Movies like Von Ryan's Express (1965)
The best movies like Von Ryan's Express (1965) are Decision Before Dawn (1951), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Runaway Train (1985). If Von Ryan's Express hooked you with its war and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Dirty Dozen (1967)7.6/10 from 1,399 votes
- NewestSniper: No Nation (2026)Released 2026
Decision Before Dawn (1951)
WWII is entering its last phase: Germany is in ruins, but does not yield. The US army lacks crucial knowledge about the German units operating on the opposite side of the Rhine, and decides to send two German prisoners to gather information. The scheme is risky: the Gestapo retains a terribly efficient network to identify and capture spies and deserters. Moreover, it is not clear that "Tiger", who does not mind any dirty work as long as the price is right, and war-weary "Happy", who might be easily betrayed by his feelings, are dependable agents. After Tiger and another American agent are successfully infiltrated, Happy is parachuted in Bavaria. His duty: find out the whereabouts of a powerful German armored unit moving towards the western front.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dirty Dozen (1967)
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRunaway Train (1985)
A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSeized (2020)
Hiding out with his son Taylor on the Mexican coast, Nero hopes to put his violent Special Forces career behind him. But after Nero’s home is attacked and Taylor is abducted, the mysterious Mzamo orders Nero to slaughter the members of three rival crime syndicates. If he fails, Taylor will die. Now, with bullets flying and bodies dropping as Nero completes his mission, he races to find Mzamo’s hideout and seek revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Scorpion (1988)
A Soviet commando is sent to eliminate a rebel leader in Africa. Soon he finds himself doubting his mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriple Cross (1966)
Safecracker Eddie Chapman is languishing in prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis arrive. An adept manipulator of situations, Chapman convinces the Germans to use him to spy on the British. And when the would-be traitor arrives home, he convinces the English to use him as a double agent -- in exchange for a full pardon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWeekend in Taipei (2024)
A former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGold (2022)
In the not-too-distant future, two drifters traveling through the desert stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found and the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. They hatch a plan to excavate their bounty, with one man leaving to secure the necessary tools while the other remains with the gold. The man who remains must endure harsh desert elements, ravenous wild dogs, and mysterious intruders, while battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his fate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWalking with the Enemy (2014)
Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFury (2014)
April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlay Dirty (1969)
During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscape from Sobibor (1987)
The true story of WWII's notorious Sobibor Nazi death camp, where a courageous inmate orchestrates and leads the escape of over 300 prisoners.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurphy's Law (1986)
A tough police detective escapes from custody after being framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, and must now find the real killer and prove his innocence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this6 Underground (2019)
After faking his death, a tech billionaire recruits a team of international operatives for a bold and bloody mission to take down a brutal dictator.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSniper: No Nation (2026)
Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero lead a rescue mission in Costa Verde when their friends are taken hostage.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohn Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
John Wick is forced out of retirement by a former associate looking to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to aid him, Wick travels to Rome and does battle against some of the world’s most dangerous killers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTo End All Wars (2001)
Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon, Lt. Jim Reardon and Maj. Ian Campbell are among the military officers kept imprisoned and routinely beaten and deprived of food. While Campbell wants to rebel and attempt an escape, Gordon tries to take a more stoic approach, an attitude that proves to be surprisingly resonant.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
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 action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Grounds (2025)
Desperate to find refuge for her children, Chloe Marvino runs away from her Mafia tied husband, and finds shelter in a cabin with a recluse drifter named Jake. But as her husband's henchmen draw closer to her, it turns out that Jake is the biggest enemy of them all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFatherland (1994)
Fictional account of what might have happened if Hitler had won the war. It is now the 1960s and Germany's war crimes have so far been kept a secret. Hitler wants to talk peace with the US president. An American journalist and a German homicide cop stumble into a plot to destroy all evidence of the genocide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOperation Belgrade (1968)
In Autumn of 1943 American plane carrying Soviet colonel is shot down near Nazi-occupied Belgrade. Germans capture the colonel and begin interrogations, because he knows everything about forecoming Allied summit in Tehran. Group of Yugoslav Partizans is sent to Belgrade in order to rescue the colonel before he starts talking.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & war
1941 (1979)
In the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisCreators: The Past (2020)
Where do we come from and where do we go ? The eternal question of humanity which religions have tried to answer over the centuries - lt's the end of the year 2012. The Universe is about to undergo an imposing planetary alignment and a Total Eclipse will soon be upon Planet Earth. Great vibrational changes are imminent and set to disturb us. The eight members of the Galactic Council, led by Lord Ogmha (William Shatner), meet to discuss the effects of the imminent alignment. They are 8 creators (aliens) and each one of them governs a Planet. They are each responsible for the security and well-being of a 'LENS'. Together they balance the conflict and allegiance of the Universe. Treason puts Earth in danger and the LENS, the hard disc (crystal core) containing the recording of the entire history, DNA, memories and nucleus of mankind is hidden somewhere in Italy. Everyone is searching for it. If the Lens is opened and in the wrong hands it could reveal to the human beings the shocking
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & adventure
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisVera (2022)
Vera has young woman as the main heroine, who is in the jaws of the war spy network in WW2 and also of the patriarchal society in the Balkans with full of powerful, arrogant men with whom she deals bravely and arrogantly.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Soldier's Star (2006)
A Russian guitarist was enlisted in 1984 in the Afghan war. Imprisoned, he will meet an Afghan musician and a French journalist.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
The Devil's General (1955)
The adaptation of the eponymous play by Carl Zuckmayer tells the story of renegade general Harras of the German Luftwaffe, who during WWII openly criticizes the Nazi regime. As a consequence, he is put under surveillance, and even imprisoned for a brief period of time. Still remaining outspoken, Harras realizes the horrific dimensions of this hopeless and injust war waged by Germany.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLe Cercle Rouge (1970)
When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSpree (2020)
Desperate for an online following, a rideshare driver has figured out a deadly plan to go viral and he will stop at nothing to get his five minutes of fame.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Von Ryan's Express?
The closest matches to Von Ryan's Express are Decision Before Dawn (1951), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Runaway Train (1985). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Von Ryan's Express?
Start with Decision Before Dawn (1951), the closest match to Von Ryan's Express.
What is the highest-rated movie like Von Ryan's Express?
The Dirty Dozen (1967), rated 7.6/10 by 1,399 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Von Ryan's Express?
Sniper: No Nation (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Von Ryan's Express?
Yes: Decision Before Dawn (1951), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Runaway Train (1985).
How are movies similar to Von Ryan's Express chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Von Ryan's Express, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.