Movies like Play Dirty (1969)
The best movies like Play Dirty (1969) are Dark of the Sun (1968), Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and The Great Escape (1963). If Play Dirty hooked you with its war and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Great Escape (1963)7.9/10 from 3,007 votes
- NewestThe Kill Team (2019)Released 2019
Dark of the Sun (1968)
A band of mercenaries led by Captain Curry travel through war-torn Congo across deadly terrain, battling rival armies, to steal $50 million in uncut diamonds. But infighting, sadistic rebels and a time lock jeopardize everything.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIce Cold in Alex (1958)
A group of army personnel and nurses attempt a dangerous and arduous trek across the deserts of North Africa during the second world war. The leader of the team dreams of his ice cold beer when he reaches Alexandria.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Escape (1963)
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKelly's Heroes (1970)
A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhere Eagles Dare (1968)
World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVon Ryan's Express (1965)
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & adventure
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: Fans watch both · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies 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: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Thousand Plane Raid (1969)
In 1943, Colonel Greg Brandon, stationed at an United States Army Air Forces 8th Air Force, 103rd Bomb Group base in England, repeatedly attempts to persuade superiors that massive daylight bombing will hasten the end of World War II. In spite of the mission's extreme difficulty, his plan is finally put into effect against a German aircraft factory. During preparation for the raid, Brandon alienates his men by insisting that normal bombing operations continue. His disdain for cautious Lieutenant Archer and brash RAF Wing Commander Trafton Howard further antagonizes his associates, including his girl friend, WAC Lieutenant Gabrielle Ames. When his bomber crashes the morning of the mission, Brandon boards a bomber manned by Archer and Howard. During the effective air raid, he is impressed by Archer's courage and Howard's judgment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
100 Rifles (1969)
When half-breed Indian Yaqui Joe robs an Arizona bank, he is pursued by dogged lawman Lyedecker. Fleeing to Mexico, Joe is imprisoned by General Verdugo, who is waging a war against the Yaqui Indians. When Lyedecker attempts to intervene, he is thrown into prison as well. Working together, the two escape and take refuge in the hills, where Lyedecker meets beautiful Yaqui freedom fighter Sarita and begins to question his allegiances.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe War Lover (1962)
Buzz Rickson is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions. His crew lives with this aspect of his personality only because they know he always brings them back alive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
The Inglorious Bastards (1978)
Set in Europe during WWII, a group of American soldiers on their way to military prison are beset upon by a German artillery attack, escaping with Switzerland in their sights. Before making it any farther, they volunteer to steal a V2 warhead for the French Underground - taking them deep into the heart of German territory.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMarch or Die (1977)
Just after World War I, Major Foster is incorporating new recruits into his French Foreign Legion platoon when he is sent to his former remote outpost located in the French Morocco to protect an archaeological excavation from El Krim, a Rifian leader who intends to unite all local tribes to fight the colonial government…
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & adventure
SnoozefestMovies like thisBitter Victory (1957)
During the second world war, two British officers, Brand and Leith, who have never seen combat, are assigned a vital mission. Their relationship and the operation are complicated by the arrival of Brand's wife, who had a tryst with Leith years earlier.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZulu Dawn (1979)
In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFive for Hell (1969)
Lt. Glenn Hoffmann is the the fun-loving leader of a bunch of oddball, acrobatic G.I.s whose mission is to steal the German's secret attack plans from a villa behind enemy lines, where they run into a brutal Nazi commander.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & adventure
The Password Is Courage (1962)
Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, a brave British soldier is captured by German forces during World War II. When he's thrown into a prisoner of war camp, he immediately plans his escape. Masquerading as a wounded German soldier, he makes it as far as the medical tent, where the deceived enemy forces award him the Iron Cross. Though he is ultimately discovered, he goes on to courageously pursue his freedom with a whimsical and undying audacity.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
When the Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit him to Germany for enforced negotiations with Hitler.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Bridge Too Far (1977)
The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Beret (1953)
Steve MacKendrick resigns from the US Army after causing the needless death of a fellow officer. Wanting to serve in the war, he enlists as a Canadian in the British 1st Parachute Brigade. He proves himself exceptionally skilled for a recruit, arousing the suspicion of his commanding officer who starts an investigation. He redeems himself during combat. The film was titled "Paratrooper" in the US.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & drama
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMurphy's War (1971)
Murphy is the sole survivor of his crew, that has been massacred by a German U-Boat in the closing days of World War II. He is rescued, and ends up at a forgotten mission station near the mouth of the Orinoco, and begins to plot his vengeance. He wishes to sink the U-Boat by means of any method imaginable to him, and sets about to make the courageous attempt, assisted by Louis, the administrator of the local oil company.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCastle Keep (1969)
During the Battle of the Bulge, an anachronistic count shelters a ragtag squad of Americans in his isolated castle hoping they will defend it against the advancing Germans.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Big Red One (1980)
A veteran sergeant of World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivor Pvt. Griff, the writer Pvt. Zab, the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson, in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium and France, and ending in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where they face the true horror of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wild Geese (1978)
A British multinational company seeks to overthrow a vicious dictator in central Africa. It hires a band of (largely aged) mercenaries in London and sends them in to save the virtuous but imprisoned opposition leader who is also critically ill and due for execution. Just when the team has performed a perfect rescue, the multinational does a deal with the vicious dictator leaving the mercenary band to escape under their own steam and exact revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShout at the Devil (1976)
During World War One an English adventurer, an American elephant poacher and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battle-cruiser which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. The story is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, which in turn is very loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both adventure & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2019)
When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Play Dirty?
The closest matches to Play Dirty are Dark of the Sun (1968), Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and The Great Escape (1963). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Play Dirty?
People who watched Play Dirty most often go on to Dark of the Sun (1968), Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and The Great Escape (1963).
What is the highest-rated movie like Play Dirty?
The Great Escape (1963), rated 7.9/10 by 3,007 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Play Dirty?
The Kill Team (2019) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Play Dirty?
Yes: Dark of the Sun (1968), Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and The Great Escape (1963).
How are movies similar to Play Dirty chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Play Dirty, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.