45 Movies Like Ben-Hur (1959) You Need to Watch Next
Updated August 2026
View Ben-Hur details →William Wyler's 1959 epic unfolds in Roman-occupied Judea, where a Jewish aristocrat opposed to the occupation is reunited with his childhood friend, now a Roman commander. That reunion sets off a sweeping saga of betrayal, adventure, tragedy, revenge and faith, tracing one man's fall and long road back across a canvas of empire and personal reckoning. Grand in scale and running long, it's classic large-format Hollywood storytelling built on spectacle, moral struggle and the collision of loyalty and conviction. Best suited to viewers who savor stately historical epics and don't mind a substantial runtime, it rewards patience with genuine dramatic weight and the ambition of old-school filmmaking.
If you loved Ben-Hur (1959) by William Wyler, here are 45 movies that share its content DNA. iRankMovies measures real similarity using cosine similarity across eight weighted dimensions — genre (50%), tone (12%), pace (10%), structure (8%), era (7%), theme (6%), audience (4%) and narrative perspective (3%) — not just the rating. The closest matches according to our analysis are Gladiator, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Man in the Iron Mask. Every title is ranked by how closely it matches and backed by the iRank Score, a composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb across 12,000+ analysed titles.
The Best Movies Similar to Ben-Hur
Selected for their real similarity in content, these are the movies that share the most with Ben-Hur in terms of theme, narrative tone, and cinematic style. Every recommendation goes beyond genre — we evaluate the type of conflict, pacing, dramatic context, and the experience they create for viewers.
Gladiator
2000 · Ridley Scott
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiat
In common: Adventure · Drama
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2003 · Peter Weir
After an abrupt and violent encounter with a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his ship, a captain of the British Royal Navy begins a chase over two oceans to capture or destroy the enemy, th
In common: Adventure · Drama
The Man in the Iron Mask
1998 · Randall Wallace
Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, have fought together with their friend, D'Artagnan. But with the tyrannical King Louis using his power to wreak havoc in the ki
In common: Adventure · Drama
RRR
2022 · S. S. Rajamouli
A fictional history of two legendary revolutionaries' journey away from home before they began fighting for their country in the 1920s.
In common: Adventure · Drama
12 Years a Slave
2013 · Steve McQueen
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not on
In common: Drama · History
Marie Antoinette
2006 · Sofia Coppola
A retelling of the story of France’s iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette - from her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at fifteen to her reign as queen at nineteen and ultimately the fall of
In common: Drama · History
The Elephant Man
1980 · David Lynch
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity
In common: Drama · History
The King's Speech
2010 · Tom Hooper
The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dr
In common: Drama · History
The Aviator
2004 · Martin Scorsese
A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously grow
In common: Drama
Raise the Red Lantern
1991 · Zhang Yimou
In 1920s China, 19-year-old Songlian becomes a concubine of a powerful lord and is forced to compete with his three wives for the privileges gained.
In common: Drama
The Brutalist
2024 · Brady Corbet
When an innovative modern architect flees post-war Europe, he is given the opportunity to rebuild his legacy. Set during the dawn of the modern United States (in Pennsylvania), his wife joins him, and
In common: Drama
The Call of the Wild
2020 · Chris Sanders
Buck is a big-hearted dog whose blissful domestic life is turned upside down when he is suddenly uprooted from his California home and transplanted to the exotic wilds of the Yukon during the Gold Rus
In common: Adventure · Drama
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
2018 · Andy Serkis
A human child raised by wolves, must face off against a menacing tiger named Shere Khan, as well as his own origins.
