Movies like Hell and Back Again (2011)
The best movies like Hell and Back Again (2011) are The War Tapes (2006), Restrepo (2010) and The True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003). If Hell and Back Again hooked you with its documentary, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Fog of War (2003)7.7/10 from 311 votes
- NewestMy Mom Jayne (2025)Released 2025
The War Tapes (2006)
Straight from the front lines in Iraq, THE WAR TAPES is the first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves. These soldiers bypassed Pentagon supervised media to share their experience like never before. Funnier, spicier, and more gut wrenching than news reports, this is Operation Iraqi Freedom as filmed by Sergeant Steve Pink, Sergeant Zack Bazzi and Specialist Mike Moriarty. Steve is a wisecracking carpenter who aspires to be a writer. Zack is a Lebanese-American university student who loves to travel and is fluent in Arabic. Mike is a father who seeks honor and redemption. Each leaves a woman behind - a girlfriend, a mother and a wife. Through their candid footage, these men open their hearts and take us on an unforgettable journey, capturing camaraderie and humor along with the brutal and terrifying experiences they face. These soldiers got the story that 2,700 embedded reporters never could.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Restrepo (2010)
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003)
On October 3rd, 1993, 120 Delta Force Commandos and Army Rangers were dropped into the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia. Their mission was a fast daylight raid to kidnap lead terrorist Mohammed Farrah Aidid, who had been killing U.N. workers delivering food to starving Somalis. Aidid’s goal was to control the country by controlling all the food. The mission abruptly changed to a rescue operation. Surrounded by Somali militia, a fierce firefight ensued that left American troops trapped and fighting for their lives. The ordeal left 18 American men dead, 70 wounded, with 3,000 Somalis casualties. This brilliant documentary tells the true story of "Black Hawk Down" through the memories and voices of the American Special Forces survivors. Also included are Somali militiamen as they recount their harrowing experiences of battle.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Only the Dead (2015)
A searing account of war correspondent Michael Ware's seven years reporting in Iraq--an extraordinary journey that takes him into the darkest recesses of the Iraq War and the human soul.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tillman Story (2010)
Pat Tillman never thought of himself as a hero. His choice to leave a multimillion-dollar football contract and join the military wasn't done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is unfathomable and thoroughly explored in Amir Bar-Lev's riveting and enraging documentary.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe 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 War Around Us (2014)
In 2008 two best friends found themselves trapped in one of the most dangerous places on earth - the only western journalists in the Gaza Strip on what was supposed to be a 24-hour assignment. The War Around Us captures the collision of veteran war correspondent and one of TIME's most 100 influential people, Ayman Mohyeldin, with rookie reporter Sherine Tadros. As missiles shower the city and unspeakable atrocities emerge, the pair is torn by fierce professional rivalry, private terror and grim humor - with no way out and the whole world watching.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Watchers of the Sky (2014)
Five interwoven stories of remarkable courage from Nuremberg to Rwanda, from Darfur to Syria, and from apathy to action.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (2007)
An examination of the prisoner abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers and detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the fall of 2003.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
No End in Sight (2007)
Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWatani: My Homeland (2016)
The story of one family's fight and struggle to survive the Syrian Civil War. Having lost her husband, the mother makes the heart achingly painful decision to leave her homeland, in search of safety and a brighter future for her children. Filmed over three years, the film chronicles the family's journey from the front-line in Aleppo, to a little town in Germany. Escaping the chaos and terror of their war torn homeland becomes a catalyst for a different kind of struggle; the struggle to understand your past and accept your present, to adapt to a new life, to hold on to hope, and the idea of belonging to a homeland.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Frame by Frame (2015)
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a fledgling free press emerged and a photography revolution was born. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, Afghanistan is left to stand on its own and so are its journalists. Set in a modern Afghanistan bursting with color and character, FRAME BY FRAME follows four Afghan photojournalists navigating a dangerous media landscape as they reframe Afghanistan for the world, and for themselves. Through cinema vérité, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen footage shot in secret during the Taliban regime, the film connects an audience with four humans in the pursuit of the truth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Korengal (2014)
Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 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 thisFull Metal Jacket: Between Good and Evil (2007)
