Prisoners of war movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant prisoners of war movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, tense, suspense, suspenseful and emotional films and TV shows about / with prisoners of war, world war two, pow, prisoner, military, war, soldier, survival, escape and wartime plots mostly in War, Drama and History genres shot in USA, UK, Germany and other countries.
108
TOP 10 movies tagged as prisoners of war: In Tranzit (2008), Unbroken (2014), Waiting for the Barbarians (2019), Colditz (2005), Spirits' Homecoming (2016), Return from the River Kwai (1989), Trial on the Road (1986), Prisoner of the Mountains (1996), Land of Mine (2015), The Auschwitz Report (2021).
Best films
New films
List of prisoners of war movies
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK, Russia
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Nazi POWs suspected of heinous acts are locked up in a Soviet women's prison run by vengeful female guards. To weed out the guilty, the innocent must pay. Can supposed enemies turn into great loves? Based on a true post-World War II story, this ...
Style:
sincere, realistic, captivating, period piece, emotional ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
sex scene, wartime life, male nudity, public nudity, holocaust, soldier, prisoners of war, captivity, against humanity, genocide, prison life, heroes ...
Time:
1940s, post world war two
Place:
soviet union, europe, russia, st. petersburg russia, ussr
Is relevant?
198K
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport, War
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 137 min.
Story:
A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner by Japanese forces during World War II.
Style:
dramatic, epic, motivational, uplifting, serious ...
Audience:
girls' night
Plot:
world war two, war, survival, soldier, jail, motivation, biopic, prisoners of war, hopes, prison, torture, captivity ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 2014, 2010s, 1930s ...
Place:
japan, pacific ocean, asia, germany, berlin germany ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
At an isolated frontier outpost, a colonial magistrate suffers a crisis of conscience when an army colonel arrives looking to interrogate the locals about an impending uprising, using cruel tactics that horrify the magistrate.
Style:
costume drama, suspenseful, disturbing, realistic, suspense ...
Plot:
desert, colonialism, imperialism, interrogation, prisoners of war, forbidden love, torture, danger, social decay, life is a bitch, isolation, self sacrifice ...
Time:
victorian era
Place:
mongolia, italy, austria, east asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min.
TV show
Story:
Three prisoners, Jack Rose, Tom Willis and Nick McGrade, embark on an heroic plan to escape from a World War Two POW camp. As Rose And Willis are recaptured by the Germans, McGrade manages to traverse their clutches and travels to London to inform ...
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, tense, exciting ...
Plot:
pow, world war two, military, soldier, love and romance, battles, love triangle, prison life, nazism, world war, danger, confined ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1939
Place:
london, germany, europe, warsaw poland
Is relevant?
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Genre: Drama
Country: South Korea
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Two Korean girls, Jung-Min (14) and Young-hee (15) are kidnapped by the Japanese Imperial Army and taken to a 'Comfort Station' in China. There, they join other kidnapped girls in serving Japanese soldiers as sexual slaves known as ...
Style:
suspense, tense, psychological
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
japanese occupation of korea, occupation, kidnapping, kidnapped woman, sexploitation, japanese occupation, rape, prisoners of war, life is a bitch, sex worker, kidnapped, abduction ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A group of war prisoners has spilt blood, sweat and tears to construct a bridge over the river Kwai in Thailand. Just when the bridge is ready, an American bomber arrives and destroys it. Camp commander Tanaka wants to set an example and orders that ...
Style:
independent film
Plot:
world war, pow, prisoners of war, prison, revolutionary war, prison escape, military prison, struggle, prisoner, freedom, revolution, decapitation ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
asia, thailand, burma, japan
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
A Russian POW joins the partisan guerrillas and proves his loyalty fighting the Nazis.
Style:
political, black and white
Plot:
world war two, partisan, great patriotic war, nazi, prisoners of war, prisoner, pow, redemption, collaborator, suspicion, nazi occupation, eastern front ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
soviet union, russia, ussr
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Russia, Kazakhstan
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Based upon a short story by Leo Tolstoy, two Russian soldiers, Sacha and Vania, are ambushed by Muslim rebels in the grandly forbidding Caucasus and taken prisoner. Although complete understanding never fully emerges, their bittersweet ordeal ...
Style:
realistic, rough, suspenseful, serious, emotional ...
Plot:
pow, islam, russian soldier, hostage, drinking, violence, prison, confined, soldier, captivity, poverty, prisoner ...
Time:
year 1996, 90s, 21st century
Place:
russia, caucasus, chechnya, soviet union, asia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Denmark, Germany
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In the days following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, a group of young German prisoners of war were handed over to the Danish authorities and subsequently sent out to the West Coast, where they were ordered to remove the more than two million ...
Style:
emotional, sentimental, harsh, realistic, brutal ...
Audience:
teens, girls' night
Plot:
world war two, german soldier, child soldier, beach, prisoners of war, minefield, abuse of power, pow, boy, nazi, teenager, brutality ...
