Movies like Return of the Hero (2018)
The best movies like Return of the Hero (2018) are Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951), Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008) and Thunderstruck (2012). If Return of the Hero hooked you with its history and comedy, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLove and Death (1975)7.5/10 from 997 votes
- NewestSuperwho? (2022)Released 2022
- In FrenchThe Hunchback of Paris (1959)Also in French
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)
Captain Horatio Hornblower leads his ship HMS Lydia on a perilous transatlantic voyage, during which his faithful crew battle both a Spanish warship and a ragged band of Central American rebels.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPrivate Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008)
When fluffy, bubble gum movie star Megan Valentine suddenly finds herself broke and humiliated in the public eye, she wanders from the wreckage of a car accident and witlessly enlists in the U.S. Army hoping in vain that it will change her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThunderstruck (2012)
After NBA star Kevin Durant switches talent with 16 year old Brian, the teenager becomes the star of his high school team, but Durant starts struggling and eventually learns an important lesson.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Hunchback of Paris (1959)
Duke Philippe de Nevers is an influential and popular man who is married to a beautiful wife called Aurore. His rival Philippe de Gonzague hates him enough to organise an attempt on him. The Duke is accompagnied by Henri de Lagardère when de Gonzague's henchmen altogether attack him. Lagardère cannot save his friend because the both of them are hopelessly outnumbered. He has to escape in order to save the Duke's daughter and swears revenge. Together with his old buddy Passepoil he raises the little girl in Spain. At the same time he returns frequently to France where he detects confronts his friend's murderers and puts them to the sword one by one until only their former leader is left. Finally he discovers that Philippe de Gonzague is the man for whom he is looking.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisL'Opération Corned Beef (1991)
The unsanctioned efforts of a covert unit to gather evidence about illegal arms shipments with the unwitting help of an embassy employee.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005)
The maniacal baby of the Griffin family, Stewie, meets his future self. In doing this he discovers that his future image is not what he has anticipated because of a near death experience.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPirates (1986)
Captain Red runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor. One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the niece of the governor of Maracaibo. The question is, can he keep this pace up?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe French Minister (2013)
Alexandre Taillard de Vorms is a force to be reckoned with. With his silver mane and tanned, athletic body, he stalks the world stage as Minister of Foreign Affairs for France, waging his own war backed up by the holy trinity of diplomatic concepts: legitimacy, lucidity, and efficacy. Enter Arthur Vlaminck. Hired to write the minister's speeches, Arthur must contend with the sensibilities of his boss and the dirty dealings within the Quai d'Orsay, the ministry's home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Warriors Gate (2016)
After a mysterious chest opens a gateway through time, teen gamer Jack is transported to an ancient empire terrorized by a cruel barbarian king. Jack will need all of his gaming skills as he battles to defeat the barbarian, protect a beautiful princess, and somehow find his way back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAce of Aces (1982)
In this action comedy the French boxer Jo Cavalier is charmed on the train to Berlin for the Olympics in Hitler's Germany by the little boy Simon Rosenblum who asks his autograph; when it turns out his adorable young fan is a Jewish orphan in danger of persecution, he risks his one shot at Olympic glory to save Simon and his family, helped only by a German officer-gentleman who became his friend in World War I, by an adventurous escape to Switzerland, Nazi troops on their heals and braving impossible odds in roller coaster-style.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Visitors (1993)
After a wizard's spell goes awry, 12th-century Gallic knight Godefroy de Papincourt, Count of Montmirail finds himself transported to 1993, along with his dimwitted servant, Jacquouille la Fripouille. Startled and perplexed by modern technology, the duo run amok, destroying cars and causing chaos until they meet Beatrice de Montmirail, an aristocratic descendant of the nobleman, who may be able to help them get back to 1123.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSuperwho? (2022)
A struggling actor seems doomed to live life as a loser. When he finally snatches a lead role as a superhero named “Badman,” he feels like everything is possible, but fate strikes again.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGotcha! (1985)
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Paper Tigers (2020)
Three middle aged men polish their martial arts skills to avenge their fallen master.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Flame and the Arrow (1950)
Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Resemblances (1996)
An upper middle-class French family celebrates a birthday in a restaurant. In one evening and during one meal, family history, tensions, collective and separate grudges, delights, and memories both clash and coalesce.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMax & Leon (2016)
In this WW2 epic comedy – in the vein of “La Grande Vadrouille” – our two heroes, Max and Léon, two lazy and partier pals, will try by all possible means to avoid going in the battle zone… This will lead the duo to demented and wild adventures.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSerial (Bad) Weddings 2 (2019)
Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining their lives elsewhere.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Women on the 6th Floor (2011)
