Movies like The Great Dictator (1940)
The best movies like The Great Dictator (1940) are Duck Soup (1933), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) and Carry On Sergeant (1958). If The Great Dictator hooked you with its comedy and war, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHarvey (1950)7.7/10 from 712 votes
- NewestWhat Christmas Left Behind (2024)Released 2024
Duck Soup (1933)
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
SnoozefestMovies like thisCarry On Sergeant (1958)
Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Servicemen. But a motley bunch they turn out to be, and it's up to Grimshawe to put the no-hopers through their paces.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOh! What a Lovely War (1969)
The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
Topper Harley is found to be working as an odd-job-man in a monastery. The CIA want him to lead a rescue mission into Iraq, to rescue the last rescue team, who went in to rescue the last rescue team—who went in to rescue hostages left behind after Desert Storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUndercover Brother (2002)
An Afro-American organization, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., is in permanent fight against a white organization "The Man" defending the values of the black people in North America. When the Afro-American candidate Gen. Warren Boutwell behaves strangely in his presidential campaign, Undercover Brother is hired to work undercover for "The Man" and find what happened with the potential candidate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisDon't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPlaying with Fire (2019)
A crew of rugged firefighters meet their match when attempting to rescue three rambunctious kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisZelig (1983)
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisLegally Blonde (2001)
Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Trouble with Angels (1966)
Mary and her friend, Rachel, are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by the iron fist of Mother Superior. The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAnchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
With the 70s behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, returns to take New York's first 24-hour news channel by storm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Anxiety (1977)
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Court Jester (1955)
A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against a usurper who has overthrown the rightful king of England.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisChris Rock: Kill the Messenger (2008)
An HBO special edited from three performances from Chris Rock's 2008 comedy tour: London (dark suit, dark shirt), Johannesburg (black suit, white shirt) and New York (shiny jacket). Topics include the ongoing presidential campaign, the possibility of a black president, George W. Bush, gas prices, low-paid jobs, ringtones and bottled water, sex, relationships and the correct use of the n-word
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHead (1968)
In this surrealistic and free-form follow-up to the Monkees' television show, the band frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing humor and anti-establishment social commentary.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBarbie (2023)
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMeatballs (1979)
Tripper is the head counselor at a budget summer camp called Camp Northstar. In truth, he's young at heart and only marginally more mature than the campers themselves. Tripper befriends Rudy, a loner camper who has trouble fitting in. As Tripper inspires his young charges to defeat rival Camp Mohawk in the annual Olympiad competition, Rudy plays matchmaker between Tripper and Roxanne, a female counselor at Northstar.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisHarvey (1950)
The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Worth the HypeMovies 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 war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Man with the Objective Lens (1961)
A humorous and satirical comedy, which places a man from the year 2222 one day in the (then) present day life in GDR, East Germany under Communist regime. Using a crystal for mind reading he uncovers some improprieties and moral weaknesses in the "Beautiful future" professed by VEB ("Volkseigener Betrieb" – "State Owned Holdings").
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
The Assault (1986)
At the end of WWII the Dutch resistance kills a German officer in front of the house of a Dutch family. Years after the war the young boy who witnessed the killing runs into the members of the resistance who committed the killing.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Match (2021)
Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
In the not-too-distant future, the evil Dr. Forrester forces a temp named Mike into a series of experiments, where he's forced to watch cheesy movies so the mad scientist can monitor his mind. However, as Mike can't control where the movies begin or end, he'll try to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSisu (2022)
When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, German soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhat Christmas Left Behind (2024)
A war. Two friends. Chaos will reign.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
A deer, disillusioned by the consumerism that defines his life. A lizard, ostracized from society, forever wandering. A chance meeting in the middle of a field. Who will survive? And who will transcend existence? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUn crime de guerre (1994)
A film that relates the trial in Bordeaux in January 1953 of some of the participants in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre of June 10, 1944.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both war
You're Next (1927)
The three fat boys make the discovery that they are late for the barber school. There they ply their trade on various interesting customers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
Like The Great Dictator and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Great Dictator?
The closest matches to The Great Dictator are Duck Soup (1933), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) and Carry On Sergeant (1958). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Great Dictator?
Start with Duck Soup (1933), the closest match to The Great Dictator.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Great Dictator?
Harvey (1950), rated 7.7/10 by 712 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Great Dictator?
What Christmas Left Behind (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Great Dictator?
Yes: Duck Soup (1933), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) and Carry On Sergeant (1958).
How are movies similar to The Great Dictator chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great Dictator, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.