Movies like Flying Leathernecks (1951)
The best movies like Flying Leathernecks (1951) are Flying Tigers (1942), Midway (1976) and Memphis Belle (1990). If Flying Leathernecks hooked you with its war and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedTop Gun: Maverick (2022)8.2/10 from 11,889 votes
- NewestTop Gun: Maverick (2022)Released 2022
Flying Tigers (1942)
Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into World War II. Gordon must send his outnumbered band of fighter pilots out against overwhelming odds while juggling the disparate personalities and problems of his fellow flyers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMidway (1976)
This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMemphis Belle (1990)
The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe. The crew only have to make one more bombing raid before they have finished their duty and can go home. In the briefing before their last flight, the crew discover that the target for the day is Bremen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAces High (1976)
The first World War is in its third year and aerial combat above the Western Front is consuming the nation's favored children at an appalling rate. By early 1917, the average life-span of a British pilot is less than a fortnight. Such losses place a fearsome strain on Gresham, commanding officer of the squadron. Aces High recreates the early days of the Royal Flying Corps with some magnificently staged aerial battles, and sensitive direction presents a moving portrayal of the futilities of war.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Fighting Seabees (1944)
Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them. After a series of attacks by the Japanese, something new is tried, Construction Battalions (CBs=Seabees). The new CBs have to both build and be ready to fight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVon Richthofen and Brown (1971)
Spend time on both sides of World War I, partly with German flying ace Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (John Phillip Law), aka "The Red Baron," and his colorful "flying circus" of Fokker fighter planes, during the time from his arrival at the war front to his death in combat. On the other side is Roy Brown of the Royal Air Force, sometimes credited with shooting Richthofen down.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBattle of Britain (1969)
In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTop Gun: Maverick (2022)
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSands of Iwo Jima (1950)
Haunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPearl Harbor (2001)
The lifelong friendship between Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker is put to the ultimate test when the two ace fighter pilots become entangled in a love triangle with beautiful Naval nurse Evelyn Johnson. But the rivalry between the friends-turned-foes is immediately put on hold when they find themselves at the center of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Wings of Eagles (1957)
The story of Frank W. "Spig" Wead - a Navy-flyer turned screenwriter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies 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 thisThe First of the Few (1942)
This 1942 fictionalized biopic chronicles the true story of how two of the most remarkable men in aviation history - visionary Spitfire designer R.J. Mitchell and his test pilot Geoffrey Crisp - designed a streamlined monoplane that led to the development of the Spitfire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Final Countdown (1980)
During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIn Harm's Way (1965)
A Naval officer, reprimanded after Pearl Harbor, is later promoted to Rear Admiral and gets a second chance to prove himself against the Japanese.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRed Tails (2012)
The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCourage Under Fire (1996)
A US Army officer, who made a "friendly fire" mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander's worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in order. But then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRun Silent, Run Deep (1958)
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave and forage for food together. Their forced companionship and the struggle for survival forge a powerful emotional bond between them.
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 thisMorituri (1965)
A German living in India during World War II is blackmailed by the English to impersonate an SS officer on board a cargo ship leaving Japan for Germany carrying a large supply of rubber for tyres. His mission is to disable the scuttling charges so the captain cannot sink the ship if they are stopped by English warships.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisObjective, Burma! (1945)
A group of men parachute into Japanese-occupied Burma with a dangerous and important mission: to locate and blow up a radar station. They accomplish this well enough, but when they try to rendezvous at an old air-strip to be taken back to their base, they find Japanese waiting for them, and they must make a long, difficult walk back through enemy-occupied jungle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBataan (1943)
During Japan's invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Capt. Henry Lassiter, Sgt. Bill Dane and a diverse group of American soldiers are ordered to destroy and hold a strategic bridge in order to delay the Japanese forces and allow Gen. MacArthur time to secure Bataan. When the Japanese soldiers begin to rebuild the bridge and advance, the group struggles with not only hunger, sickness and gunfire, but also the knowledge that there is likely no relief on the way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
American sailor Charlie Madison falls for a pretty Englishwoman while trying to avoid a senseless and dangerous D-Day mission concocted by a deranged admiral.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Liberation of Prague (1977)
On 20th of April 1945 the Soviet army launches its attack on Berlin. The end has come for Nazi Germany and Hitler decides to commit suicide. In Prague K.H. Frank (Nazi Secretary of State and Chief of police in the Protectorate of Bohemia a Moravia) discusses with his commanders how to transform the city into an impregnable fortress, but the Praguers do not intend to wait any longer. From the early hours of 4th of May people start assembling in the streets and tearing down German signs. On the next day, the 5th of May, the uprising begins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Hell to Eternity (1960)
Based on the story about Guy Gabaldon, a Los Angeles Hispanic boy raised in the 1930s by a Japanese-American foster family. After Pearl Harbor, his foster family is interned at the Manzanar camp for Japanese Americans, while he enlists in the Marines, where his ability to speak Japanese becomes a vital asset. During the Battle of Saipan, he convinces 800 Japanese to surrender after their general commits suicide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
The Naked and the Dead (1958)
Fighting men in World War II learn the value of courage and quickness at the risk of losing their lives.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
None but the Brave (1965)
American and Japanese soldiers, stranded on a tiny Pacific island during World War II, must make a temporary truce and cooperate to survive various tribulations. Told through the eyes of the American and Japanese unit commanders, who must deal with an atmosphere of growing distrust and tension between their men.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
Blacklisted in modern day WW2, a Swedish oil trader opts to assist British Allies, by means of infiltrating and surveying Nazi Germany.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fighting Sullivans (1944)
The lives of a close-knit group of brothers growing up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and of World War II and their eventual deaths in action in the Pacific theater are chronicled in this film based on a true story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Flying Leathernecks?
The closest matches to Flying Leathernecks are Flying Tigers (1942), Midway (1976) and Memphis Belle (1990). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Flying Leathernecks?
Start with Flying Tigers (1942), the closest match to Flying Leathernecks.
What is the highest-rated movie like Flying Leathernecks?
Top Gun: Maverick (2022), rated 8.2/10 by 11,889 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Flying Leathernecks?
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Flying Leathernecks?
Yes: Flying Tigers (1942), Midway (1976) and Memphis Belle (1990).
How are movies similar to Flying Leathernecks chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Flying Leathernecks, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.