Movies like Only the Dead (2015)
The best movies like Only the Dead (2015) are Legion of Brothers (2017), The War Tapes (2006) and Restrepo (2010). If Only the Dead hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedRestrepo (2010)7.2/10 from 380 votes
- NewestEscape from Kabul (2021)Released 2021
Legion of Brothers (2017)
Afghanistan, immediately post-9/11: Small teams of Green Berets arrive on a series of secret missions to overthrow the Taliban. What happens next is equal parts war origin story and cautionary tale, illuminating the nature and impact of 15 years of constant combat, with unprecedented access to U.S. Special Forces.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The War Tapes (2006)
Straight from the front lines in Iraq, THE WAR TAPES is the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves. These soldiers bypassed Pentagon supervised media to share their experience like never before. Funnier, spicier, and more gut wrenching than news reports, this is Operation Iraqi Freedom as filmed by Sergeant Steve Pink, Sergeant Zack Bazzi and Specialist Mike Moriarty. Steve is a wisecracking carpenter who aspires to be a writer. Zack is a Lebanese-American university student who loves to travel and is fluent in Arabic. Mike is a father who seeks honor and redemption. Each leaves a woman behind - a girlfriend, a mother and a wife. Through their candid footage, these men open their hearts and take us on an unforgettable journey, capturing camaraderie and humor along with the brutal and terrifying experiences they face. These soldiers got the story that 2,700 embedded reporters never could.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Restrepo (2010)
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNo End in Sight (2007)
Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKorengal (2014)
Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hornet's Nest (2014)
Armed only with their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict Journalist Mike Boettcher, and his son, Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history: they are embed with U.S. troops during nine days of intense combat in Afghanistan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEscape from Kabul (2021)
Captured through rare archival footage and firsthand accounts, this documentary details the harrowing 18-day evacuation at Kabul airport in August 2021 from the perspectives of fleeing Afghan citizens, U.S. Marines, and Taliban fighters.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Battle for Marjah (2010)
Tells the story of Operation Moshtarak, the biggest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war, whose main target was the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. For two months, VBS correspondent Ben Anderson got to know the American forces behind Operation Moshtarak and filmed the brutal realities of their life on the front lines.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Danger Close (2017)
Freelance female war reporter Alex Quade covers U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) on highly classified combat missions. Since 2001, she has embedded with elite SOF, including the U.S. Army Special Forces or Green Berets, Army Rangers, Navy Seals, and CIA clandestine operatives to tell their stories from the front lines. "Danger Close" follows Alex as she lives alongside these highly trained forces on some of the most daring missions ever documented in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Ground Truth (2006)
Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to tell the truth. Hear and witness our soldiers in this penetrating film. The shocking Iraq War ground conflict is only a prelude to the even more challenging battles these reluctant heroes face upon their return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Hell and Back Again (2011)
What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? Hell and Back Again is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and intimacy no previous film about the conflict in Afghanistan has been able to achieve. It is a masterpiece in the cinema of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003)
On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Last Men in Aleppo (2017)
A searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage follows the efforts of the internationally recognized White Helmets, an organization consisting of ordinary citizens who are the first to rush towards military strikes and attacks in the hope of saving lives. Incorporating moments of both heart-pounding suspense and improbable beauty, the documentary draws us into the lives of three of its founders — Khaled, Subhi, and Mahmoud — as they grapple with the chaos around them and struggle with an ever-present dilemma: do they flee or stay and fight for their country?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMosul (2019)
An Iraqi journalist joins an army of uneasy allies and unforgettable characters in the epic battle to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNo Greater Love (2017)
No Greater Love explores a combat deployment through the eyes of an Army chaplain, as he and his men fight their way through a hellish tour in one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan and then as they struggle to reintegrate home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Combat Obscura (2018)
Former combat videographer Miles Lagoze presents personal footage of U.S. Marines in the Afghan war zone.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013)
A portrait of photographer Tim Hetherington's work in war zones around the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Under the Wire (2018)
On 12 February 2012, two journalists entered war-ravaged Syria. One of them was celebrated Sunday Times war correspondent, Marie Colvin. The other was photographer, Paul Conroy. Their aim was to cover the plight of Syrian civilians trapped in Homs, a city under siege and relentless military attack from the Syrian army. Only one of them returned.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
War Made Easy (2007)
War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2008)
Going beyond the occasional news clip from Burma, the acclaimed filmmaker, Anders Østergaard, brings us close to the video journalists who deliver the footage. Though risking torture and life in jail, courageous young citizens of Burma live the essence of journalism as they insist on keeping up the flow of news from their closed country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Longest War (2020)
The human stories and drama behind America's involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in U.S. history. First-hand witnesses — ranging from U.S. intelligence operatives, to soldiers and their families, Afghan officials, journalists, top government and military officials — bring their experiences to life through emotional interviews.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Utopia (2013)
Documentary by John Pilger looks at the awful truth behind white Australia's dysfunctional relationship with Indigenous Australians
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Taxi to the Dark Side (2008)
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisApache Warrior (2017)
The stories of the U.S. Army helicopter crews in the war-torn countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, including real-life footage of the crews providing 24-hour transport, air cover and rescue.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
White Right: Meeting the Enemy (2017)
Emmy award-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan joins the frontline of the race wars in America, sitting down face-to-face with Neo-Nazis and fascists.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007)
A unique documentary about troops' experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, based on writings by soldiers, Marines, and air men.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Sergio (2009)
Charismatic, charming and complex, Sérgio Vieira de Mello was the world's go-to guy, a man who could descend into the most dangerous places, charm the worst war criminals, and somehow protect the lives of the ordinary people to whom he'd devoted his life. The documentary tells the story of his most treacherous mission ever... a mission in which his own life hangs in the balance.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Jim: The James Foley Story (2016)
In August, 2014, a video of the public execution of American photojournalist James Foley rippled across the globe. Foley wore an orange jumpsuit as he knelt beside an ISIS militant dressed in black. That image challenged the world to deal with a new face of terror. And it tested one American family. Seen through the lens of filmmaker Brian Oakes, Foley’s close childhood friend, Jim takes us from small-town New England to the adrenaline-fueled front lines of Libya and Syria, where Foley pushed the limits of danger to report on the plight of civilians impacted by war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGideon's Army (2013)
Follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Iraq in Fragments (2006)
An opus in three parts, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied. American director James Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered documentary of the war-torn country as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Only the Dead?
The closest matches to Only the Dead are Legion of Brothers (2017), The War Tapes (2006) and Restrepo (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Only the Dead?
People who watched Only the Dead most often go on to Legion of Brothers (2017), The War Tapes (2006) and Restrepo (2010).
What is the highest-rated movie like Only the Dead?
Restrepo (2010), rated 7.2/10 by 380 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Only the Dead?
Escape from Kabul (2021) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Only the Dead?
Yes: Legion of Brothers (2017), The War Tapes (2006) and Restrepo (2010).
How are movies similar to Only the Dead chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Only the Dead, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.