Movies Like City of Life and Death (2009)

City of Life and Death is a 2009 drama, history, war film from Lu Chuan with a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Dead to Rights and Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre.

Drama History War

Dead to Rights

2025

During the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, a postman poses as a photo developer, helping Japanese forces while secretly sheltering Chinese refugees. He later risks his life evacuating them and revealing evidence of the atrocities.

8.0

MagicScore

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre

1995

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre depicts the brutal events behind the Nanking Massacre committed by the Imperial Japanese army against the Chinese people during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

6.1

MagicScore

Nanking

2007

The story of the rape of Nanking, one of the most tragic events in history. In 1937, the invading Japanese army murdered over 200,000 and raped tens of thousands of Chinese. In the midst of this horror, a small group of Western expatriates banded together to save 250,000. Nanking shows the tremendous impact individuals can make on the course of history.

7.1

MagicScore

Men Behind the Sun

1988

The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.

6.2

MagicScore

The Last Emperor

1987

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

7.6

MagicScore

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

1959

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

8.2

MagicScore

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

7.1

MagicScore

The Children of Huang Shi

2008

About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.

6.7

MagicScore

The Flowers of War

2011

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

7.4

MagicScore

#10

Letters from Iwo Jima

2006

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

7.5

MagicScore

#11

Air Strike

2018

An American pilot is sent to a Chinese province to teach a crew of would-be pilots how to fly war planes against the Japanese during World War II.

5.0

MagicScore

#12

Empire of the Sun

1987

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

7.5

MagicScore

#13

Taking Chance

2009

Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.

7.2

MagicScore

#14

Why We Fight

2005

Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.

7.5

MagicScore

#15

The Hunting Party

2007

A young journalist, an experienced cameraman and a discredited reporter find their bold plan to capture Bosnia's top war criminal quickly spiraling out of control when a UN representative mistakes them for a CIA hit squad.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

The Last Samurai

2003

Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the samurai's way of life in the name of modernization and open trade, Algren decides to become an ultimate warrior himself and to fight for their right to exist.

7.6

MagicScore

#17

John Rabe

2009

A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.

7.1

MagicScore

#18

The Butcher of Prague

2011

Czechoslovakia, 1941. As the war continues, Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich arrives in Nazi-occupied Prague and establishes a regime of terror that will force freedom fighters to act. But the price to pay will be too high.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

2007

Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.

6.5

MagicScore

#20

5 Days of War

2011

An American journalist and his cameraman are caught in the combat zone during the first Russian airstrikes against Georgia. Rescuing Tatia, a young Georgian schoolteacher separated from her family during the attack, the two reporters agree to help reunite her with her family in exchange for serving as their interpreter. As the three attempt to escape to safety, they witness--and document--the devastation from the full-scale crossfire and cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians.

5.6

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like City of Life and Death?

The top films similar to City of Life and Death by MovieMagicScore are Dead to Rights (8.0), Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (6.1), Nanking (7.1). Each shares drama/history/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is City of Life and Death worth watching?

City of Life and Death holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.4/10 from 225 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is City of Life and Death?

City of Life and Death (2009) is a drama, history, war film directed by Lu Chuan, starring Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan, Hideo Nakaizumi.

Where can I find more recommendations like City of Life and Death?

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 Dead to Rights Movies like Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre Movies like Nanking Movies like Men Behind the Sun Movies like The Last Emperor Movies like The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

About movies like City of Life and Death

This ranked list pairs City of Life and Death (2009), a drama and history and war film from Lu Chuan, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Liu Ye 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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