Movies Like An Optimistic Tragedy

If you liked An Optimistic Tragedy (1963), a war and drama movie directed by Samson Samsonov, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
9th Company (2005)
★ 6.6/10Also war and drama
Russian army recruits complete training and take their posting in late 1980s Afghanistan, where the insurgents are slowly gaining the upper hand.
2
Siberiade (1979)
★ 7.2/10Also war and drama
The story about a very small god-forgotten village in Siberia reflects the history of Russia from the beginning of the century till the early 1980s. Three generations try to find the land of happiness and to give it to…
3
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and history
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…
4
Mission «Sky» (2021)
★ 7.9/10Also drama and war
In the center of the story are three main characters - Lieutenant Colonel Soshnikov, Captain Muravyov and Major Zakharov. Three ages, three different characters, three different destinies, which are destined to meet at…
5
Jacknife (1989)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and war
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
6
1942: Unknown Battle (2019)
★ 7.7/10Also war and drama
WWII 1942: Rzhev, USSR. Stuck in a crucial strategical position, a small company from the Red Army does whatever it takes to fend off the Nazis.
7
Kalashnikov AK-47 (2020)
★ 7.6/10Also war and history
A Russian military propaganda film about the tank commander Kalashnikov, severely injured in battle in 1941. The accident leaves him incapacitated and unable to return to the front line. While recovering in the…
8
The War Below (2021)
★ 6.6/10Also war and drama
During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in hopes of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
9
The Last Frontier (2020)
★ 6.6/10Also war and drama
The story of the Podolsk cadets’ heroic stand outside Moscow in October 1941. Cadets were sent to the Ilyinsky line, fighting alongside units from the Soviet 43rd Army to hold back the German advance until…
10
The Commissar (1967)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and war
Klavdia Vavilova, a Red Army cavalry commissar, is waylaid by an unexpected pregnancy. She stays with a Jewish family to give birth and is softened somewhat by the experience of family life.
11
Admiral (2008)
★ 6.2/10Also war and drama
This is a story of a great love facing the greatest drama of the history of Russia. Admiral Kolchak is a true war hero and beloved husband and father. One day he meets Anna, the love of his life and the wife of his…
12
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and history
Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him…
13
Red Ghost (2021)
★ 5.9/10Also war and drama
December 30, 1941. Vyazma ('Vyazemsky cauldron') is a small detachment of Soviet soldiers, by fatal coincidence, in an unequal battle with a special unit of the Wehrmacht. However, none of them think about giving up…
14
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.
15
The Beast of War (1988)
★ 7.1/10Also war and drama
During the war in Afghanistan a Soviet tank crew commanded by a tyrannical officer find themselves lost and in a struggle against a band of Mujahadeen guerrillas in the mountains.
16
1917 (2019)
★ 8/10Also war and drama
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
17
The Pilot: A Battle for Survival (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also war and history
December of 1941, Northwestern Front. A German tank column is moving towards Moscow. During a mission to stop the enemy advance, Nikolai Komlev's IL-2 is shot down. Komlev manages to crash-land his plane in a remote…
18
Quiet Flows the Don (1957)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and history
Based on the novel of the same name by Mikhail Sholokhov, about the fate of people broken by the First World War, the October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War in Russia (1917-1922), about the collapse of the…
19
The Last Rifleman (2023)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and history
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his…
20
An Ordinary Man (2017)
★ 6.2/10Also drama and war
A war criminal in hiding forms a relationship with his only connection to the outside world - his maid.