Movies Like The Great Escape (1963)

The Great Escape is a 1963 adventure, drama, war film from John Sturges with a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Von Ryan's Express and No Escape.

Adventure Drama War

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

No Escape

1994

In the year 2022, a ruthless prison warden has created the ultimate solution for his most troublesome and violent inmates: Absolom, a secret jungle island where prisoners are abandoned and left to die. But Marine Captain John Robbins, convicted of murdering a commanding officer, is determined to escape the island in order to reveal the truth behind his murderous actions and clear his name.

6.3

MagicScore

Where Eagles Dare

1968

World War II is raging, and an American general has been captured and is being held hostage in the Schloss Adler, a Bavarian castle that's nearly impossible to breach. It's up to a group of skilled Allied soldiers to liberate the general before it's too late.

7.5

MagicScore

Midnight Express

1978

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

7.5

MagicScore

Public Enemies

2009

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

6.7

MagicScore

The Pianist

2002

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

8.4

MagicScore

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

8.7

MagicScore

A Man Escaped

1956

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.

7.9

MagicScore

Papillon

1973

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

7.8

MagicScore

#10

American History X

1998

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

8.3

MagicScore

#11

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011

During World War II, Steve Rogers is a sickly man from Brooklyn who's transformed into super-soldier Captain America to aid in the war effort. Rogers must stop the Red Skull – Adolf Hitler's ruthless head of weaponry, and the leader of an organization that intends to use a mysterious device of untold powers for world domination.

7.0

MagicScore

#12

Death Race

2008

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

6.3

MagicScore

#13

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

#14

Escape from Alcatraz

1979

San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

7.5

MagicScore

#15

Face/Off

1997

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

7.0

MagicScore

#16

Battle of Britain

1969

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

6.8

MagicScore

#17

Battle of Oslo

2025

April 9th, 1940, Norway is under siege. As German warships close in on Oslo, Colonel Birger Eriksen, commander of the undermanned Oscarsborg Fortress, makes a bold decision that changes the course of history.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

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

#19

Rambo: First Blood Part II

1985

John Rambo is released from prison by the government for a top-secret covert mission to the last place on Earth he'd want to return - the jungles of Vietnam.

6.7

MagicScore

#20

Papillon

2017

Henri “Papillon” Charrière, a safecracker from the Parisian underworld, is wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, where he forges a strong friendship with Louis Dega, a counterfeiter who needs his protection.

7.3

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Great Escape?

The top films similar to The Great Escape by MovieMagicScore are Von Ryan's Express (7.1), No Escape (6.3), Where Eagles Dare (7.5). Each shares adventure/drama/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Great Escape worth watching?

The Great Escape holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.9/10 from 2,706 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is The Great Escape?

The Great Escape (1963) is a adventure, drama, war film directed by John Sturges, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Great Escape?

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 Von Ryan's Express Movies like No Escape Movies like Where Eagles Dare Movies like Midnight Express Movies like Public Enemies Movies like The Pianist

About movies like The Great Escape

This ranked list pairs The Great Escape (1963), a adventure and drama and war film from John Sturges, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Steve McQueen 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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