20 movies like The Cruel Sea, ordered by similarity : San Demetrio, London(1943), Dunkirk(2017), The Enemy Below(1957), Morituri(1965), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo(1944), They Were Expendable(1945), Halls of Montezuma(1950), So Proudly We Hail(1943), The Wooden Horse(1950), The Inglorious Bastards(1978), Sands of Iwo Jima(1949), They Who Dare(1954) ...
War
UK
1953
126 Minutes
Jack Hawkins Donald Sinden Denholm Elliott John Stratton John Warner Bruce Seton Liam Redmond Virginia McKenna Moira Lister June Thorburn Megs Jenkins
captain lieutenant sailor tense bleak patriotic atlantic ocean boat dangerous assignment world war ii battle of the atlantic sailors quest sacrifice rescue 1940s
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
War
UK
1943
93 Minutes
Walter Fitzgerald Mervyn Johns Ralph Michael Arthur Young Neville Mapp Barry Letts Michael Allen Frederick Piper Herbert Cameron
ship captain sailor engineer officer german soldier patriotic suspenseful fiery tense atlantic ocean ship lifeboat seafaring world war ii battle disaster teamwork leadership escape underdog
The San Demetrio of the title is a British merchant ship in an Atlantic convoy in 1940. Disabled and left to the mercy of patrolling U-boats the crew must keep her afloat and out of harms ... See full summary »
War, Drama, History
UK|Netherlands|France|USA
2017
107 Minutes
Fionn Whitehead Tom Glynn-Carney Jack Lowden Harry Styles Aneurin Barnard James D'Arcy Barry Keoghan Kenneth Branagh Cillian Murphy Mark Rylance Tom Hardy
soldier enemy captain pilot chilling emotional gripping inspiring intense beach europe boat world war ii invasion escape battle rescue survival escape rescue
Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
War
USA
1957
98 Minutes
Robert Mitchum Curt Jurgens Theodore Bikel Al Hedison Russell Collins Kurt Kreuger Frank Albertson Biff Elliot Alan Dexter Doug McClure Joe Di Reda
captain sailor soldier enemy friend doctor gritty tense gripping ocean ship world war ii battle showdown survival respect quest rivalry 1940s
During World War II, an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, thus ensuing in a deadly duel between the two ships. The American Captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.
War, Drama, Action
USA
1965
123 Minutes
Marlon Brando Yul Brynner Janet Margolin Trevor Howard Martin Benrath Hans Christian Blech Wally Cox Max Haufler Rainer Penkert William Redfield
deserter government official ship captain nazi british intelligence agent sailor tense suspenseful thrilling ship india japan ocean working undercover moral dilemma world war ii espionage mutiny blackmail quest
A war pacifist is blackmailed to pose as an SS officer and to disable the scuttling explosives on freighter carrying rubber cargo to be captured by the Allies.
War
1944
138 Minutes
Spencer Tracy Van Johnson Robert Walker Phyllis Thaxter Scott McKay Robert Mitchum Don DeFore Stephen McNally Louis Jean Heydt Leon Ames Paul Langton
colonel captain lieutenant pilot wife patriotic rousing tense japan china ship naval base air raids survival world war ii stranded heroism bombing quest rivalry
Lt. Col. James Doolittle (Spencer Tracy) leads B-25s off the USS Hornet's deck on a 1942 mission to bomb Japan.
War
USA
1945
135 Minutes
Robert Montgomery John Wayne Donna Reed Jack Holt Ward Bond Marshall Thompson Paul Langton Leon Ames Arthur Walsh Donald Curtis
lieutenant naval officer sailor general gripping spirited rousing boat philippines naval base bataan corregidor world war ii pt boat general douglas macarthur revenge rescue underdog 1940s
A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.
War
USA
1950
113 Minutes
Richard Widmark Jack Palance Robert Wagner Jack Webb Reginald Gardiner Karl Malden Philip Ahn
lieutenant soldier enemy doctor thrilling patriotic gripping rousing japan island world war ii invasion battle courage quest rescue sacrifice 1940s
A company of Marines races against the clock to find a Japanese rocket base.
War
USA
1943
126 Minutes
Claudette Colbert Paulette Goddard Veronica Lake George Reeves Barbara Britton Walter Abel Sonny Tufts Mary Servoss Ted Hecht John Litel Mary Treen
nurse lieutenant soldier priest patriotic engaging tense rousing spirited hospital tunnel philippines bataan war medicine female bonding world war ii sacrifice escape rescue
A group of nurses returning from the war in the Phillippines recall their experiences in combat and in love.
War
UK
1950
101 Minutes
Leo Genn Anthony Steel David Tomlinson David Greene Peter Burton Michael Goodliffe Anthony Dawson
prisoner of war captain british soldier british officer nazi commandant lieutenant intense tense suspenseful gripping engaging gutsy nazi germany concentration camp survival prisoners of war world war ii nazism tunneling gymnastics
True story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.
