POW Camp Movies
by Hojon | created - 16 Apr 2011 | updated - 05 Feb 2019 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Captured! (1933)
Unrated | 69 min | Drama, Romance, War
A British prisoner of war becomes imprisoned alongside his best friend from home, unaware that while he was captured, the friend began an affair with his wife.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Paul Lukas, Margaret Lindsay
Votes: 446
2. The Grand Illusion (1937)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama, War
During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Jean Gabin, Dita Parlo, Pierre Fresnay, Erich von Stroheim
Votes: 39,077 | Gross: $0.17M
3. The Wooden Horse (1950)
101 min | Drama, History, War
True story of three British POWs and their attempt to escape from Nazi Germany.
Directors: Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple | Stars: Leo Genn, David Tomlinson, Anthony Steel, David Greene
Votes: 1,608
4. Three Came Home (1950)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, War
During Word War II, American author Agnes Newton Keith is imprisoned by the Japanese in various POW camps in North Borneo and Sarawak.
Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Claudette Colbert, Patric Knowles, Florence Desmond, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 2,158
5. Stalag 17 (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, War
After two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
Votes: 59,184
6. The Colditz Story (1955)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, History, War
Allied prisoners - British, Dutch, French and Polish - pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from the "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle known as "Colditz".
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: John Mills, Eric Portman, Christopher Rhodes, Lionel Jeffries
Votes: 3,106
7. A Man Escaped (1956)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Thriller, War
A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from a German prison in France.
Director: Robert Bresson | Stars: François Leterrier, Charles Le Clainche, Maurice Beerblock, Roland Monod
Votes: 25,115
8. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
PG | 161 min | Adventure, Drama, War
British POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.
Director: David Lean | Stars: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Votes: 234,532 | Gross: $44.91M
9. The One That Got Away (1957)
Not Rated | 111 min | Adventure, Drama, War
A cocky German fighter pilot is shot down over England in 1940 and makes numerous attempts to escape to fight again.
Director: Roy Ward Baker | Stars: Hardy Krüger, Colin Gordon, Michael Goodliffe, Terence Alexander
Votes: 2,499
10. Breakout (1959)
101 min | Drama, War
In 1943, an Italian-administered P.O.W. camp for captured Allies goes through a series of failed escapes only to culminate in a daring plan for a dramatic mass escape.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Michael Wilding, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 771
11. The Password Is Courage (1962)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, War
British N.C.O. Sergeant Major Charles Coward (Sir Dirk Bogarde) escapes from the Stalag VIII-B P.O.W. camp, and is mistakenly awarded with the Iron Cross by the Germans.
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Maria Perschy, Alfred Lynch, Nigel Stock
Votes: 1,552
12. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 260,343 | Gross: $12.10M
13. The Hill (1965)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, War
In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch
Votes: 15,245
14. King Rat (1965)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, War
Fast-talking wheeler-dealer Corporal King is stuck in a Malaysian P.O.W. camp during World War II and uses bribery and larceny to take de-facto control of the camp.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: George Segal, Tom Courtenay, James Fox, Patrick O'Neal
Votes: 5,104
15. Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Approved | 117 min | Action, Adventure, War
An American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carrà, Brad Dexter
Votes: 15,187 | Gross: $17.11M
16. The McKenzie Break (1970)
PG | 108 min | Action, Drama, War
During WW2, German POWs in Britain plot to escape from their prison camp in Scotland.
Director: Lamont Johnson | Stars: Brian Keith, Helmut Griem, Ian Hendry, Jack Watson
Votes: 1,712
17. Victory (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Sport, War
As allied P.O.W.s prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Pelé, Bobby Moore
Votes: 33,452 | Gross: $10.85M
18. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
R | 123 min | Drama, War
During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano
Votes: 20,149 | Gross: $2.31M
19. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 135,060 | Gross: $22.24M
20. Blood Oath (1990)
R | 108 min | Drama, War
The island of Ambon in Indonesia, 1945. During the War, the number of Australian POWs on the island had dropped from 1100 to less than 300 due to abuses by their Japanese captors. Capt. ... See full summary »
Director: Stephen Wallace | Stars: Bryan Brown, George Takei, Terry O'Quinn, John Bach
Votes: 961
21. Paradise Road (1997)
R | 122 min | Drama, History, War
A group of women who are imprisoned on the island of Sumatra by the Japanese during World War II use music to relieve their misery.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Pauline Collins, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 5,952 | Gross: $1.92M
22. As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)
TV-G | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A German Army officer is captured by the Soviets in World War II and sent to a labor camp in Eastern Siberia. After five years of enormous hardship he escapes, commencing an incredible, arduous, danger-filled journey.
Director: Hardy Martins | Stars: Bernhard Bettermann, Iris Böhm, Anatoliy Kotenyov, Michael Mendl
Votes: 8,114
23. To End All Wars (2001)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, War
During World War II, four Allied POWs endure harsh treatment from their Japanese captors while being forced to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle.
Director: David L. Cunningham | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland, Ciarán McMenamin, Mark Strong
Votes: 11,697
24. Hart's War (2002)
R | 125 min | Drama, War
A law student becomes a lieutenant during World War II, is captured and asked to defend a black prisoner of war falsely accused of murder.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard, Cole Hauser
Votes: 55,607 | Gross: $19.08M
25. The Great Raid (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, War
Taking place towards the end of WWII, 500 American Soldiers have been entrapped in a camp for 3 years. Beginning to give up hope they will ever be rescued, a group of Rangers goes on a dangerous mission to try and save them.
Director: John Dahl | Stars: Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, James Franco, Robert Mammone
Votes: 24,107 | Gross: $10.17M
26. Rescue Dawn (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Biography, War
A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier
Votes: 111,351 | Gross: $5.49M
27. In Tranzit (2008)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance, War
In 1946, a group of German POWs are mistakenly sent to a Soviet female transit prison camp and must cope with the hostility of the Soviet female inmates and guards, under the orders of cruel camp commander Pavlov.
Director: Tom Roberts | Stars: Vera Farmiga, Thomas Kretschmann, John Malkovich, Daniel Brühl
Votes: 2,674
28. The Way Back (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 133 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Siberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Dragos Bucur
Votes: 122,834 | Gross: $2.70M
29. The Captive Heart (1946)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, War
In 1940, a concentration camp escapee assumes the identity of a dead British officer, only to become a prisoner of war.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 1,182
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