Follow Stanley Kubrick as he creates his savage and brilliant Vietnam film, hewing closely to the theme that dominated his creative life for four decades - the duality of human nature. Poised between good and evil, mankind was, in Kubrick's view, a complex creature equally capable of unspeakable savagery and heart-melting tenderness. Full Metal Jacket would make his case in vivid, blood-soaked Technicolor. Through interviews with Kubrick's collaborators and cast members, including Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Ermey and Adam Baldwin, this documentary reveals how Kubrick's brilliant visual sense, astute knowledge of human nature, and unique perspective on the duality of man came together to make Full Metal Jacket an unforgettable cinematic experience, taking its place in his "war trilogy" alongside cinematic landmarks Fear and Desire and Paths of Glory.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Brothers in Arms (2018)
Charlie Sheen narrates, as cast and crew share their personal experiences making the Academy Award winning film, Platoon. This non-union, low budget, independent film was cast almost exclusively with young, unknown actors making their first film. Together they share their first hand accounts of the grueling boot camp, Oliver Stone's "unique" directing style, and the brutal filming conditions that together forged their eternal brotherhood.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Severe Clear (2010)
Severe Clear is a film based on the memoirs of First Lieutenant Mike Scotti in videos made by him and others from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines during the start of the 2003 Iraq invasion. The film explores the chaos and complexity of see the war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
My Trip to Al-Qaeda (2010)
Journalist Lawrence Wright brings his multilayered one-man play to the screen as he discusses how a reporter remains objective while covering highly charged issues such as 9/11, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's past and the history of Islam. Wright examines the Muslim religion, Al-Qaeda's rise to power and bin Laden's complicated relationship with the rulers of Saudi Arabia in this riveting documentary from Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Battle for Marjah (2010)
Tells the story of Operation Moshtarak, the biggest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war, whose main target was the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. For two months, VBS correspondent Ben Anderson got to know the American forces behind Operation Moshtarak and filmed the brutal realities of their life on the front lines.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Taxi to the Dark Side (2008)
An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBulletproof Salesman (2008)
Fidelis Cloer is a self-confessed war profiteer who found The Perfect War when the US invaded Iraq. It wasn't about selling a dozen cars, or even a hundred, it was a thousand-car war where security would become the ultimate product.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington (2013)
A portrait of photographer Tim Hetherington's work in war zones around the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
The Ground Truth (2006)
Sometimes the greatest act of courage is to tell the truth. Hear and witness our soldiers in this penetrating film. The shocking Iraq War ground conflict is only a prelude to the even more challenging battles these reluctant heroes face upon their return home.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Brothers at War (2009)
BROTHERS AT WAR is an intimate portrait of an American family during a turbulent time. Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake’s exploits as he risks everything—including his life—to tell his brothers’ story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
Documentary portraying the actions of U.S. corporate contractors in the U.S.-Iraq war. Interviews with employees and former employees of such companies as Halliburton, CACI, and KBR suggest that government cronyism is behind apparent "sweetheart" deals that give such contractors enormous freedom to profit from supplying support and material to American troops while providing little oversight. Survivors of employees who were killed discuss the claim that the companies cared more for profit than for the welfare of their own workers, and soldiers indicate that the quality of services provided is sub-standard and severely in contradiction to the comparatively huge profits being generated. Also depicted are the unsuccessful attempts by the filmmakers to get company spokesmen to respond to the charges made by the interviewees.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both documentary
Sidney (2022)
This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Class of ‘92 (2013)
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeing James Bond (2021)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMy Mom Jayne (2025)
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
A documentary on the life of John Lennon, with a focus on the time in his life when he transformed from a musician into an antiwar activist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Hell and Back Again?
The closest matches to Hell and Back Again are The War Tapes (2006), Restrepo (2010) and The True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Hell and Back Again?
People who watched Hell and Back Again most often go on to The War Tapes (2006), Restrepo (2010) and The True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003).
What is the highest-rated movie like Hell and Back Again?
The Fog of War (2003), rated 7.7/10 by 311 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Hell and Back Again?
My Mom Jayne (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Hell and Back Again?
Yes: The War Tapes (2006), Restrepo (2010) and The True Story of Black Hawk Down (2003).
How are movies similar to Hell and Back Again chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Hell and Back Again, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.