Movies Like Women in Defense

If you liked Women in Defense (1941), a documentary and war movie directed by John Ford, 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
Why We Fight: Prelude to War (1942)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary and war
Prelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the…
2
2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025)
★ 8.1/10Also documentary and war
Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther…
3
The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
★ 6.1/10Also war and documentary
This documentary movie is about the battle of San Pietro, a small village in Italy. Over 1,100 US soldiers were killed while trying to take this location, that blocked the way for the Allied forces from the Germans…
4
Father Soldier Son (2020)
★ 6.5/10Also documentary and war
When Sgt. First Class Brian Eisch is critically wounded in Afghanistan, it sets him and his sons on a journey of love, loss, redemption and legacy.
5
For Sama (2019)
★ 8.2/10Also documentary and war
A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all…
6
The Soviet Story (2008)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary and war
“The Soviet Story” is a story of an Allied power, which helped the Nazis to fight Jews and which slaughtered its own people on an industrial scale. Assisted by the West, this power triumphed on May 9th, 1945. Its…
7
Korengal (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also documentary and war
Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.
8
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
★ 7.8/10Also documentary and war
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of Armistice Day, and the end of the war.
9
The Battle of Midway (1942)
★ 5.9/10Also documentary and war
The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, in 2006.
10
20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
★ 8.1/10Also documentary and war
As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.
11
The Age of Stupid (2009)
★ 6.6/10Also war and documentary
Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
12
City of Ghosts (2017)
★ 7.2/10Also war and documentary
With unprecedented access, this documentary follows the extraordinary journey of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”—a group of anonymous citizen journalists who banded together after their homeland was overtaken by…
13
The Bloody Hundredth (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also war and documentary
Meet the real-life airmen who inspired Masters of the Air as they share the harrowing and transformative events of the 100th Bomb Group.
14
Let There Be Light (1946)
★ 7.3/10Also documentary and war
The final entry in a trilogy of films produced for the U.S. government by John Huston. Some returning combat veterans suffer scars that are more psychological than physical. This film follows patients and staff during…
15
42 Up (1999)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
16
Directed by John Ford (1971)
★ 7/10Also documentary
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
17
Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
Giving fans unprecedented access to the real life of the music sensation, Katy Perry: Part of Me exposes the hard work, dedication and phenomenal talent of a girl who remained true to herself and her vision in order to…
18
Elstree 1976 (2015)
★ 6.2/10Also documentary
A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.
19
Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
★ 7.3/10Also war and documentary
During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats…
20
Virunga (2014)
★ 7.9/10Also documentary and war
Virunga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa's oldest national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, and a contested ground among insurgencies seeking to topple the government that see untold profits in the…