Movies Like Sword in the Desert

If you liked Sword in the Desert (1949), a action and war movie directed by George Sherman, 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
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
★ 6.3/10Also war and drama
An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his Jewish heritage. Each of Israel's Arab neighbors has vowed to invade the poorly…
2
Battleground (1949)
★ 6.7/10Also action and drama
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their…
3
The Last Rifleman (2023)
★ 6.6/10Also drama and war
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…
4
Palestine 36 (2025)
★ 7.6/10Also drama and war
Year 1936. As villages across Palestine rise against British colonial rule, Yusuf drifts between his rural home and the restless energy of Jerusalem, longing for a future beyond the growing unrest. But history is…
5
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
★ 6.8/10Also drama and war
A dramatization of the American general and his court martial for publically complaining about High Command's dismissal and neglect of the aerial fighting forces.
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
Exodus (1960)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and war
Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction…
8
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
★ 6.6/10Also war and drama
During a raid on Germany, a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland, where they're aided by Dutch civilians.
9
The One That Got Away (1957)
★ 6.8/10Also war and drama
Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.
10
The Devil's Brigade (1968)
★ 6.3/10Also action and drama
At the onset of World War II, American Lt. Col. Robert Frederick is put in charge of a unit called the 1st Special Service Force, composed of elite Canadian commandos and undisciplined American soldiers. With Maj. Alan…
11
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.
12
Extortion (2017)
★ 6.1/10Also action and drama
A doctor desperately tries to save his wife and their 5 year old son after their vacation in the Bahamas takes an unexpected turn.
13
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.
14
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979)
★ 6.7/10Also war and drama
At the start of World War I, Paul Baumer is a young German patriot, eager to fight. Indoctrinated with propaganda at school, he and his friends eagerly sign up for the army soon after graduation. But when the horrors…
15
Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
★ 8.4/10Also action and drama
Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal: Tales of Savagery features a caveman and a dinosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by tragedy, this unlikely friendship becomes the only hope of survival.
16
The Duellists (1977)
★ 7.3/10Also drama and war
In 1800, as Napoleon Bonaparte rises to power in France, a rivalry erupts between Armand and Gabriel, two lieutenants in the French Army, over a perceived insult. For over a decade, they engage in a series of duels…
17
Henry V (1944)
★ 6.7/10Also drama and war
In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.
18
Golda (2023)
★ 6.3/10Also drama and war
Set during the tense 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir is faced with the potential of Israel’s complete destruction. She must navigate overwhelming odds, a skeptical cabinet and a…
19
Gettysburg (1993)
★ 7/10Also drama and war
In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee leads the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia into Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the goal of marching through to Washington, D.C. The Union Army of the Potomac, under the…
20
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
★ 6.9/10Also drama and war
In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent it, Hitler orders an all-out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of…