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Movies that feel like Red Cliff (2008)

If you loved Red Cliff, the closest films we have are Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004), The Flowers of War (2011) and Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007). All three share Red Cliff's epic and bleak feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 4 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

πŸ… 89% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.3 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. John Wooepiccontemplativekineticbleak
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If Red Cliff hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Red Cliff II (2009)

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War poster
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War
2004 Β· dir. Kang Je-kyu
πŸ… 79%β˜… 8action Β· adventure Β· drama

Both land scale and stillness at once

When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.

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The Flowers of War poster
The Flowers of War
2011 Β· dir. Zhang Yimou
πŸ… 41%β˜… 7.5drama Β· history Β· war

Both keep coming back to the same thing: china

The difference: Reviewed a good deal more coolly

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

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Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan poster
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan
2007 Β· dir. Sergei Bodrov
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.2history Β· war Β· action

Kinetic and bleak in the same breath

The difference: Not nearly as contemplative as Red Cliff

The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan, a slave who went on to conquer half the world in the 11th century.

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The Legend Is Born: Ip Man poster
The Legend Is Born: Ip Man
2010 Β· dir. Herman Yau
β˜… 7drama Β· action Β· history

One thread runs through both: martial arts

The remarkable true story of the early life of Ip Man, the formidable kung fu genius who would become Bruce Lee's mentor; beginning at the start of his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun.

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Flame & Citron poster
Flame & Citron
2008 Β· dir. Ole Christian Madsen
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.2drama Β· history Β· war

Both lean on scale more than on drama

Gunman Flame and his partner Citron assassinate Nazi collaborators for the Danish resistance. Assigned targets by their Allies-connected leader, Aksel Winther, they relish the opportunity to begin targeting the Nazis themselves. When they begin to doubt the validity of their assignments, their morally complicated task becomes even more labyrinthine.

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Eastern Condors poster
Eastern Condors
1987 Β· dir. Sammo Hung Kam-Bo
β˜… 7.1action Β· adventure Β· war

Both are built on the same subject: martial arts

The difference: Made in the 1980s, in a different era of the craft

A motley group of Chinese prisoners held in the US is sent on a covert mission with the promise of a pardon: to go deep into Vietnam and destroy a secret depot of missiles that the US left behind during the pull-out.

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Katyn poster
Katyn
2007 Β· dir. Andrzej Wajda
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7drama Β· history Β· war

Contemplative history in both cases

On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland, unleashing World War II. On September 17th, the Soviet Red Army crosses the border. The Polish army, unable to fight on two fronts, is defeated. Thousands of Polish men, both military and government officials, are captured by the invaders. Their fate will only be known several years later.

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9th Company poster
9th Company
2005 Β· dir. Fyodor Bondarchuk
πŸ… 69%β˜… 7.1war Β· drama Β· history

War built on bleakness, twice over

Russian army recruits complete training and take their posting in late 1980s Afghanistan, where the insurgents are slowly gaining the upper hand.

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King Arthur poster
King Arthur
2004 Β· dir. Antoine Fuqua
πŸ… 30%β˜… 6.3adventure Β· war Β· history

Adventure with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The story of the Arthurian legend, based on the 'Sarmatian hypothesis' which contends that the legend has a historical nucleus in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry troops stationed in Britain, and that the Roman-British military commander, Lucius Artorius Castus is the historical person behind the legend.

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The Captain poster
The Captain
2018 Β· dir. Robert Schwentke
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.3war Β· drama Β· history

Epic action, and it commits to that

Germany, 1945. Soldier Willi Herold, a deserter of the German army, stumbles into a uniform of a Nazi captain abandoned during the last and desperate weeks of the Third Reich. Newly emboldened by the allure of a suit that he has stolen only to stay warm, Willi discovers that many Germans will follow the leader, whoever he is.

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Kingdom of Heaven poster
Kingdom of Heaven
2005 Β· dir. Ridley Scott
πŸ… 39%β˜… 7.3drama Β· action Β· adventure

Adventure built on stillness, twice over

After his wife dies, a blacksmith named Balian is thrust into royalty, political intrigue and bloody holy wars during the Crusades.

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The Shadow in My Eye poster
The Shadow in My Eye
2021 Β· dir. Ole Bornedal
β˜… 7.3war Β· drama Β· history

Bleak drama in both cases

On March 21st, 1945, the British Royal Air Force set out on a mission to bomb Gestapo's headquarters in Copenhagen. The raid had fatal consequences as some of the bombers accidentally targeted a school and more than 120 people were killed, 86 of whom were children.

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In the mood for more epic?

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The best-reviewed films that share Red Cliff’s defining feeling.