Movies Like Little Dieter Needs to Fly

If you liked Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), a documentary movie directed by Werner Herzog, 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
Last Days in Vietnam (2014)
★ 7.3/10Also 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…
2
The Bloody Hundredth (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also 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.
3
Restrepo (2010)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the…
4
Hearts and Minds (1974)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
Many times during his presidency, Lyndon B. Johnson said that ultimate victory in the Vietnam War depended upon the U.S. military winning the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. Filmmaker Peter Davis uses…
5
Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
★ 6.8/10Also documentary
With a team of the world's foremost historic and marine experts as well as friend Bill Paxton, James Cameron embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the wreck of the Titanic where nearly 1,500 souls lost their lives…
6
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea (2026)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts trace the 2012 shipwreck of a luxury cruise and the disaster that ensued, in this immersive documentary.
7
Beyond Utopia (2023)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.
8
The Fog of War (2003)
★ 7.7/10Also documentary
Former corporate whiz kid Robert McNamara was the controversial Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, during the height of the Vietnam War. Augmented by archival footage and cabinet…
9
The Deepest Breath (2023)
★ 7.6/10Also documentary
Bonded by their love of freediving, a record-setting champion and a heroic safety diver try to make history with a remarkable feat, ready to risk it all.
10
Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
11
Korengal (2014)
★ 6.6/10Also documentary
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.
12
S4: The Bob Lazar Story (2026)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
Over 35 years after Bob Lazar's revelations, this documentary exposes secrets of a facility the government still denies. Featuring Lazar's testimony, recreations, and new evidence, it reopens a case that continues to…
13
Maidentrip (2014)
★ 7.1/10Also documentary
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
14
Everybody’s Everything (2019)
★ 8.4/10Also documentary
The story of artist Lil Peep from his birth in Long Island and meteoric rise as a genre blending pop star & style icon, to his death due to an accidental opioid overdose in Arizona at just 21 years of age.
15
Salinger (2013)
★ 6.4/10Also documentary
An in-depth investigation into the private world of the American writer J. D. Salinger (1919-2010), who lived most of his life behind the impenetrable wall of a self-imposed seclusion: how his dramatic experiences…
16
20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
★ 8.1/10Also documentary
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.
17
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds (2025)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
The elite pilots of the Air Force Thunderbirds display exceptional skill, trust and courage during a high-stakes training season.
18
Apollo 13: Survival (2024)
★ 7.2/10Also documentary
Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and the struggle to bring its astronauts safely home.
19
Time (2020)
★ 6.7/10Also documentary
Fox Rich, indomitable matriarch and modern-day abolitionist, strives to keep her family together while fighting for the release of her incarcerated husband. An intimate, epic, and unconventional love story, filmed over…
20
Misha and the Wolves (2021)
★ 6.9/10Also documentary
A woman’s Holocaust memoir takes the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher-turned-detective reveals her story as an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.