Movies like The Panama Deception (1992)
The best movies like The Panama Deception (1992) are The War on Democracy (2007), Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry (2004) and Hearts and Minds (1974). If The Panama Deception hooked you with its documentary and history, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFor Sama (2019)8.2/10 from 323 votes
- NewestFor Sama (2019)Released 2019
The War on Democracy (2007)
Set both in Latin America and the United States, the film explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. Pilger says that the film "...tells a universal story... analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called "war on terror". According to Pilger, the film’s message is that the greed and power of empire is not invincible and that people power is always the "seed beneath the snow".
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoing Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry (2004)
A documentary on Senator John Kerry's Navy tour of duty in Vietnam, his contributions to the peace movement that followed, and the ultimate shape of his future political career.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Hearts and Minds (1974)
Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002)
This riveting documentary depicts former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a warmonger responsible for military cover-ups in Vietnam, Cambodia and East Timor, as well as the assassination of a Chilean leader in 1970. Based on a book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, the film includes interviews with historians, political analysts and such journalists as New York Times writer William Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Fog of War (2003)
Former corporate whiz kid Robert McNamara was the controversial Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, during the height of the Vietnam War. Augmented by archival footage and cabinet conversation recordings, Errol Morris gives the conflicted McNamara a platform on which he attempts to confront his and the U.S. government's actions in Southeast Asia in light of the horrors of modern warfare, the end of ideology and the punitive judgment of history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Unknown Known (2013)
Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhy We Fight (2005)
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisControl Room (2004)
A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world's most popular news outlet. Roundly criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian causalities as well as footage of American POWs, the station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration did not want it to see.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisComandante (2003)
Oliver Stone spends three days filming with Fidel Castro in Cuba, discussing an array of subjects with the president such as his rise to power, fellow revolutionary Che Guevara, the Cuban Missile crisis, and the present state of the country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Memory of Justice (1976)
This exceptional, disturbing, and thought-provoking two-part documentary compares the atrocities committed by the Nazis as revealed during the Nuremberg trials to those committed by the French in Algeria and those done by the Americans in Vietnam. The four-hour epic questions the right of any country to pass self-righteous moral judgements upon the actions of another country.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
In the Year of the Pig (1969)
Both sober and sobering, producer-director Emile de Antonio’s In the Year of the Pig is a powerful and, no doubt for many, controversial documentary about the Vietnam War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
638 Ways to Kill Castro (2006)
Dollan Cannell's documentary on the hundreds of alleged plots to assassinate Fidel Castro, and a look at the evolution of Cuban politics. If the title of this extraordinary film sounds ludicrous, don't be fooled. This film looks at the incredible story of the 638 alleged plots by the CIA and Cuban exiles to kill the Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & documentary
The Bomb (2015)
Using masterfully restored footage from recently declassified images, The Bomb tells a powerful story of the most destructive invention in human history. From the earliest testing stages to its use as the ultimate chess piece in global politics, the program outlines how America developed the bomb, how it changed the world and how it continues to loom large in our lives. The show also includes interviews with prominent historians and government insiders, along with men and women who helped build the weapon piece by piece.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
American Coup (2010)
AMERICAN COUP tells the story of the first coup ever carried out by the CIA - Iran, 1953. Explores the blowback from this seminal event, as well as the coup's lingering effects on the present US-Iranian relationship. Includes a segment on the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis and its relation to the 1953 coup. Concludes with a section on the recent Iranian presidential election. Contains interviews with noted Middle East experts and historians and prominent public figures such as Stephen Kinzer (author, All The Shah's Men), Prof. Ervand Abrahamian, Trita Parsi, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Ted Koppel and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. With Iranian cinematography by James Longley.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both history & documentary
The Man Who Saved the World (2014)
A documentary film about Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (2007)
Steven Okazaki presents a deeply moving look at the painful legacy of the first -- and hopefully last -- uses of nuclear weapons in war. Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings, White Light/Black Rain provides a detailed exploration of the bombings and their aftermath.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Command and Control (2016)
