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Movies like War Horse: The Real Story (2012)

The best movies like War Horse: The Real Story (2012) are They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), The War on Democracy (2007) and The Soviet Story (2008). If War Horse: The Real Story hooked you with its documentary and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks

  1. They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

    A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  2. The War on Democracy (2007)

    Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & documentary

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  3. The Soviet Story (2008)

    “The Soviet Story” is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its crimes were made taboo, and the complete story of Europe’s most murderous regime has never been told. Until now...

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

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  4. The Bloody Hundredth (2024)

    Meet the real-life airmen who inspired Masters of the Air as they share the harrowing and transformative events of the 100th Bomb Group.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  5. The Hornet's Nest (2014)

    Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  6. Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)

    "Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  7. Father Soldier Son (2020)

    When Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch is critically wounded in Afghanistan, it sets him and his sons on a journey of love, loss, redemption and legacy.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  8. Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942)

    Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

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  9. 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025)

    Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

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  10. The Battle of San Pietro (1945)

    This documentary movie is about the battle of San Pietro, a small village in Italy. Over 1,100 US soldiers were killed while trying to take this location, that blocked the way for the Allied forces from the Germans. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2005.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

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  11. Korengal (2014)

    Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

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  12. City of Ghosts (2017)

    With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by ISIS—as they risk their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  13. Restrepo (2010)

    Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  14. Another Day of Life (2018)

    In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  15. Let There Be Light (1946)

    The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during their treatment. It deals with what would now be called PTSD, but at the time was categorised as psychoneurosis or shell-shock. Government officials deemed this 1946 film counterproductive to postwar efforts; it was not shown publicly until 1981.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  16. 20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

    As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  17. The Battle of Midway (1942)

    The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, in 2006.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

  18. We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company (2001)

    Over a period of two years, Mark Cowen and his crew travelled to thirty U.S. states and ten European cities, to interview the veterans of Easy Company. The stories told by the veterans themselves, create a history of the Second World War from the point of view of this heroic company of men, made famous in the mini-series Band of Brothers.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  19. For Sama (2019)

    A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war

    Absolute CinemaMovies like this
  20. Last Days in Vietnam (2014)

    During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

    Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  21. Generale - Anatomie der Marneschlacht (1977)

    The movie depicts the events from July until September of 1914 which led to the defeat of the German troops at the Marne. While Sebastian Haffner explains and comments on operations and decisions on the basis of situation maps, key scenes are depicted by actors. A main focus is thereby placed by Haffner onto the controversial mission of lieutenant-colonel Richard Hentsch who is said to have, during a war patrol to the various army high commands, contributed to the abortion of the operations significantly.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & documentary

  22. Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party (2020)

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

  23. Shout at the Devil (1976)

    During World War One an English adventurer, an American elephant poacher and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battle-cruiser which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. The story is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, which in turn is very loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & history

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  24. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)

    Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & war

    Popcorn FlickMovies like this
  25. Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons (2010)

    In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

  26. Sons of the Soil (1915)

    Ilford's Fairlop Plain provides the battlefield for ploughing matches between local hands and Essex outsiders.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  27. Hitchin. Honouring the Brave (1912)

    Victims of a tragic air crash are honoured in a sombre military funeral procession through the streets of Hitchin.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  28. The NHL: 100 Years (2017)

    A documentary chronicling the highs and lows of the first century of the National Hockey League, featuring interviews with noteworthy players, coaches and experts.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

  29. Ryan's Daughter (1970)

    In the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married schoolteacher in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

    Worth the HypeMovies like this
  30. It's Always About the Story: Conversations with Alan Ladd, Jr. (2016)

    During his career, Mr. Ladd has been an agent, studio head, and Academy Award-winning producer. In our film, he shares an intimate oral history of the trials, tribulations, heartbreak, and joy of bringing some of the most iconic and memorable motion pictures to the screen. Mr. Ladd has been associated with films that have garnered over 150 Academy Award nominations and 50 wins. He has green lit or produced such iconic motion pictures as Star Wars, Alien, The Right Stuff, Young Frankenstein Gone Baby Gone, and the Academy Award-winning best pictures, Chariots Of Fire and Braveheart.

    Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary

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Frequently asked questions

What are the best movies like War Horse: The Real Story?

The closest matches to War Horse: The Real Story are They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), The War on Democracy (2007) and The Soviet Story (2008). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.

What should I watch after War Horse: The Real Story?

Start with They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), the closest match to War Horse: The Real Story.

What is the highest-rated movie like War Horse: The Real Story?

For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.

What is the newest movie like War Horse: The Real Story?

2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025) is the most recent release on this list.

Are there English movies like War Horse: The Real Story?

Yes: They Shall Not Grow Old (2018), The War on Democracy (2007) and The Soviet Story (2008).

How are movies similar to War Horse: The Real Story chosen?

First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside War Horse: The Real Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.

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