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Home/A Bright Shining Lie/Similar Movies

A Bright Shining Lie

Movies Like A Bright Shining Lie (1998)

A Bright Shining Lie is a 1998 drama, tv movie, war film from Terry George with a MovieMagicScore of 5.3/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Hamburger Hill and Path to War.

Drama TV Movie War

Hamburger Hill poster

Hamburger Hill

1987

The men of Bravo Company are facing a battle that's all uphill… up Hamburger Hill. Fourteen war-weary soldiers are battling for a mud-covered mound of earth so named because it chews up soldiers like chopped meat. They are fighting for their country, their fellow soldiers and their lives. War is hell, but this is worse. Hamburger Hill tells it the way it was, the way it really was. It's a raw, gritty and totally unrelenting dramatic depiction of one of the fiercest battles of America's bloodiest war. This happened. Hamburger Hill - war at its worst, men at their best.

Path to War poster

Path to War

2003

A powerful drama of soaring ambition and shattered dreams that takes a provocative insider's look at the way the USA goes to war—as seen from inside the LBJ White House leading up to and during the Vietnam War.

Apocalypse Now poster

Apocalypse Now

1979

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

The 317th Platoon poster

The 317th Platoon

1965

In Laos, 1954, eight days before the french defeat in the Indochina war, the 317th platoon – four french soldiers and 41 laotian combatants – has been ordered to leave its outpost and to retreat for the plains of Diên Biên Phu, where the french army is getting stucked. Led by the inexperienced and idealistic sous-lieutenant Torrens, fresh out of the military academy, and by adjutant Willsdorf, a WWII veteran of the Werhmacht, the group must cross 150 kilometers of jungle. But dripping rainwater, hostile nature, and the Viêt-minh ambushes expose them to constant danger.

Good Morning, Vietnam poster

Good Morning, Vietnam

1987

A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor.

Casualties of War poster

Casualties of War

1989

During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

Platoon Leader poster

Platoon Leader

1988

West Point graduate lieutenant Jeff Knight meets cynicism when taking command of sergeant Michael McNamara's tour veterans platoon in a Vietnamese trench camp. Unlike his predecessor, who hid till the end of his tour, Jeff takes charge, experiences the manual doesn't allow coping with all realities and gets wounded. He returns, now fully respect by men and superiors. Besides the Vietcong, the platoon wrestles with the inscrutable villagers, which the G.I.'s officially protect, but also fear as some collaborate with them, other covertly with the Cong, either way subject to bloody reprisals.

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning poster

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning

1985

Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.

The Siege of Firebase Gloria poster

The Siege of Firebase Gloria

1989

A Marine patrol stops at Firebase Gloria at the start of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam war. With the firebase attacked, the patrol remains to help defend it.

The Last Hunter poster

The Last Hunter

1980

During the Vietnam war, an American soldier gets trapped beind enemy lines. A squad of his buddies sets out to rescue him.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly poster

Little Dieter Needs to Fly

1997

Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.

Memorial Day poster

Memorial Day

2011

Memorial Day, 1993. When 13-year-old Kyle Vogel discovers the World War II footlocker belonging to his grandfather, Bud, everyone tells Kyle to put it back. Luckily, he ignores them. Although Bud has never talked about the war, he finds himself striking a deal with his grandson: Kyle can pick any three souvenirs, and Bud will tell him the stories behind each one. Memorial Day not only takes us on a journey into Bud's complicated wartime past, but also into Kyle's wartime future. As the two men share parallel experiences in combat, they come to realize how that magical day on the porch shaped both of their lives.

Khartoum poster

Khartoum

1966

English General Charles George Gordon is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by the Prime Minister. Ordered to evacuate Egyptians from the Sudan, Gordon stays on to protect the people of Khartoum, who are under threat of being conquered by a Muslim army.

NVA poster

NVA

2005

Somewhere in the GDR, in 1988: young soldier Henrik Heidler starts his service in the National People's Army, a whole new world. Together with the weighty troublemaker Krüger, Heidler and his fellow soldiers try to somehow do their time between old hands and bureaucrats. It's not always fun, because the superiors are annoying with socialist propaganda from the day before yesterday, the material and equipment is scarce and not exactly new, while morale is at rock bottom. His relationship with his girlfriend isn't holding up either. But then Heidler meets Marie, the daughter of commander Kalt of all people, and falls in love. And then, at some point, the Wall comes down and everything changes ... for everyone in the NVA!

Ukraine on Fire poster

Ukraine on Fire

2016

A Russian-backed conspiracy film produced by Oliver Stone, framing the Euromaidan protests and the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych as a Western-engineered coup.

xXx: State of the Union poster

xXx: State of the Union

2005

Darius Stone's criminal record and extreme sports obsession make him the perfect candidate to be the newest XXX agent. He must save the U.S. government from a deadly conspiracy led by five-star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert.

The Pentagon Wars poster

The Pentagon Wars

1998

From the director of “Made In America” and “The Money Pit” comes a hilarious look at one of the most expensive blunders in military history. Over 17 years and almost as many billion dollars have gone into devising the BFV (Bradley Fighting Vehicle). There's only one problem. . . it doesn't work. (Spoiler alert: 25 years later ... it does work.)

Full Metal Jacket poster

Full Metal Jacket

1987

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

The Deer Hunter poster

The Deer Hunter

1978

A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they imagined. Before they left, Steven married his pregnant girlfriend -- and Michael and Nick were in love with the same woman. But all three are different men upon their return.

Platoon poster

Platoon

1986

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like A Bright Shining Lie?

The top films similar to A Bright Shining Lie by MovieMagicScore are Hamburger Hill (6.6), Path to War (6.7), Apocalypse Now (8.3). Each shares drama/tv movie/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is A Bright Shining Lie worth watching?

A Bright Shining Lie holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.3/10 from 26 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is A Bright Shining Lie?

A Bright Shining Lie (1998) is a drama, tv movie, war film directed by Terry George, starring Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, Donal Logue.

Where can I find more recommendations like A Bright Shining Lie?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Hamburger Hill Movies like Path to War Movies like Apocalypse Now Movies like The 317th Platoon Movies like Good Morning, Vietnam Movies like Casualties of War

About movies like A Bright Shining Lie

This ranked list pairs A Bright Shining Lie (1998), a drama and tv movie and war film from Terry George, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Bill Paxton 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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