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, suspenseful, suspense, bleak and rough films and TV shows about / with prisoners of war, world war two, prisoner, pow, military, war, escape, soldier, confined and world war plots mostly in War, Drama and History genres shot in UK, USA, Germany and other countries.
prisoners of war
 89
prisoners of war movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as prisoners of war: The Auschwitz Report (2021), The Railway Man (2013), Unbroken (2014), To End All Wars (2001), In Tranzit (2008), Escape to Athena (1979), The Match (2020), Colditz (2005), Land of Mine (2015), Prisoner of the Mountains (1996).

List of prisoners of war movies

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The Auschwitz Report (2021)
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, world war two, male pubic hair, wartime life, male nudity, wartime, war violence, prisoner of war camp, prisoners of war, life is a bitch ...
Time: 1940s, year 1944
Place: germany, central europe
Is relevant ?
The Railway Man (2013)
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Switzerland, UK, Australia
Duration: 116 min.
Story: A victim from World War II's "Death Railway" sets out to find those responsible for his torture. A true story.
Style: intense, emotional, captivating, inspirational, romantic ...
Plot: world war two, war, torture, autobiography, biopic, prison, life is a bitch, human spirit, wartime life, haunted by the past, revenge, captivity ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 1980, year 1942
Place: burma, england, asia, thailand
Is relevant ?
 7.2
 182K
Unbroken (2014)
Genre: Action, 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: motivational, uplifting, inspirational, epic, dramatic ...
Audience: girls' night
Plot: world war two, war, survival, torture, biopic, soldier, human spirit, prison, olympics, prisoners of war, lone hero, hopes ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 2014, 2010s, 1930s ...
Place: japan, asia, pacific ocean, germany, berlin germany
Is relevant ?
To End All Wars (2001)
Genre: Action, Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min.
Story: Based on a real-life story, this drama focuses on a small group of Allied soldiers in Burma who are held captive by the Japanese. Capt. Ernest Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), Lt. Jim Reardon (Kiefer Sutherland) and Maj. Ian Campbell (Robert Carlyle) are ...
Style: harsh, suspenseful, tense, serious, rough ...
Plot: world war two, war, pow, military, prisoners of war, prisoner of war camp, jungle, christian, soldier, war crime, hopes, leadership ...
Time: 1940s, year 1943, 20th century, year 1942
Place: japan, asia, hawaii, scotland, burma ...
Is relevant ?
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 5.7
 3K
In Tranzit (2008)
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: wartime life, soldier, holocaust, captivity, life is a bitch, against humanity, prisoners of war, prison life, genocide, confined, society, heroes ...
Time: 1940s, post world war two
Place: soviet union, russia, st. petersburg russia, europe
Is relevant ?
Escape to Athena (1979)
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, war, chase, soldier, danger, survival, daring rescue, military, archaeologist, relic, world war, archeological dig ...
Time: 1940s, year 1979, year 1944
Place: greece, europe, balkan
Is relevant ?
 5.8
 814
The Match (2020)
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, concentration camp, soccer, sport team, soccer match, prisoner of war camp, nazi, prisoners of war, military, football team, football player ...
Time: year 1944
Is relevant ?
 6.7
 3K
Colditz (2005)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 240 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: world war two, military, pow, soldier, love and romance, battles, love triangle, prison life, nazism, world war, danger, confined ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 1939
Place: london, europe, germany, warsaw poland
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 45K
Land of Mine (2015)
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: harsh, emotional, realistic, sentimental, brutal ...
Audience: teens
Plot: world war two, german soldier, child soldier, prisoners of war, beach, minefield, survival, nazi, boy, childhood, war crime, pow ...
Time: 1940s, post world war two, year 2015, 2010s, 90s ...
Place: denmark, germany
Is relevant ?
Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
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, bleak, rough, suspenseful, serious ...
Plot: pow, war, hostage, russian soldier, prison, violence, soldier, confined, captivity, poverty, islam, prisoner ...
Time: year 1996, 90s, 21st century
Place: chechnya, russia, caucasus, soviet union, asia
Is relevant ?
Waiting for the Barbarians (2019)
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: realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, serious, suspense ...
Plot: imperialism, desert, colonialism, prisoners of war, interrogation, torture, forbidden love, danger, social decay, couples, love affair, disorder ...
Time: victorian era
Place: italy, austria, mongolia, east asia
Is relevant ?
 7.5
 5K
King Rat (1965)
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, prisoner of war camp, world war, prisoners of war, military, friendship, bullying, great war, prisoner, prison life, british ...
Time: 1940s, year 1945
Place: japan, asia, singapore
Is relevant ?
The McKenzie Break (1970)
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, captivity, military, soldier, battles, british soldier, prison life, survival, nazi officer, gay soldier, wartime life ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s
Place: ireland, london, scotland
Is relevant ?
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
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, retro, serious, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: train, world war two, prison, behind enemy lines, prison escape, nazi, great war, world war, prisoner, railway, wartime, military ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, year 1943
Place: italy, germany, europe, swiss alps, florence ...
Is relevant ?
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
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, experimental ...
Plot: world war two, prison, pow, war crime, christmas, anti war, war, samurai, japanese occupation, imperial japan, prison escape, prisoner of war camp ...
Time: 1940s, year 1983, year 1936, 20th century, year 1946 ...
Place: asia, southeast asia, britain, japan, australia ...
Is relevant ?
 6.3
 55K
Hart's War (2002)
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: realistic, tense, harsh, factual, suspense ...
Plot: world war two, war, nazi, prison, racism, soldier, prison escape, ethnic conflict, pow, propaganda, torture, prisoner of war camp ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, year 2002
Place: germany, europe, belgium
Is relevant ?