Paris, in the early 1960s. Jean-Louis Joubert is a serious but uptight stockbroker, married to Suzanne, a starchy class-conscious woman and father of two arrogant teenage boys, currently in a boarding school. The affluent man lives a steady yet boring life. At least until, due to fortuitous circumstances, Maria, the charming new maid at the service of Jean-Louis' family, makes him discover the servants' quarter on the sixth floor of the luxury building he owns and lives in. There live a crowd of lively Spanish maids who will help Jean-Louis to open to a new civilization and a new approach of life. In their company - and more precisely in the company of beautiful Maria - Jean-Louis will gradually become another man, a better man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJohnny English Strikes Again (2018)
Disaster strikes when a criminal mastermind reveals the identities of all active undercover agents in Britain. The secret service can now rely on only one man - Johnny English. Currently teaching at a minor prep school, Johnny springs back into action to find the mysterious hacker. For this mission to succeed, he’ll need all of his skills - what few he has - as the man with yesterday’s analogue methods faces off against tomorrow’s digital technology.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisImperial Venus (1962)
Pauline Bonaparte, sister of the famous Napoleon, embarks on a series of amourous escapades, including an engagement to the Conventionnel Fréron; her relationship with the comté de Canouville; and her marriage to General Leclerc, whom she follows to Saint-Domingue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Love and Death (1975)
In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWar and Peace (1956)
The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAlso People (1960)
Based on an excerpt from the novel by L.N.Tolstoy "War and Peace." The war of 1812. The defeated Napoleonic army is retreating. Three Russian soldiers settled in a snowy forest near a fire: a young (Zaletayev), an elderly and a middle-aged one. Zaletayev fantasizes — as if he had captured Napoleon. The soldiers laugh good-naturedly at him. After dinner, they fall asleep... Two Frenchmen go to the clearing — an officer and a soldier. Russian soldiers wake up and, seeing that the officer is barely standing on his feet from cold and hunger, take him to the colonel. The French soldier sits down to the fire. The Russians give him porridge and vodka. The soldier, encouraged, sings a french song. Zaletayev echoes him. A tired Frenchman falls asleep on Zaletayev’s shoulder. The soldiers carefully shelter him. “Also people,” an elderly soldier says with a sigh.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Battle of New Orleans: A Meaningful Victory (2015)
The Battle of New Orleans: A Meaningful Victory explores how the British misjudged their opponent and miscalculated the complexities of the battle ground. It also describes why the multi-cultural population of New Orleans proved the naysayers wrong about their loyalties to a young nation. WYES Community Projects Producer Marcia Kavanaugh and Tom Gregory hosted and produced this documentary.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Black Hussar (1932)
In 1812, during the French period, large parts of Germany are occupied by the troops of Napoleon. Several paramilitary Freikorps units battle the French forces, among them the Black Brunswickers led by the 'Black Duke' Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. After the War of the Fifth Coalition, the Black Hussars are pursued by Napoleon throughout the country, but frequently take refuge with the noble-minded German people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
The Last Days (1999)
Romance brings two warring families together in this historical drama. As citizens fight for independence in 1810s Lithuania, Tadeusz, the son of a murderer, and Zosia, a young woman, come together for a wedding against a backdrop of changing politics, ancient traditions, and the uncertain future of a country.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
SnoozefestMovies like thisFor Napoleon and France (1914)
Two siblings lose their parents amidst turmoil in revolutionary France and are adopted by a peasant family. Once grown up, the older brother enlists in the Napoleonic Wars.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Bruc: The Manhunt (2010)
Spain, 1808. The Napoleonic Army suffers its first defeat at the hands of a single man: a drummer boy who used the Montserrat mountains to echo his drums and send the enemy troops into a panicked retreat. When the news reaches Napoleon, he furiously orders the captain of the Imperial Guard to bring back the head of the young hero responsible for his army's defeat…
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Sharpe's Company (1994)
Spain, 1812. The Duke of Wellington plans to lay siege to Badajoz. A murderous figure from Sharpe's past uses a beautiful woman to revenge himself on Sharpe, now the father of her child. Sharpe has reason to be happy, he holds his daughter for the first time and is given command of the Light Company again, together with his captaincy. But will his happiness be short lived?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history
Like Return of the Hero and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Return of the Hero?
The closest matches to Return of the Hero are Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951), Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008) and Thunderstruck (2012). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Return of the Hero?
Start with Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951), the closest match to Return of the Hero.
What is the highest-rated movie like Return of the Hero?
Love and Death (1975), rated 7.5/10 by 997 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Return of the Hero?
Superwho? (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there French movies like Return of the Hero?
Yes: The Hunchback of Paris (1959), L'Opération Corned Beef (1991) and The French Minister (2013).
How are movies similar to Return of the Hero chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Return of the Hero, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.