Movies like The Captain (1973)
The best movies like The Captain (1973) are The Bluff (2026), Captain Phillips (2013) and Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012). If The Captain hooked you with its drama and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCaptain Phillips (2013)7.5/10 from 7,789 votes
- NewestTradimento (2026)Released 2026
The Bluff (2026)
When her tranquil life on a remote island is shattered by the return of her vengeful former captain, a skilled ex-pirate must confront her bloody past and unleash her deadly talents to save her family from a ruthless siege.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCaptain Phillips (2013)
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012)
When the rumored whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are revealed, the CIA readies a team of seasoned U.S. Navy SEALs for the mission of a lifetime. Despite inconclusive evidence that bin Laden is inside the compound, and ignoring the possible ramifications of an unannounced attack on Pakistani soil, the Pentagon orders the attack. The SEAL Team bands together to complete their mission of justice in a riveting final showdown.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisSAS: Red Notice (2021)
An off-duty SAS soldier, Tom Buckingham, must thwart a terror attack on a train running through the Channel Tunnel. As the action escalates on the train, events transpire in the corridors of power that may make the difference as to whether Buckingham and the civilian passengers make it out of the tunnel alive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisSkin Trade (2014)
After his family is killed by a Serbian gangster with international interests. NYC detective Nick goes to S.E. Asia and teams up with a Thai detective to get revenge and destroy the syndicates human trafficking network.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Poseidon Adventure (1972)
When their ocean liner capsizes, a group of passengers struggle to survive and escape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStowaway (2022)
A tenacious party girl fights to survive after three thieves commandeer her luxury yacht. Unable to escape and trapped on the yacht at high seas, the prey becomes the hunter as she turns the tables on the intruders and takes matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOverdrive (2017)
Master car thieves square off against French gangsters in the South of France with money, women and lives all on the line.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLimbo (1999)
Traumatized by a fishing boat accident many years before, Joe Gastineau has given up his hopes for a life beyond the odd jobs he takes to support himself. That quickly changes when nomadic club singer Donna de Angelo and her troubled teen-age daughter enter Joe’s life. Both mother and daughter fall for Joe, increasing the friction between them. The tension continues to build when Joe invites them on a pleasure cruise up the Alaskan coast, discovering too late that the trip may cost them their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolen Girl (2025)
In 1993, Maureen’s six-year-old daughter Amina is snuck out of the country by her ex-husband, Karim. After years of unsuccessful attempts to find her, Maureen intersects with a professional retriever of internationally abducted children who promises to help her find Amina in exchange for her collaboration.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChina Seas (1935)
Captain Alan Gaskell sails the perilous waters between Hong Kong and Singapore with a secret cargo: a fortune in British gold. That's not the only risky cargo he carries; both his fiery mistress and his refined fiancee are aboard!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBest of the Best 4: Without Warning (1998)
A group of Russian mobsters have stolen a huge supply of paper for printing U.S. currency, and are now flooding the market with conterfeit bills. When one of the mobsters decides to give herself in and hand over a data CD to the DA, she is shot and killed, but not before handing the disc to an unsuspecting Tommy Lee. Despite working with the police as a martial arts instructor, Lee doesn't go to the cops with the disc, but instead goes on the run, giving the mafia time to kidnap his daughter and hold as a hostage in exchange for return of the disc. Will Tommy ever see his daughter again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like this6 Bullets (2012)
An ex-mercenary known for finding missing children is hired by a mixed martial arts fighter whose daughter has been kidnapped.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIf There Be Thorns (2015)
Christopher and Cathy Dollanganger live together as man and wife with Cathy's two sons who are unaware of the incestuous nature of their parents' relationship. But when a mysterious woman moves in next door and befriends the younger boy, Bart, he begins a strange transformation and displays accusatory behavior towards Cathy and Christopher. When Christopher discovers their mysterious neighbor is, in fact, his mother Corrine Dollanganger, all of the family's long-hidden secrets are revealed in a tragic climax.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Killer (2024)
Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLast Hit (2026)
A pair of criminals seeking a fresh start are intervened by their boss, who takes one of them hostage to force a final job. Vincent and Maya decide to escape their gang and settle for a peaceful life, but they are trapped into one last hit with hidden agendas, betrayals, and unexpected alliances. Last Hit is a high-stakes, action-packed thriller about redemption, betrayal, and the ultimate cost of freedom. Vincent and Maya decide to escape from their life of crime when their boss, Dante starts blurring the lines between heists and hits. During their last job they realize they've walked into a setup orchestrated by Dante himself. This trap pushed Vincent and Maya to the firm decision to walk away from the gang.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Three (2005)
After a yachting accident, a millionaire and his wife are shipwrecked on a desert island along with their former deckhand, Manuel.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe King (2006)
When Elvis Valderez is honourably discharged from the Navy, he heads to the small Texas town of Corpus Christi, where he introduces himself to Pastor David Sandow, his long-lost father, soon becoming a stalwart member of the church.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Flash Of Passion (2025)
A deliciously dramtic telenovela short film. The 7th Tickle Gang film produced for a 48-hour film festival.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Deepwater (2005)
A drifter comes to the town of Deepwater and is seduced into a twisted game of deceit and murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Withdrawal (2025)
Artistic lovers, Viv and Jay, have become trapped in a vicious cycle of codependent heroin addiction. But when Viv’s wealthy parents hire an interventionist to take Viv to rehab, the couple decides to set off on their own with the help of a suboxone prescription... all they have to do is survive a harrowing night through drug withdrawal.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie (1999)
In a loose retelling of the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series, Utena Tenjou arrives at Ohtori Academy, only to be immediately swept up in a series of duels for the hand of her classmate Anthy Himemiya and the power she supposedly holds. At the same time, Utena reunites with Touga Kiryuu, a friend from her childhood who seems to know the secrets behind the duels. Utena must discover those secrets for herself, before the power that rules Ohtori claims her and her friends, new and old.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTradimento (2026)
Jamie Rizzo, son of a mafia concierge, takes matters into his own hands when he loses his chance at becoming a made man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Kiss the Bride (2007)
In high school, Matt and Ryan were best friends. More than friends, actually. But in the ensuing ten years, they've lost contact. So when Matt receives an invitation to Ryan's wedding he's surprised - especially that Ryan is marrying a woman!
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Year My Voice Broke (1987)
Set in 1962, a young prepubescent boy in rural Australia watches painfully as his best friend and first love blossoms into womanhood and falls for a thuggish rugby player, changing the lives of everyone involved.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Captain and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Captain?
The closest matches to The Captain are The Bluff (2026), Captain Phillips (2013) and Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Captain?
Start with The Bluff (2026), the closest match to The Captain.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Captain?
Captain Phillips (2013), rated 7.5/10 by 7,789 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Captain?
Tradimento (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Captain chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Captain, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.