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The Patriot poster

Movies that feel likeThe Patriot (2000)

After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.

If you loved The Patriot, the closest films we have are Braveheart (1995), The Tin Drum (1979) and Das Boot (1981). All three share The Patriot'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 Katyn (2007).

🍅 61% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Roland Emmerichcontemplativeepicbleakmelancholy
8 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

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If The Patriot hit the spot, these will too

Braveheart poster
Braveheart
1995 · dir. Mel Gibson
🍅 74%★ 8.3drama · history · warParamount+

Both are working the same pair: grief, a true story

Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.

The Tin Drum poster
The Tin Drum
1979 · dir. Volker Schlöndorff
🍅 84%★ 7.4drama · history · warMax

Contemplative where it counts, epic underneath

The difference: 21 years apart, and the 1970s show

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.

Das Boot poster
Das Boot
1981 · dir. Wolfgang Petersen
🍅 98%★ 8.3drama · history · war

Both land bleakness and melancholy at once

The difference: Reviewed even better

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.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence poster
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2001 · dir. Steven Spielberg
🍅 76%★ 7.2drama · science fiction · adventureParamount+Peacock

One thread runs through both: grief

The difference: Leans harder into science fiction than The Patriot does

David, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circumstances make this life impossible for David.

The Last Samurai poster
The Last Samurai
2003 · dir. Edward Zwick
🍅 65%★ 7.8drama · action · warMax

Both are built on the same subject: general

The difference: Takes it somewhere less epic than The Patriot does

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

Brothers poster
Brothers
2009 · dir. Jim Sheridan
🍅 63%★ 7.1drama · thriller · warPrime Video

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

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

When his helicopter goes down during his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, Marine Sam Cahill is presumed dead. Back home, brother Tommy steps in to look over Sam’s wife, Grace, and two children. Sam’s surprise homecoming triggers domestic mayhem.

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

Roland Emmerich directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

The difference: Sits closer to action than The Patriot does

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

Valkyrie poster
Valkyrie
2008 · dir. Bryan Singer
🍅 62%★ 7.1drama · thriller · warPrime Video

Common ground: a true story

Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

Katyn poster
Katyn
2007 · dir. Andrzej Wajda
🍅 91%★ 7drama · history · war

History built on scale, twice over

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.

The Thin Red Line poster
The Thin Red Line
1998 · dir. Terrence Malick
🍅 80%★ 7.6drama · history · war

Bleak war, and it commits to that

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

Hotel Rwanda poster
Hotel Rwanda
2004 · dir. Terry George
🍅 91%★ 8.1drama · history · war

Contemplative drama in both cases

Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.

9th Company poster
9th Company
2005 · dir. Fyodor Bondarchuk
🍅 69%★ 7.1war · drama · history

History with a pulse of scale, in both cases

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

In the mood for more contemplative?

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