Movies like Utu (1983)
The best movies like Utu (1983) are Zulu Dawn (1979), The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and The War Below (2021). If Utu hooked you with its war and adventure, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedDevotion (2022)7.0/10 from 878 votes
- NewestThe Last Rifleman (2023)Released 2023
Zulu Dawn (1979)
In 1879, the British suffer a great loss at the Battle of Isandlwana due to incompetent leadership.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & 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 & history
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlyboys (2006)
The adventures of the Lafayette Escadrille, young Americans who volunteered for the French military before the U.S. entered World War I, and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Last of the Mohicans (1920)
As Alice and Cora Munro attempt to find their father, a British officer in the French and Indian War, they are set upon by French soldiers and their cohorts, Huron tribesmen led by the evil Magua. Fighting to rescue the women are Chingachgook and his son Uncas, the last of the Mohican tribe, and their white ally, the frontiersman Natty Bumppo, known as Hawkeye.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDevotion (2022)
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGunga Din (1939)
British army sergeants Ballantine, Cutter and MacChesney serve in India during the 1880s, along with their native water-bearer, Gunga Din. While completing a dangerous telegraph-repair mission, they unearth evidence of the suppressed Thuggee cult. When Gunga Din tells the sergeants about a secret temple made of gold, the fortune-hunting Cutter is captured by the Thuggees, and it's up to his friends to rescue him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both adventure & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy in the Woods (2023)
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 & history
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 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 drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Devil's Brigade (1968)
At the onset of World War II, American Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is put in charge of a unit called the 1st Special Service Force, composed of elite Canadian commandos and undisciplined American soldiers. With Maj. Alan Crown leading the Canadians and Maj. Cliff Bricker the acting head of the American contingent, there is initial tension -- but the team comes together when given a daunting mission that few would dare to attempt.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCast a Giant Shadow (1966)
An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his Jewish heritage. Each of Israel's Arab neighbors has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country as soon as partition is granted. He is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 & adventure
Worth the HypeMovies 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 drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMunich - The Edge of War (2021)
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadium Girls (2020)
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Call to Spy (2020)
The story of Vera Atkins, a crafty spy recruiter, and two of the first women she selects for Churchill's "secret army": Virginia Hall, a daring American undaunted by a disability and Noor Inayat Khan, a pacifist. These civilian women form an unlikely sisterhood while entangled in dangerous missions to turn the tide of the war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTracker (2010)
A guerilla fighter from the South African Boer war called Arjan (Winstone) takes on a manhunt in New Zealand for Maori seaman Kereama (Morrison), who is accused of murdering a British soldier. What follows is a cat and mouse pursuit through the varied landscape of New Zealand with both hunter and huntee testing their bushcraft and wits against that of the other. Gradually they grow to know and respect one another but a posse, led by the British Commanding officer is close behind and his sole intention is to see the Maori hang.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & adventure
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisField Punishment No.1 (2014)
In 1916, the New Zealand Government secretly shipped 14 of the country's most outspoken conscientious objectors to the Western Front in an attempt to convert, silence, or quite possibly kill them. This is their story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
The Dark Horse (2014)
One-time Maori speed-chess champ, Genesis Potini, lives with a bi-polar disorder and must overcome prejudice and violence in the battle to save his struggling chess club, his family and ultimately, himself.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRiver Queen (2005)
In 1860s New Zealand, a young Irish woman desperately trying to find her son finds herself caught on both sides of the lines during the wars between Māori tribes and the British colonial army.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both adventure & war
An Angel at My Table (1990)
Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Nightmare on Every Street (2022)
David Bain is accused of killing his family in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history & drama
Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story (2014)
Based on the best-selling book 'My Story' this feature length drama goes beyond the headlines to tell an intimate story about secrets and one woman's struggle to have them heard. In 1993 Louise Nicholas made her first shocking accusations about being raped by policemen. Some believed her, many didn't. CONSENT tells the story of the senior policeman who went to great lengths to help her fight her case, the journalist who exposed the truth, and the family at the center of the storm.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Only Cloud Knows (2019)
The film revolves around a Chinese man who returns to New Zealand following the death of his wife and begins to discover that she harbored a number of secrets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 (1993)
Lost somewhere over the Pacific in a single-engine Cessna with low fuel, a pilot (Scott Bakula) awaits rescue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Crush (1992)
A car crash blazes a destructive trail trough the lives of three women – an awkward adolescent, a malevolent femme fatale, and a wheelchair-ridden critic.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Rurangi (2020)
After skipping town a decade ago, transgender activist Caz Davis returns to the remote, politically divided dairy community of Rurangi, hoping to reconnect with his estranged father, who hasn't heard from him since before Caz transitioned.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like Utu and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Utu?
The closest matches to Utu are Zulu Dawn (1979), The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and The War Below (2021). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Utu?
Start with Zulu Dawn (1979), the closest match to Utu.
What is the highest-rated movie like Utu?
Devotion (2022), rated 7.0/10 by 878 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Utu?
The Last Rifleman (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Utu?
Yes: Zulu Dawn (1979), The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and The War Below (2021).
How are movies similar to Utu chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Utu, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.