
Richard Pryor delivers monologues on race, sex, family and his favorite target—himself, live at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach, California.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEddie Izzard: Dress to Kill (1999)
Eddie Izzard takes her show to San Francisco to give a brief history of pagan and Christian religions, the building of Stonehenge, the birth of the Church of England and of Western empires, and the need for a European dream.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEddie Izzard: Circle (2002)
Town Hall, New York City, 26 June 2000. An evening with Eddie Izzard in which she moves back and forth in time, with religion as the loose but constant theme.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBill Burr: Drop Dead Years (2025)
In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer (2024)
Jimmy Carr refutes the idea that you can't joke about anything these days with his edgy takes on gun control, religion, cancel culture and consent.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSarah Silverman: A Speck of Dust (2017)
In her first comedy special post-health scare, Sarah Silverman shares a mix of fun facts, sad truths and yeah-she-just-went-there moments.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisClear History (2013)
Nathan Flomm, in order to avoid the humiliation of having missed out on a hugely successful business, assumes a new identity on Martha's Vineyard. He plots revenge when his former business partner moves to the same town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisShane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs (2023)
In a rowdy stand-up set, Shane Gillis riffs on his girlfriend's Navy SEAL ex, touring George Washington's house and being bullied by an Australian Goth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSoul Men (2008)
Two former backup soul singers, Louis and Floyd, have not spoken to each other in 20 years, and reluctantly agree to travel across the country together to a reunion concert to honor their recently-deceased lead singer. Cleo, a beautiful young woman who is believed to be Floyd's daughter, accompanies them as a new singer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDave Chappelle: The Dreamer (2023)
From his onstage tackle to the slap heard round the world, Dave Chappelle lets loose in this freewheeling and unfiltered stand-up comedy special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this2 Minutes of Fame (2020)
An up-and-coming stand-up comic moves to L.A. to pursue a film career after video clips of his act make him an online sensation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEddie Murphy Raw (1987)
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe After Party (2018)
When an aspiring rapper goes viral for the wrong reasons, he thinks his career is sunk. But a wild party gives him one more chance to make it right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Cloned Tyrone (2023)
A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy lurking directly beneath their neighborhood.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWanda Sykes: Not Normal (2019)
Wanda Sykes tackles politics, reality TV, racism and the secret she'd take to the grave in this rollicking, no-holds-barred stand-up special.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChris D'Elia: Man on Fire (2017)
Unbridled comic Chris D'Elia reconsiders his approach to major life events like marriage, not having kids and buying pants for your friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDriver's Ed (2026)
A group of teens hit the road in a stolen driver's ed car, racing against time to help a lovesick high school senior track down his college-freshman girlfriend and win her back.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Teahouse of the August Moon (1957)
In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThis Is the Army (1943)
In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War, he becomes a producer. In WW II his son Johnny Jones, who was before his fathers assistant, gets the order to stage a knew all-soldier show, called THIS IS THE ARMY. But in his pesonal life he has problems, because he refuses to marry his fiancée until the war is over.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Long Gray Line (1955)
The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This includes his job-related experiences as well as his family life and the relationships he develops with young cadets with whom he befriends. Based on the life of a real person.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like this90 Day Wondering (1956)
Ralph Phillips is overjoyed when he runs out of Fort Itude, because he's a civilian again. Things, however, don't go well for him when he gets home, and two pixies named Pete and Re-Pete convince him to stay in civilian life or go back to the army. At the end, Ralph chooses to go back to the army
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Pentagon Wars (1998)
From the director of “Made In America” and “The Money Pit” comes a hilarious look at one of the most expensive blunders in military history. Over 17 years and almost as many billion dollars have gone into devising the BFV (Bradley Fighting Vehicle). There's only one problem. . . it doesn't work. (Spoiler alert: 25 years later ... it does work.)
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSoldiers Three (1951)
Kiplingesque tale of British forces in 19th-century India.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Russian Air Force 100th Anniversary Airshow (2013)
100th Anniversary Airshow Russian Air Force Zhukovsky 2012 The Russian Air Force celebrated its 100th Anniversary at Zhukovsky near Moscow with the best air show that PlanesTV has ever attended. It was not just the content that made this show so special - the weather was magnificent; clear air and some dramatic cloud formations and our camera positions delivered some breathtaking material. We recorded on site for 3 days - the general public was only permitted entry on the last day.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Twenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFiend Without a Face (1958)
An American airbase in Canada provokes resentment from the nearby residents after fallout from nuclear experiments at the base are blamed for a recent spate of disappearances. A captain from the airbase is assigned to investigate, and begins to suspect that an elderly British scientist who lives near the base and conducts research in the field of mind over matter knows more than he is letting on..
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSolo (1996)
An android fighting-machine is charged with destroying a small brigade of rebels in a Latin American war who are fighting to maintain their freedom and protect their village. Contrary to his programming, Peebles decides to stay and assist the rebels in their plight. Having gained this information, his "creators" develop a more powerful android to try and defeat him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Basic Training?
The closest matches to Basic Training are In the Loop, Eddie Izzard: Definite Article, Richard Pryor: Live in Concert.
How are movies similar to Basic Training chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Basic Training, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.
Are there English movies like Basic Training?
Yes: In the Loop, Eddie Izzard: Definite Article, Richard Pryor: Live in Concert.