Movies like Human Torpedoes (1968)
The best movies like Human Torpedoes (1968) are Destination Tokyo (1943), Emperor (2012) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). If Human Torpedoes hooked you with its war and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSaving Private Ryan (1998)8.2/10 from 18,059 votes
- NewestDavid's Story (2026)Released 2026
- In JapaneseFires on the Plain (1959)Also in Japanese
Destination Tokyo (1943)
During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEmperor (2012)
As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSaving Private Ryan (1998)
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisOperation Pacific (1951)
During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up personally. Even more personal is his quest to win back his ex-wife, a nurse; but he'll have to win her back from a navy flier who also happens to be his commander's little brother.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlags of Our Fathers (2006)
There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLifeboat (1944)
During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, though he must weigh his commitment to duty and ferocious pursuit of glory against the safety of his devoted crew, including the ship's thoughtful surgeon, his best friend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFires on the Plain (1959)
In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisWife of a Spy (2020)
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe One That Got Away (1957)
Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Scarlet and the Black (1983)
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHalls of Montezuma (1951)
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLetters from Iwo Jima (2006)
The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999)
Lieutenant Hornblower and his shipmates are sent to accompany a doomed royalist invasion of revolutionary France.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant (1998)
Acting Lieutenant Hornblower attempts to study for his promotion examination, but becomes distracted by the serious supply problems that face his crew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAgainst the Sun (2014)
A WWII pilot, bombardier, and radioman find themselves adrift on a lifeboat without food or water after being forced to ditch their plane during a scouting mission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIn Enemy Hands (2004)
At the height of Hitler's infamous U-boat war, the crew of the U.S.S. Swordfish were heading home after months at sea. They never made it. Now prisoners of war aboard U-boat 429, a small group of American survivors will find their loyalties put to the ultimate test when they're forced to join their German captors to fight for their very lives.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Human Bullet (1968)
A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Sensuikan Cappellini-gou no bouken (2022)
Based on a real story during WWII where Japanese naval soldiers met Italians who were in the submarine Comandante Cappellini used to transport strategic materials to and from Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Disco Boy (2023)
After a painful journey through Europe, Aleksei, a Belarusian, joins the Foreign Legion in France and clings to a confused hope of a European identity. Jomo, a Nigerian, fights for the survival and durability of his people in the Niger Delta and is ready to die to defend his ideas. These two young people who are sacrificed and smashed together will, against all odds, meet and their destinies will merge to continue across borders, bodies, life and death...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Battle (1934)
In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, a Japanese naval officer allows his wife to be seduced by a British naval attaché in order to gain access to a secret report he has written, unaware her marital unhappiness has made her vulnerable to falling in love with him. Adapted from a novel by Claude Farrère, and also filmed in a French-language version, LA BATAILLE., q.v.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
The Chinese Widow (2017)
It’s 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has destroyed America’s morale. The US President Franklin D. Roosevelt then decides to risk it all by bombing Tokyo and raise more hope for his citizens. After completing its mission, a unit of the US Air Force is forced to make an emergency landing in China. Its commander Jack Turner (Emilie Hirsch) barely survives but gets rescued by Ying (Crystal Liu), a local widow who will stop at nothing to hide him from the Japanese occupant.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSatellite in the Sky (1956)
A bomb dooms the first space satellite, manned by a selfless crew, a stowaway reporter (Lois Maxwell) and a mad scientist (Donald Wolfit).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Guntur Kaaram (2024)
Years after his mother left him and remarried, Ramana is asked to sign documents denying any relations with his mother, but he refuses and demands answer to why his mother left him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
David's Story (2026)
A Nigerian master’s student in America struggles to survive under the weight of visa restrictions, financial hardship, and a sick mother back home. When a familiar face offers what seems like a way out, he is drawn into a dangerous path that forces him to confront the true cost of his choices before it’s too late.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
You Won't Be Alone (2022)
In an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a young feral witch accidentally kills a peasant. She assumes the peasant's shape to see what life is like in her skin, igniting a deep seated curiosity to experience life inside the bodies of others.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Human Torpedoes?
The closest matches to Human Torpedoes are Destination Tokyo (1943), Emperor (2012) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Human Torpedoes?
Start with Destination Tokyo (1943), the closest match to Human Torpedoes.
What is the highest-rated movie like Human Torpedoes?
Saving Private Ryan (1998), rated 8.2/10 by 18,059 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Human Torpedoes?
David's Story (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Human Torpedoes?
Yes: Fires on the Plain (1959), The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959) and Wife of a Spy (2020).
How are movies similar to Human Torpedoes chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Human Torpedoes, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.