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Movies that feel like Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

If you loved Lawrence of Arabia, the closest films we have are The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Where Eagles Dare (1968) and The Great Escape (1963). All three share Lawrence of Arabia's epic and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video and others, checked against today's data.

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.

πŸ… 93% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. David Leanepicbleak
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If Lawrence of Arabia hit the spot, these will too

The Bridge on the River Kwai poster
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957 Β· dir. David Lean
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1drama Β· history Β· war

The same hand behind both of them: David Lean

The difference: Sits closer to drama than Lawrence of Arabia does

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

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Where Eagles Dare poster
Where Eagles Dare
1968 Β· dir. Brian G. Hutton
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.6adventure Β· war

Epic and bleak in the same breath

World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.

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The Great Escape poster
The Great Escape
1963 Β· dir. John Sturges
πŸ… 94%β˜… 8.2adventure Β· drama Β· war

Adventure with a pulse of scale, in both cases

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

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The Battle of Algiers poster
The Battle of Algiers
1966 Β· dir. Gillo Pontecorvo
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8.1drama Β· war Β· history

Both lean on bleakness more than on history

Paratrooper commander Colonel Mathieu, a former French Resistance fighter during World War II, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings of the Algerian War. There he faces Ali la Pointe, a former petty criminal who, as the leader of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directs terror strategies against the colonial French government occupation. As each side resorts to ever-increasing brutality, no violent act is too unthinkable.

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The Guns of Navarone poster
The Guns of Navarone
1961 Β· dir. J. Lee Thompson
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5adventure Β· drama Β· war

War built on scale, twice over

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.

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Patton poster
Patton
1970 Β· dir. Franklin J. Schaffner
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.9war Β· drama Β· history

Bleak history in both cases

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.

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Grand Illusion poster
Grand Illusion
1937 Β· dir. Jean Renoir
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.1drama Β· history Β· war

Both are built on the same subject: world war i

The difference: Made in the 1930s, in a different era of the craft

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant MarΓ©chal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

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War Horse poster
War Horse
2011 Β· dir. Steven Spielberg
πŸ… 74%β˜… 7.2war Β· history Β· drama

Both keep coming back to the same thing: horse

On the brink of the First World War, Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the Cavalry by his father. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy, and sorrow, and he transforms everyone he meets along the way. Meanwhile, Albert, unable to forget his equine friend, searches the battlefields of France to find Joey and bring him home.

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The Dirty Dozen poster
The Dirty Dozen
1967 Β· dir. Robert Aldrich
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.7action Β· adventure Β· war

Adventure approached the same way

12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy chΓ’teau and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.

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Das Boot poster
Das Boot
1981 Β· dir. Wolfgang Petersen
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.4drama Β· history Β· war

The war is handled with the same confidence

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

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Enemy at the Gates poster
Enemy at the Gates
2001 Β· dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud
πŸ… 53%β˜… 7.5war Β· history

Common ground: a true story

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

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The Tin Drum poster
The Tin Drum
1979 Β· dir. Volker SchlΓΆndorff
πŸ… 84%β˜… 7.4drama Β· history Β· war

History in the same key

In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.

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In the mood for more epic?

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The best-reviewed films that share Lawrence of Arabia’s defining feeling.