Time:
1940s, post world war two, year 2015, 2010s, year 2016 ...
Place:
denmark, germany
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
This is the true story of Freddy and Walter – two young Slovak Jews, who were deported to Auschwitz in 1942. On 10 April 1944, after meticulous planning and with the help and the resilience of their inmates, they manage to escape. While the ...
Style:
suspense, disturbing, tense, social
Plot:
nazi, concentration camp, nazi occupation, escape, world war two, wartime life, wartime, jew persecution, war violence, life is a bitch, male pubic hair, nazi propaganda ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944
Place:
central europe, germany
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, New Zealand, Japan
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
In 1942, British soldier Jack Celliers comes to a japanese prison camp. The camp is run by Yonoi, who has a firm belief in discipline, honour and glory. In his view, the allied prisoners are cowards when they chose to surrender instead of commiting ...
Style:
disturbing, psychological, realistic, bleak, art film ...
Plot:
world war two, pow, homoeroticism, japanese culture, war, japanese occupation, prison, war crime, anti war, christmas, imperial japan, samurai ...
Time:
1940s, year 1983, year 1936, year 1946, 20th century ...
Place:
southeast asia, asia, britain, japan, australia ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, War
Country: UK
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a greek island are trying to escape. They don't want only their freedom, but they also seek for an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the top of the island's mountain.
Style:
exciting, suspense, captivating, disturbing, suspenseful ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
world war two, escape, chase, soldier, archaeologist, daring rescue, danger, survival, relic, military, world war, archeological dig ...
Time:
1940s, year 1979, year 1944
Place:
greece, europe, athens greece, balkan
Is relevant?
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Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
tense, harsh, rough, suspenseful, realistic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
war, military, rescue mission, pow, world war two, prisoner of war camp, prison, special forces, japanese occupation, prison escape, world war, escape attempt ...
Time:
1940s, year 2005, 20th century, post world war two
Place:
the philippines, asia, pearl harbor, manila philippines, germany ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min.
Story:
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942 the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. This was a POW detention center like no other. There were no walls or barbed-wire fences for the ...
Style:
black and white, realistic, bleak, sad, serious ...
Plot:
world war two, prison, pow, british soldier, soldier, prisoner of war camp, capitalism, world war, prisoners of war, bullying, military, friendship ...
Time:
1940s, year 1945
Place:
asia, japan, singapore, california, england ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
A German U-Boat commander and 600 prisoners plan a daring escape from a PoW camp in Scotland.
Style:
rough, suspenseful, realistic, serious, suspense ...
Plot:
world war two, war, gay soldier, pow, captivity, escape, nazi officer, military, soldier, battles, british soldier, prison life ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s
Place:
ireland, london, scotland
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Adventure, War
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min.
Story:
Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from Nazi Germany by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.
Style:
realistic, exciting, suspenseful, retro, serious ...
Audience:
boys' night, girls' night
Plot:
train, behind enemy lines, world war two, prison, pow, prison escape, gestapo, nazi, great war, world war, prisoner, wartime ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 1943
Place:
italy, germany, europe, swiss alps, milan italy ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
Fourth-generation Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all ...
Style:
tense, realistic, harsh, factual, suspense ...
Plot:
world war two, nazi, racism, war, prison, prisoner of war camp, court martial, pow, moral dilemma, prison escape, soldier, propaganda ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century, year 2002, post world war two
Place:
germany, europe, belgium, poland
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, War
Country: Philippines
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
In 1973 Vietnam, gas bombs are dropped on villages, killing men, women, and children. Two downed American pilots, accused of the bombings, are captured and tortured. Both men give name, rank, and serial number but neither one confesses. Elsewhere, a ...
Style:
dark, tense, suspense, grim, political thriller ...
Plot:
torture, military, violence, cover up, prisoners of war, vietnam war, hostage rescue, rescue mission, conspiracy, trauma, brutality, sacrifice ...
Time:
70s
Place:
vietnam
Is relevant?
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291
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Russian prisoners of war commandeer a tank and lead the Nazis on a cross-country chase in this World War II adventure drama. The Russians use their own tanks so the Nazis can use them as target practice to test a new anti-tank weapon. Knowing that ...
Style:
suspenseful, tense, period piece, bleak, emotional ...
Plot:
world war two, tank, great patriotic war, prisoners of war, escape, resistance, heroism, nazi, battles, survival, sacrifice, battlefield ...
Place:
ussr, soviet union
Is relevant?
273
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Germany, Russia
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
In the last winter 1945 of WWII a group of captive German soldiers is brought to a remote Russian village, where widows, a child and a crippled are the only ones left. This is a military drama about those, who can love and forgive.
Style:
thought provoking, disturbing, touching, heartbreaking, melancholic ...
Plot:
world war two, morality, pow, prisoners of war, culture clash, military, brainwashing, wartime, confined, human relationship, unlikely friendships, crime against humanity ...