September 18, 1980, 6:25 p.m., Titan II base in Damascus, Arkansas. On this fateful night an explosion kills an Air Force member and transforms the lives of everyone on the base. Honing in on a single case of so-called "human error", Command and Control juxtaposes precision on a minute scale against the gargantuan risks inherent in the United States' aggressive nuclear proliferation policy during the Cold War.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Waiting for Fidel (1975)
This feature-length documentary from 1974 takes viewers inside Fidel Castro's Cuba. A movie-making threesome hope that Fidel himself will star in their film. The unusual crew consists of former Newfoundland premier Joseph Smallwood, radio and TV owner Geoff Stirling and NFB film director Michael Rubbo. What happens while the crew awaits its star shows a good deal of the new Cuba, and also of the three Canadians who chose to film the island. (NFB)
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
"Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Battle of Chile: Part I (1975)
The chronicle of the political tension in Chile in 1973 and of the violent counter revolution against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe True Story of Charlie Wilson (2007)
A playboy congressman, an outcast CIA operative, and a socialite steer over $300 million of the United States Government’s money — in an era when Reagan couldn’t raise $19 million for the Contras — to fund a covert war intended to turn Afghanistan into “Russia’s Vietnam.” Is this a joke? Is this some improbable work of fiction? Who are these wildly eccentric figures? How did they pull it off? In this special presentation from THE HISTORY CHANNEL® discover the intricate details of this incredible, fascinating and completely true series of events. Learn how Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson allied with CIA agent Gust Avrakotos and Houston philanthropist Joanne Herring to secretly bankroll the Afghan Mujahideen’s resistance to the Soviet Union. Retrace the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the CIA’s largest and most successful campaign ever. And understand the wide-ranging and long-lasting implications of this little-known episode.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words (2014)
From 1971 to 1973, Richard Nixon secretly recorded his private conversations in the White House. This film chronicles the content of those tapes, which include Nixon's conversations on the war in Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers leak, his Supreme Court appointments, and more--while also exposing shocking statements he made about women, people of color, Jews, and the media.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
The Devil Came on Horseback (2007)
While serving with the African Union, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle documents the brutal ethnic cleansing occuring in Darfur. Determined that the Western public should know about the atrocities he is witnessing, Steidle contacts New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who publishes some of Steidle's photographic evidence.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Anderson Platoon (1967)
A documentary feature by Pierre Schoendoerffer about the Vietnam War. Winner of the 1968 Academy Award for best Documentary Feature.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Africa Blood and Guts (1966)
A chronicle of the violence that occurred in much of the African continent throughout the 1960s. As many African countries were transitioning from colonial rule to other forms of government, violent political upheavals were frequent. Revolutions in Zanzibar and Kenya in which thousands were killed are shown, the violence not only political; there is also extensive footage of hunters and poachers slaughtering different types of wild animals.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTriumph Over Violence (1965)
Romm pulls out all the stops in his selection of documentary material to draw the viewer not only into absolute horror about fascism and Nazism in 1920s–1940s Europe, but also to a firm conviction that nothing of the sort should be allowed to happen again anywhere in the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Age of Stupid (2009)
Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Soviet Story (2008)
“The Soviet Story” is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its crimes were made taboo, and the complete story of Europe’s most murderous regime has never been told. Until now...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFor Sama (2019)
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival as Waad wrestles with an impossible choice– whether or not to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life, when leaving means abandoning the struggle for freedom for which she has already sacrificed so much.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & war
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
Like The Panama Deception and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Panama Deception?
The closest matches to The Panama Deception are The War on Democracy (2007), Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry (2004) and Hearts and Minds (1974). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Panama Deception?
People who watched The Panama Deception most often go on to The War on Democracy (2007), Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry (2004) and Hearts and Minds (1974).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Panama Deception?
For Sama (2019), rated 8.2/10 by 323 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Panama Deception?
For Sama (2019) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Panama Deception?
Yes: The War on Democracy (2007), Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry (2004) and Hearts and Minds (1974).
How are movies similar to The Panama Deception chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Panama Deception, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.