Movies like Desert Sands (1955)
The best movies like Desert Sands (1955) are The Guns of Navarone (1961), Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) and Beau Geste (1939). If Desert Sands hooked you with its adventure and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)7.9/10 from 219 votes
- NewestURMAH Guerras de Orión (2024)Released 2024
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCaptain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeau Geste (1939)
Brothers Beau, John and Digby Geste join the Foreign Legion, where they fall under the rule of tyrannical Sergeant Markoff. Beau and John are assigned to Fort Zinderneuf, where Markoff tries to break their spirit, aware of a dark family secret concerning a fabulous jewel one of them carries. As tensions rise, Arabs attack the fort and rivalries must be thrown aside in a desperate battle for life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunga Din (1939)
British army sergeants Ballantine, Cutter and MacChesney serve in India during the 1880s, along with their native water-bearer, Gunga Din. While completing a dangerous telegraph-repair mission, they unearth evidence of the suppressed Thuggee cult. When Gunga Din tells the sergeants about a secret temple made of gold, the fortune-hunting Cutter is captured by the Thuggees, and it's up to his friends to rescue him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018)
The true story of the most decorated dog in American military history - Sgt. Stubby - and the enduring bonds he forged with his brothers-in-arms in the trenches of World War I.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Four Feathers (1939)
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBud Abbott and Lou Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
Jonesy and Lou are in Algeria looking for a wrestler they are promoting. Sergeant Axmann tricks them into joining the Foreign Legion, after which they discover Axmann's collaboration with the nasty Sheik Hamud El Khalid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels Fallen: Warriors of Peace (2024)
When an Iraq War veteran receives a calling from a higher power, he embarks on a mission to stop a fallen angel from raising an army of the dead to take over the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisLEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League - Attack of the Legion of Doom! (2015)
Crime is on the run as the newly formed Justice League keeps Metropolis safe and this makes evil genius Lex Luthor very unhappy. Together with Black Manta, Sinestro and a gang of ruthless recruits, Lex builds his own league and declares them the Legion of Doom. With this super powered team of terror and a plan to attack the top-secret government site, Area 52, can Lex finally be on the verge of victory? Sound the alarm and get ready for the bricks to fly when Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the Justice League face off against the world's greatest Super-Villains! It's the next all-new original movie from LEGO® and DC Comics.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (2016)
Set in the African savannah, the film follows Kion as he assembles the members of the 'Lion Guard'. Throughout the film, the diverse team of young animals will learn how to utilize each of their unique abilities to solve problems and accomplish tasks to maintain balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing viewers to the vast array of animals that populate the prodigious African landscape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Brigade (1968)
At the onset of World War II, American Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is put in charge of a unit called the 1st Special Service Force, composed of elite Canadian commandos and undisciplined American soldiers. With Maj. Alan Crown leading the Canadians and Maj. Cliff Bricker the acting head of the American contingent, there is initial tension -- but the team comes together when given a daunting mission that few would dare to attempt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Flying Deuces (1939)
Ollie falls in love with a woman. When he discovers she's already married, he unsuccessfully attempts suicide but he and Stan then decide to join the Foreign Legion to get away from their troubles. When they’re arrested for soon trying to desert the Legion—they escape a firing squad by stealing an aircraft.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisScaramouche (1952)
In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMerrill's Marauders (1962)
Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill leads the 3,000 American volunteers of his 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), aka "Merrill's Marauders", behind Japanese lines across Burma to Myitkyina, pushing beyond their limits and fighting pitched battles at every strong-point.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShoulder Arms (1918)
An American doughboy, stationed in France during the Great War, goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines and becomes a hero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTobruk (1967)
In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid the attack, a group of British commandos and German Jews make their way undercover through 800 miles of desert, to destroy the fuel dumps starving the Germans of fuel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Big Parade (1925)
The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAll Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFort Algiers (1953)
In northwest Africa, a tribal leader tries to stir up a rebellion against the ruling powers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & war
Beau Ideal (1931)
An American joins the French Foreign Legion in order to rescue a boyhood friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & adventure
Desert Legion (1953)
A commander in the Foreign Legion romances a mysterious and exotic princess.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & war
Major Raoul Lufbery: Fighter Ace (2018)
The story of WWI Pilot Gervais Raoul Lufbery, a triple confirmed WWI ace, mechanic and world traveler. Explores the Lafayette Escadrille squadron, a formation of volunteer pilots serving in France on behalf of the United States whose service marked the early origins of the U.S. Air Force.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Under Two Flags (1936)
Sergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle is in love with her. Doyle sends Victor on dangerous assignments to be rid of him. He falls in love with Lady Venetia Cunningham, a visitor to the garrison
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Disco Boy (2023)
After a painful journey through Europe, Aleksei, a Belarusian, joins the Foreign Legion in France and clings to a confused hope of a European identity. Jomo, a Nigerian, fights for the survival and durability of his people in the Niger Delta and is ready to die to defend his ideas. These two young people who are sacrificed and smashed together will, against all odds, meet and their destinies will merge to continue across borders, bodies, life and death...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRenegades (1930)
Four one-for-all and all-for-one privates in the French Foreign Legion are all in jail for disorderly conduct, but they break out and rejoin their regiment and fight off a band of marauding Arabs, and are soon in Casablanca getting decorated by the French Minister of War. Deucalion spots Eleanor, a spy who had done him dirt and after tangling with the local gendarmes, they take her and head back for Morocco where they are charged with desertion, and have to go out and defeat some more marauding natives, and dodge the machine-gun fire directed at them by the highly-displeased Eleanor, and one thing just follows another.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Ten Tall Men (1951)
Sgt. Mike Kincaid of the French Foreign Legion learns, from a Riff prisoner, that an attack will soon be made by the villainous Hussin on the Legion's outpost of Tarfa. Kincaid volunteers to lead nine other Legionnaires on a mission to delay Hussin's attack till reinforcements arrive. When he discovers that Hussin plans to marry Mahla, a girl from a rival tribe, in order to build a coalition against the French, Kincaid kidnaps Mahla. Hussin forcefully takes her back, but by now his planned attack on Tarfa is crumbling and Mahla has begun to fall in love with Kincaid.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
URMAH Guerras de Orión (2024)
A feline warrior from the Orion Nebula infiltrates an enemy base to rescue a group of diplomats who are part of a young Galactic Confederation
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Rock Queen (1998)
Catherine Destivelle has deservedly become the most famous female climber in the world. She rose to prominence with historic climbs, such as the free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, and solo winter ascents of the classic north faces of the Matterhorn and the Eiger, climbs that have never been repeated by any woman. She also made history in sport climbing by winning the world championship title. In 1997, this time in Scotland, on the iconic Old Man of Hoy route, opened by Bonington, Patey & Baillie, Martin Belderson crowned Destivelle Queen of the Rock. She was four months pregnant when she made this 137-meter ascent, which was not difficult but on tricky rock.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure
Like Desert Sands and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Desert Sands?
The closest matches to Desert Sands are The Guns of Navarone (1961), Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) and Beau Geste (1939). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Desert Sands?
Start with The Guns of Navarone (1961), the closest match to Desert Sands.
What is the highest-rated movie like Desert Sands?
Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018), rated 7.9/10 by 219 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Desert Sands?
URMAH Guerras de Orión (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Desert Sands?
Yes: The Guns of Navarone (1961), Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951) and Beau Geste (1939).
How are movies similar to Desert Sands chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Desert Sands, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.