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12 Strong poster

Movies that feel like12 Strong (2018)

A team of special forces head into Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in an attempt to dismantle the Taliban.

If you loved 12 Strong, the closest films we have are We Were Soldiers (2002), Red Cliff (2008) and Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007). All three share 12 Strong's bleak and kinetic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

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

🍅 50% Rotten Tomatoes★ 6.6 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Nicolai Fuglsigbleakkineticepic
11 of 12 streaming nowAmazon Prime Video · Hulu · Apple TV

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If 12 Strong hit the spot, these will too

We Were Soldiers poster
We Were Soldiers
2002 · dir. Randall Wallace
🍅 63%★ 7.2action · history · warParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: a true story

The year is 1965 and America is at war with North Vietnam. Commanding the air cavalry is Lt. Col. Hal Moore (Gibson), a born leader committed to his troops. His target: the Ia Drang Valley, called "The Valley of Death." As Moore prepares for one of the most violent battles in U.S. history, he delivers a stirring promise to his soldiers and their families: "I will leave no man behind...dead or alive. We will all come home together."

Red Cliff poster
Red Cliff
2008 · dir. John Woo
🍅 89%★ 7.3history · war · actionPrime Video

Bleak and kinetic in the same breath

The difference: Critics rated this one higher still

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.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan poster
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan
2007 · dir. Sergei Bodrov
🍅 86%★ 7.2history · war · action

War with a pulse of scale, in both cases

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

The Woman King poster
The Woman King
2022 · dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
🍅 94%★ 6.9action · drama · historyHulu

The same preoccupation in both: a true story

The difference: Leans harder into drama than 12 Strong does

The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, and General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.

Black Hawk Down poster
Black Hawk Down
2001 · dir. Ridley Scott
🍅 77%★ 7.7action · war · historyApple TV+

Action built on bleakness, twice over

When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.

Operation Red Sea poster
Operation Red Sea
2018 · dir. Dante Lam Chiu-yin
🍅 80%★ 6.6action · thriller · warPrime Video

Kinetic history, and it commits to that

The difference: Sits closer to thriller than 12 Strong does

A squad of the Jiaolong Commando Unit - Sea Dragon, a spec ops team of the Chinese Navy, carries out a hostage rescue operation in the nation of Yewaire, on the Arabian Peninsula, and fiercely fights against local rebel groups and Zaka, a terrorist organization.

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

Epic war in both cases

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

The Darkest Minds poster
The Darkest Minds
2018 · dir. Jennifer Yuh Nelson
🍅 15%★ 5.7action · adventure · drama

Both lean on bleakness more than on action

After a disease kills 98% of America's children, the surviving 2% develop superpowers and are placed in internment camps. A 16-year-old girl escapes her camp and joins a group of other teens on the run from the government.

King Arthur poster
King Arthur
2004 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 30%★ 6.3adventure · war · historyPrime Video

Both lean on momentum more than on history

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.

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

Both are working the same pair: afghanistan, taliban

The difference: Trades the scale of 12 Strong for an angle of its own

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.

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

Both are war through and through

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.

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

Action built on scale, twice over

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.

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The best-reviewed films that share 12 Strong’s defining feeling.