Movies Like Cross of Iron (1977)

Cross of Iron is a 1977 action, drama, history, war film from Sam Peckinpah with a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Breakthrough and The Thin Red Line.

Action Drama History War

Breakthrough

1979

Starting in late May 1944, during the German retreat on the Eastern Front, Captain Stransky (Helmut Griem) orders Sergeant Steiner (Richard Burton) to blow up a railway tunnel to prevent Russian forces from using it. Steiner's platoon fails in its mission by coming up against a Russian tank. Steiner then takes a furlough to Paris just as the Allies launch their invasion of Normandy.

5.6

MagicScore

The Thin Red Line

1998

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

7.4

MagicScore

Titus

1999

Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.

6.4

MagicScore

Operation: Daybreak

1975

Czechoslovakia, 1942. Three brave Czech patriots risk everything to rid their country of its brutal Nazi leader, SS-General Reinhard Heydrich.

6.9

MagicScore

The Kung Fu Cult Master

1993

A wild and rollicking martial arts fantasy extravaganza that features prized swords and swordsmen, a crazy monk attached to a rolling boulder, serious clan and cult rivalries, and lots of magic and flying.

6.8

MagicScore

For a Lost Soldier

1992

In the occupied Netherlands near the end of WWII, a young teenager, Jeroen Boman (Maarten Smit) is sent to the Dutch countryside to avoid the war in Amsterdam. While living with his adopted family, Jeroen meets and becomes friends with a Canadian soldier named Walt Cook, who is stationed at the same town he is staying at. Joroen and Walt spend a lot of time playing around and eventually a romantic relationship develops between them. The boy’s sexual curiosity leads him to have a sexual experience with Walt, an encounter that is shown with some vague detail but without actually showing any nudity, even though sexual intimacy between the two of them is implied. Overall, the movie handles this difficult subject with an elegant style and feeling, without having the adult-child relationship overwhelm the viewer and thus allowing the movie to be seen as just a wartime relationship between two people that marks an important time in a young boy’s life.

6.7

MagicScore

Saving Private Ryan

1998

As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating German-held territory and bringing the boy home.

8.2

MagicScore

The Cruel Sea

1953

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 harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officer

6.9

MagicScore

Flying Tigers

1942

Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into World War II. Gordon must send his outnumbered band of fighter pilots out against overwhelming odds while juggling the disparate personalities and problems of his fellow flyers.

6.2

MagicScore

#10

Bitter Victory

1957

During the second world war, two British officers, Brand and Leith, who have never seen combat, are assigned a vital mission. Their relationship and the operation are complicated by the arrival of Brand's wife, who had a tryst with Leith years earlier.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

1944

In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

The Big Red One

1980

A veteran sergeant of World War I leads a squad in World War II, always in the company of the survivor Pvt. Griff, the writer Pvt. Zab, the Sicilian Pvt. Vinci and Pvt. Johnson, in Vichy French Africa, Sicily, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Belgium and France, and ending in a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia where they face the true horror of war.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

Sands of Iwo Jima

1950

Haunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.

6.4

MagicScore

#14

Kelly's Heroes

1970

A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.

7.3

MagicScore

#15

Persona

1966

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.

8.1

MagicScore

#16

Twinless

2025

Two men who lost their respective twin brothers develop a growing friendship after meeting in a support group. However, both harbor long-hidden secrets that threaten to tear them apart.

7.3

MagicScore

#17

American Fiction

2023

A novelist fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him into the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

7.3

MagicScore

#18

The Great Flood

2025

When a raging flood traps a researcher and her young son, a call to a crucial mission puts their escape — and the future of humanity — on the line.

6.0

MagicScore

#19

Here

2024

Stefan, a migrant construction worker living in Brussels, is planning a trip home to his mother in Romania. In preparing for his voyage, he reconnects with local family members over gifted bowls of homemade soup, interacts with strangers, and discovers a revivifying commune with nature. This leads him to an unexpected connection with Shuxiu, a Chinese-Belgian bryologist studying the local moss.

5.9

MagicScore

#20

Sahara

1943

In Libya, an American tank commander, along with a handful of Allied soldiers, tries to defend an isolated well with a limited supply of water from a German Afrika Korps battalion during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.

7.2

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Cross of Iron?

The top films similar to Cross of Iron by MovieMagicScore are Breakthrough (5.6), The Thin Red Line (7.4), Titus (6.4). Each shares action/drama/history/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Cross of Iron worth watching?

Cross of Iron holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.1/10 from 456 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Cross of Iron?

Cross of Iron (1977) is a action, drama, history, war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason.

Where can I find more recommendations like Cross of Iron?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more action recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Breakthrough Movies like The Thin Red Line Movies like Titus Movies like Operation: Daybreak Movies like The Kung Fu Cult Master Movies like For a Lost Soldier

About movies like Cross of Iron

This ranked list pairs Cross of Iron (1977), a action and drama and history and war film from Sam Peckinpah, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of James Coburn take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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