Movies like The Struggle (1960)
The best movies like The Struggle (1960) are Jacknife (1989), The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and Battleground (1949). If The Struggle hooked you with its drama and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBirdy (1984)7.1/10 from 605 votes
- NewestThe Codes of War (2025)Released 2025
Jacknife (1989)
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
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 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 drama & war
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 thisWalking with the Enemy (2014)
Regent Horthy is the leader of Hungary and a German ally, but his favorable standing with Hitler changes as the war comes to an end. Forced to cede Hungary’s power or else witness the execution of his son, Regent Horthy gives up control of his country to the Nazis, who quickly move Hungarians to ghettos and death camps, with no hope in sight. But the despair changes when a young man named Elek emerges. Separated from his family during the relocations and aided by the woman he loves , Elek defies the enemy by becoming one of them. In a race against time, disguised as a Nazi Officer he embarks on a mission to save his family and thousands of his countrymen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOutlaws - For Greater Glory (2012)
A chronicle of the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government's attempt to secularize the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
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 thisField of Lost Shoes (2015)
A group of teenage cadets sheltered from war at the Virginia Military Institute must confront the horrors of an adult world when they are called upon to defend the Shenandoah Valley.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBirdy (1984)
Two young men are seriously affected by the Vietnam War. One of them has always been obsessed with birds - but now believes he really is a bird, and has been sent to a mental hospital. Can his friend help him pull through?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 thisBehold a Pale Horse (1964)
Manuel Artiguez, a famous bandit during the Spanish civil war, has lived in French exile for 20 years. When his mother is dying he considers visiting her secretly in his Spanish home town. But his biggest enemy, the Spanish police officer Vinolas, prepared a trap at the hospital as a chance to finally catch Artiguez.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBat★21 (1988)
Lt. Col. Iceal "Ham" Hambleton is a weapons countermeasures expert and when his aircraft is shot over enemy territory the Air Force very much wants to get him back. Hambleton knows the area he's in is going to be carpet-bombed but a temporary shortage of helicopters causes a delay. Working with an Air Force reconnaissance pilot, Capt. Bartholomew Clark, he maps out an escape route.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Kill Team (2019)
When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeal Team Eight: Behind Enemy Lines (2014)
Seal Team Eight must fight their way deep into Africa's Congo, decommission a secret uranium mine, and stop our most dangerous enemy from smuggling weapon's grade yellow-cake out of the country.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
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 thisAn Ordinary Man (2017)
A war criminal in hiding forms a relationship with his only connection to the outside world - his maid.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBoudica (2023)
Inspired by events in A.D. 60, Boudica follows the eponymous Celtic warrior who rules the Iceni people alongside her husband Prasutagus. When he dies at the hands of Roman soldiers, Boudica’s kingdom is left without a male heir and the Romans seize her land and property. Driven to the edge of madness and determined to avenge her husband’s death, Boudica rallies the various tribes from the region and wages an epic war against the mighty Roman empire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
SnoozefestMovies like thisJarhead: Law of Return (2019)
Major Ronan Jackson, an accomplished fighter pilot for the Israel Defense Forces and son of a U.S. Senator, is shot down while flying through Syrian airspace. After miraculously surviving the crash, Jackson is taken captive by a group of Hezbollah militiamen. A squad of elite soldiers, led by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Torres, risk their own lives in the hopes of saving an ally they've never met.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Codes of War (2025)
War stories about family, ethics and honor include the true story of two U.S. Marines who in a span of six seconds, must stand their ground to stop a suicide truck bomb, a Navy Corpsman who attempts to hold on to his humanity, and a WW2 soldier who gets separated from his squad and is forced to re-evaluate his code.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNostalgi (2020)
A few years after the outbreak of a virus that endangers the human race. War, pillaging, and arsonry occurred, nearly wiping out humanity. But Dirman continues to fight for survival, though the memories of the past will always continue to haunt him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Blood Oath (1990)
