Movies Like Control Room (2004)

Control Room is a 2004 documentary, war film from Jehane Noujaim with a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Hearts and Minds and The Hurt Locker.

Documentary War

Hearts and Minds

1974

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 Johnson's phrase in an ironic context in this anti-war documentary, filmed and released while the Vietnam War was still under way, juxtaposing interviews with military figures like U.S. Army Chief of Staff William C. Westmoreland with shocking scenes of violence and brutality.

7.6

MagicScore

The Hurt Locker

2008

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

7.3

MagicScore

Green Zone

2010

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.

6.5

MagicScore

The Tiger and the Snow

2005

Love and injury in time of war. Attilio de Giovanni teaches poetry in Italy. He has a romantic soul, and women love him. But he is in love with Vittoria, and the love is unrequited. Every night he dreams of marrying her, in his boxer shorts and t-shirt, as Tom Waits sings. Vittoria travels to Iraq with her friend, Fuad, a poet; they are there with the second Gulf War breaks out. Vittoria is injured. Attilio must get to her side, and then, as war rages around him, he must find her the medical care she needs. In war, does love conquer all?

6.8

MagicScore

Route Irish

2011

A private security contractor in Iraq rejects the official explanation of his friend's death and decides to investigate.

6.0

MagicScore

American Sniper

2014

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

7.4

MagicScore

Fahrenheit 9/11

2004

Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

7.1

MagicScore

The Wall

2017

An American sniper and his spotter engage in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with an Iraqi sniper.

6.4

MagicScore

Redacted

2007

A fictional documentary discusses the effects the Iraq war has had on soldiers and local people through interviews with members of an American military unit, the media, and local Iraqis.

6.0

MagicScore

#10

The Kentucky Fried Movie

1977

A series of loosely connected skits that spoof news programs, commercials, porno films, kung-fu films, disaster films, blaxploitation films, spy films, mafia films, and the fear that somebody is watching you on the other side of the TV.

6.2

MagicScore

#11

Live from Baghdad

2002

A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War.A Directors Guild Award-winning movie for director Mick Jackson, starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter. In 1990, CNN was a 24-hour news network in search of a 24-hour story. They were about to find it in Baghdad. Veteran CNN producer Robert Wiener and his longtime producing partner Ingrid Formanek find themselves in Iraq on the eve of war. Up against the big three networks, Weiner and his team are rebels with a cause, willing to take risks to get the biggest stories and - unlike their rivals - take them live at a moment's notice. As Baghdad becomes an inevitable US target, one by one the networks pull out of the city until only the crew from CNN remains. With a full-scale war soon to be launched all around them, and CNN ready to broadcast whatever happens 24 hours a day, Wiener and Formanek are about to risk their lives for the story of a lifetime.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Drones

2013

Drones begins in the Nevada desert, where new girl Sue Lawson joins airman Jack in a hot, windowless bunker from which they manoeuvre unmanned drones across the plains of Afghanistan. Their first day at work is awkward but polite, with Jack all too aware of Sue’s privileged status as daughter of a well-respected general. This, however, will be no ordinary mission: as they train their sights on an unarmed terrorist suspect, a power struggle erupts between the smart, sophisticated Sue and the dogged, blue-collar Jack.

4.6

MagicScore

#13

September 5

2024

During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes.

7.0

MagicScore

#14

Ace in the Hole

1951

An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.

7.9

MagicScore

#15

The Philadelphia Story

1940

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

The Insider

1999

A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.

7.5

MagicScore

#17

Beyond Silence

1996

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

6.9

MagicScore

#18

Gunner Palace

2004

American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the "Gunners," tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country.

6.3

MagicScore

#19

Promises

2001

Documentarians Justine Shapiro and B.Z. Goldberg traveled to Israel to interview Palestinian and Israeli kids ages 11 to 13, assembling their views on living in a society afflicted with violence, separatism and religious and political extremism. This 2002 Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary culminates in an astonishing day in which two Israeli children meet Palestinian youngsters at a refugee camp.

7.5

MagicScore

#20

Megan Leavey

2017

The true story of Marine Corporal Megan Leavey, who forms a powerful bond with an aggressive combat dog, Rex. While deployed in Iraq, the two complete more than 100 missions and save countless lives, until an IED explosion puts their faithfulness to the test.

7.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Control Room?

The top films similar to Control Room by MovieMagicScore are Hearts and Minds (7.6), The Hurt Locker (7.3), Green Zone (6.5). Each shares documentary/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Control Room worth watching?

Control Room holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10 from 58 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is Control Room?

Control Room (2004) is a documentary, war film directed by Jehane Noujaim, starring Samir Khader, Josh Rushing, Hassan Ibrahim.

Where can I find more recommendations like Control Room?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like Hearts and Minds Movies like The Hurt Locker Movies like Green Zone Movies like The Tiger and the Snow Movies like Route Irish Movies like American Sniper

About movies like Control Room

This ranked list pairs Control Room (2004), a documentary and war film from Jehane Noujaim, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Samir Khader 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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