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Movies that feel like Wings (1927)

If you loved Wings, the closest films we have are Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958). All three share Wings' contemplative 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 HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

πŸ… 94% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.5 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. William A. Wellmancontemplativekineticbleakromantictender

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If Wings hit the spot, these will too

Mrs. Miniver poster
Mrs. Miniver
1942 Β· dir. William Wyler
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.6drama Β· romance Β· war

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

The difference: None of the momentum Wings is built on

Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.

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The Cranes Are Flying poster
The Cranes Are Flying
1957 Β· dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.3drama Β· romance Β· war

Both keep coming back to the same thing: battlefield

The difference: 30 years apart, and the 1950s show

Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

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Ashes and Diamonds poster
Ashes and Diamonds
1958 Β· dir. Andrzej Wajda
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.7drama Β· war Β· romance

One thread runs through both: black and white

A young academy soldier, Maciek Chelmicki, is ordered to shoot the secretary of the KW PPR. A coincidence causes him to kill someone else. Meeting face to face with his victim, he gets a shock. He faces the necessity of repeating the assassination. He meets Krystyna, a girl working as a barmaid in the restaurant of the "Monopol" hotel. His affection for her makes him even more aware of the senselessness of killing at the end of the war. Loyalty to the oath he took, and thus the obligation to obey the order, tips the scales.

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Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans poster
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 Β· dir. F. W. Murnau
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1drama Β· romance

Both are working the same pair: love triangle, silent film

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

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All Quiet on the Western Front poster
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 Β· dir. Lewis Milestone
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1drama Β· war

Two things both keep coming back to: friendship and world war i

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

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The Best Years of Our Lives poster
The Best Years of Our Lives
1946 Β· dir. William Wyler
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.1drama Β· romance Β· war

Both land stillness and bleakness at once

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

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From Here to Eternity poster
From Here to Eternity
1953 Β· dir. Fred Zinnemann
πŸ… 88%β˜… 7.6war Β· romance Β· drama

Romantic where it counts, tender underneath

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

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Grand Hotel poster
Grand Hotel
1932 Β· dir. Edmund Goulding
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.3drama Β· romance

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

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Doctor Zhivago poster
Doctor Zhivago
1965 Β· dir. David Lean
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.9drama Β· romance Β· war

Common ground: 1910s

The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.

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The General poster
The General
1926 Β· dir. Clyde Bruckman
πŸ… 92%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· war Β· romance

Both are built on the same subject: silent film

The difference: Sits closer to comedy than Wings does

During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'β€”with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcarβ€”and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.

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The Navigator poster
The Navigator
1924 Β· dir. Buster Keaton
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· action Β· adventure

Action built on momentum, twice over

The wealthy and impulsive Rollo Treadway decides to propose to his beautiful socialite neighbor, Betsy O'Brien. Although Betsy turns Rollo down, he still opts to go on the cruise that he intended as their honeymoon. When circumstances find both Rollo and Betsy on the wrong ship, they end up having adventures on the high seas.

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Wuthering Heights poster
Wuthering Heights
1939 Β· dir. William Wyler
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5drama Β· romance

Romantic romance in both cases

Young orphan Heathcliff is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Edgar Linton, a man of means who befits her stature. Heathcliff vows to win her back.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

all contemplative movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share Wings’ defining feeling.