Movies Like Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder

If you liked Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder (1982), a drama and war movie directed by Peter Werner, 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
The War (1994)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and war
The son of a Vietnam War Veteran must deal with neighborhood bullies as well as his dad's post-traumatic stress disorder while growing up in the deep south in the 1970's.
2
The Island on Bird Street (1997)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
Alex is an 11-year old boy who, during WWII, hides in the Jewish ghetto from Nazis after all his relatives have been sent to the concentration camp. The movie portrays the ghetto through his eyes.
3
Rescue Dawn (2007)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and war
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
4
Running on Empty (1988)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
The Popes are a family who haven't been able to use their real identity for years. In the late sixties, the parents set a weapons lab afire in an effort to hinder the government's Vietnam war campaign. Ever since then…
5
The Boy in the Woods (2023)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.
6
Empire of the Sun (1987)
★ 7.5/10Also drama and war
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the…
7
Devotion (2022)
★ 7/10Also war and drama
The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
8
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
★ 7.8/10Also drama and war
When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware…
9
The Monuments Men (2014)
★ 6.1/10Also war and drama
Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on seven over-the-hill, out-of-shape museum directors, artists, architects, curators, and art historians…
10
The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
★ 7.1/10Also drama and war
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…
11
The Six Triple Eight (2024)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and war
During World War II, the US Army's only all-Black, all-women battalion takes on an impossible mission: sorting through a three-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail that hadn't been delivered to American soldiers…
12
Hope and Glory (1987)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and war
A middle-aged man recalls his childhood growing up in and around London during World War II.
13
The Boys of St. Vincent (1994)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.
14
Operation Mincemeat (2022)
★ 6.5/10Also war and drama
In 1943, two British intelligence officers concoct Operation Mincemeat, wherein their plan to drop a corpse with false papers off the coast of Spain would fool Nazi spies into believing the Allied forces were planning…
15
Cave Rescue (2019)
★ 6/10Also drama
When a youth football team of 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach is trapped deep inside a cave in Northern Thailand, thousands of volunteers and soldiers from around the world unite in a race against time…
16
Lucky Strike (2026)
★ 6.6/10Also war
A wounded American soldier fights to survive behind enemy lines during WWII's Battle of the Bulge against the Germans, relying on his instinct, spy craft and a hand-radio to evade capture and find his way back to his…
17
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
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.
18
Testament (1983)
★ 6.4/10Also drama
It's just another day in the small town of Hamlin until something disastrous happens. Suddenly, news breaks that a series of nuclear warheads has been dropped along the Eastern Seaboard and, more locally, in…
19
They Were Expendable (1945)
★ 6.5/10Also drama and war
After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are…
20
Uprising (2001)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and war
In the Warsaw ghetto in 1943, Jews rise against the Nazis.