On an obscure Pacific Island just north of Australia, the Japanese Empire has operated a prisoner of war camp for Australian soldiers. At the close of World War II, the liberated POWs tell a gruesome tale of mass executions of over eight hundred persons as well as torture style killings of downed Australian airmen. In an attempt to bring those responsible to justice, the Australian Army establishes a War Crimes Tribunal to pass judgement on the Japanese men and officers who ran the Ambon camp. In an added twist, a high ranking Japanese admiral is implicated, and politics become involoved with justice as American authorities in Japan lobby for the Admiral's release. Written by Anthony Hughes
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
The Seen and Unseen (2018)
Tantra and Tantri are inseparable. When they secretly steal eggs from the family’s sacrificial offering, Tantri always gets the whites and Tantra the yolks. One day, however, the yolk is missing, as is Tantra. Her brother gravely ill and in hospital, Tantri starts slipping into magical parallel worlds, approaching the inevitable farewell through costumes, body paint and dance. When at one point Tantri’s mother washes the paint from her face, it is as if tenderly to expel the illusion that things can remain as they are. In long dream sequences and against the background of the Balinese philosophy of sekala – the seen – and niskala – the unseen – Andini relates how one ten-year-old girl deals with parting and grief.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Window (2016)
Dewi returns to her village in Yogyakarta after ten years of leaving. A letter and newspaper clipping sent by her mother, make her return to her village: Dee’s mysterious pregnancy, her mentally handicapped sister Dewi finds her parents' home situation has not changed. What has changed is the pregnancy of Dee and the always changing view behind the large window of the house. Dewi then knows Priyanto who is just a year living in the village. They make an unusual love story. Joko, Dewi’s old friend, is jealous. The arrival of Dewi reveals his unfinished past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLucid Love (2024)
Juno, an ordinary man, always feels insecure because he has a beautiful girlfriend, while Trish, a beautiful woman, is always played by men. They never expected to meet in a place full of wonders, a place that would determine their love lives, in a lucid dream.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Siti Madosi Gusti (2018)
In the midst of the condition of her family full of problems, whether problems about the father or the economic conditions in her home, Her mother cry and calling name of God loudly for help on their suffering. But Siti, the child, looked confused. At this moment she still wonders who actually is called God?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Behind The Scene (2025)
"Di Balik Layar" tells the story of Raka, Dika, Yaya, Vania, and Karin's struggle to make a romance film. Raka, a student with a lot of imagination, has the ambition to create a perfect romance film. However, his high expectations clash with reality. His selfishness and unwillingness to listen to input from his team, put his film project on the verge of failure. When everything starts to fall apart, Raka is forced to face a choice: to maintain his ego or to start working with his team. Will this film be realized or will it be destroyed before it is born? Then, what tensions and conflicts are created by "Behind the Scenes"?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Ca-Bau-Kan (2002)
Determined to discover her roots, a young woman travels to Indonesia and pieces together her parents' unconventional love story.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Jakarta Undercover (2007)
After accidently killing her temperamental father in order to save her mom from his abuse, Viki flees from Medan to Jakarta with her autistic brother, Ara. To make ends meet in Jakarta, Viki poses as a transvestite and works as a striptease dancer. With no one to watch over her brother, Viki brings Ara every night to the club where she works and hide him in one corner of the room at the club. One day, Ara accidently witnesses an act of murder by Haryo, son of an official, and his friends. Realizing his crime action witness by Ara, Haryo and his friends chase Viki and Ara, determined to silene the two before they go to the police. For the sake of saving his brother’s life, Viki secretly flee from one place to another in order to escape Haryo and friends. Will Viki and Ara escape?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Like The Struggle and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Struggle?
The closest matches to The Struggle are Jacknife (1989), The Scarlet and the Black (1983) and Battleground (1949). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Struggle?
Start with Jacknife (1989), the closest match to The Struggle.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Struggle?
Birdy (1984), rated 7.1/10 by 605 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Struggle?
The Codes of War (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Struggle chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Struggle, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.