Movies Like Escape to Athena (1979)

Escape to Athena is a 1979 adventure, comedy, war film from George P. Cosmatos with a MovieMagicScore of 5.7/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with The Great Escape and Von Ryan's Express.

Adventure Comedy War

The Great Escape

1963

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

7.9

MagicScore

Von Ryan's Express

1965

Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.

7.1

MagicScore

Paradise Road

1997

A group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women creates a vocal orchestra while being imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp on Sumatra during World War II.

6.4

MagicScore

Two Half-Times in Hell

1961

To celebrate Hitler's birthday, a soccer match is organised between the Germans and a group of Hungarian political prisoners, one of whom is a famous pre-war football star.

7.7

MagicScore

Hart's War

2002

When Col. William McNamara is stripped of his freedom in a German POW camp, he's determined to keep on fighting even from behind enemy lines. Enlisting the help of a young lieutenant in a brilliant plot against his captors, McNamara risks everything on a mission to free his men and change the outcome of the war.

6.4

MagicScore

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

1983

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

7.3

MagicScore

Suite Française

2015

France, 1940. In the first days of occupation, beautiful Lucile Angellier is trapped in a stifled existence with her controlling mother-in-law as they both await news of her husband: a prisoner of war. Parisian refugees start to pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' own homes. Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno von Falk, the handsome and refined German officer staying with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and leads them into the tragedy of war.

7.2

MagicScore

Prisoner of War

2025

British RAF Wing Commander James Wright is captured by the Japanese during WWII and forced to fight in brutal hand-to-hand combat. The Japanese soldiers get more than they bargained for when Wright’s years of martial arts training in Hong Kong prove him to be a formidable opponent.

7.1

MagicScore

The Camp on Blood Island

1958

Set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II, the film focuses on the brutality and horror that the allied prisoners were exposed to as the Japanese metered out subjugation and punishment to a disgraced and defeated enemy. This harrowing drama concentrates on the deviations of legal and moral definitions when two opposing cultures clash. Although fictional, this was one of the earliest films to deal realistically with life and death in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during the Second War.

6.6

MagicScore

#10

The Great Raid

2005

As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.

6.5

MagicScore

#11

A Town Like Alice

1956

In 1941 Malaysia, the advancing Japanese army captures a lot of British territory very quickly. The men are sent off to labor camps, but they have no plan on what to do with the women and children of the British.

6.3

MagicScore

#12

Monster Island

2025

In the Pacific, 1944, a Japanese soldier and a British prisoner of war are stranded on a deserted island, hunted by a deadly creature. Two mortal enemies must come together to survive the unknown.

5.9

MagicScore

#13

Monsieur Batignole

2002

In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment. Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home. When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife. Later, two cousins of Simon meet him in the cellar of the grocery. When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.

7.0

MagicScore

#14

Uncertain Glory

1944

In occupied France, a convicted thief and murderer escapes the guillotine when a bombing raid strikes the prison, but is quickly re-captured by the inspector of the Surete responsible for his original arrest. Fearing the guillotine more than his actual death, the convict inveigles the inspector to help him with a plan to rescue 100 Frenchmen taken by the Gestapo following an act of sabotage: he will confess to being the saboteur and allow himself to be executed by firing squad, the Gestapo's method of execution, thus freeing the 100 men.

6.7

MagicScore

#15

Whisky Galore!

1949

Based on a true story. The name of the real ship, that sunk Feb 5 1941 - during WWII - was S/S Politician. Having left Liverpool two days earlier, heading for Jamaica, it sank outside Eriskay, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in bad weather, containing 250,000 bottles of whisky. The locals gathered as many bottles as they could, before the proper authorities arrived, and even today, bottles are found in the sand or in the sea every other year.

6.8

MagicScore

#16

Summer of '42

1971

Over the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, three friends -- Hermie, Oscy and Benjie -- are more concerned with getting laid than anything else. Hermie falls in love with the married Dorothy, whose husband is an army pilot recently sent to the battlefront of World War II.

6.7

MagicScore

#17

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life

2003

Off the coast of the volcanic island of Santorini, the intrepid archaeologist Lara Croft makes the unexpected discovery of a pulsating golden orb able to guide its holder to the mythical Pandora's Box. As the legendary artifact contains ancient mysteries of unfathomable power - said to contain one of the deadliest plagues on Earth, Lara is tasked by MI6 to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. With the aid of former Marine turned mercenary Terry Sheridan, she travels the world in pursuit of the precious item in a race against time; she must beat the unscrupulous Nobel Prize-winning scientist turned bioterrorist, Jonathan Reiss, to it.

5.8

MagicScore

#18

Summer Lovers

1982

Michael Pappas and his girlfriend, Cathy, are enjoying the white sand beaches of a Greek island as well as the freewheeling nature of the locals. When Michael meets Lina, who is in Greece from Paris doing archaeological work, he is enamored with the beautiful foreigner. Cathy, unhappy about Lina getting close to Michael, confronts the woman -- only to be unexpectedly wooed by her charms as well.

5.3

MagicScore

#19

Rescue Dawn

2007

A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.

7.0

MagicScore

#20

Grand Illusion

1937

A group of French soldiers, including the patrician Captain de Boeldieu and the working-class Lieutenant Maréchal, grapple with their own class differences after being captured and held in a World War I German prison camp. When the men are transferred to a high-security fortress, they must concoct a plan to escape beneath the watchful eye of aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, who has formed an unexpected bond with de Boeldieu.

7.9

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Escape to Athena?

The top films similar to Escape to Athena by MovieMagicScore are The Great Escape (7.9), Von Ryan's Express (7.1), Paradise Road (6.4). Each shares adventure/comedy/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Escape to Athena worth watching?

Escape to Athena holds a MovieMagicScore of 5.7/10 from 117 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Escape to Athena?

Escape to Athena (1979) is a adventure, comedy, war film directed by George P. Cosmatos, starring Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven.

Where can I find more recommendations like Escape to Athena?

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

Keep exploring

Movies like The Great Escape Movies like Von Ryan's Express Movies like Paradise Road Movies like Two Half-Times in Hell Movies like Hart's War Movies like Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

About movies like Escape to Athena

This ranked list pairs Escape to Athena (1979), a adventure and comedy and war film from George P. Cosmatos, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Roger Moore 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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