Movies like The War (1994)
The best movies like The War (1994) are Heroes (1977), Gardens of Stone (1987) and Jacknife (1989). If The War hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedStand by Me (1986)7.8/10 from 6,842 votes
- NewestThe Boy in the Woods (2023)Released 2023
Heroes (1977)
A Vietnam veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder breaks out of a VA hospital and goes on a road trip with a sympathetic traveler to find out what became of the other men in his unit.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Gardens of Stone (1987)
At Arlington National Cemetery during the Vietnam era, veteran sergeant Clell Hazard trains young soldiers while mourning those lost in combat. Unable to return to war himself, he mentors Jackie Willow—the idealistic son of a fallen comrade—hoping to prepare him for the realities of Vietnam and the cost of duty.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
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: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Country (1989)
Samantha Hughes, a teenaged Kentucky girl, never knew her father, who died in Vietnam before her birth. Samantha lives with her uncle Emmett, who also served in Vietnam. Emmett hangs around with Tom, Earl, and Pete, three other Vietnam vets who, like Emmett, all have problems of one kind or another that relate to their war experiences. Samantha becomes obsessed with finding out about her father.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like this1969 (1988)
Two rebellious youths, Ralph and Scott, find themselves struggling with adulthood as the Vietnam War rages. Feeling trapped in their small town, Scott battles with his conservative veteran father, Cliff, and Ralph deals with his desperately sexual mother, Ev. When tragic news arrives from overseas, the entire town, inspired by Ralph and Scott's antiwar efforts, reevaluates its attitude toward the war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisBorn on the Fourth of July (1989)
Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRenaissance Man (1994)
An advertising man is slowly sliding downhill. When he is fired from his job in Detroit, he signs up for unemployment. One day they find him a job: teaching thinking skills to Army recruits. He arrives on base to find that there is no structure set up for the class.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe War at Home (1996)
Jeremy Collier is a Vietnam veteran who has returned home and is struggling to cope with the war experiences that haunt him. He is also at odds with his family, who cannot begin to understand what he has been through. Jeremy's battles with his family finally spiral out of control on Thanksgiving Day, when a bitter secret is revealed
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Stand by Me (1986)
After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRadio Flyer (1992)
A father reminisces about his childhood when he and his younger brother moved to a new town with their mother, her new husband and their dog, Shane. When the younger brother is subjected to physical abuse at the hands of their brutal stepfather, Mike decides to convert their toy trolley, the "Radio Flyer", into a plane to fly him to safety.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBirdy (1984)
Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Walking Dead (1995)
Five young marines on a suicide mission in Vietnam, struggle for survival in a jungle minefield. The mean streets of home did not prepare them for this.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Wildflower (1991)
One day Sammy and his younger sister Ellie happen upon a cabin where Alice, a young, partially deaf girl with epilepsy is being kept by her abusive stepfather. The three soon become friends and hope to get Alice an education and help her escape from the torture she undergoes daily. However, Alice's stepfather soon finds out about the friendship Alice has struck up and punishes her brutally. This story of friendship and youth shows that everyone is human and deserves to be treated so, no matter their disability or weakness.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)
The story of a New York pro baseball team and two of its players. Henry Wiggen is the star pitcher and Bruce Pearson is the normal, everyday catcher who is far from the star player on the team and friend to all of his teammates. During the off-season, Bruce learns that he is terminally ill, and Henry, his only true friend, is determined to be the one person there for him during his last season with the club. Throughout the course of the season, Henry and his teammates attempt to deal with Bruce's impending illness, all the while attempting to make his last year a memorable one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisI'll Remember April (1999)
Four young boys find a shipwrecked Japanese sailor during World War II and struggle with the decision to save him.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Music Within (2007)
After a confrontation with one of his idols dashes his dreams of studying public speaking in college, Richard Pimentel joins the Army and ships off to Vietnam. During his service, Richard loses nearly all of his hearing. Joining a new circle of friends, including a man with cerebral palsy and an alcoholic war veteran, Richard discovers his gift for motivational speaking and becomes an advocate for people with disabilities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (1984)
A Navy surgeon and a nurse fall in love while serving in Vietnam during the war. Their affection for one another provides a striking contrast to the violence of warfare.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Coming Home (1978)
In 1968 California, a Marine officer's wife falls in love with a former high school classmate who suffered a paralyzing combat injury in the war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPath to War (2003)
A powerful drama of soaring ambition and shattered dreams that takes a provocative insider's look at the way the USA goes to war—as seen from inside the LBJ White House leading up to and during the Vietnam War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sandlot (1993)
During a summer of friendship and adventure, one boy becomes a part of the gang, nine boys become a team and their leader becomes a legend by confronting the terrifying mystery beyond the right field wall.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Paper Chase (1973)
A first-year law student struggles with balancing his coursework and his relationship with the daughter of a stern professor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChasing 3000 (2010)
As the 1972 baseball season draws to a close and star player Roberto Clemente prepares to knock hit number 3,000 out of the park, two brothers -- one of whom is afflicted with muscular dystrophy -- make the drive from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh in hopes of witnessing sports history in the making. Based on a true story, Chasing 3000 is directed by Gregory J. Lanesey and features Ray Liotta.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987)
Average American boy Chuck Murdock goes on a school outing to a nuclear weapons facility, where he learns about the destructive power that sits at the fingertips of the military. Knowing that the world could end with the push of a button, he protests against nuclear war by walking out on his Little League team during a game. Chuck's stunt ends up in the local paper, and as the story snowballs, basketball star "Amazing Grace" Smith decides to boycott sports, too.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Rain Man (1988)
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Chocolate War (1988)
Jerry, a new student at an elite Catholic prep school, must face the hazing practices handed down by the Vigils, a group of powerful students. When teacher Brother Leon pushes the students to sell chocolates for a fundraiser, the head of the Vigils, Archie, gets Jerry to reject selling for 10 days. However, Jerry decides to keep up the refusal past the original time frame, which pits him against the Vigils and the school staff.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Woods (2023)
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFort Bliss (2014)
After returning home from an extended tour in Afghanistan, a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother struggles to rebuild her relationship with her young son.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
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 drama & war
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The War?
The closest matches to The War are Heroes (1977), Gardens of Stone (1987) and Jacknife (1989). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The War?
People who watched The War most often go on to Heroes (1977), Gardens of Stone (1987) and Jacknife (1989).
What is the highest-rated movie like The War?
Stand by Me (1986), rated 7.8/10 by 6,842 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The War?
The Boy in the Woods (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The War?
Yes: Heroes (1977), Gardens of Stone (1987) and Jacknife (1989).
How are movies similar to The War chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The War, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.