War, Action
1978
93 Minutes
Bo Svenson Fred Williamson Ian Bannen Peter Hooten Jackie Basehart Michel Constantin Debra Berger Raimund Harmstorf Michael Pergolani
soldier deserter thief assassin prisoner lieutenant intense confident gutsy thrilling dark patriotic france world war ii prison break dangerous mission captivity nazism friendship adventure
Two officers (Bo Svenson, Ian Bannen) lead military misfits on a mission to steal a Nazi V-2 rocket gyroscope.
War
USA
1949
110 Minutes
John Wayne John Agar Forrest Tucker Adele Mara Wally Cassell James Brown Richard Webb Arthur Franz Jacqueline Wells James Holden Peter Coe
sergeant marine private corporal woman patriotic gritty intense hawaii pacific ocean iwo jima, japan battlefield apartment world war ii military life war training respect survival sacrifice
Haunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.
War
UK
1954
101 Minutes
Dirk Bogarde Denholm Elliott Akim Tamiroff Kay Callard William Russell Harold Siddons Eric Pohlmann Gérard Oury Lisa Gastoni Sam Kydd Peter Burton
british soldier german soldier commando nazi englishman lieutenant gripping tense patriotic greece england island world war ii dangerous assignment secret mission sabotage nazis underdog sacrifice quest
During World War II, British commandos are sent to destroy a Luftwaffe airfield on a Greek island.
War, Action, Drama, History
Yugoslavia|USA|Liechtenstein
1974
90 Minutes
Rod Taylor Adam West Brioni Farrell Peter Carsten Olivera Katarina Velimir `Bata' Zivojinovic Branko Plesa
partisan german officer captain colonel general nazi powerful engaging tense intense dark gutsy yugoslavia world war ii nazism former yugoslavia war heroes battle life during wartime pursuit
Partisans in Yugoslavia clash with the Germans that have invaded their homeland in several confrontations until the climactic battle at Hell River.
War, Drama
West Germany
1981
150 Minutes
Jürgen Prochnow Herbert Grönemeyer Klaus Wennemann Hubertus Bengsch Martin Semmelrogge Bernd Tauber Erwin Leder Martin May Heinz Hoenig Uwe Ochsenknecht
captain reporter sailor soldier tense somber thrilling submarine underwater germany battle fatigue world war ii disillusionment military quest pursuit 1940s
The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth and sheer terror.
War
UK
1968
89 Minutes
James Caan Rupert Davies David Sumner William Dysart Norman Bowler Brian Grellis Paul Young John Kelland George Pravda
lieutenant naval officer sailor captain german officer inspiring patriotic suspenseful north sea submarine battleship naval base underwater coast world war ii redemption secret mission naval warfare grudge the past
During World War II, the British Royal Navy used experimental midget submarines to raid German warships in Norway.
Drama, War
UK|USA
1961
157 Minutes
Gregory Peck David Niven Anthony Quinn Stanley Baker Anthony Quayle James Darren Irene Papas Gia Scala James Robertson Justice Richard Harris
captain explosives expert resistance fighter security head soldier sister engaging tense brash gripping intense greece boat mountain village island cliff sabotage covert operations mountain climbing
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
War
USA
1942
87 Minutes
Brian Donlevy Robert Preston Macdonald Carey William Bendix Albert Van Dekker Walter Abel Mikhail Rasumny Rod Cameron Bill Goodwin Damian O'Flynn Frank Albertson
marine major lieutenant captain private enemy intense gritty patriotic wake island military base world war ii showdown survival bravery invasion outnumbered quest underdog rivalry
December, 1941. With no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.
War, Drama, History
USA
1962
180 Minutes
Andrew Marton John Wayne Robert Mitchum Henry Fonda Rod Steiger Robert Ryan Peter Lawford Richard Burton Richard Beymer Jeffrey Hunter
soldiers sailor general parachutist powerful rousing patriotic spectacular france germany england world war ii adolf hitler armed conflict d-day quest sacrifice rivalry 1940s
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
War, Adventure, Drama
USA
2003
139 Minutes
Russell Crowe Paul Bettany Billy Boyd James D'Arcy Lee Ingleby George Innes Mark Lewis Jones Chris Larkin Richard McCabe Robert Pugh David Threlfall
captain surgeon sailor confident spirited tense ship h.m.s. surprise ocean galapagos islands dangerous assignment napoleonic wars naval warfare friendship pursuit quest underdog 1800s
During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
War, Drama
UK|USA
1976
158 Minutes
Faye Dunaway Max von Sydow Oskar Werner Malcolm McDowell Orson Welles James Mason Lee Grant Ben Gazzara Katharine Ross Luther Adler Paul Koslo
nazi captain jew sailor refugee brutal bleak disturbing boat cuba germany world war ii emigration death escape pursuit 1940s
The tragic 1939 voyage of SS St. Louis carrying hundreds of German Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany that seemingly no nation is willing to save from certain doom.