In common: Adventure · Drama
Everest
2015 · Baltasar Kormákur
Inspired by the incredible events surrounding a treacherous attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions chal
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
Seven Years in Tibet
1997 · Jean-Jacques Annaud
Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands a
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
Return to the Blue Lagoon
1991 · William A. Graham
In this sequel to the 1980 classic, two children are stranded on a beautiful island in the South Pacific. With no adults to guide them, the two make a simple life together and eventually become tanned
In common: Adventure · Drama
Alive
1993 · Frank Marshall
The amazing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team's plane that crashed in the middle of the Andes mountains, and their immense will to survive and pull through alive, forced to do anything and everythi
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
A Dog's Journey
2019 · Gail Mancuso
A dog finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he meets.
In common: Adventure · Drama
Arthur the King
2024 · Simon Cellan Jones
Over the course of ten days and 435 miles, an unbreakable bond is forged between pro adventure racer Michael Light and a scrappy street dog companion dubbed Arthur. As the team is pushed to their oute
In common: Adventure · Drama
The Lost City of Z
2017 · James Gray
A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
The Way Back
2010 · Peter Weir
A small band of multicultural convicts stages a daring escape from a WWII-era Siberian gulag, and embarks on a treacherous journey across five countries in a desperate race for freedom and survival.
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
The Physician
2013 · Philipp Stölzl
England, 1021: Born in a miserable mining town, Robert Cole swears to become a physician and vanquish disease and death. His harsh path of many years, a quest for knowledge besieged by countless chall
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
Bridge to Terabithia
2007 · Gábor Csupó
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that s
In common: Adventure · Drama
Alpha
2018 · Albert Hughes
In the prehistoric past, Keda, a young and inexperienced hunter, struggles to return home after being separated from his tribe when bison hunting goes awry. On his way back he will find an unexpected
In common: Adventure · Drama
Life of Pi
2012 · Ang Lee
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
In common: Adventure · Drama
The Count of Monte Cristo
2002 · Kevin Reynolds
Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a
In common: Adventure · Drama
Remember the Titans
2000 · Boaz Yakin
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men
In common: Drama
All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 · Edward Berger
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march
In common: Drama
Sense and Sensibility
1995 · Ang Lee
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, learn that their prospects of marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. After Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his
In common: Drama
Ran
1985 · Akira Kurosawa
Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.
In common: Drama · History
The Thin Red Line
1998 · Terrence Malick
The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalc
In common: Drama · History
Hugo
2011 · Martin Scorsese
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is
In common: Adventure · Drama
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 · Rob Marshall
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
In common: Drama · History
The King's Daughter
2022 · Sean McNamara
King Louis XIV's quest for immortality leads him to capture and steal a mermaid's life force, a move that is further complicated by his illegitimate daughter's discovery of the creature.
In common: Adventure
The Other Boleyn Girl
2008 · Justin Chadwick
A sumptuous and sensual tale of intrigue, romance and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history: two beautiful sisters, Anne and Mary Boleyn, driven by their family's
In common: Drama · History
Downton Abbey
2019 · Michael Engler
The beloved Crawleys and their intrepid staff prepare for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that wil
In common: Drama · History
1917
2019 · Sam Mendes
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers.
In common: Drama · History
Pride & Prejudice
2005 · Joe Wright
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their h
In common: Drama
Little Women
2019 · Greta Gerwig
Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.
In common: Drama
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2019 · Céline Sciamma
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
In common: Drama
The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014 · Wes Anderson
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the the
In common: Drama
Spartacus
1960 · Stanley Kubrick
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other
In common: Adventure · Drama · History
Dances with Wolves
1990 · Kevin Costner
Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlike
In common: Adventure · Drama
The Revenant
2015 · Alejandro G. Iñárritu
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
In common: Adventure · Drama
Michael
2026 · Antoine Fuqua
The story of Michael Jackson, one of the most influential artists the world has ever known, and his life beyond the music. His journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the
In common: Drama
Popular series
Breaking Bad
2008 · Michelle MacLaren
Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
2023 · Kazutaka Yamanaka
After the party of heroes defeated the Demon King, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. Generations pass, and the elven mage Frieren comes face to face with humanity’s m
Avatar: The Last Airbender
2005 · Michael Dante DiMartino
In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
