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300: Rise of an Empire poster

Movies that feel like300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Greek general Themistocles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. Themistocles faces the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god, Xerxes and Artemesia, the vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

If you loved 300: Rise of an Empire, the closest films we have are Greyhound (2020), Lone Survivor (2013) and Civil War (2024). All three share 300: Rise of an Empire's kinetic and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Shadow (2018).

🍅 45% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Noam Murrokineticcontemplativebleak
8 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Apple TV

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If 300: Rise of an Empire hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: 300 (2007)

Greyhound poster
Greyhound
2020 · dir. Aaron Schneider
🍅 77%★ 7war · action · dramaApple TV+

Naval command under relentless assault, told battle to battle

The difference: Lean WWII procedural — no stylized slow-motion bloodshed

A first-time captain leads a convoy of allied ships carrying thousands of soldiers across the treacherous waters of the "Black Pit" to the front lines of WWII. With no air cover protection for 5 days, the captain and his convoy must battle the surrounding enemy Nazi U-boats in order to give the allies a chance to win the war.

Lone Survivor poster
Lone Survivor
2013 · dir. Peter Berg
🍅 75%★ 7.5war · action · dramaPrime VideoStarz

Outnumbered men fighting on when the mission has already gone wrong

The difference: True-story weight — the violence hurts instead of thrilling

Four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative must make an impossible moral decision in the mountains of Afghanistan that leads them into an enemy ambush. As they confront unthinkable odds, the SEALs must find reserves of strength and resilience to fight to the finish.

Civil War poster
Civil War
2024 · dir. Alex Garland
🍅 80%★ 7war · action · dramaRent or buy

Combat staged for maximum impact as a nation tears itself apart

The difference: Follows observers, not warriors — it withholds the sides and the glory

In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.

Uri: The Surgical Strike poster
Uri: The Surgical Strike
2019 · dir. Aditya Dhar
🍅 57%★ 8.2action · drama · war

A vengeance-fueled military strike built to make the crowd cheer

The difference: Patriotic modern-ops realism, no ancient-world stylization

Following the roguish terrorist attacks at Uri Army Base camp in Kashmir, India takes the fight to the enemy, in its most successful covert operation till date with one and only one objective of avenging their fallen heroes.

Letters from Iwo Jima poster
Letters from Iwo Jima
2006 · dir. Clint Eastwood
🍅 91%★ 7.8action · drama · war

A doomed defense told from the invaded side's point of view

The difference: Quiet, mournful and subtitled — anti-war where 300 is war-drunk

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Fury poster
Fury
2014 · dir. David Ayer
🍅 75%★ 7.6war · drama · actionApple TV+

Brutal late-war combat where each engagement is a grim last stand

The difference: Mud and steel realism — grime replaces the painterly gore

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant commands a Sherman tank with a five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines.

Stalingrad poster
Stalingrad
2013 · dir. Fyodor Bondarchuk
🍅 51%★ 5.7war · action · drama

Digital-age war spectacle that turns a doomed stand into myth

The difference: Grinding siege gloom with a romance, not graphic-novel swagger

A band of determined Russian soldiers fight to hold a strategic building in their devastated city against a ruthless German army, and in the process become deeply connected to a Russian woman who has been living there.

Tears of the Sun poster
Tears of the Sun
2003 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 34%★ 6.6war · action · dramaNetflix

Soldiers wading into slaughter with duty and conscience at odds

The difference: Modern and mud-real — solemn where 300 is operatic

Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician.

Balkan Line poster
Balkan Line
2019 · dir. Andrey Volgin
★ 6.6drama · action · warPrime Video

A small band holding one position against overwhelming force

The difference: Scrappy modern production — geopolitics instead of gods and legend

After the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the Yugoslav army pulls out of Kosovo region, leaving Serbian people at the mercy of the Albanian UCK. A small band of soldiers must take over the Slatina airport, and hold it until the Russian peacekeepers arrive.

Midway poster
Midway
2019 · dir. Roland Emmerich
🍅 42%★ 6.7war · history · drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: naval warfare

The difference: Leans harder into history than 300: Rise of an Empire does

The story of the Battle of Midway, and the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome massive odds.

Dunkirk poster
Dunkirk
2017 · dir. Christopher Nolan
🍅 92%★ 7.8war · action · dramaParamount+

Both land momentum and stillness at once

The difference: Reviewed even better

The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.

Shadow poster
Shadow
2018 · dir. Zhang Yimou
🍅 94%★ 7action · warPrime Video

Battle staged as gorgeous formalism — style is the whole point

The difference: Slow palace intrigue between fights, and it's subtitled wuxia

In a kingdom ruled by a young and unpredictable king, the military commander has a secret weapon: a shadow, a look-alike who can fool both his enemies and the King himself. Now he must use this weapon in an intricate plan that will lead his people to victory in a war that the King does not want.

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The best-reviewed films that share 300: Rise of an Empire’s defining feeling.