Movies like The Man Who Came Back (1914)
The best movies like The Man Who Came Back (1914) are Paths of Glory (1957), Sergeant York (1941) and The Great War (2019). If The Man Who Came Back 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 ratedPaths of Glory (1957)8.3/10 from 3,439 votes
- NewestCoward (2026)Released 2026
Paths of Glory (1957)
A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisSergeant York (1941)
Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great War (2019)
In November of 1918 as World War I was ending, a unit of American soldiers goes behind enemy lines to find a lost platoon of African American soldiers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Guns of Navarone (1961)
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisAll Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors of war soon become too much to bear, and as his friends die or become gravely wounded, Paul questions the sanity of fighting over a few hundreds yards of war-torn countryside.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhen Trumpets Fade (1998)
In WWII Western Germany, Private David Manning reluctantly leaves behind a mortally wounded fellow soldier and searches for survivors from his platoon, only to learn from commanding officer Captain Pritchett that they have all been killed in action. Despite requesting a discharge on the grounds of mental disability, Manning is promoted to sergeant and assigned to lead a new platoon of young inductees.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like this1917 (2019)
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisJacknife (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 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 thisAll Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Longest Day (1962)
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Four Feathers (1939)
A disgraced officer risks his life to help his childhood friends in battle.
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 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 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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStolz der Nation (2009)
The "true" story of Wehrmacht sniper Fredrick Zoller as he single-handedly fends off an Allied siege of a Sicilian town.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Yellow Birds (2018)
Two young soldiers, Bartle and Murph, navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Way Ahead (1944)
A mismatched collection of conscripted civilians find training tough under Lieutenant Jim Perry and Sergeant Ned Fletcher when they are called up to replace an infantry battalion that had suffered casualties at Dunkirk.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & war
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 & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe African Queen (1952)
At the start of the First World War, in the middle of Africa’s nowhere, a gin soaked riverboat captain is persuaded by a strong-willed missionary to go down river and face-off a German warship.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSven Tuuva the Hero (1958)
For six hundred years Sweden had controlled most of Finland until the war with Russia that ended in 1809, when Finland became a Grand Duchy of the Russian Czar. This period drama is set during that early 19th-century war and focuses on one of its heroes, Sven Tuuva. Sven is a decent yet not too brilliant soldier, and his exploits are partly balanced here by the charms of a compatriot.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)
Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBeyond Victory (1931)
Four battle-weary American soldiers under fire reflect on the women they left behind.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Namenlose Helden (1925)
A family suffers greatly during the First World War.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Coward (2026)
Surrounded by brutality but bound by a tender intimacy, two World War I soldiers find a fragile sanctuary of love and art amid the shadows of the Belgian trenches.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
A hard-nosed, hard-living Marine gunnery sergeant clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUncommon Valor (1983)
A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Very Long Engagement (2004)
Young Frenchwoman Mathilde searches for the truth about her missing fiancé, lost during World War I, and learns many unexpected things along the way. The love of her life is gone. But she refuses to believe he's gone forever — and she needs to know for sure.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLawrence of Arabia (1962)
During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes to fight the Turks.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Absolute CinemaMovies like this
Like The Man Who Came Back and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Man Who Came Back?
The closest matches to The Man Who Came Back are Paths of Glory (1957), Sergeant York (1941) and The Great War (2019). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Man Who Came Back?
Start with Paths of Glory (1957), the closest match to The Man Who Came Back.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Man Who Came Back?
Paths of Glory (1957), rated 8.3/10 by 3,439 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Man Who Came Back?
Coward (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Man Who Came Back?
Yes: Paths of Glory (1957), Sergeant York (1941) and The Great War (2019).
How are movies similar to The Man Who Came Back chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Man Who Came Back, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.