Movies like The Fighting Generation (1944)
The best movies like The Fighting Generation (1944) are Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Shoulder Arms (1918) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966). If The Fighting Generation hooked you with its war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedWhen the Wind Blows (1986)7.5/10 from 360 votes
- NewestHind Under Siege (2025)Released 2025
Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942)
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II. This film examines the differences between democratic and fascist states.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShoulder Arms (1918)
An American doughboy, stationed in France during the Great War, goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines and becomes a hero.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhat Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisWaiting for Anya (2020)
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Red Badge of Courage (1951)
Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSergeant York (1941)
Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen the Wind Blows (1986)
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBattleground (1949)
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh! What a Lovely War (1969)
The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Dam Busters (1955)
The story of the conception of a new British weapon for smashing the German dams in the Ruhr industrial complex and the execution of the raid by 617 Squadron 'The Dam Busters'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both 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
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Ahead (1944)
A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry and Sergeant Ned Fletcher when they are called up to replace an infantry battalion that had suffered casualties at Dunkirk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
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 war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe War Below (2021)
During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Never Was (1956)
The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a British officer and outfitted with faked papers showing that the Allies were intending to invade occupied Greece. His body is put into the sea where it will ultimately drift ashore and the papers be passed along to German Intelligence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
A German soldier home on leave falls in love with a girl, then returns to World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Rifleman (2023)
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Young Lions (1958)
The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlood on the Sun (1945)
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll Riot on the Western Front (1930)
A comedy short Directed by Castleton Knight,
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Habana (2014)
Havana is occupied by foreign forces and on the edge of civil war. Lazaro, a kid from the slums, walks us through his streets and reveals the chaos that has taken over the capital.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Duty and Sacrifice (1926)
A story about countryside in Romania a little before WW1.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Hind Under Siege (2025)
The true story of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was separated from her mother and trapped in a car under heavy attack in Gaza surrounded by an Israeli tank in January 2024.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Till Forever (2018)
A Paratroop Regiment returns to England after succeeding a top secret mission in world war II , only to find things are not as they seem…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
M*A*S*H (1970)
One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLili (2008)
A herd of war-torn and hungry rats tries to get an answer to the question of who is Lili Marleen from a mortally wounded young soldier stuck in a projectile funnel. Is it a reminder of first love or first relationship with a prostitute earning her daily bread? Lili Marleen is not just a distant heroine from a song. Every soldier boy has her own Lili, be it his first love from school or just an imagination. But always, no matter what happens, she is waiting for her soldier underneath the lantern by the barrack gate...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Deserted (2010)
In a desperate attempt to survive, two deserters and a green beret try to reunite with their forces after the enemy unleashes its secret weapon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Tian Soepangat: Muslim Sailor (2015)
Tian Soepangat joins the U.S. Navy out of a commitment to helping others. As a Muslim, Tian is uncertain of his shipmates' attitudes toward his religion, and so he hides it. Eventually discovering he doesn't have to hide his faith, he is free to express pride in his heritage.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Fighting Generation?
The closest matches to The Fighting Generation are Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Shoulder Arms (1918) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Fighting Generation?
Start with Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), the closest match to The Fighting Generation.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Fighting Generation?
When the Wind Blows (1986), rated 7.5/10 by 360 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Fighting Generation?
Hind Under Siege (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Fighting Generation?
Yes: Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942), Shoulder Arms (1918) and What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966).
How are movies similar to The Fighting Generation chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Fighting Generation, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.