Movies like The Thin Red Line (1964)
The best movies like The Thin Red Line (1964) are The Thin Red Line (1998), They Were Expendable (1945) and Midway (2019). If The Thin Red Line hooked you with its war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Train (1964)7.6/10 from 406 votes
- NewestLucky Strike (2026)Released 2026
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Were Expendable (1945)
After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidway (2019)
The story of the Battle of Midway, and the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome massive odds.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFrom Here to Eternity (1953)
In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisForce 10 from Navarone (1978)
World War II, 1943. Mallory and Miller, the heroes who destroyed the guns of Navarone, are sent to Yugoslavia in search of a ghost from the past.
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 thisSouth Pacific (1958)
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.
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 thisThe Yellow Birds (2018)
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidway (1976)
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun Silent, Run Deep (1958)
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwelve O'Clock High (1949)
In the early days of daylight bombing raids over Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a 'hard luck' bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalls of Montezuma (1951)
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young Lions (1958)
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Birth of a Nation (1915)
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Monuments Men (2014)
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians who went to the front lines of WWII to rescue the world’s artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their rightful owners. With the art hidden behind enemy lines, how could these guys hope to succeed?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dam Busters (1955)
The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisJacknife (1989)
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Assault (1986)
At the end of WWII the Dutch resistance kills a German officer in front of the house of a Dutch family. Years after the war the young boy who witnessed the killing runs into the members of the resistance who committed the killing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Match (2021)
Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSisu (2022)
When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, German soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUn crime de guerre (1994)
A film that relates the trial in Bordeaux in January 1953 of some of the participants in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre of June 10, 1944.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
The Old Gun (1975)
In Montauban in 1944, Julien Dandieu is a surgeon in the local hospital. Frightened by the German army entering Montauban, he asks his friend Francois to drive his wife and his daughter in the back country village where Julien has an old castle. One week later, Julien decides to meet them for the week end, but the Germans are already occupying the village.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Train (1964)
As the Allied forces approach Paris in August 1944, German Colonel Von Waldheim is desperate to take all of France's greatest paintings to Germany. He manages to secure a train to transport the valuable art works even as the chaos of retreat descends upon them. The French resistance however wants to stop them from stealing their national treasures but have received orders from London that they are not to be destroyed. The station master, Labiche, is tasked with scheduling the train and making it all happen smoothly but he is also part of a dwindling group of resistance fighters tasked with preventing the theft. He and others stage an elaborate ruse to keep the train from ever leaving French territory.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisU-571 (2000)
In the midst of World War II, the battle under the sea rages and the Nazis have the upper hand as the Allies are unable to crack their war codes. However, after a wrecked U-boat sends out an SOS signal, the Allies realise this is their chance to seize the 'enigma coding machine'.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlags of Our Fathers (2006)
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThey Came to Blow Up America (1943)
Based on a true incident that occurred in 1942 when nine Nazi saboteurs were put ashore on the coast of Long Island, New York, by submarine, with orders to blow up various defense installations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
D-Day: Normandy 1944 (2014)
June 6, 1944: The largest Allied operation of World War II began in Normandy, France. Yet, few know in detail exactly why and how, from the end of 1943 through August 1944, this region became the most important location in the world. Blending multiple cinematographic techniques, including animation, CGI and stunning live-action images, “D-Day: Normandy 1944” brings this monumental event to the world’s largest screens for the first time ever. Audiences of all ages, including new generations, will discover from a new perspective how this landing changed the world. Exploring history, military strategy, science, technology and human values, the film will educate and appeal to all. Narrated by Tom Brokaw, “D-Day: Normandy 1944” pays tribute to those who gave their lives for our freedom… A duty of memory, a duty of gratitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Thin Red Line?
The closest matches to The Thin Red Line are The Thin Red Line (1998), They Were Expendable (1945) and Midway (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Thin Red Line?
Start with The Thin Red Line (1998), the closest match to The Thin Red Line.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Thin Red Line?
The Train (1964), rated 7.6/10 by 406 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Thin Red Line?
Lucky Strike (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Thin Red Line?
Yes: The Thin Red Line (1998), They Were Expendable (1945) and Midway (2019).
How are movies similar to The Thin Red Line chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Thin Red Line, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.