Time:
year 1945
Place:
soviet union
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Turkey
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
The human tragedy and the suffering of the Crimean Turks who were taken hostage as prisoners of war in German prison camps during World War II.
Style:
captivating, sincere, suspenseful, thought provoking, suspense ...
Plot:
turk, world war two, concentration camp, military dictatorship, military camp, prisoners of war, prisoner of war camp, wartime, pow, life is a bitch, war, german soldier ...
Place:
crimea
Is relevant?
16K
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 123 min.
Story:
North Africa, World War II. British soldiers on the brink of collapse push beyond endurance to struggle up a brutal incline. It's not a military objective. It's The Hill, a manmade instrument of torture, a tower of sand seared by a ...
Style:
black and white, tense, bleak, historically accurate, noir ...
Audience:
family friendly
Plot:
world war two, prison, military, brutality, desert, sadism, prison escape, military prison, world war, prison life, great war, wartime ...
Time:
1940s, year 1965, 20th century, 70s
Place:
africa, north africa, libya, germany, sahara
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: UK
Duration: 143 min.
Story:
During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in Sobibor to vow (actually threaten) that his camp would never experience the same thing. But those who were its captives, the Jewish laborers that had ...
Style:
tense, realistic, thought provoking, suspenseful, rough ...
Plot:
concentration camp, world war two, pow, holocaust, escape, shoah, against humanity, genocide, military, captivity, nazi, hopes ...
Time:
20th century, 1940s
Place:
poland, europe
Is relevant?
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Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: China
Duration: 139 min.
Story:
During the Japanese occupation of China, two prisoners are dumped in a peasant's home in a small town. The owner is bullied into keeping the prisoners until the next New Year, at which time they will be collected. The village leaders convene to ...
Style:
cerebral, semi serious, atmospheric, realistic, humorous ...
Plot:
japanese occupation, world war two, military, resistance, anti war, wartime life, village, rebelliousness, confined, captivity, society, nothing goes right ...
Time:
1940s, 20th century
Place:
china, japan, asia
Is relevant?
116K
Genre: Adventure, Biography, War
Country: USA, Luxembourg
Duration: 125 min.
Story:
A US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Style:
tense, suspenseful, bleak, harsh, rough ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
vietnam war, survival, soldier, jungle, pow, prisoner, violence, escape, wilderness, prison, struggle for survival, mission ...
Time:
20th century, year 2006, year 1965, year 1966, 60s ...
Place:
vietnam, laos, iraq, asia, indochina
Is relevant?
3K
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: India
Duration: 136 min.
Story:
Based on true facts, the film revolves around 6 brave soldiers who escape from the clutches of the Pakistan Army and risk death with honour and courage with sacrifice towards their journey home.
Style:
patriotic, captivating, tense, suspense, psychological ...
Plot:
pow, freedom, soldier, escape, patriot, indo pakistani war, army, military, courage, prisoner of war camp, prisoners of war, danger ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
india, pakistan, kashmir
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Estonia
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
June 14, 1941, 3 a.m. Over 40000 people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are deported by Soviets to Siberia. Among them is a philosophy student Erna, a happily married mother of a little girl. Separated from her husband Erna and her daughter are ...
Style:
realistic, serious, atmospheric, bleak, black and white ...
Plot:
stalinism, deportation, world war two, wartime life, hunger, ethnic cleansing, separation from family, getting home, life is a bitch, family in danger, danger, family relations ...
Time:
year 1941, 1940s, 1950s, 20th century, 50s
Place:
siberia, soviet union, baltics, europe, russia ...
Is relevant?
947
Genre: Drama, History, Sport, War
Country: Croatia, USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.
Style:
tense, suspense, historical drama
Plot:
world war two, football, soccer, sport team, football team, soccer match, prisoner of war camp, prisoners of war, nazi, military, football player, teamwork ...
Time:
1940s, year 1944
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Australia
Duration: 301 min.
TV show
Story:
Set against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades. From the steamy jungles of Malaya to the dusty and desolate outback of ...
Style:
historical drama, melancholic, tense, period drama, vintage
Audience:
adult
Plot:
world war two, australian outback, resilience, survival, prisoners of war, male protagonist, romantic reunion, determination, trauma, female protagonist, sacrifice, japanese occupation ...
Time:
post world war two, 1940s
Place:
australia, malaysia, new zealand
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Germany, Afghanistan
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
A Russian guitarist was enlisted in 1984 in the Afghan war. Imprisoned, he will meet an Afghan musician and a French journalist.
Style:
realistic, serious, exciting, disturbing, intercultural ...
Plot:
soldier, journalism, military, heroes, freedom fighter, fight, state affairs, danger, hostage, war, conflict, prisoners of war ...
Time:
80s, september 11 2001
Place:
afghanistan, soviet union, middle east, russia
Is relevant?
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