The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Italy, Algeria
Duration: 121 min.
Story: Tracing the struggle of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale to gain freedom from French colonial rule as seen through the eyes of Ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the French in ...
Style: political, black and white, art house, realistic, bleak ...
Plot: revolution, freedom, colonialism, protest, torture, military, muslim, terrorism, french algerian war, revolutionary, resistance, insurrection ...
Time: year 1957, 20th century, 50s, year 1966, year 1954 ...
Place: algeria, africa, middle east, france, maghreb ...
Is relevant ?
 7.9
 15K
The Hill (1965)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: UK
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, noir, retro ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: world war two, prison, military, desert, brutality, prison escape, sadism, military prison, world war, great war, wartime, prisoner ...
Time: 1940s, year 1965, 20th century
Place: africa, libya, north africa
Is relevant ?
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Trial on the Road (1986)
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, great patriotic war, nazi, partisan, prisoners of war, prisoner, world war, underground, redemption, eastern front, collaborator, suspicion ...
Time: 1940s
Place: soviet union, russia
Is relevant ?
Seven Beauties (1975)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
Country: Italy
Duration: 116 min.
Story: Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Director, Seven Beauties stars Giancarlo Giannini (Swept Away) as Pasqualino Frafuso, known in Naples as "Pasqualino Seven Beauties." A petty thief who lives off of the profits of his seven ...
Style: black comedy, humorous, disturbing, cynical, biting ...
Plot: world war two, prison, concentration camp, survival, dark humor, prisoners of war, prostitution, nazi, male nudity, nazi concentration camp, cigar, prison escape ...
Time: 1940s, year 1975
Place: italy, naples italy, europe, southern italy, russia
Is relevant ?
Escape from Sobibor (1987)
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, suspenseful, rough, serious ...
Plot: concentration camp, escape, world war two, holocaust, pow, against humanity, genocide, military, brutality, captivity, nazi, prison ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s
Place: poland, europe
Is relevant ?
Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
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: semi serious, atmospheric, realistic, humorous, dark comedy ...
Plot: world war two, japanese occupation, resistance, military, anti war, wartime life, village, rebelliousness, confined, captivity, social relations, society ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century
Place: china, japan, asia
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 7K
Fateless (2005)
Genre: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Hungary, Germany, UK, Israel, France, USA
Duration: 140 min.
Story: An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its ...
Style: sincere, emotional, serious, disturbing, gloomy ...
Audience: teens, date night, teen drama
Plot: holocaust, concentration camp, world war two, nazi, survival, youth, life is a bitch, orthodox jew, confined, estrangement, world war, danger ...
Time: 1940s, year 2005
Place: hungary, eastern europe, germany, europe, slovakia ...
Is relevant ?
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 7.3
 110K
Rescue Dawn (2006)
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: suspenseful, bleak, tense, harsh, rough ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: vietnam war, survival, pow, soldier, jungle, prison escape, camp, wilderness, prison, violence, military, prisoner ...
Time: 20th century, year 2006, 60s, year 1965, year 1966
Place: vietnam, iraq, laos, asia
Is relevant ?
 8.2
 3K
1971 (2007)
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, psychological, suspense ...
Plot: soldier, freedom, escape, pow, patriot, military, army, courage, prisoner of war camp, prisoners of war, danger, military prison ...
Time: 70s, 20th century
Place: india, pakistan, kashmir
Is relevant ?
 7.0
 9K
The Round Up (2010)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: France, Germany, Hungary
Duration: 115 min.
Story: 1942. Joseph is eleven. And this June morning, he must go to school, a yellow star sown on his chest. He receives the support of a goods dealer. The mockery of a baker. Between kindness and contempt, Jo, his Jewish friends, their families, learn of ...
Style: emotional, disturbing, thought provoking, bleak, realistic ...
Plot: holocaust, concentration camp, nazism, german occupation, holocaust survivor, world war two, nazi, world war, against humanity, injustice, genocide, nazi concentration camp ...
Time: 20th century, 1940s, year 2009, post world war two, year 1942
Place: france, vichy, paris france, middle east, europe ...
Is relevant ?
Essential Killing (2010)
Genre: Action, Thriller, War
Country: Poland, Norway, Ireland, Hungary, UK
Duration: 83 min.
Story: A Taliban soldier struggles to survive after he escapes his captors and flees into the Polish countryside.
Style: exciting, suspenseful, serious, thought provoking, captivating ...
Plot: manhunt, breast feeding, on the run, chase, danger, military, desert, fugitives, politics, wolf pack, state affairs, captivity ...
Time: year 2010, 2000s, 21st century
Place: afghanistan, middle east, poland, europe
Is relevant ?
In the Crosswind (2014)
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, hunger, ethnic cleansing, wartime life, getting home, life is a bitch, family in danger, separation from family, family relations, danger ...
Time: year 1941, 1940s, 1950s, 20th century
Place: siberia, soviet union, baltics, europe, russia ...
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 52K
Son of Saul (2015)
Genre: Drama, War
Country: Hungary
Duration: 107 min.
Story: In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival trying to save from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.
Style: compassionate, melancholic, disturbing, grim, cerebral ...
Plot: holocaust, world war two, nazi concentration camp, genocide, tragedy, nazi, prison, shoah, courage, concentration camp, brutality, life & death ...
Time: 1940s, year 1944, year 2015, 90s
Place: poland, germany, eastern europe
Is relevant ?
Spirits' Homecoming (2016)
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: psychological, suspense, tense
Audience: teen drama
Plot: occupation, kidnapping, slavery, kidnapped woman, sexploitation, rape, prisoners of war, sex worker, military, wartime, abduction, kidnapped ...
Is relevant ?
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