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Battleship Potemkin poster

Movies that feel likeBattleship Potemkin (1925)

In the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin revolt against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.

If you loved Battleship Potemkin, the closest films we have are Grand Illusion (1937), The Longest Day (1962) and Patton (1970). All three share Battleship Potemkin's contemplative and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Flame & Citron (2008).

πŸ… 100% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7.9 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Sergei Eisensteincontemplativeepicbleak
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix Β· HBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video

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If Battleship Potemkin hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Battleship (2012)

Grand Illusion poster
Grand Illusion
1937 Β· dir. Jean Renoir
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8drama Β· history Β· war

Contemplative where it counts, epic underneath

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.

The Longest Day poster
The Longest Day
1962 Β· dir. Ken Annakin
πŸ… 83%β˜… 7.7war Β· drama Β· history

Both lean on bleakness more than on drama

The difference: Made in the 1960s, in a different era of the craft

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"

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

History built on stillness, twice over

"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.

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

Epic war, and it commits to that

Former petty criminal Ali la Pointe becomes a commander of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale, directing a guerilla insurgency against the colonial French occupation. Paratrooper commander Colonel Phillippe Mathieu, a veteran of World War II and the First Indochina War, is sent to Algeria to reinforce efforts to squelch the uprisings.

Stalingrad poster
Stalingrad
1993 Β· dir. Joseph Vilsmaier
β˜… 7.5drama Β· history Β· war

Drama with a pulse of bleakness, in both cases

A German Platoon is explored through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After half of their number is wiped out and they're placed under the command of a sadistic captain, the platoon lieutenant leads his men to desert. The platoon members attempt escape from the city, now surrounded by the Soviet Army.

Land of Mine poster
Land of Mine
2015 Β· dir. Martin Zandvliet
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.8war Β· drama Β· history

Contemplative history in both cases

In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war is handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent to the West Coast, where they are ordered to remove the more than two million mines that the Germans had placed in the sand along the coast. With their bare hands, crawling around in the sand, the boys are forced to perform the dangerous work under the leadership of a Danish sergeant.

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

Bleak war, and it commits to that

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than Battleship Potemkin does

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.

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

Epic drama, and it commits to that

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.

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

History approached the same way

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.

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

Both play war straight

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.

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 drama is handled with the same confidence

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.

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

Both know what they want from history

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

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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The best-reviewed films that share Battleship Potemkin’s defining feeling.