Movies like Shanghai Express: 20 to watch next
If you loved Shanghai Express (1932) — a drama, romance and war film directed by Josef von Sternberg — these 20 movies are the closest matches.
The first picks are what fans of Shanghai Express most often go on to watch; the rest share its genres and themes like prostitute, rape and china. 5 of them are streaming in India right now — each entry shows where.
Where to watch Shanghai Express →·Get picks for your whole taste →
- 1
Dear John 2010★ 6.8
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 2
The White Countess 2005★ 6.2
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
In 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia, a fallen member of the exiled Russian aristocracy, and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 3
The History of Love 2016★ 6.5
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 4
Firebird 2021★ 7.4
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
At the height of the Cold War, a troubled soldier forms a forbidden love triangle with a daring fighter pilot and his female comrade amid the dangerous surroundings of a Soviet Air Force Base.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 5
Empire of the Sun 1987★ 7.5
Shares: Drama, War
Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 6
Battleground 1949★ 6.7
Shares: Drama, War
Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 7
Private Peaceful 2012★ 6.6
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 8
Doctor Zhivago 1965★ 7.6
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 9
The Man from Elysian Fields 2001★ 5.9
Shares: Drama, Romance
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 10
Suite Française 2015★ 7.2
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
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.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 11
Anna Karenina 1997★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Romance
In Imperial Russia, Anna, wife of the officer Karenin, goes to Moscow to visit her brother. On the way, she meets charming cavalry officer Vronsky, to whom she's immediately attracted. But in St. Petersburg’s high society, a relationship like this could destroy a woman’s reputation.
Stream in India on Movie Sphere+
- 12
Purple Hearts 2022★ 8.0
Shares: Romance, Drama
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Stream in India on Netflix
- 13
55 Days at Peking 1963★ 6.9
Shares: War, Drama
Diplomats, soldiers and other representatives of a dozen nations fend off the siege of the International Compound in Peking during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. The disparate interests unite for survival despite competing factions, overwhelming odds, delayed relief and tacit support of the Boxers by the Empress of China and her generals.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 14
Nine Lives 2005★ 6.1
Shares: Drama, Romance
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 15
Untamed Heart 1993★ 6.9
Shares: Drama, Romance
Caroline, a young waitress who seems to have bad taste in men, is on her way home one night when thugs attempt to rape her. Adam, the mysterious busboy who works at the same diner, helps fight off the assailants, and she begins a relationship with him -- but not all their fellow Minnesotans are happy for them. Meanwhile, the couple face their own difficulties when Caroline finds about Adam's past, including his unique health condition.
Stream in India on MGM Plus Amazon Channel
- 16
Mrs. Miniver 1942★ 7.1
Shares: Drama, Romance, War
Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.
Stream in India on Plex
- 17
Dark of the Sun 1968★ 6.6
Shares: War, Drama
A band of mercenaries led by Captain Curry travel through war-torn Congo across deadly terrain, battling rival armies, to steal $50 million in uncut diamonds. But infighting, sadistic rebels and a time lock jeopardize everything.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 18
Turtles All the Way Down 2024★ 7.2
Shares: Drama, Romance
17-year-old Aza Holmes tries be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 19
Reflections in a Golden Eye 1967★ 6.5
Shares: Drama, Romance
Bizarre tale of sex, betrayal, and perversion at a military post.
Not on subscription streaming in India right now
- 20
Blood on the Sun 1945★ 5.9
Shares: Drama, War
Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
Stream in India on Artiflix, Brew, Tubi TV