Movies Like They Came to Blow Up America

If you liked They Came to Blow Up America (1943), a drama and war movie directed by Edward Ludwig, 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
Operation Pacific (1951)
★ 6.1/10Also war and drama
During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up…
2
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that…
3
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and war
The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.
4
Destination Tokyo (1943)
★ 6.9/10Also war and drama
During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn…
5
The Enemy Below (1957)
★ 7.2/10Also war
The crew of the American destroyer escort, the USS Haynes, detects a German U-Boat—resulting in a prolonged, deadly battle of wits.
6
Waiting for Anya (2020)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and war
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
7
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
★ 6.9/10Also war and drama
The story of the breakout of the German battleship Bismarck—accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen—during the early days of World War II. The Bismarck and her sister ship, Tirpitz, were the most powerful…
8
The Bedford Incident (1965)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
During a routine patrol, a reporter is given permission to interview a hardened cold-war warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. The reporter gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford…
9
The Cruel Sea (1953)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and war
At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also…
10
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.
11
Lifeboat (1944)
★ 7.4/10Also war and drama
During World War II, a small group of survivors is stranded in a lifeboat together after the ship they were traveling on is destroyed by a German U-boat.
12
The Sea Wolves (1980)
★ 5.9/10Also war
A German spy is passing on information about the location of Allied ships in the neutral harbor of Goa, India, with catastrophic results. Unable to undertake a full military operation in the Portuguese stronghold…
13
The Sea Chase (1955)
★ 6.3/10Also war and drama
As the Second World War breaks out, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich is about to leave Sydney, Australia with his vessel, the Ergenstrasse. Ehrlich, an anti-Nazi but proud German, hopes to outrun or out-maneuver…
14
Attack Force Z (1982)
★ 5.9/10Also war
Sent to rescue survivors from the site of a plane crash in the South Pacific during WWII, Captain Kelly and his elite squad of Australian commandos must keep tabs on a defecting Japanese official who could hold the…
15
Escape to Victory (1981)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and war
A group of POWs in a German prison camp during World War II play the German National Soccer Team in this powerful film depicting the role of prisoners during wartime.
16
The Spy in Black (1939)
★ 6.4/10Also war
A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
17
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.
18
The Man Who Never Was (1956)
★ 7/10Also war and drama
The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a British officer and outfitted with faked papers showing that the Allies…
19
Halls of Montezuma (1951)
★ 6/10Also war and drama
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows…
20
Tobruk (1967)
★ 6.4/10Also drama and war
In September 1942, the German Afrika Korps under Rommel have successfully pushed the Allies back into Egypt. A counter-attack is planned, for which the fuel dumps at Tobruk are a critical impediment. In order to aid…