Movies like Powder Keg (2001)
The best movies like Powder Keg (2001) are Late Summer (2001), Short Term 12 (2008) and The Flying Car (2002). If Powder Keg hooked you with its action and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFull Metal Jacket (1987)8.1/10 from 11,939 votes
- NewestWarfare (2025)Released 2025
- Same seriesThe Escape (2016)The Hire
Late Summer (2001)
A photographer remembers that special summer that he spent with his somewhat older cousin, the feelings that were awakened, and the unexpected turn of events behind his "best" photo.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Short Term 12 (2008)
A day at a group home for troubled adolescents. Denim is the head counselor, involved somehow with Natalia, another counselor. During the day, we watch them and other staff deal with a boy who's getting into fights though he has only a week to go before his 18th birthday, a girl whose birthday it is, a foul-mouthed lad, and others. Denim uses music to calm one youth, orients a new staff member, sneaks a marijuana cigarette during a break, and by the day's end, talks to Natalia. Do any of us have it together?
Why it matches: Fans watch both
The Flying Car (2002)
Stuck in a traffic jam, Dante and Randal discuss the prospect of a flying car.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe After (2024)
After losing a family member to a violent crime, a shattered rideshare driver picks up a passenger that forces him to confront his grief.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
SnoozefestMovies like thisHamburger Hill (1987)
The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill… up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country, their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell, but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was, the way it really was. It's a raw, gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst, men at their best.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989)
A Marine patrol stops at Firebase Gloria at the start of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam war. With the firebase attacked, the patrol remains to help defend it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisWar Pigs (2015)
A rag tag unit of misfits known as the War Pigs must go behind enemy lines to exterminate Nazis by any means necessary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisUncommon Valor (1983)
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSkin (2019)
In a small supermarket in a blue collar town, a black man smiles at a 10 year old white boy across the checkout aisle. This innocuous moment sends two gangs into a ruthless war that ends with a shocking backlash.
Why it matches: Fans watch both
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFull Metal Jacket (1987)
A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Escape (2016)
After the controversial disappearance of their Chief Medical Officer, a shadowy bio genetics company is under siege by the FBI for secretly cloning humans. Amidst the chaos, Molgen’s head mercenary Holt is sneaking out the last living clone, a young woman named Lily to a mysterious buyer. Holt has hired The Driver, accompanied by a heavily armed squadron of fellow Molgen mercenaries, to evade the authorities and deliver Lily and himself to the buyer. The journey takes an unexpected turn and Holt is forced to take matters into his own hands, as the driver once again demonstrates his mettle and extraordinary driving skills.
Why it matches: Same series: The Hire · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPlatoon (1986)
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMiracle at St. Anna (2008)
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNo Man's Land (2001)
Two soldiers from opposite sides get stuck between the front lines in the same trench. The UN is asked to free them and both sides agree on a ceasefire, but will they stick to it?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Deer Hunter (1978)
Three steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBravo Two Zero (1999)
When an elite eight-man British SAS team is dropped behind enemy lines, their mission is clear: take out Saddam Hussein's SCUD missile systems. But when communications are cut and the team finds themselves surrounded by Saddam's army, their only hope is to risk capture and torture in a desperate 185-kilometer run to the Syrian border. Based on the true story of a British Special Forces unit behind enemy lines during the Gulf War, Bravo Two Zero explores the tragedies and triumphs of men taken to the edge of survival in the Persian Gulf War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisWarfare (2025)
A platoon of Navy SEALs embarks on a dangerous mission in Ramadi, Iraq, with the chaos and brotherhood of war retold through their memories of the event.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMean Johnny Barrows (1975)
A Vietnam veteran gets caught in a mob war with a couple of double-crossers.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985)
Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bunker (1981)
Dramatization depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the battle for the city.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTigerland (2000)
A group of recruits go through Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana's infamous Tigerland, last stop before Vietnam for tens of thousands of young men in 1971.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both 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: Fans watch both · both war & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBraddock: Missing in Action III (1988)
When Colonel James Braddock is told that his Asian wife and 12-year-old son are still alive in Communist Vietnam, he mounts a one-man assault to free them. Armed with the latest high-tech firepower, Braddock fights his way into the heart of the country and ends up battling his way out with several dozen abused Amerasian children in tow! Struggling to keep them alive while outmaneuvering a sadistic Vietnamese officer, Braddock ignites the jungle in a blazing cross-country race for freedom.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisBat★21 (1988)
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToo Late the Hero (1970)
A WWII film set on a Pacific island. Japanese and allied forces occupy different parts of the island. When a group of British soldiers are sent on a mission behind enemy lines, things don't go exactly to plan. This film differs in that some of the 'heroes' are very reluctant, but they come good when they are pursued by the Japanese who are determined to prevent them returning to base.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoudica (2023)
Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisHell Hath No Fury (2021)
Branded a traitor by her countrymen, French national Marie DuJardin is rescued by American soldiers on one condition: to survive, she must lead them to a cache of gold - before the Nazis return to claim it for themselves.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDC Showcase: Sgt. Rock (2019)
Just after recovering from losing his entire unit in battle, Sgt. Rock leads a special army of commandos against a Nazi secret research base.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWolf Hound (2022)
Inspired by the real-life German special operations unit KG 200 that shot down, repaired, and flew Allied aircraft as Trojan horses, "Wolf Hound" takes place in 1944 German-occupied France and follows the daring exploits of Jewish-American fighter pilot Captain David Holden. Ambushed behind enemy lines, Holden must rescue a captured B-17 Flying Fortress crew, evade a ruthless enemy stalking him at every turn, and foil a plot that could completely alter the outcome of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Codes of War (2025)
War stories about family, ethics and honor include the true story of two U.S. Marines who in a span of six seconds, must stand their ground to stop a suicide truck bomb, a Navy Corpsman who attempts to hold on to his humanity, and a WW2 soldier who gets separated from his squad and is forced to re-evaluate his code.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Powder Keg?
The closest matches to Powder Keg are Late Summer (2001), Short Term 12 (2008) and The Flying Car (2002). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Powder Keg?
People who watched Powder Keg most often go on to Late Summer (2001), Short Term 12 (2008) and The Flying Car (2002).
What is the highest-rated movie like Powder Keg?
Full Metal Jacket (1987), rated 8.1/10 by 11,939 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Powder Keg?
Warfare (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Is Powder Keg part of a series?
Yes. It belongs to The Hire, which includes The Escape (2016).
Are there English movies like Powder Keg?
Yes: Late Summer (2001), Short Term 12 (2008) and The Flying Car (2002).
How are movies similar to Powder Keg chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Powder Keg, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.