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Deepwater Horizon poster

Movies that feel likeDeepwater Horizon (2016)

A story set on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded during April 2010 and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

If you loved Deepwater Horizon, the closest films we have are Creed II (2018), Southpaw (2015) and Sound of Freedom (2023). All three share Deepwater Horizon's contemplative and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Once Upon a Time in China (1991).

🍅 82% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Peter Bergcontemplativekinetic
10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Deepwater Horizon hit the spot, these will too

Creed II poster
Creed II
2018 · dir. Steven Caple Jr.
🍅 83%★ 7.1drama · actionPrime VideoHulu

Contemplative where it counts, kinetic underneath

Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight against an opponent with ties to his family's past, Adonis Creed is up against the challenge of his life.

Southpaw poster
Southpaw
2015 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 59%★ 7.3action · dramaStarz

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.

Sound of Freedom poster
Sound of Freedom
2023 · dir. Alejandro Monteverde
🍅 57%★ 7.6action · dramaPrime Video

Common ground: a true story

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

The story of Tim Ballard, a former US government agent, who quits his job in order to devote his life to rescuing children from global sex traffickers.

Shaolin poster
Shaolin
2011 · dir. Benny Chan
🍅 73%★ 6.8action · dramaPrime Video

Action with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

China is plunged into strife as feuding warlords try to expand their power by warring over neighboring lands. Fuelled by his success on the battlefield, young and arrogant Hao Jie sneers at Shaolin's masters when he beats one of them in a duel. But the pride comes before a fall. When his own family is wiped out by a rival warlord, Hao is forced to take refuge with the monks. As the civil unrest spreads and the people suffer, Hao and the Shaolin masters are forced to take a fiery stand against the evil warlords. They launch a daring plan or rescue and escape.

Ip Man: The Final Fight poster
Ip Man: The Final Fight
2013 · dir. Herman Yau
🍅 67%★ 6.1action · dramaPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Ip Man reluctantly begins a series of challenges from rival kung fu schools and is soon drawn into the dark and dangerous world of the Triads.

The Rebel poster
The Rebel
2007 · dir. Charlie Nguyen
★ 6.8action · drama

Kinetic action in both cases

In French ruled Vietnam in 1922, the French and Vietnamese officers plot to sniff out arch-rebel De Canh.

Warrior poster
Warrior
2011 · dir. Gavin O'Connor
🍅 84%★ 8.1drama · actionPrime Video

Cut from the same drama cloth

The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament – a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.

F1 poster
F1
2025 · dir. Joseph Kosinski
🍅 82%★ 7.6action · dramaApple TV+

Action in the same key

Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory.

Rush poster
Rush
2013 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 88%★ 8.1drama · action

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

In the 1970s, a rivalry propels race car drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt to fame and glory — until a horrible accident threatens to end it all.

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

The same hand behind both of them: Peter Berg

The difference: Sits closer to war than Deepwater Horizon does

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.

Once Upon a Time in China poster
Once Upon a Time in China
1991 · dir. Tsui Hark
🍅 90%★ 7.2action · dramaMax

Both play drama straight

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

In late 19th-century Canton, legendary hero Wong Fei-Hung battles foreign forces' (English, French and American) plundering of China. When Aunt Yee returns from America totally westernised, Wong assumes the role of protector. This proves difficult when his martial arts school and local militia become involved in fierce battles with foreign and local governments. As violence escalates, even Aunt Yee has to question her new western ideals, but is it possible to fight guns with Kung Fu?

Top Gun: Maverick poster
Top Gun: Maverick
2022 · dir. Joseph Kosinski
🍅 96%★ 8.2action · dramaNetflixParamount+

The same action instincts

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.

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The best-reviewed films that share Deepwater Horizon’s defining feeling.